Our first morning at El Puente (our host church and home last month), we woke up to a full kitchen. Cooks had arisen before the roosters to begin preparing huge caldrons of rice, beans and chicken for the feeding program at Fortin: the trash heap of Grenada, Nicaragua.
My team was chosen to help with the feeding program that day. When the food and drinks were ready, we helped pack it into the back of a couple trucks and jumped in next to it. One of my favorite picture-memories of the month was our guys standing tall behind the cab of the truck like Roman centurions courageously guiding their chariots through the streets of Grenada.
Twenty minutes later, we arrived at the trash heap: stinky, full of flies, and situated at the bottom of a beautiful mountain range. The contrast was stunning. Our shoes were chock-full of gunk the moment they hit the ground. As we arranged the food bins on a fold-out table, people began to trickle up the hill for the feeding. Soon, 30-40 adults had gathered in a quiet, respectful line. I found out later that children didn’t come because the toxins from the trash heap could prove harmful to their little lungs.
Jesse, our translator, asked if one of us would like to share a brief testimony (Note to future racers: this happens a lot! We’ve discovered how handy it is to have a five-minute story at the ready). Drew stepped up and shared a short but powerful snapshot of the love of God.
“God doesn’t play favorites,” he explained. “I used to think He would love me more if I did everything right, or that He would stop loving me if I did things wrong. Turns out that’s not true! Because His love is not based on what I do. It’s based on what Jesus has already done for me.” It was awesome to hear the Gospel shared by our teammate in such a simple, moving way.
Jesse’s story was pretty amazing, too. He shared how he came out of a lifestyle of drug addiction and imprisonment. A few years ago, he was asked to translate for a team of missionaries from Adventures in Missions. This group of teenage girls only spent one week with Jesse, but he saw the love of God through their lives and gave his life to Christ!
After Jesse spoke, he asked if anyone would like to pray over the food. One of the men of Fortin offered a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving. I don’t know why it surprised me to hear how grateful and faithful he was… he really touched my heart.
As the food began to be portioned out, I jumped in, wanting to help. It was then that I noticed another team of volunteers standing nearby, taking photos and shooting video footage. I took a deep breath. Were they going to greet the people first? I felt indignant and slightly defensive for the people of Fortin.
That team of volunteers could have had the best of intentions. Maybe they wanted to make a documentary, or show people back home the squalid conditions of the dump. Whatever their purposes, that was really the first time I came face-to-face with a “tourist mindset” on the mission field. And it didn’t feel pretty.
During our training for the World Race, we were challenged to get to know people before trying to take a photo. Find out their names. Listen to their stories. Ask yourself how you can impart dignity to them. More often than not, if we take time to dig in a little deeper, the people end up blessing and teaching us far more than we may ever bless or help them.
Case in point: Maria. After dishing up the breakfast plates, I walked over to interact with some of the ladies as they ate. Maria and her friend talked with me, though a bit hesitantly at first. I think none of us really knew what to talk about! I wanted to relate to them, to find some common ground. Suddenly, an idea popped into my head: I could share some the struggles I’ve had with my health and energy for a lot of my life.
My undiagnosed thyroid issue had frustrated me and mystified doctors until recently. It was one of the reasons that I almost didn’t apply for the World Race. I feared not having enough energy for ministry and physical labor every day.
I shared these struggles in a few simple sentences with Maria. She looked at me, and gently said in Spanish: God can heal you! His Word says that with Him, nothing is impossible. All we need to do is have faith.
That floored me. For years, I had been on my knees every day asking God for enough energy to get through the day. But had I ever asked Him for complete healing?
How much these people trusted in God! Through our North American lens, these people have so little. But they are so rich. This is a secret to life – and joy – that I hope to keep learning from the people I meet these next few months.
