Have you ever thought about how quickly we as a human race give up on ourselves and others? One of the daily devotionals that we had this month with Brother Angel was about that very thing. God’s way is hard and we are going to mess up but instead of getting frustrated, giving up, and going back to our old ways, God’s grace for us is still sufficient and we are beautiful and perfect in His eyes, just the way we are. I get frustrated with myself and I was working alongside drug and alcohol addicts who were having to battle every single day not to give up and walk out the door. When Anita and her partner Leonel graduated from the program we had a “going away” celebration for them. 3 of Anita’s sisters came and one toasted to the rest of the group and said that no one else from the family was there because they had all given up on Anita because of her life choices. I asked Anita about it afterwards because to be honest I wanted to stand up and deck the sister for saying that in front of the whole group. Anita said that her family supported her the first time when she got help living at the girl’s house Talitacumi but when she relapsed her family gave up on her. Flabbergasted I reassured her that there was nothing she could do to let us down, that we were her adopted sisters in Christ. Yet, I realized I give up all the time on myself, and sadly on friends and family back home. Why am I willing to extend God’s grace further to near strangers here in Bolivia but not myself or loved ones back home?
I wish you could have all met Edson and his partner Lizeth. All the couples were great but we saw those two grow so much just in the month we were with them. Edson had told us that he had never celebrated his birthday or Christmas. After his parents separated he floated between living with his dad, both grandmothers and finally his mom but on his birthdays he would be given cash and told to buy what he wanted. He got involved in drugs at age 15 when he couldn’t say no to his friends. At some point he lived in a different rehab house and after graduating tried to get his family back together but found out that the mother of his 2 sons was working at a “club” which for them is where you have sex for money.
At the beginning of the month I asked Edson and Lizeth if couples had to be Christians to live in the house and he said no, because for example he and Lizeth were Catholics not Christians. Later into the month during one of the morning devotionals Edson said that the night before, for the 1st time in his 26 years of life he had read the bible and that he was choosing to trust that Lizeth and their unborn baby are in God’s hands. Friday before we left he shared his testimony with people from all 3 houses and in his prayers he thanked God for Ana, Isa and myself because we showed him that life can be so much fun without drugs and alcohol. In his testimony he talked about how the drugs and alcohol abuse started at 15 and continued on for 10 years even through the other rehab house until now, at 26 where he knows there is a God looking down on him. He said that both sides of his family have turned their backs on him and that today he has only Lizeth, their unborn baby, those of us in the room, and God but he knows he is going to succeed. We all, within us have so much potential. It’s going to take some of us longer than others. But what if the rest of us choose not to give up, continue to pray, to stand by even when the going gets rough? Just think about all the Edsons of the world who just need a little encouragement and support. I was so blown away that I was there to see all that change take place and I got to be a part of it. The day we left, I was talking to one of the educators and mentioned we don’t feel like we did much. She brought up Edson and said, “That’s why you’re here. That’s why.”
