This week has definitely been FULL of stuff. Monday we got up and worked to clean different things in the church. All 12 of us are sleeping in a back room at the church so needless to say, it gets a little stuffy in there and we need to move our stuff out and sweep and mop the floor. There were some other rooms that we swept and mopped and our leaders went to the different ministry sites to check out some projects for the rest of the week. Tuesday is when we started really getting our hands dirty….literally. We went to a member of the church’s house and worked on grounds around their house. There was a lot to do! Then the following day we cleaned off the roof and the outside walls of the house and painted it. The house looks completely different and its awesome to think of the things that our group has accomplished. BUT THAT’S NOT ALL!!! I would say that one of my favorite days was the day that we went to Aida’s house. Let me tell you about it. We were told to be ready in the morning at 9:00, and we weren’t really sure what we would be doing but thought it might be a lot like what we had been doing. We show up to the house and the pastor asks for some patience. He starts calling out for Aida and asking the neighbor if they know where she is. Aida is an older lady (maybe 94) and she just lost her husband of 60 years 5 months ago. As she comes out of the house, the pastor explains that he has been trying to get ahold of her for the past few days but she hasn’t been answering her phone or home when he has stopped by. (she has been sleeping a lot and possibly been a bit depressed and anxious). He then asked her if we could serve her and clean her patio and her house. She seemed hesitant at first and as I approached her and introduced myself….she didn’t let go of my hand. She sat there and held my hand for the next few minutes as we introduced ourselves. We prayed for her and split into teams (inside and outside). There was a LOT to do! The back yard was full of weeds and trash and overgrown and the inside had a lot of different areas to clean and by the time that we were done it looked and smelled a LOT better. She was very sweet and at one point started cry and as I asked her what she was thinking she said, “Estoy tan agradecido con ustedes”, which means I’m just so thankful for you guys. The thing that occurred to me at that moment was that God sent us all the way from the United States to help her on that day and that He had not forgotten about her. AND SHE WAS AT CHURCH TODAY!! we got to sit beside her and the pastor (who has a huge heart) invited her to the front and had people from the church come and hug her and told her that the church loved her…but then he challenged the church and let them know that Aida needs a ride to get there and that we cannot just tell people that we love them, but that we need to be the hands and feet of Jesus and follow through and actually help. James 1:27 says, “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
Another thing that spoke to my heart today is that God has not forgotten about me either but that he is on our side and that he is fighting for us. Just like he had not forgotten about Aida, he has not forgotten about us. The pastor preached from Luke 22:31-32 and Jesus told Peter that he was praying for him and the truth is that he does the same for us…he goes to our father on our behalf and intercedes for us. Aida was not the only widower that God sent us to this week, and she will not be the last.
