As we stood by the side of the road, preparing to began our prayer walk through San Pablo, a young girl took a break from selling her oranges to ask Kata, the pastor´s wife, about our group of 5 Americans. Kata told her that we were missionaries, and that we had come to share and pray with the people.
¨My family needs prayer¨, she said, and dashed off through the narrow cobblestone streets. We followed behind her, dodging stray dogs and puddles of dubious origin, until we arrived in a one-room mud-brick house.
Through the time consuming translation of Tzutujil to Spanish to English, and back again, we found out that the girls father, Emilio, was suffering from some sort of leg infection. He was experiencing extreme pain and had been unable to work for the past 2 months. We prayed with him and his family, and Casey shared with him from the word. We invited him to church that night, hopeful that we would see him walk in without pain.
He didn´t come, however, and as the night wore on I kept flashing back to the faces of his four young children lined up on the bed beside him. I wondered if the money his daughter made from selling oranges was the families only income. I wondered if God had heard our prayer, and if Emilio would ever be able to work again. I wondered if his family´s faith in Christ would sustain them when they didn´t have enough to eat.
That night, I lay in bed reading from James before I went to sleep. James 2:15-17 says, ¨Suppose a brother or sister is without
clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ¨Go, I wish you well, keep warm and well fed,¨but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.¨
I realized that this is exactly what I had done earlier that evening. I had wished Emilio well, and left, even with the knowledge that he couldn´t provide for his family. I feel that I should have done more, and yet, I know that its not too late. Pray that I find Emilio again, and that God will stir me to generosity that I lacked the first time around.
