Scottie (a young man stricken with cerebral palsy), lay in 100-degree heat, hand-digging rocks out of dirt so God’s people could have (the cement needed to make) a church in the jungle. His bleeding fingers, knees, and elbows proclaimed a devotion to serve the Lord that captured the hearts of the South American tribes people…” -Excerpt from the book- Extravagant by Bryan Jarrett
I can’t even begin to describe how much weight this quote held for me this week as I went with my team to visit, interview and take pictures of the FH (Food for the Hungary) kids in their communities so that we can report back to their sponsors.
Going in and out of communities that only visiting could truly describe. Matchbox size homes with holes in the ceiling, gaps for rodents and cockroaches to run through the walls, kids with only their older siblings to look after them (who are not even graduated from elementary school) play in the dirt as flies land on their cuts that are still oozing from lack of medical attention. My heart was moved and at some points grieved by the things I saw, stories I heard and prayer requests I received.
I prayed with these students and sometimes with their parents. I took it for granted the first day. I left thinking, is that it? 20-30 minutes with each child asking about their year and praying with them. Are my prayers even affective? Is this worth it? I wish I had more to offer. I wanted to do something epic. Something that would quickly bring change to these kids lives. Before I knew it, my attitude was not where it needed to be and neither was my heart.
That is when God brought me to the passage written above from the book I have been reading- Extravagant. It showed me that God is going to work with whatever I have. And what I have might not feel like much, but I need to lay down my pride and do what God has equipped me to do. I learned that some of the most humbling tasks have a huge benefit for the people it serves. That even if I am tired of only being able to offer one thing (prayer) in such a dire situation- God will use it to bring a multitude of life.
I am thankful to God for teaching me this right after our first day of going into these communities, because He changed my heart to love and serve joyfully with what I had. It was rewarding as well, because I was able to love and pray with 11 year old Rimel after hearing his moving story.
Rimel, not even graduated elementary school is in charge of taking care of his 7 younger siblings while his parents are at work in addition to cooking all the meals, cleaning the house that is so broken down that an animal could run right through it at any given time and wash all the laundry. He does this all without missing a day of school. He doesn’t have much of a childhood. When we asked him if he knew what he liked to do for fun, he couldn’t respond. When we asked him for his prayer requests, he responded with, “I’d like for my family to have enough food, have good health and to be able to finish school so I can go to college.” His dream is to be a captain of a ship when he graduates. His devotion to his siblings was moving. Its hard to see a kid with the responsibilities of someone in their late 20’s. Before we left I had the great pleasure to pray with him. As sweat and tears dripped from our eyes cooling our shirts, we called out for the glory of God. It was beautiful. His heart was even more beautiful. And to top it off, he came to youth group with some of his siblings on Saturday. Though he seemed somewhat mentally removed, God allowed us to spend some quality time with him.
We plan on taking him out next Saturday as a team to build him up, encourage him and speak life into his little heart.
I just feel like saying- Thank you Lord for using me in Your perfect way and thank you for keeping me from missing out on these life changing moments.
Thank you all for your prayers. 10 days left in the Philippines. Its going to be a hard goodbye.
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Next country is a closed country. For safety purposes I need to ask that this country is not disclosed in any forms of communication. Unfortunately I will not be able to blog/email during the next month. Please keep me, my squad and our contacts in your prayers. Moving forward in faith.
