“Our new friend Juan!”
I´ve been asking God to give me more of His eyes to see people as He sees them….
My team Kiatera & I went out on one of our first listening prayer walks earlier this week into the city of Palenque. As we walked we came to a Y in the town where you split and either go left or right. There are two main streets to choose from, both leading to the Town Square. The shops here are fighting for space next to eachother, while the fronts of them are entirely open facing the street, exposing everything being sold inside of them.
After walking to the left for a while, we decide it´s time for a potty break. We stop at Burger King, the only location we have found so far that doesn´t charge us for using the bano, not to mention the amazing air conditioning that contrasts the outside humidity. As I waited for the girls, all of a sudden a young boy shows up asking me for a ¨regalo,¨ a.k.a gift in English. So many thoughts were rushing through my mind in this moment like, ¨What kind of gift is he asking for? Money? Where is his family? If I give him $ would he really benefit from this in the end & what exactly would I be communicating to him?¨ Struggling with these questions, while wondering who this boy is, what his story is, and what my role is in this moment left me deciding to buy him a Burger King meal. I know, ¨What kind of nutritional value is this for a young boy?¨ Lol!
As this boy & I stood in line together waiting for his food, I learned slightly more. His name is Juan. He lives somewhere close to town and he has five siblings. Before I knew it, he was holding the door open for the girls and I, saying ¨Gracias!¨and rushing out of Burger King and back onto the street. Though I prayed for him, I didn´t think much about it until last night…
Last night we decided to go to a yummy Mexican restaraunt called ¨Las Tienas.¨ While chatting, a little boy pops up right next to Katie´s chair and begins speaking Spanish to her. After a few seconds she excitedly says, ¨Juan? You are Juan, si?!¨ He then also makes the connection and his eyes light up, ¨Burger King.¨ We wrestled for a few minutes trying to decide what we should do. I quietly asked God in my mind what to do. Within a couple minutes it seemed to come to us. Hello! We´re waiting on food we just ordered and there´s an extra chair right here. So, we asked for an extra plate, invited Juan to sit with us, and shared our food with him. Though the four of us are pretty limited in our Spanish speaking, we learned a little more of Juan´s story (note: details yet to be confirmed). He told us he was nine and that he hasn´t seen his dad since he was four, his mom died, and he is now living with his ¨mama¨(may be a mother type figure) and siblings, whom we believe are living in more of a poverty stricken area.
Looking into Juan´s eyes last night somehow opened the eyes of my own heart. In interacting with him, God began to show me more of how He sees him, apart from his circumstances. Juan isn´t just some poor, abandoned orphan. He is deeply loved, provided for by a Father who will never leave him, and as a result has so much to offer this world…
Please pray for Juan: That him & his family would come into an intimate love relationship with Jesus. That we would be able to establish a relationship with him and his family our next two weeks here in Palenque, Mexico & that God would use this. Also, that as he grows up, he would see God as this Father, who deeply loves him & provides for him, and therefore he would rise up to be the man he is designed to be!
