After a two day bus ride from Guatemala,
I am now in Nicaragua
and will be spending the next month here.
Yesterday we had a chance to see the places where will be working and
ministering. One of those places is the
town’s trash heap. Allow me to share the
experience with you.
We arrive at the dump which happens to sit right next to the
cemetery. I see the smoke rising like a
cloud and smell the stench of burning trash.
I see a few men off to the side.
They have bags filled with other people’s garbage. One person’s trash is another person’s
treasure.
I walk through the trash looking down at the ground beneath
my feet. I am one of the only one’s with
sandals on. My feet are filthy. Everyone thinks I’m crazy for not wearing
real shoes. As I stare down, I pass by
old shoes, rotten fruit, and pieces of cloth.
I spot a marble and pick it up. I
wipe it off and stick it in my pocket as a reminder.
As I continue to walk and look at the ground, a song pops in
my head. The words are something like,
This is holy ground
I’m standing on holy
ground
And I know that there
are angels all around
My feet are almost black.
There is waste everywhere. There
are swarms of flies. There is smoke and
dirt in my eyes. Yet, I’m singing about
this being holy ground? It doesn’t make
sense.
I go to the edge of the dump and look down into the river
below. It is also filled with
trash. There is an older couple picking
through things. Kids are running back
and forth. As I’m staring down, Ezekiel
47:12 comes to my mind…
Fruit trees of all
kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor
will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the
sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for
healing.
This doesn’t make sense to me either. This river is filthy. It looks like nothing good could ever come
from it. Then, the Lord begins to open
my eyes.
Jesus went to the dirty places. He touched the filthy people. I guarantee His feet were black with dirt
most of the time. But every place those
feet touched was holy ground. This is what He wants me to do.
Jesus, God in the
flesh, is a cleansing river. He is the
true vine. He wants me to get
dirty. He wants me to love His broken
and hurting children. He wants me to
experience Him in the reality of poverty.
I experienced Jesus walking through a pile of trash sweaty,
dirty, tired, and sun-burned. I stood on
holy ground with dirty feet. I stared
down into a river of garbage and believed that this river would water
fruit-bearing trees.
Nicaragua
is a poor place. Everywhere I look I see
despair and poverty. But with my dirty
feet, I am taking back this land for Christ.
With every step I am declaring it holy ground. The Lord is here and He is walking with me.
