Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

| by archiveworldraceblogs

Imagine with me walking in the door and suddenly you are surrounded by 90 cute and adoreable children. They run up to you and just hug you and love on you. They keep calling “grinkos“ meaning white people and laughing. Their eyes are bright and sparkling and there is so much hope there. Each of them wants to be loved, cherished and adored. They are regular children who live in the poorest of places. Their parents work or live in the dump and this is their reprieve from those surroundings. Welcome to the daycare where so much can happen. This is where we have gone once a week to love on these children and play with them. I see such joy and love when I look at them. I hold a child on my lap and just melt. There is so much that these children can be doing. God loves them just like he loves each of us.

Now imagine for a moment, driving into the dump and smelling the garbage and the flies swarming you. You look around and you see hundreds of people sorting through garbage to make some money. They are normal people like us, they just work in the dump for a living. They make about $22 a week sorting through garbage. They work from 6am to 6pm 7 days a week. We were there to visit these people and love on them. We would talk to them and pray for them. We handed out fruit and water to the people there. They have no water there at all. One man had six kids that he was supporting. Another man was 66 years old and had been working there for 20 years. They all live outside the walls of the dump with family or friends. Two other ladies my group talked to were sisters and lived and worked together. One was Jehovah witness and one was Catholic. We shared some verses with them and prayed for them. They said they loved having people pray for them as it nourishes the soul. WOW. These people have such strength. And the one thing that stood out to me was the joy these people had. They were joyful even though this is their life. It taught me that joy is available to you no matter where you are.

As I stood there, a whole lot of dump trucks came with loads of garbage to dump. I watched as the people flocked to the trucks with pitchforks to start sorting through it. It is competitive in a sense. They all went to find stuff that they can later sell. Electronics are the best finds.

My heart was heavy and all I wanted to do was cry. I watched and looked at these people and just wanted to hug them and love on them. And yet I felt completely helpless and without a clue what to do. I felt like I had lost my voice and had nothing to say to them. I felt helpless in a sense. I asked God why do these people have to live like this. We have so much just with the clothes on our backs. Just look at what you are wearing today from your feet to your head, add it all up and that is probably double what these people make in a week. Sure made me think hard.

God is teaching me that even when we are in the dumps and feel down and out, he give us joy. He gives us hope and peace. I have had many times this month when I felt down and wondered where God was. Through our ministries this month I am learning to have unspeakable joy no matter what.
 
Tomorrow we leave for Lima to spend a few days with the whole squad. Then on Thurs we fly to Nicarauga. Pray for travelling safety as we prepare for our next month ahead. Thank you for all your prayers and financial support thus far.