I want to tell you a story of how I came to realize how materialistic we can be without even realizing.
It was my first day out doing ministry here in Nicaragua. We went to a little village a few minutes from where we were staying, called Erik Ramirez. Here we did door to door ministry, talking with families and praying for anything they needed. The village consists of about 15 homes, so we made it through pretty quickly. We made it back to the truck to leave and I saw some kid’s clothes hanging on a line out to dry.
There was nothing special about these clothes – in fact, they were very tattered and worn down. But the story of the little boy hanging his clothes is such a powerful message.
This little boy is probably around 10 years old. I don’t know his name, but I know he has joy in his heart. As we were doing door to door ministry, our host was waiting for us back at the truck. He said that this little boy was so proud of those clothes on the line he couldn’t even handle it.
He was able to wash his clothes maybe for the first time in weeks and was able to hang them himself. He rearranged his shirt and pants about 20 times before deciding on the best position for them to dry. But the thing that got me was his belt. Not only was he proud he had one, but he washed his belt too. He spent a solid 10 minutes tying and retying his belt in a knot on the clothes line. Not that there is any possibility that his belt will dry.
For us, a belt is nothing but an accessory. For us, those go in a drawer until needed. I know I have never washed a belt. I’m sure that’s not on anyone’s list of laundry items. But the idea that this little boy spent more time hanging his belt than anything hit me hard.
Even on the race I have had a tendency to be materialistic. To freak out if I can’t find my water bottle or always wanting to carry my backpack just in case an amazing picturesque moment arises and I need my camera. Nothing about the race should be like this. We should be willing to leave everything – even the few things we brought with us to go – and spread our love. Even if we have supporters who should be updated or Facebook that will make us look so much cooler when there is proof of travel.
This isn’t about us or anything we could possibly do on our own. It’s about the Lord and sharing His love and spreading His glory among the nations. All it took was the story of a 10 year old boy hanging up his belt to dry after washing it for school the next day.
