Waiting for dinner, I hear Meghan playing the guitar and singing. The wind blows throught the mango trees. The sun is setting. This property is like a scene from the Chronicles of Narnia. I just finished reading the “Dawn Treader” last night. This was the second time I have read that one. This property has towering Coconut Palm trees, cashew trees, a variety of mangoes and papayas, a banana grove and vines and trees I can’t even pronounce. Old concrete structures need repairs.
A large tin roof is where the congregation meets on Saturday and Sunday. We met with Glenn and Lynn again today, and we talked more about their vision. How their vision has developed, what they have learned along the way. Glenn was an auto mechanic. He ran a successful business in Frederick, Maryland. (My buddy Randy Franklin from Liberty University grew up there, and I spent many nights in the truck stop there as we travelled the east coast moving household goods) One day, Glenn heard God tell him (through a series of events) to go to Nicaragua. So, Glenn and his wife, Lynn, went. No mission organization or training. No spanish. He just went. I believe that was 7 years ago.
Now Glenn is pastoring a church here, and reaching out to the Barrios. The Schweitzers have almost completed their first orphan home, have a clinic (the doctor just quit, as he was overworked and underpaid, which I find to be heartbreaking. yeah, I am being sarcastic, this is missions). Linnea and I are sleeping in the nursery, in our tent because of the mosquitoe infestation. Our bathroom is a bucket again, because the guard dogs are loose at night. The rest of the team sleeps in the clinic, and have a bathroom, but we only have running water a few hours a day, and no running water between 8am and 8pm.
At night we listen to the wind in the fruit trees, and listen as mangos the size of golf balls whip down on to our roof. Wind gusts of 40 miles per hour have been constant for a week. Dust flies everywhere, but the wind keeps it cool.
As we live in the garden of eden, a short walk from us is the dump. Where families find their clothes. Where whole families find their food. For more on the dump read Stephanies blogs, and watch some of the videos. Totally heartbreaking. Stephanie will be leading our new ‘dump ministry’ for the next two weeks. We want to bring food and water to these people and get to know them, share their stories with the world.
Linnea and Tana will be leading the team that will be doing manual labor here, as there is just so much work to be done. Financial needs for these projects are huge, because this whole mission is based on faith. There is no parent organization involved.
Today, four of us struggled to find the motivation to go into the barrios with Manuel. Manuel is a pastor here that Glenn has teamed up with. Manuel is about 50 years old, and has a wife and four beautiful children. They are in the process of building a small home, but are now living where Glenn has had an auto school here. Glenn was reaching out to share his knowledge with the people, but feels God is calling him out of the auto stuff. Manuel and his family live in the old shop. Because it is a privilege to have running water. Manuel serves his people all day, starting with prayer at 5 am.
We headed into the barrio, and were stopped by a woman whose dad had died last night. We spent a few minutes with her, hugging her and praying that Jesus would comfort her and her family. Then we bumped into another lady from church whose son is sick. He is six years old, and has been vomitting and diarrhea for the week. We went into her tiny house. Manuel bought some medicine as the rest of us visited. The woman is about 25, has two sons, and two months ago her husband took the valuables and left for a better life. She has been selling her things to feed her family, and they have been living on bread and water.
After this, we were stopped by another woman. She is the exact same age I am. She has four children, and the father of the children is absent. I think he sends them enough money so they will not starve. This woman has a beautiful smile and big brown eyes. These eyes are full of fear. She lies awake at night, afraid. Afraid of so much. Mostly afraid that her house will blow down in the wind. Her house is branches tied together with twine. Rusty tin roof. Her walls are trash bags. The kids are so skinny. Her house looks like one of the forts we would build as kids, with card board. Holes in the roof. Holes in the walls. Held together with string.
As I am reading John Eldredge’s stuff on the stages of a man, he says many men never reach the stage of Lover. Many men never become the warrior God made them to be. I know as I sit here, I am being brought through these stages. My heart everyday is filled with the beauty of creation and the pain of the human condition.
I just wonder, when will we as men wake up. The world needs us, I am surrounded by women bravely going where few men dare. Young men, young couples, the world is crying, Jesus is crying and Jesus is calling, when will we heed the call?
