All that ran through my mind was, “Are those the same stars
that I would catch myself looking at back home?”
I stood motionless in the middle of the market dump leaned
up against a wall, halfway paying attention to the preaching that was taken
place or the stammering, blurry eyed people that would occasionally stammer by,
leaving a trail of body odor and a mumbled slur. My thoughts were on something a lot bigger and distant from
that moment.
You could say it was a little selfish to be thinking about back
home, to think at how bright those stars would shine at camp or to think how
dimly in comparison they shone here.
But they still shined. Part
of me wanted to yell, “It’s Him!
Can you not see that?”
Walking back from the dump a man was passed out on the
street just lying next to a wall.
Honestly, the man looked dead and was just wrapped up in his tattered
clothing, kind of rotting away. We
made it about twenty feet past when I looked at Mike kind of nodded and he
smirked and we turned around to go pray.
We walked up to the man and tapped him, shouted at him and shook
him. There was little movement,
but he cracked his glassy eyes barely open only to have three gringos staring
at him shouting, “Orramos?” I
honestly wish I could have known what was going through his head.
Three men approached us at a fast pace, glaring down at us
and the rotting man. Yelling was
heard just around the corner, followed by a rapid pace of footsteps. We had to get a move on it and we knew
the man was alive. We left with
just a few words of silent prayer escaping my thoughts. At the corner another man stumbled into
our group sniffing something out of a canister and yelling obscenities.
I laughed a little on the walk
home, thinking this is my life.
Fast forward a couple days later, I found myself dancing
through the streets and singing any and every song I could think of. Laughing at the fact that I was crammed
into a chicken bus, booty bumping people I had never talked to before and them
being cool with it. I tried
talking to and laughing with everybody that I came in contact with. I came to the realization that “I Am
has empowered me to be myself!” Wow, pause and soak that in! Deep
inside my soul was yelling this over and over again. We were rapping in the back of a three-wheeled Tuk-Tuk as we
played chicken with SUV’s and busses.
We played pick up soccer and I ran like a fool around locals. Us gringos would yell and cheer and the
locals acted as if we were not there.
I felt at peace goofing off with my guitar and laughing at nothing in
particular.
Fast Forward to a couple days ago, I woke up feeling like
crap. My crown from Burger King
stared me down and I laughed a little bit thinking about how we had a man’s
night that involved a candle lit dinner, soft serve ice cream and standing in a
pharmacy trying to buy Nyquil as people took pictures of three white men in
Burger King crowns who blatantly had to have been hammered (Not at
all).
I had zero energy and everything within me wanted nothing
but to lye in bed and do absolutely nothing. I couldn’t breathe and my ears would not pop. I wanted to call people back home and
just hear what had been going on.
I forced myself to get up and head to the factory and surprisingly
finished a lot of projects we had been working on. But that did nothing to the fact that I just wanted to be by
myself and sleep the day away. We
met mama to head to San Lucas to play with the street kids. On the bus ride there, I had some God
time. We made it to the kids and
they were waiting on a corner.
They knew all of our names and were bursting with excitement to play
with us and soak in life with us.
It definitely gave me energy!
Fun story, the norm has become cramming into a sketch Astro
van without asking questions to be driven up the mountain for a day of cornhole
and resting. Not exactly living
according to mom’s guidelines! Sorry mom..
As for my thoughts now, I love my team. I have been blessed with four sisters
(never had growing up) and another brother. We are working on becoming. I have figured out a lot of my ministry this month is
directed to and on them. Where I
end, they begin and watching them in ministry brings me joy. To hear their stories and to watch them
lead and grow has truly made my month what it is. Pray that we continue to learn to truly love each
other. They stretch me and grow me
to be a Man of God. Hopefully my
next blog is the one I have been writing on community and you will see what I
mean. I threw this one together
real quick to give you a glimpse of the week, but I have a lot to add so be on
the lookout. We are learning and
leaning on being broken (raw and real) around each other. I ask you to take a couple minutes and
join me on this prayer.
My thoughts go out to all who read this. Seriously, be empowered to be yourself. That has been my biggest encouragement
this week. My life is a journey
and an adventure. Yours is too! Be empowered and encouraged to hear who
God says you are today.. Our Papa
loves you!!!
