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Friday, January 13, 2017

Why me? Why not him?

Why me? Why not him? Over the last 6 years in Nicaragua, many times I have asked myself this question.  Why me? Why not them? Why was I born into a loving Christian home with all my needs provided for as a child? Why was I  raised up in the ways of the Lord and inspired  to dream big? More importantly... why not him?

As part of our Engage Mylife Nicaragua team entered into the dump to minister to the people a few weeks ago, I found one of my little friends asleep under some cardboard. I lifted up the cardboard to awaken him and see if he wanted to play. Anthony and I have played several times together and his smile is infectious when he's happy and can forget about his sadness and hunger.  The joy in sharing the love and hope of Christ with him and all the other children in the dump breathes life through me.  However, this time was different. . . very diferent. When I lifted the cardboard I saw a large open wound on his head. I woke him from his sleep and came to realize he had fallen and injured his head 3 days earlier falling from the back of of a garbage truck.  There he laid for 3 days.  Why?? I asked myself. . . Why???

Day in and day out we live here amongst the people, but that does not make it any easier to process the extreme poverty, constant devistation and  tragedy that the people we know and call by name have to face on a daily basis.

I picked my little buddy up and cleaned his wounds then went in search of his mother with some of our ENGAGE girls. When we arrived at their shack we found an 11 year old girl who is the oldest of 7 kids. I asked where her mom was and she said she has been gone for 3 days and never came back. I proceed to ask why no one went searching for her little brother who had been hurt in the dump.  Then that moment I'll never forget happened.... she was silent. She looked at me, then looked at the 6 month old in her arms,  then looked down at the 18 month old clinging to her leg while the 3 year old was crying at her feet. She was speachless and so was I. She just simply couldn't do it. 6 siblings to care for and only a few grains of rice in a bag. Why?

It can be easy to get caught up in thinking about the problem and looking for answers instead of focusing on the solution. There is one answer. There is one solution and it is JESUS! He is enough for me and He is enough for the hungry,  the hopeless, the weary and the broken.

Give thanks to God for the life He has given you!  May you use the life He has granted you with to share His love and hope with those in need all around you.

Thank you to each of you who were part of this day with us. May you never be the same and may Antony's little life change and shape the way in which you pasionately pursue Christ and share His hope with those in need.  Always remembering that Jesus is the answer.

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

18 Years With No Bible

Yesterday we were in Muy Muy in an extremely rural community opening up a new feeding center and as we were unloading the food at the church this older gentleman name José approached us.

He said "By chance do you have a bible in there?" and I said, "yes...why do you ask?" He then began to share his story.  He was on his death bed in the hospital 18 years ago when 3  men he didn't know came to him and prayed for him. He was healed.  He went back up into the mountains and found the closest church to him and has served God faithfully ever since.  He said that for 18 years he'd been waiting for his very own bible. "I'm hungry for God!" he stated.  He would cross 2 rivers on foot everyday to get to the church just to borrow the Pastor's bible. However, years ago the Pastor's bible got wet from the rain and half of it was destroyed.  You can imagine with the extreme poverty every time it rains the shacks get flooded and all their possessions get soaked. Then he went on to share the most interesting part. He's been preaching for 4 years. Arriving early to the church to be able to study out of half of the Pastor's bible.

As the bible was placed in his hands yesterday he said "This is my life! I will treat it like Gold."