Here is the Root of the Root and the Bud of the Bud: The Heart of Poverty

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor so that you by his poverty might become rich." -II Corinthians 8:9

Yesterday our director Corby took us to see Zapote, the other Kids Alive program in Guatemala. It was an incredibly eye opening experience. Zapote is located about 2 hours away from the Oasis, via dirt road. The recent tropical storms have washed out most of the road, and we had to drive through four rivers to get there. Since transportation in and out of the village is so difficult, they have had a hard time getting food in recently. We ran into a pastor of a church while we were there, and he said to us in Spanish, "I hope you did not come thirsty- there is no water to be found here."

In the village, Kids Alive has started a school. Children come and are given lunch, usually their only meal of the day. Corby told us that when there is no school, the children usually do not eat. What a stark contrast to the three meals and snacks I eat every day.

The village of Zapote consists of shacks, lined up on top of each other. I have been reading The Hole in Our Gospel this summer. It is a book all about poverty and why we as a church aren't doing more about it. As we walked through the rows of tin houses, I looked into the eyes of the people we met, and saw exactly what the book says comes inevitably with poverty: hopelessness.

Corby talked to us about the way poverty hardens people. People have no hope, and they stop caring what happens to them or to the people around them. Poverty breeds desperation, and desperation breeds violence. And that's when I realized that, all summer, I have been indirectly working with the results of poverty. At the root of the root and the bud of the bud, the truth of the matter is that almost every girl at the Oasis is there because of poverty. They have suffered abuse or maltreatment , which stems from violence, which stems from desperation, which stems from poverty. And this is the way almost 90% of Guatemala lives.

Poverty is an evil cycle with a nasty backlash of thousands of unintended consequences. And the worst part is, most of this is preventable. I read and hear about Jesus' love for the poor, and the way he was willing to become poor for us. And I keep thinking, "I've got to do something about this". Just because I was born into money, and just because I do not have to face the uncomfortable reality of poverty every day does not mean I am superior to it. Instead, we should be doing our best to empower and enable these people to get out of this cycle and will give them hope. If I truly believe that every life has equal value, then the poor should be heavy on my heart, whether I am in Guatemala or the United States.

Today we are leaving the Oasis. It is really sad to say goodbye, but I am so thankful for everything I have learned and all that God has taught me here. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and encouragement this summer. God has been so faithful to me, and I hope you have seen his faithfulness in your lives as well. Please keep me in your prayers as I travel through Guatemala these next couple days, and then spend three days at Debrief in Dallas. Thank you!

Opening Doors

"Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised,
And his greatness is unsearchable" - Psalm 145:3

Since I have been here I have seen so clearly God's faithfulness. Every night my roommate Rebecca and I pray together, and every day we see our prayers answered: in our relationships, in our attitudes, and even in the weather! It seemed like yesterday God opened up door after door for us. It was truly an incredible day.

We have had a lot of rain lately, because of another tropical storm. We prayed for nice weather to dry our things out (EVERYTHING gets wet here when it rains). And we woke up yesterday morning to brilliant sunshine!

We have been praying that God would help us build relationships with the Tias here. No sooner had we prayed that when Tia Mariela came up to Rebecca and I and asked if we would go over to her house after dinner to teach her English. Yesterday was the birthday of one of the girls in our house. The Tia of our house, Tia Marisol, came up Rebecca and I before lunch and asked us if we could help her make brownies in the afternoon. So we spent about an hour with her in the afternoon, just talking and baking together- another prayer answered.

We have been praying that God will enable us to share our faith and our hearts with these girls, and that he would just use us in any way to share his faithfulness with the girls. Yesterday, during lunch, Tia Beatrice asked me if I would share my testimony with the girls in her house that night. I was terrified, because I don't like giving my testimony in English, much less in Spanish. But God once again demonstrated his faithfulness to me, and showed that he can use even me in powerful ways. Many of the girls stayed after and asked me questions about why I am a Christian.

Last night, we celebrated Candy's birthday. We had a pinata, and it was highly entertaining watching everyone try to knock it down. It was even more entertaining watching Candy, who didn't have a blindfold, swing at and miss the pinata repeatedly. Then we had a great time eating brownie and telling jokes and talking with each other. At the end of the night, Rebecca and I tried to take a picture of the girls in our house. We were just about to take it when they started telling us we had to join them. They surrounded us and pulled us in, telling us, "somos familia ahora"- we're a family now. We have come so far in our relationships with them since we first arrived, when getting them to even speak to us seemed impossible. Yet another prayer answered.

I can't believe two weeks from today, I will be home! I only have a little over a week left at the Oasis. Please pray that God will use this time to teach me more about his love and faithfulness. Please pray that God will bring joy to the girls through me, and that he will help me be an encouragement to the girls and staff here. Thank you so much for all your emails and messages, it is so encouraging to hear from you!