Thanksgiving....my very favorite holiday. What a great idea - a day set apart to give thanks to God for all the great gifts He has given us. Ours will be small this year. Rachel, Katie and Aaron left this morning to spend the holidays with Katie's family and Rachel will be with Hannah in Houston. Our friend Cali will join us tomorrow - and hopefully help me with the meal as all of the women have abandoned me!!
Late November and early December here in our area are the times of fiesta - first in San Andres and then here in Canilla. They are fiestas dedicated to the patron saints of each village and coincide with the end of the harvest. It is a week long celebration marked by drunkeness and sin of all kind. This year in San Andres, the witchdoctors are especially angry with the "evangelicos" who are cutting into their activities, as many who have become Christians will not participate. The municipal government typically pays a good portion toward the festivities but this year, the mayor (who is a Christian) has cut way back on contributions. The blame for the decrease is also blamed on the evangelicos - particularly the pastors. One of our good friends in San Andres came over the other night asking for prayer as his life, as well as those of his children have been threatened. His wife told us tearfully that their children have all moved out of their rooms to the backside of the house because they are afraid and cannot sleep at night. These are very real fears as with each fiesta there are often several dead at the end of the week. All of the men who have helped us on the corn project, are too afraid to go out this week, so we will resume next week. Please pray for the believers in San Andres; pray for their protection, pray that they will not be immobilized by fear; pray that the God of peace will invade their hearts and minds.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Home again...
Many months ago, the Lord began to lead me, in my quiet times with Him, to study our Hebrew roots. Jesus was a Jewish man, born of Jewish parents, in a Jewish culture. I began to understand that my Western church upbringing left me without a context to understand this man who I call my Savior. At the same time, I began to understand that Guatemala has a very different relationship with Israel than the US has. And I began to wonder how the two things were connected. My children, and my husband, thought I was a little crazy - as always. Then at the beginning of the year, out of the clear blue sky, we were offered a trip to Israel. We at first said no - that we were too busy here and we could not leave for 10 days. But as we prayed about it, we realized that this was a gift that God was offering us - and who wants to turn away a gift that the Lord hands to you?!
So, two weeks ago, Duane and I left Canilla and spent a couple of days helping Ryan (our son who lives in the US) to prepare a load of equipment which will be driven to Guatemala in December. It is mostly equipment that will help us more effectively manage the corn project - a grain bin, etc.
From Marine, we left with a group from Destiny Church and a church from Oklahoma (House of David) to arrive in Israel. Because we knew that this was a trip that the Lord had orchestrated, we felt a burden to be attentive to all that He wanted us to hear and understand. And while I am still processing much of our amazing experience there, I know a few things...
- I understand that we as gentile believers and as citizens of the United States, have a responsibility to stand with Israel. As we traveled into Sderot, a town bordering the Gaza strip, we began to understand in a very small part what the people are enduring there as the Palestinians have sent missiles into their town. We worked to help a dental clinic prepare to open, with the instructions that if the sirens sounded, that we had just a few seconds to get into the bomb shelter. We understood that we had little to worry about as the missiles were usually launched at 8 in the morning or around 3 in the afternoon because those were the times when the children would be going to or leaving school. We heard stories from people who had been in the Cast Lead conflict just a few months ago, men who were immobilized because the Palestinians would shoot at them from between the legs of old women or children. So we "pray for the peace of Jerusalem" (Psalm 122:6), remembering the promise of God to Abraham as he left his home to enter the land promised to him, that "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse." (Genesis 12:3).
- I have a new and very small revelation of the unity that Christ brings (Ephesians 2:11-22) - that "His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two..." (Jew and gentile). I understand that we as believers are eager to claim for ourselves all of the promises given to the children of Abraham, but not quite as eager to take up the responsibility that we have as brothers to a people that we do not quite understand.
It is a mystery to us that in a time when our hearts are so broken by the people here in Guatemala that the Lord would choose to open our eyes to yet another area of need. The only thing that we know for sure is that there is great power in prayer. And so we will stand "in the gap" for not just this nation but for our Jewish brothers and sisters - wherever they may be.
So, we are home and trying to get back into our routine. It was an amazing trip and we are so very thankful for the opportunity that was given to us. Our family all worked together to keep things going here and did a great job! God is certainly very, very good.
So, two weeks ago, Duane and I left Canilla and spent a couple of days helping Ryan (our son who lives in the US) to prepare a load of equipment which will be driven to Guatemala in December. It is mostly equipment that will help us more effectively manage the corn project - a grain bin, etc.
From Marine, we left with a group from Destiny Church and a church from Oklahoma (House of David) to arrive in Israel. Because we knew that this was a trip that the Lord had orchestrated, we felt a burden to be attentive to all that He wanted us to hear and understand. And while I am still processing much of our amazing experience there, I know a few things...
- I understand that we as gentile believers and as citizens of the United States, have a responsibility to stand with Israel. As we traveled into Sderot, a town bordering the Gaza strip, we began to understand in a very small part what the people are enduring there as the Palestinians have sent missiles into their town. We worked to help a dental clinic prepare to open, with the instructions that if the sirens sounded, that we had just a few seconds to get into the bomb shelter. We understood that we had little to worry about as the missiles were usually launched at 8 in the morning or around 3 in the afternoon because those were the times when the children would be going to or leaving school. We heard stories from people who had been in the Cast Lead conflict just a few months ago, men who were immobilized because the Palestinians would shoot at them from between the legs of old women or children. So we "pray for the peace of Jerusalem" (Psalm 122:6), remembering the promise of God to Abraham as he left his home to enter the land promised to him, that "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse." (Genesis 12:3).
- I have a new and very small revelation of the unity that Christ brings (Ephesians 2:11-22) - that "His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two..." (Jew and gentile). I understand that we as believers are eager to claim for ourselves all of the promises given to the children of Abraham, but not quite as eager to take up the responsibility that we have as brothers to a people that we do not quite understand.
It is a mystery to us that in a time when our hearts are so broken by the people here in Guatemala that the Lord would choose to open our eyes to yet another area of need. The only thing that we know for sure is that there is great power in prayer. And so we will stand "in the gap" for not just this nation but for our Jewish brothers and sisters - wherever they may be.
So, we are home and trying to get back into our routine. It was an amazing trip and we are so very thankful for the opportunity that was given to us. Our family all worked together to keep things going here and did a great job! God is certainly very, very good.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Chuchitos
For the last couple of weeks I have been feeling much like the disciples must have felt when Jesus told them to feed the 4 thousand. Matthew 8 records that when Jesus said he wanted to feed everyone before they left, his disciples said, "But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?" I have said just about those exact words to the Lord a thousand times in the last couple of weeks.
We have decided to concentrate our corn project to those areas which have been hardest hit by the drought. The last two weeks have been spent sending Juan out to various villages, talking directly to people in their homes. In some villages all of the corn plants died before they could make ears. In others, the yield was much smaller than normal. And since most have just finished harvesting, they have small amounts at the moment. The biggest need will come in the next few weeks when that small supply runs out. We have begun to distribute corn on a small scale to those most in need at the moment but are preparing for a much bigger distribution in the next few months.
But aside from the corn project, the amount of "viveras" (bags of beans, rice, oatmeal, sugar, soap) that we distribute in the clinics has more than quadrupled in the last month. Children who are in our nutrition program are weighed every 2 weeks so that we can make sure they are thriving and we are finding that many are not. When I talk to parents about how the milk and protein drink are meant to supplement their diet, not to supply all that they need, I find that there is no other food in the home. Many families are eating only once or twice a day now to make the corn supply stretch and there is no money to buy other food. So they are eating only tortillas - sometimes with salt.
I could write stories all day long of families who are living in circumstances that are beyond my imagination but I will share just one with you. We always give numbers in the clinics so that we can have some semblance of order and yesterday we had over 80 people waiting. They give out numbers early (around 5am) and again around 9am for those who cannot get to town any earlier. So people wait all day - literally. One little family - mom with a 3 month old, dad with the 2 year old and another child of about 5 waited until 3pm to be seen. All the food that I brought in the morning was gone. Every time I opened the door, I would see this man standing closest to the door, with his toddler resting in his arms. He was not pushy as so many are, he just waited. It is uncommon for dads to come, so I noticed him right away. When they came in, he just told me about his child who was not eating and about his wife who did not have enough breast milk for the baby. When I asked, he told me about how poor his harvest was this year and all he had was already gone. The little boy began to whimper and the dad stood up to try to quiet him, and in that moment I realized that this little boy had not eaten all day. I stepped into the shoes of this father for one brief moment and I thought my heart would break as I thought about one of my own children going without food all day and returning to a home without food. So I walked out of the clinic to buy food for them. I bought staples and a bag of "chuchitos" (little corn and bean patties that are sold for less than a nickle). As I handed him the bag of chuchitos, a small, brief smile crossed his face and he gave one to his son who stopped crying and filled his mouth as quickly as he could. So we loaded them up with what we had, and told them to return in 2 weeks.
And so I am like the disciples, looking at this huge need and wondering, how are we going to do this? But at the same time trusting in a God who is so much bigger than the need and One whom we know is kind and compassionate and who sees the need of His children. And we trust that He will supply.
We have decided to concentrate our corn project to those areas which have been hardest hit by the drought. The last two weeks have been spent sending Juan out to various villages, talking directly to people in their homes. In some villages all of the corn plants died before they could make ears. In others, the yield was much smaller than normal. And since most have just finished harvesting, they have small amounts at the moment. The biggest need will come in the next few weeks when that small supply runs out. We have begun to distribute corn on a small scale to those most in need at the moment but are preparing for a much bigger distribution in the next few months.
But aside from the corn project, the amount of "viveras" (bags of beans, rice, oatmeal, sugar, soap) that we distribute in the clinics has more than quadrupled in the last month. Children who are in our nutrition program are weighed every 2 weeks so that we can make sure they are thriving and we are finding that many are not. When I talk to parents about how the milk and protein drink are meant to supplement their diet, not to supply all that they need, I find that there is no other food in the home. Many families are eating only once or twice a day now to make the corn supply stretch and there is no money to buy other food. So they are eating only tortillas - sometimes with salt.
I could write stories all day long of families who are living in circumstances that are beyond my imagination but I will share just one with you. We always give numbers in the clinics so that we can have some semblance of order and yesterday we had over 80 people waiting. They give out numbers early (around 5am) and again around 9am for those who cannot get to town any earlier. So people wait all day - literally. One little family - mom with a 3 month old, dad with the 2 year old and another child of about 5 waited until 3pm to be seen. All the food that I brought in the morning was gone. Every time I opened the door, I would see this man standing closest to the door, with his toddler resting in his arms. He was not pushy as so many are, he just waited. It is uncommon for dads to come, so I noticed him right away. When they came in, he just told me about his child who was not eating and about his wife who did not have enough breast milk for the baby. When I asked, he told me about how poor his harvest was this year and all he had was already gone. The little boy began to whimper and the dad stood up to try to quiet him, and in that moment I realized that this little boy had not eaten all day. I stepped into the shoes of this father for one brief moment and I thought my heart would break as I thought about one of my own children going without food all day and returning to a home without food. So I walked out of the clinic to buy food for them. I bought staples and a bag of "chuchitos" (little corn and bean patties that are sold for less than a nickle). As I handed him the bag of chuchitos, a small, brief smile crossed his face and he gave one to his son who stopped crying and filled his mouth as quickly as he could. So we loaded them up with what we had, and told them to return in 2 weeks.
And so I am like the disciples, looking at this huge need and wondering, how are we going to do this? But at the same time trusting in a God who is so much bigger than the need and One whom we know is kind and compassionate and who sees the need of His children. And we trust that He will supply.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Duane and I took out a very secure insurance policy against the "empty nest" syndrome that most folks our age feel when we agreed to adopt Grace and Abi. But with David and Joseph in the US now for going on 6 weeks, and now with Craig gone as well, we are getting close. Our house is so quiet without the boys...well, as quiet as we can get with Abi around. They hope to be home within a week or so. They originally went home to help Katie and Ryan get their house and all the barns painted but then after much investigation on corn storage, it has become a hunt for grain bins. They have found 1 which a man whom we have never met, has generously donated for this project. The boys, with lots of help will dismantle it and get it loaded onto a truck that our friend Martin will drive down, hopefully within the next few weeks. We purchased and began distributing corn last weekend to folks within our nutrition program.
Little Irma and her mom (see last week's entry) came on Sunday. Irma was better but still very listless. Her sister was very sick this week with pneumonia as well and after we weighed her (22 pounds at age 4), she just laid down on the floor in the middle of the clinic and went to sleep. The beginnings of our clinic days in San Andres are always so chaotic but we all just walked over her until we could gather around her on the floor and pray for her and her family. We sent them off with enough food to last the week and instruction for her husband to return this weekend so we can follow up on them. There were others as well. One woman insisted that she was fine carrying 50 pounds of corn along with 20 pounds of rice and beans and the milk that she comes for bi-monthly along with the baby on her back. She had an enormous smile to go with her enormous load as she walked out of the clinic.
We finally were able to speak with the mayor of San Andres this week...he is a very busy man and almost never in San Andres. He spoke of being overwhelmed with the need and that was obvious by the long line of people waiting outside of his door. In the US our mayors are typically surrounded by people who are delegated to take care of the needy so that he can take care of the business of running a city. Not here. Those who are hungry. those who are needy in whatever way come directly to the mayor. He told us of his Sundays with his family when he has a line of people waiting outside of his home with their needs. He has a list of over 4,000 women who are either widowed or abandoned. He told us of a prophetic word that was spoken over him by one of the local pastors who said that corn was coming, corn to feed the people. It was given to him over a month ago - even before we began to talk about it outside of our home. So we will work with both he and the mayor of Canilla and those pastors who have come for with an interest to help. Please pray that we have wisdom and that it is obvious to all that our help comes from the Lord...
"I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." Psalms 121:1-2
Little Irma and her mom (see last week's entry) came on Sunday. Irma was better but still very listless. Her sister was very sick this week with pneumonia as well and after we weighed her (22 pounds at age 4), she just laid down on the floor in the middle of the clinic and went to sleep. The beginnings of our clinic days in San Andres are always so chaotic but we all just walked over her until we could gather around her on the floor and pray for her and her family. We sent them off with enough food to last the week and instruction for her husband to return this weekend so we can follow up on them. There were others as well. One woman insisted that she was fine carrying 50 pounds of corn along with 20 pounds of rice and beans and the milk that she comes for bi-monthly along with the baby on her back. She had an enormous smile to go with her enormous load as she walked out of the clinic.
We finally were able to speak with the mayor of San Andres this week...he is a very busy man and almost never in San Andres. He spoke of being overwhelmed with the need and that was obvious by the long line of people waiting outside of his door. In the US our mayors are typically surrounded by people who are delegated to take care of the needy so that he can take care of the business of running a city. Not here. Those who are hungry. those who are needy in whatever way come directly to the mayor. He told us of his Sundays with his family when he has a line of people waiting outside of his home with their needs. He has a list of over 4,000 women who are either widowed or abandoned. He told us of a prophetic word that was spoken over him by one of the local pastors who said that corn was coming, corn to feed the people. It was given to him over a month ago - even before we began to talk about it outside of our home. So we will work with both he and the mayor of Canilla and those pastors who have come for with an interest to help. Please pray that we have wisdom and that it is obvious to all that our help comes from the Lord...
"I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." Psalms 121:1-2
Monday, October 5, 2009
little Irma
Last evening, just as we returned from a long day in clinic in San Andres, Duane got a phone call from a pastor out in Mixcoloja. Mixcoloja is a tiny, mainly Mennonite community, out in the middle of nowhere at the complete opposite end of our valley. We have know Pastor Humberto and his family for many years but recently worked together with them to help Candalaria - the woman who had lost her home. By the way, she just had her baby, is living once again in her home, her husband is back and has rededicated his life to the Lord. God is certainly good!! Anyway, Pastor Huberto said a woman had come to them with her very sick baby, and they were hoping that we could help them. Mixcoloja, fortunately has a very rough little landing strip and by air is only 5 minutes from our house. It would take about 5 hours to get to them in car. So we packed up a few supplies and flew out to see them.
We were greeted by a small group of Mennonites with a little Indian woman and her two children sitting in the middle of them. Irma, a little over 2 years old was so sick with pneumonia. She was dehydrated and malnourished - weighing only 17 pounds. Her 4 year old sister was malnourished as well with a swollen face, hands and feet and an enormous belly. Maria, Irma's mom is 7 months pregnant. She held her baby out for me to examine and I thought my heart would break. She was so listless and pale. I told Maria that we needed to take Irma into the hospital but she shook her head and said that her husband would not let her...there was no money. They are buying enough corn each day to get through the day. There is no other food...no beans, no rice, not even salt to put on their tortillas. Their entire corn crop died in the field this year. So we gave her an antibiotic and some pedialyte and some food and then we prayed - entrusting her to a God who sees and knows the injustice that this family is suffering. As we prayed, all I could think of was Matthew 10:29 which says "Aren't two sparrows sold for next to nothing,,,and yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's consent....so don't be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows." I told Maria that Irma was like one of those little sparrows and that God had not forgotten them. Pray for this little sparrow...that God will heal her body and that this family will understand that He is a kind and merciful God who always cares for His children.
We were greeted by a small group of Mennonites with a little Indian woman and her two children sitting in the middle of them. Irma, a little over 2 years old was so sick with pneumonia. She was dehydrated and malnourished - weighing only 17 pounds. Her 4 year old sister was malnourished as well with a swollen face, hands and feet and an enormous belly. Maria, Irma's mom is 7 months pregnant. She held her baby out for me to examine and I thought my heart would break. She was so listless and pale. I told Maria that we needed to take Irma into the hospital but she shook her head and said that her husband would not let her...there was no money. They are buying enough corn each day to get through the day. There is no other food...no beans, no rice, not even salt to put on their tortillas. Their entire corn crop died in the field this year. So we gave her an antibiotic and some pedialyte and some food and then we prayed - entrusting her to a God who sees and knows the injustice that this family is suffering. As we prayed, all I could think of was Matthew 10:29 which says "Aren't two sparrows sold for next to nothing,,,and yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's consent....so don't be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows." I told Maria that Irma was like one of those little sparrows and that God had not forgotten them. Pray for this little sparrow...that God will heal her body and that this family will understand that He is a kind and merciful God who always cares for His children.
Monday, September 28, 2009
The Poor Among Us
Our house, for the last two weeks, has been full of phone calls, emails, and endless brainstorming about how we can get corn here to this valley for the least amount of money and as quickly as possible. We have been told that we need to move quickly because the corn that is available is being bought rapidly by speculators and companies in Mexico. These are things that the Ficker men (Craig included) are particulary good at.
We have thought and prayed long and hard about how to involve the community - especially the local church - in this project. We have asked for help from our good friends Oralia and Sebastian in San Andres. They are the directors of the orphanage there and have a feeding program as well which is being stretched to the breaking point. We will host pastors of the local churches to a lunch on Friday to enlist their help as well. Our thoughts right now are to ask for donations of rice, beans, oatmeal, atol and oil from the churches as well as their help in locating families who are at risk. It is a different way of thinking for most here who are used to receiving and not so much in giving. Pray with us that their hearts will be open to helping...that they will understand that giving is so much more blessed than receiving!
My prayer for many years has been to have a deeper understanding of the man Christ Jesus - this man who died for me; this man who is fully God - in whom I put all of my trust. I have come to realize something profound...that He was (and is - because He never changes) Jewish. And if I want to understand Him, I need to understand Him in His Jewishness. Now, I know very little about the Jewish faith and I do not desire to live under endless laws about how to wash my pots and pans but I do want to know what it is that moved Him; how did He think? So I have begun to study...and what I am finding has opened my eyes to so many things that I have never understood. For example, one of my favorite scriptures is John 12:1-3 where Mary, in deepest worship anoints Jesus' feet with costly perfume. I have meditated long on that and wished that I could have been Mary. But as I read the next few verses, I find Jesus saying, "you will always have the poor among you..." It has always confused me and because I now find myself living among the very poor, I want to understand why He said that. Couldn't He in all of His power, fix that? And then I read in Deuteronomy as Moses gives final instructions to the Israelites as they prepare to enter the Promised Land about the tithes that they are to give. My understanding of the tithe has always been 10% of our income to the church but now I see that it is so much more. God instructed the Jewish farmers to leave grain at the edge of their fields so that the poor could harvest it every season. They would leave 1/50th of their crop, as well as "leket"or the leaving of dropped stalks for the poor. In addition, Moses commanded that 10% of the crop every third and sixth year of the seven year cycle was to be given to the poor. Now that is a lot of rules and regulations, but the heart of the law behind all of that is that the poor are provided for; that although they are poor, they are not to be hungry; that it is our responsibility to provide for the poor. And in this agricultural culture, that is what we hope to express to the church - the body of believers here. Wouldn't it be great if we could somehow give these farmers a vision of how God designed provision for the poor? And even greater, that as we here begin to live by His rules, we would reap the benefit of His blessing - "All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock - the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out." Deuteronomy 28:2-6. Would you pray that we will be able to express our hearts to these pastors as they gather here Friday? Would you pray that above all else, that the Name of the Lord will be honored in this project?
We have thought and prayed long and hard about how to involve the community - especially the local church - in this project. We have asked for help from our good friends Oralia and Sebastian in San Andres. They are the directors of the orphanage there and have a feeding program as well which is being stretched to the breaking point. We will host pastors of the local churches to a lunch on Friday to enlist their help as well. Our thoughts right now are to ask for donations of rice, beans, oatmeal, atol and oil from the churches as well as their help in locating families who are at risk. It is a different way of thinking for most here who are used to receiving and not so much in giving. Pray with us that their hearts will be open to helping...that they will understand that giving is so much more blessed than receiving!
My prayer for many years has been to have a deeper understanding of the man Christ Jesus - this man who died for me; this man who is fully God - in whom I put all of my trust. I have come to realize something profound...that He was (and is - because He never changes) Jewish. And if I want to understand Him, I need to understand Him in His Jewishness. Now, I know very little about the Jewish faith and I do not desire to live under endless laws about how to wash my pots and pans but I do want to know what it is that moved Him; how did He think? So I have begun to study...and what I am finding has opened my eyes to so many things that I have never understood. For example, one of my favorite scriptures is John 12:1-3 where Mary, in deepest worship anoints Jesus' feet with costly perfume. I have meditated long on that and wished that I could have been Mary. But as I read the next few verses, I find Jesus saying, "you will always have the poor among you..." It has always confused me and because I now find myself living among the very poor, I want to understand why He said that. Couldn't He in all of His power, fix that? And then I read in Deuteronomy as Moses gives final instructions to the Israelites as they prepare to enter the Promised Land about the tithes that they are to give. My understanding of the tithe has always been 10% of our income to the church but now I see that it is so much more. God instructed the Jewish farmers to leave grain at the edge of their fields so that the poor could harvest it every season. They would leave 1/50th of their crop, as well as "leket"or the leaving of dropped stalks for the poor. In addition, Moses commanded that 10% of the crop every third and sixth year of the seven year cycle was to be given to the poor. Now that is a lot of rules and regulations, but the heart of the law behind all of that is that the poor are provided for; that although they are poor, they are not to be hungry; that it is our responsibility to provide for the poor. And in this agricultural culture, that is what we hope to express to the church - the body of believers here. Wouldn't it be great if we could somehow give these farmers a vision of how God designed provision for the poor? And even greater, that as we here begin to live by His rules, we would reap the benefit of His blessing - "All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock - the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out." Deuteronomy 28:2-6. Would you pray that we will be able to express our hearts to these pastors as they gather here Friday? Would you pray that above all else, that the Name of the Lord will be honored in this project?
Sunday, September 13, 2009
The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed...
I usually don't write anyone or pretty much talk with anyone on Sunday evenings. I'm usually too exhausted to think...much less talk. But tonight is different. I...we, are so burdened by what we are seeing in our community that I have to share it. Friday we went out to a remote village to do a mobile clinic. We have been there several times and it is a very isolated community of indigenous people with the normal needs of most communities in this area. This time however, we were stuck by the overwhelming need. Although we only saw about 60 people, almost all of the children were very sick or very malnourished or both. When we asked if there was enough food, most said no, some said that their harvest this year would be small.
Saturday, we had a pretty normal clinic day, adding only one new child to our already full feeding program. But later that evening, Cali, our friend from the Peace Corps who works in the city office came with news of the "red alert" in our area - signifying the urgent need for food. We spent much of the evening trying to figure out ways to help.
And today, I was overwhelmed with requests for food. Almost everyone we talked to said they were out of corn, some asked for corn, others asked for money, and almost all seemed resigned and without hope. These are people who live always on the edge of desperation...even in the best of times. One woman came asking for prayer for her husband who was threatening suicide. She is 8 months pregnant and told me that her husband said that if the baby was a girl, he would feed her poison as well...but if it is a boy, he will let him live. And so we prayed for Felipe, we prayed that God would open his eyes to see his value as a husband, as a father, as a child of God; that he would see the importance of his life, that he would understand and know his God and Father who longs to love him.
"You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed...Psalm 10:17,18
Saturday, we had a pretty normal clinic day, adding only one new child to our already full feeding program. But later that evening, Cali, our friend from the Peace Corps who works in the city office came with news of the "red alert" in our area - signifying the urgent need for food. We spent much of the evening trying to figure out ways to help.
And today, I was overwhelmed with requests for food. Almost everyone we talked to said they were out of corn, some asked for corn, others asked for money, and almost all seemed resigned and without hope. These are people who live always on the edge of desperation...even in the best of times. One woman came asking for prayer for her husband who was threatening suicide. She is 8 months pregnant and told me that her husband said that if the baby was a girl, he would feed her poison as well...but if it is a boy, he will let him live. And so we prayed for Felipe, we prayed that God would open his eyes to see his value as a husband, as a father, as a child of God; that he would see the importance of his life, that he would understand and know his God and Father who longs to love him.
"You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed...Psalm 10:17,18
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