So I was down yesterday (again) in recovery phase from catching the bug. Much needed. The rest of the guys went out to a home for teenage girls and mixed and poured concrete - very very tough manual labor - not quite quikrete like it mostly is in the States! Today (Thursday) we visited the dump, had a chance to hand out school uniforms for boys and girls in a village named MontaLoa (spelling?) and handed out some school supplies and finally got to play some el fútbol with the kids there! I’m too tired and overwhelmed to describe it all in great detail, but the day was packed with so many things. We bought enough bread, meat, cheese, oranges, and snack cookies to feed 300 at the dump, as well as water. We made the sandwiches and headed out. No amount of words will ever be able to capture the dump. The smells, the faces of the people there (all wore things all over their face to prevent all the nasty dust/sun/bacteria/everything you can imagine in a dump out the best they could) are fresh in my mind. They literally almost rioted trying to get food - it was nothing I could ever imagine. As Mark said, the humans, vultures, cows, and dogs there are literally equal - all scavenging to stay alive. Most of the people there scavenge for anything they could possibly make money off of. They go so hungry they often huff glue to get high to make the hunger go away. We were all completely taken aback and I still truly haven’t processed it all and not sure if I ever will be able to. No human should have to live this way. Somehow through all the confusion and brokenness and complete devastation, all I have the power to say is God is in control, somehow and some way. As Mark said today, seeing and even reading these things we shouldn’t feel guilty to the point where we can’t carry out daily life but we shouldn’t walk away walling it all off either (truly once you’ve seen it you know of this - you can’t unsee it), but we should genuinely ask ourselves how we can examine our lives and make changes, definitely pray, and do what the Spirit leads us to do. Going out to MonaLoa was wonderful! All the kids in the village ran up with their mothers (who had mothers) and we were able to give them shirts, pants, and skirts for school uniforms they need! This is all thanks to a generous donation and made possible through the women of Mi Esperanza ministries. The looks on the faces of the mothers and children were so wonderful to take in. What a blessing to be able to take part in. We also handed out school supplies AND got to play el fútbol (soccer) with the kids on a dirt field! It was so much fun, but they took us gringos to school on the field (and every one of them was probably 16 or younger), some playing in sandals! These people continue to amaze me at every corner. I said I couldn’t type much but already have haha. What a blessing of a day, through the ups and downs! To God alone be the glory - it is the only way I can explain any of this and connect the loose ends of what we have experienced and will continue to. Pray for the people here to have their physical needs met with spiritual needs (Jesus) being the center of all. Pray for each of us to examine our lives in each of our contexts and the way the Spirit leads. Pray for realization and grace that God has come to dwell within us to give glory to Himself, through the sacrifice of Jesus! (How crazy and mind-blowing is that?).
No me gusta el vómito,
-Barrett
“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7:24-25
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