Some reflections on "When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without hurting the poor"

Here at Healing Waters we do a book study, bible study or prayer time on Friday mornings. It is a chance for the staff to touch base and focus and reflect on our work from a spiritual perspective.

We have just started the book When Helping Hurts: How to alleviate poverty without hurting the poor. . . and yourself.

This is a great book and should be required reading for anyone that is doing any sort of missions work, local or global. Most of the examples in the book focus more on global missions, but the content is relevant in either case.

I wanted to share a few quotes and reflections with you as we study this book.

"We write this book with a great deal of excitement about the renewed interest in helping low-income people that is so apparent among North American Christians. While materialism, self-centeredness, and complacency continue to plague all of us, nobody can deny the upswing in social concern among North American evangelicals in the past two decades. There is perhaps no better illustration of this trend than the exploding shor-term mission movement, much of which has focused on ministering to the poor at home and abroad.

But our excitement about these developments is seriously tempered by two convictions. First, North American Christians are simply not doing enough. We are the richest people ever to walk the face of the earth. Period. Yet, most of us live as though there is nothing terribly wrong in the world. We attend our kids' soccer games, pursue our careers, and take beach vacations while 40 percent of the world's inhabitants struggle just to eat every day. And in our own backyards, the homeless, those residing in ghettos, and a wave of immigrants live in a world outside the economic and social mainstream of North America. We do not necessarily need to feel guilty about our wealth. But we do need to get up every morning with a deep sense that something is terribly wrong with the world and yearn and strive to do something about it. There is simply not enough yearning and striving going on.

WOW! This is difficult to read and even more difficult to digest. I think my first reaction is to get defensive. I do a lot of social justice and poverty alleviation work, where do they get off talking to me like that? I pursue my career and take beach vacations, should I feel guilty? While the authors state that "we do not necessarily need to feel guilty about our wealth," it is really hard not to after reading this. But I think the key lines in this passage are right after that (which is why I italicized them in the original passage.)

We DO NEED to get up EVERY MORNING with a DEEP SENSE that something is TERRIBLY WRONG with the WORLD and YEARN AND STRIVE to do SOMETHING about it. There is simply NOT ENOUGH YEARNING AND STRIVING going on!

Ok, let's take some time to reflect and pray on that. And let's ramp up our striving and yearning. . .

Thoughts about politics and the church, repost from a friend of mine

I am just getting caught up on reading my friends' blogs and stumbled across this post from a friend of mine. Paul Sundberg posts on his blog "JUST KEEP ASKING" He is a friend of mine, the father/father-in-law of two of my dear friends from college. His is the pastor of an ELCA Lutheran Church in the Pacific Northwest. I really appreciate his perspective and this is not the first time I have reposted one of his posts. Without further ado, enjoy:





Last night’s vote on health care reform in the U.S., was hardly the end of it. Our divided nation will be more divided. Wrangling and rancor will continue, and indeed, increase. That is the way of the world. It is most certainly nothing new. But what a sad display: it remains disheartening and disturbing.

Still a Christian, I am most disturbed by those who identify themselves as Christians and who see our government as an enemy and not as an instrument of compassion. I continue to be dumbfounded by those who care about the first three trimesters of life and are totally callous about the fourth trimester. I continue to be appalled by those who call this a Christian nation, demanding legislated moral constraints, without demanding care for the least among us. I continue to be saddened by the Christians that label such care as socialism, and sees solutions only in capitalism (as though it was a social mechanism baptized by Jesus himself). Have they never read about the communities of Jesus in the New Testament?

No wonder why fewer and fewer Americans are finding hope and solace in the church.

We have so much work to do to show we still matter.

Re-Post of NY Times Op-Ed Piece about International Relief work and Global Missions

This op-ed piece was just too good to not repost. I will be honest with you, I think it is going to make some people uncomfortable. It made me a little bit uncomfortable, but as Christians, I think we are called to live with a little discomfort. Enjoy!

Learning From the Sin of Sodom
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published in the New York Times: February 27, 2010

For most of the last century, save-the-worlders were primarily Democrats and liberals. In contrast, many Republicans and religious conservatives denounced government aid programs, with Senator Jesse Helms calling them “money down a rat hole.”

Over the last decade, however, that divide has dissolved, in ways that many Americans haven’t noticed or appreciated. Evangelicals have become the new internationalists, pushing successfully for new American programs against AIDS and malaria, and doing superb work on issues from human trafficking in India to mass rape in Congo.

A pop quiz: What’s the largest U.S.-based international relief and development organization?

It’s not Save the Children, and it’s not CARE — both terrific secular organizations. Rather, it’s World Vision, a Seattle-based Christian organization (with strong evangelical roots) whose budget has roughly tripled over the last decade.

World Vision now has 40,000 staff members in nearly 100 countries. That’s more staff members than CARE, Save the Children and the worldwide operations of the United States Agency for International Development — combined.

A growing number of conservative Christians are explicitly and self-critically acknowledging that to be “pro-life” must mean more than opposing abortion. The head of World Vision in the United States, Richard Stearns, begins his fascinating book, “The Hole in Our Gospel,” with an account of a visit a decade ago to Uganda, where he met a 13-year-old AIDS orphan who was raising his younger brothers by himself.

“What sickened me most was this question: where was the Church?” he writes. “Where were the followers of Jesus Christ in the midst of perhaps the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time? Surely the Church should have been caring for these ‘orphans and widows in their distress.’ (James 1:27). Shouldn’t the pulpits across America have flamed with exhortations to rush to the front lines of compassion?

“How have we missed it so tragically, when even rock stars and Hollywood actors seem to understand?”

Mr. Stearns argues that evangelicals were often so focused on sexual morality and a personal relationship with God that they ignored the needy. He writes laceratingly about “a Church that had the wealth to build great sanctuaries but lacked the will to build schools, hospitals, and clinics.”

In one striking passage, Mr. Stearns quotes the prophet Ezekiel as saying that the great sin of the people of Sodom wasn’t so much that they were promiscuous or gay as that they were “arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.” (Ezekiel 16:49.)

Hmm. Imagine if sodomy laws could be used to punish the stingy, unconcerned rich!

The American view of evangelicals is still shaped by preening television blowhards and hypocrites who seem obsessed with gays and fetuses. One study cited in the book found that even among churchgoers ages 16 to 29, the descriptions most associated with Christianity were “antihomosexual,” “judgmental,” “too involved in politics,” and “hypocritical.”

Some conservative Christians reinforced the worst view of themselves by inspiring Ugandan homophobes who backed a bill that would punish gays with life imprisonment or execution. Ditto for the Vatican, whose hostility to condoms contributes to the AIDS epidemic. But there’s more to the picture: I’ve also seen many Catholic nuns and priests heroically caring for AIDS patients — even quietly handing out condoms.

One of the most inspiring figures I’ve met while covering Congo’s brutal civil war is a determined Polish nun in the terrifying hinterland, feeding orphans, standing up to drunken soldiers and comforting survivors — all in a war zone. I came back and decided: I want to grow up and become a Polish nun.

Some Americans assume that religious groups offer aid to entice converts. That’s incorrect. Today, groups like World Vision ban the use of aid to lure anyone into a religious conversation.

Some liberals are pushing to end the longtime practice (it’s a myth that this started with President George W. Bush) of channeling American aid through faith-based organizations. That change would be a catastrophe. In Haiti, more than half of food distributions go through religious groups like World Vision that have indispensable networks on the ground. We mustn’t make Haitians the casualties in our cultural wars.

A root problem is a liberal snobbishness toward faith-based organizations. Those doing the sneering typically give away far less money than evangelicals. They’re also less likely to spend vacations volunteering at, say, a school or a clinic in Rwanda.

If secular liberals can give up some of their snootiness, and if evangelicals can retire some of their sanctimony, then we all might succeed together in making greater progress against common enemies of humanity, like illiteracy, human trafficking and maternal mortality.

Doing development work without doing more harm

Photo of a boy in Chiapas outside his home. His family receives water from the Aguas de Unidad / Healing Waters Project in his community. Before the project this boy was sick a lot and his growth was stunted. Since the project opened he has been much healthier and is growing normally.

I was forwarded the article below by the CEO of Healing Waters, Ed Anderson. It really cuts to the core of issues around development and how important it is that we are aware of what we are doing, sustainability, appropriate technology, and community involvement. Below the article I have posted some of my own thoughts and commentary.


Help That Makes a Difference: Change our Worldview


The goal is not to turn Kampala into Chicago. The goal is for both Kampala and Chicago to look more like the New Jerusalem.
Brian Fikkert, co-author of When Helping Hurts posted 12/15/2009 09:50AM

What's the biggest change needed in how charities and federal agencies deliver aid to developing nations? Brian Fikkert, co-author of When Helping Hurts, David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, and Dale Hanson Bourke, author of The Skeptic's Guide to Global Poverty, suggest the best way to help.

"We were happy in our village before you folks told us we were poor. We didn't have many things, but happiness doesn't come just from having more material things. What makes you think we want to become just like you?"

The audience, a group of American donors and development leaders, looked bewildered as Emily, a community development worker from Liberia, took her seat. Finally, one of the U.S. donors spoke up. "Yes, of course we share your goals, Emily. That's why we keep on bringing you more capital and technology." Emily listened helplessly, realizing that her message had fallen on deaf ears—again.

Americans are the richest people ever to walk the face of the earth, and we coexist with 2.6 billion people living on less than $2 per day. The situation is simply immoral.
We must do more, but we must do it differently.

For the past 60 years, the majority of American assistance has flowed out of a materialistic worldview, which assumes that wealth is produced by material things, namely capital and technology. In this view, America is "developed." We have arrived, and they have not. The assumption is that if we provide them with more capital and technology, they will be able to be just like the U.S.—a country where families and communities are disintegrating, where addictions are on the rise, where mental and emotional illnesses are exploding, and where rampant consumerism is
bankrupting all of us.

The need for more capital and better technology persists. People really do need improved access to clean water, better health care, decent education, and a living wage. But they, and we, need something far more profound. Whether we realize it or not, we all are longing for an intimate relationship with God, for a sense of dignity, for community and belonging, and for the ability to use our gifts and abilities to develop creation. The goal is not to turn Kampala into Chicago. The goal is for both Kampala and Chicago to look more like the New Jerusalem.

The practical implications for providing aid are enormous: Spend more resources on supporting people-empowering processes and less on bricks and mortar; help people to steward the gifts and resources they already have; include the materially poor as full participants in selecting, designing, implementing, and evaluating any intervention; build the capacity of indigenous churches and Christian organizations to work in highly relational, gospel-focused ways; promote the use of spiritual tools—prayer, meditation, fellowship, and Bible study—in addition to material tools in all
poverty-alleviation efforts; and embrace that both they and we are fundamentally
broken and in need of the healing that only Jesus Christ can bring. We are all developing nations.

There are a couple of quotes in this article that really speak to me. The first is the quote from the Liberian aid worker. We have a tendency to try to "fix" problems from a very "westernized" and "first world" perspective. If we could just get a laptop and cell phone in the hands of everyone, wouldn't life be better? The reality is that those of us engaged in development work need to go into communities and ask the locals what they want instead of telling them what they need. This simple, basic rule of good development work is so often overlooked. We have an overwhelming desire to fix problems, we forget to stop and ask what problems the community feels are most in neeed of fixing.



The next quote from this short article that really resonated with me was, "Americans are the richest people ever to walk the face of the earth, and we coexist with 2.6 billion people living on less than $2 per day. The situation is simply immoral."



This quote is spot-on. There are so many severe problems associated with poverty that could be fixed so easily like irradication of basic diseases, providing safe drinking water, etc. Very basic investment in the community, and community involvement are key to resolving these problems.



The next quote was so good they used it as the byline for the article, "The goal is not to turn Kampala into Chicago. The goal is for both Kampala and Chicago to look more like the New Jerusalem." WOW! These guys got it right. It is not that every country and city needs to look like a first-world destination, but the basic needs and human rights of every person must be realized, which would look an awful lot like the New Jerusalem.



Some thoughts for reflection. Enjoy!

The church's role in healing, meeting people's basic needs and reconciliation

A reflection from Henri Nouwen… good for the church and for organizations like Healing Waters.

"A Ministry of Healing and Reconciliation"

How does the Church witness to Christ in the world?

First and foremost by giving visibility to Jesus' love for the poor and the weak.

In a world so hungry for healing, forgiveness, reconciliation, and most of all unconditional love, the Church must alleviate that hunger through its ministry.

Wherever we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the lonely, listen to those who are rejected, and bring unity and peace to those who are divided, we proclaim the living Christ, whether we speak about him or not.

I think this is a representation of what the church's role is, and what we are all called to do as Christians. Just my two cents.

Some great quotes on social justice, global missions, prayer and service

I am the interim youth director at Wellshire Presbyterian Church. For the past few weeks, with the help of Holly Inglis, our Director of Christian Education, we have been doing a really cool series with the youth group on prayer.

The first week we focused on "prayer for self." We set up prayer stations so the kids could focus their prayers. I built a cross out of rough-hewn 4x4 cedar and the kids were able to write their prayers on a piece of paper and then nail them to the cross.

Last week we focused on "prayer for others." The kids braided together strips of cloth representing themselves, the person they were praying for and God, symbolizing the way that prayer can bring us together and in closer relationship with God.

This week we focused on "prayer for the world." One of our activities was praying over headlines from the paper and quotes about service, global missions and social justice, and then lighting a candle and placing it on a big world map over the country or region the kids were praying for.

A couple of the quotes that Holly found for this activity are below and I wanted to share them with you. They really resonated with me and I hope they are meaninful for you too:

“It is not how much we do,
But how much love we put in the doing.
It is not how much we give,
But how much love we put in the giving.”
-Mother Teresa


“Nakedness is not only for a piece of clothing;
Nakedness is lack of human dignity”
-Mother Teresa


“If we pray, we will believe;
If we believe, we will love
If we love, we will serve.”
-Mother Teresa


Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours,
Yours are the eyes through which is to look out Christ’s compassion to the world;
Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good;
Yours are the hands with which he is to bless humanity now.
-Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

A huge "shout out" to Holly for all of her help with this series we have done on prayer. She is a genius with a servant's heart. I am blessed to work with her. Thank you Holly and thank God for Holly!

Boring. . . finding joy in the mundane

I stole the text below from my friend's blog, but think it is relevant and right on. Enjoy!

Well today I was in the midday doldrums in need of a spiritual zap. I was working on some tasks that are certainly important to keep things running smoothly, so that is good. But sitting in front of the computer can suck my brain out. The mundane is where we live most of our lives, and in this place we learn to love God, and serve people, even though we don’t always feel like it. This is called having character. Or most days, building character. For this I rejoice, because I love Jesus, and want to learn to love Him more. I want to learn character through the testing pressures of life, including functioning in joy during mundane tasks. I do though fail in this assignment regularly. The stir-crazy revivalist in me wants every moment to be a world changing, earth shaking, devil blasting, holy ghost hoedown. But not every moment of my life fits into that category. As Mike Bickle of the International House of Prayer puts it “We focus on establishing our identity in God as we are faithful to serve in the mundane.”

It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. . .

The sermon at church on Sunday was based on Mark 2:13-17. The text is below:

The Calling of Levi
13Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

15While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

17On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

What an incredible relief! Jesus came for me, not just despite my sins, but because of my sins. This does not mean that I cannot intentionally keep in sinning, but it does mean that Jesus walks with me no matter what I do.

I am already accepted right where I am. Praise God!

Guest Blogger: Our Dysfunctional Christian Hearts

Below is a blog post from John Bell, senior pastor at Wellshire Presbyterian Church. He is brand new to the blogging world and his blog is still in Beta mode, so he hasn't made it public yet. As one of his "beta testers" I read this post and thought it was worthy of getting some public circulation, so here it is. Stay tuned and once Pastor Bell goes public with his blog, I will be adding it to my blog roll over in the right column. Without further ado, Pastor Bell's post:


This will not surprise anyone in my family: I was born with a small, hard heart. Literally. Most hearts are about fist size. Mine is roughly the size of a tennis ball. I have a congential heart defect. In a small section near the heart, my descending aorta never really grew from birth, and my heart remained small. It had to work extra-fast to pump the blood through the narrow place, so it became hard. This condition is called coarcation of the aorta. Had I been born 10 years earlier, I most certainly would have died as a young boy; however, the development of the heart-lung machine and new surgical techniques in the 1950’s now give people like me a second chance. Once my defect was discovered, my activity was limited until I had corrective surgery at the age of 11. More on this later … I’m sure.

Like the Grinch who Stole Christmas, who’s heart was two sizes too small, my heart is still naturally hard and naturally small. Therefore, I need lots of exercise and some medication to be heart healthy! (Notice I didn’t say a strict diet! I don’t have a problem with cholesterol. Don’t take away my macaroni and cheese! In fact, my daughters once dubbed me “Cheese Boy,” because of my love of all things cheese.) If I don’t exercise, mentally and physically - and probably spiritually too, I start to wear down, get crabby and easily can become Grinch-like. The medication I take keeps my heart soft and pliable, the way a good heart should work. My doctor at the Mayo Clinic says that with proper exercise and medication, I should live long and prosper. (Well, live long at least. Prosper may be a different issue.)

There is a lesson here for all of us. Metaphorically speaking, I believe that everyone is born with a congenital heart defect, and that none of us have hearts that work properly – without “exercise” and “medication.” It is clear that we weren’t born right. Jimmy Buffett says (sings!) that it’s clear the cosmic baker took us out of the oven a little too soon. Theologians have long called this the doctrine of original sin. We are not able to do the right thing all the time, we are not perfect, we somehow always fall a bit short of the expectation, we are born with a screw loose, we are flawed, we do not love as we ought to love: we were all born with slightly defective, broken hearts …

And we need “exercise” and “medication.” I do not know what this might be for you, but for me it means I have to set aside time and find ways to work at loving others. Love is not just a feeling, an emotion; love is an activity. It’s not enough to say that I love my wife; I have to occasionally do the dishes or clean the potty to prove it. It’s not enough to say that - like Jesus – I love the poor, I have to give up an occasional day off to work on a Habitat for Humanity house or travel to a remote part of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and live among and assist an oppressed people for a couple of weeks. Love requires exercise. “Medication” for me means that I have to try to keep my heart open and soft, alert – and not allow it to become hard and callous. It’s easy to read the paper or watch the news and become jaded and cynical, effectively shutting down the heart by closing down that which we call: compassion. “Medication” (Bible reading? Prayer? Meditation? Worship?) keeps my heart soft and open, sensitive to the needs of others, alert to the presence of The Spirit.

My heart requires “exercise” and “medication.” Otherwise, I become Grinch-like, with a heart two-sizes too small and in danger of living a bitter life of cynicism, fear or self-hatred. I imagine your broken heart needs some work too! Love does not come easily or naturally to any of us. It requires time, work and discipline. Exercise your heart today: tell someone that you love him or her and … throw in a random act of kindness!

My second post. Whew. It’s 4:20 a.m. Time to head to the gym and hop on a cardio machine!

The Spiritual Practice of Justice

There was a great insert in my Sunday bulletin at Church that I wanted to share with you:

There can be little growth in holiness without growth in a sense of social justice.
-Edward Hays in "A Lenten Hobo Honeymoon"

We must be for the poor not simply a handout but a voice on their behalf where the poor are not heard and their pain is not registered. If we are to really minister, it is up to us to first be transformed ourselves so taht we can then be really transfiguring.
-Joan Chittister from "In the Heart of the Temple: My Spiritual Vision"

Develop a daily cue to remind yourself to practice justice

• Every time you take money out of your wallet, it can be your cue to "practice justice"
• Every time you start your care, it can be your cue to "practice justice"
• Every time you see someone in need, it can be your cue to "practice justice"

Pick your own cue and use that to keep your calling front and center.

Reflections

• Identify an injustice that troubles you. What first made you aware of it? Reflect on one action you have done or can do to combat it.
• Do you think that all people are born with a yearning for justice, or does it have to be taught? Think back to your childhood and recall your most vivid experience of justice or injustice. How can you participate in teaching justice to a younger generation

I really got a lot out of this bulletin insert and wanted to share it with you. There was also a great Psalm that someone quoted this week that I wanted to share in light of this social justice posting and the healthcare debate:

Happy are they who consider the poor and needy! The LORD will deliver them in the time of trouble. The LORD preserves them and keeps them alive, so that they may be happy in the land; he does not hand them over to the will of their enemies. The LORD sustains them on their sickbed and ministers to them in their illness.

God is calling us to take care of the poor and needy and promises to take care of us when we do. We are called to care and to be the hands and feet of God, ministering to the disenfranchised, the hungry, the weak and the sick. Let us not forget.

Guest Blogger: Sermon on "Appalling Acts of Radical Compassion"

My friend Paul Sundberg, who is a Lutheran Pastor, gave a sermon last Sunday that is worthy of reposting and publication. It is about choices, and the compassion with which we should be approaching choices in our lives and in the world. Enjoy!

As for Me (Sermon by Paul Sundberg preached on 8/24/09)

Appalling Acts of Radical Compassion

Joshua 24.1-2a, 14-18, Psalm 34.15-22 Ephesians 6.10-20 John 6.56-69

Choices are a part of life: some are really easy:
Tostitos and salsa or Ruffles and dip?
Chocolate or Vanilla?
Mariners or Yankees?
Ford or Toyota?
Boxers or briefs?
More or less?

But some choices are anything but simple. Some appeal to our need to be right; some bring joy to some and grief to others. And that means that they are the kind of choices that demand that we be genuine in our faith: genuine in the way Paul means it when he writes to the divided congregation in Corinth. He does not demand that they get it right, he calls them to be genuine – which he then goes on to describe as love.

I don’t like talking about choice from the pulpit. The worship band folks from our 9:00am service will tell you that whenever I see the word choice in the lyrics of the songs they sing, I write new lyrics. I’m no fan of choice theology, (it too easily leads to the idea that salvation and righteousness are up to me) yet I have come to grudgingly accept, as I have read the Bible over the last 37 years (as student, teacher, pastor and repentant believer), that just as light is both a wave and a particle – it depends on what you’re looking for – so faith is pure gift and choice.

Besides, with today’s reading I can’t avoid it. “Choose,” Joshua says to the assembled leaders and elders as he and Aaron’s son are about to die and a change of generations is about to take place. “Choose between the lesser gods of convenience and comfort or God who wrestles with us, leads us into physical and spiritual wildernesses, journeys and battles, who calls us into constant repentance and forgiveness, radical generosity and compassion, and hospitality to angels and saints, strangers and sinners.

He’s just echoing his mentor Moses, who said it more simply, “See I have set before you today death or life. Choose Life.

Jesus says it more personally, his teachings and actions are hard to take, and many of his disciples have left. He turn to the twelve and ask, “Do you also want to leave? Will you walk away from me or walk with me?”

But the choice isn’t easy, even when the gift of faith has been given. Jesus comes with appalling acts of radical compassion and love:
-Jesus calls hicks and dreamers to be his disciples
-Turns water to wine for an already inebriated wedding party
-Chases out of the temple those whose presence has been blessed by priests and Levites, but whose greed creates a barrier to those who just want to worship
-Tells a leader of the people he has to start over with a new life and new perspective
-Calls himself the son of God
-Forgives sin
-Heals on the Sabbath
-Calls himself the giver of eternal life
-Claims authority above and beyond Scripture
-Feeds thousands
-Offers himself, his body and blood, for the people

And that’s just the first six chapters of John. He will yet:
-Save the life of the woman caught in adultery and send her away without condemnation
-Shatter the myth of a connection between sin and physical defects and differences
-Heal the blind
-Raise Lazarus
-Let his feet be touched and anointed by a woman who is not related to him
-Wash the feet of his disciples
-Give his peace
-Choose weakness over power and submit to the authorities
-Die on the cross

You who say you love me…what will you choose…do you also want to leave?

It wasn’t and isn’t an easy choice. Our instinct is to return to the things that help us avoid wrestling with issues, that help us put life (ours and everyone else’s) in order, and make life convenient, profitable, and comfortable. The things that make it easy to not look beyond ourselves, not look at the consequences of our choices, not have to honor our interdependence, or confess our own sin first, or give ourselves away. We’d prefer the lesser gods of moral rectitude, self-righteousness, self-service and cultural accommodation.

If our choices are so self-focused, so turned in on ourselves, so demanding of a single mind, how will we turn to the family at the church seeking shelter? How will we continue to dig wells in communities that thirst regardless of the language they speak, the traditions they honor, the religion they follow? How will we speak the gospel of Jesus Christ to a nation that is wracked with anxiety, struggling to recover, and reeling from the divisive language of politicians and pundits and the fearful? How will we be Christ’s Church?

You who say you love me…what will you choose…do you also want to leave? Or, will you realize that these things I do, I do for you, freely in spite of your sin, because of your sin. The wine…it’s for you. Worship…it’s for you. New life…it’s for you. Forgiveness, hope, healing, me…my flesh and blood…my dying…it’s for you. I will let nothing stand in the way of my love for you. I am the Son of God who wrestles with you as you wrestle with life and what it brings. You who say you love me, do you also want to leave, or will you join me in appalling acts of radical compassion?

As for me and my house the only answer can be, “We will serve the Lord. After all, Lord, to whom shall we go? You, you Jesus, have the words of eternal life.”

Last three days in Guatemala, a LOOOOONNGGG bus trip and my first day in Chiapas, Mexico!

I picked up my parents from the Guatemala City airport on Wednesday night. Their plane was late and did not arrive until about 11:45pm which means we did not make it back to our hotel in Antigua until 1am.

Thursday morning I turned my parents loose in Antigua as I drove to the Healing Waters/Aguas de Unidad Guatemala office. Thursday was another full, but very fulfilling day. I arrived at the office and got caught up on e-mail, staying in touch with the Denver office of Healing Waters. Then Juan, Dani and I piled into the car and drove to Comalapa, a city of 15,000 that is about 1 hour from the office. Along the way we shared the road with a man herding his cow as you can see in the photo below.



We are installing a new water system in Comalapa this year, so I got the chance to see where the water system is being installed and learn a little bit more about the community. I am really excited about this water system because it is being installed in a Christian school that has representation from various churches in town, including Catholic and Protestant. The school is run by an interdenominational organization with a strong version for serving their community.

This is a photo of me standing in front of the school with a teacher

After visiting the school where the water system will be installed and meeting with some people from the school, Juan, Dani and I toured the local market where I got to take some great photos.

A Catholic church, a brightly painted bus and a "tuk-tuk" (three wheeled motorcycle taxi)

Three boys in the market who wanted me to take their photo

An indigenous woman selling tomatos and potatos

A beautiful indigenous woman selling flowers

On our way back to the office we stopped by a roadside stand where they sell roasted corn on the cob. You rub lime and salt on the corn and it is DELICIOUS!

The woman preparing the corn and cutting the limes

Me enjoying some roasted corn on the cob

We got back to the office in time to finalize our schedule for the next day, which included a morning meeting with a couple of my staff members, and visits with three church partners all over Guatemala city. Friday morning dawned early once again, as I had to meet with Ben, our tech and maintenance manager to help him with contracting an assistant. Then we hopped in the car and headed into Guatemala city. I met with the pastor a two church elders from a church that is really involved in their community. We met on the campus of a seminary where the pastor teaches classes.

The pastor and elders of the church, note a slight difference in height.

After that meeting, we headed to a famous Chinese restaurant in Guatemala city (I know, Chinese food it Guatemala? Right?) The food was mediocre but the meeting with the pastor went well. He had some good feedback and suggestions and really enjoyed getting to know him and hear about his church. Guatemala is a country of contrasts, and this man is the co-pastor of a church. He is well-educated and from a middle class family. His co-pastor at the church is a carpenter with a 6th grade education. It was amazing to learn how well these two men complement each other and can do such a great job leading a church.

Important Healing Waters/Aguas de Unidad and church business over Guatemalan Chinese food!

My final meeting of the day was in the Santa Fe neighborhood which is literally a stones-throw away from the runway of the Guatemala City International Airport. This neighborhood is famous because every few years a pilot doesn't stick the landing at the airport, or the brakes don't work on the plane and the planes end up crashing into this neighborhood. (I guess that is not something you want to be famous for.) The pastor of the church had a great sense of humor and a huge heart for serving his community. It was very clear that he was using the Healing Waters system to reach out to his community and provide them a source of safe drinking water. . . and hope for a better future.

Another substantial height difference. Next to me is Daniela Rosales, a Healing Waters/Aguas de Unidad staff member in Guatemala

We finally made it back to the office at about 5pm and celebrated the birthday of Cristobal, one of the employees at the Aguas de Unidad Guatemala office. Our Guatemalan accountant, Letty, has a one year old son that joined us for the party. After some delicious cake, I took the time to say goodbye and pray with the employees. It was a long but very fulfilling work-week.

Gregorio and Juan Orlando

Cristobal blowing out his candles

I drove back to Antigua exhausted but very content. My parents were waiting for me and we all went to dinner at Mono Loco and had their famous nachos! On Saturday morning my parents and I drove to Lake Atitlan. It is a beautiful lake in the Guatemalan highlands surrounded by two huge volcanoes. We walked through the market and I started to buy dresses for my daughter (who will be born on December 20th.) I went a little crazy and ended up getting 7 different dresses, but it was fun!

Then we took a boat ride out on the lake to a small village. We returned to Panajachel (the major city on the lake) and had a delicious lunch of Mojarra, a fish that is caught in Lake Atitlan.

My Dad and I at the Mirador overlooking Lake Atitlan and Panajachel

Dad after finishing his Mojarra. I told him to eat the eyes, he wasn't interested.

We drove back to Antigua and then met Juan Colmenares (a Guatemala Aguas de Unidad employee) and his family for our final dinner in Guatemala.

On Sunday morning we left our hotel in Antigua at 6:00am to be at the bus terminal in Guatemala city at 7am. Our bus left for Tapachula at 7:30am and arrived in Tapachula at 2:00pm. Tapachula is just across the Mexican border in southern Chiapas.

The border crossing was a little bit chaotic. The bus dropped us off on the Guatemalan side of the border where we had to wade through money changers and people offering to "help us" with the immigration process. Once we got up to the window for Guatemalan immigration, they looked at our passports and told us we had to pay 10 Quetzales each (the equivalent of $1.25.) I was suspicious of that as I didn't think there was an "exit tax" to leave the country so I asked the agent if she could produce a receipt for me. Surprise, Surprise, their machine was broken so she couldn't give me a receipt. But if I wanted to go to the bank a block away and make the payment there, they would give me a receipt. The bank had a line out the door and I decided it would be easier to just pay and get across the border. After that you physically walk across a bridge that is the Guatemala-Mexico border. On the other side the bus is waiting. You take your bags from underneath the bus and then go through Mexican immigration and customs. We put the bags back on the bus, borded and off we went.

From the border to Tapachula it is about 30 minutes and we got stopped at police/military checkpoints twice looking for drugs and illegal immigrants.

We got the bus station in Tapachula which was surprisingly clean and calm for a Latin American bus station. We had to wait for an hour and a half to get our bus to Tuxtla so I ran out and bought some sandwiches, chips and soda.

We boarded the bus to Tuxtla at 3:30pm and finally made it to Tuxtla at 9:30pm. Once again there were at least 4 military/police checkpoints looking for drugs and illegal immigrants.

We checked into our hotel and then went over to Mario's house. He is the National Director of Healing Waters/Aguas de Unidad Mexico. Mario's wife, Kim, is an INCREDIBLE cook and she had made some typical dishes for us. In typical fashion, dinner lasted until midnight and we finally made it back to the hotel and crashed.

Now I am Mexico for the week and will try to post updates a little more frequently. My schedule will slow down a bit, so I hope to be sharing a bit more. Thanks for reading and LET THE CLEAN WATERS FLOW!

Guest Blogger: Great blog post from a good friend about missions work

So I haven't been great about getting new content on my blog this month. It has been a crazy few weeks, and I just haven't felt inspired. . . until this morning.

I read a blog post from a friend of mine and wanted to repost it. I think it is profound enough that it needs to get some circulation. The "Guest Blogger" today is Paul Sundberg, who is a Lutheran pastor up in Lynwood, Washington. His daughter, Kirsten, and son-in-law, Nathan, are some of our best friends and I count Paul as a friend of mine in his own right.

The post really resonated with me relative to the work I do with Healing Waters and any other global or local missions work that people do. Enjoy!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Are We Just Enabling?

So here is the question-- We do a whole lot of local mission work, helping those who are homeless, have little in the way of resources or money. Jesus teaches us to take care of those-- feed the hungry, etc. When people have made a whole host of poor decisions that have landed them in that spot, are we doing more to enable them to make more poor decisions, or are we really doing good? There are consequences to our decisions--where do these come in? In this culture of kindness and gospel outreach, I feel guilty even asking the question-- but it has been bothering me for months. And maybe it's grace. We don't judge-- we just do what we can and leave the rest to the Lord. Comments?

This is a question with which we constantly struggle as we work to address basic needs. There simply aren’t simple answers.

It is an accurate reading of the gospels to conclude that Jesus never asked someone how they got into a situation of need. It is also an accurate reading to conclude that much of Jesus’ criticism of the Pharisees, scribes, priests, and leaders is directed to their socio-economic/political failure to care for the poor and excluded. Such care was an obligation of the “system”/institutions. When it comes to personal choices Jesus seems to point to the reality that systems themselves limit the range of choices one can make. What is possible from one position in the system is impossible from another position in the system.

Maybe the most interesting situations occur with the feeding of the great crowds 5000 and 4000 “not counting women and children”. These people willingly followed Jesus out into the desert and seem to have neglected to provide for their own needs – generally accepted foolish behavior. In addition, it’s likely that few would have suffered by waiting for a meal until they got back home. But, Jesus says, “feed them”.

It’s not that Jesus doesn’t call us to exercise our decision making abilities; he just doesn’t call us to self care. When he feeds and heals he sends people back home to take up their productive/supportive roles in society. When he doesn’t do that he invites people to follow him and join his community – and become healers and feeders of those in need. There is nothing he does about past choices; he only draws people into new opportunities. And what if their choices are once again bad? 70 X 7 seems to be the formula for forgiveness – transformation most often takes a long time.

So, meeting basic needs seems to have several objectives. 1) Meet the need, after all, hungry is hungry, thirsty is thirsty, homeless is homeless. 2) Draw people into community. 3) Turn the healed and fed into healers and feeders of others.

Those are the objectives we actively pursue at Trinity as we deal with basic needs. Thanks be to God, we’re seeing all three of them realized.

Posted by paul sundberg - justkeepasking@gmail.com at 6:34 AM
Labels: care, choice, community, Compassion, forgiveness

One more Wellshire team Guatemala Sermonette/Message

Rachel is in the green shirt on the far left

Below is the final sermonette/message from one of the members of Wellshire who participated in the Healing Waters/Habitat mission trip to Guatemala in March of 2009. It focuses on our responsibility as Christians to ensure that the money we give to causes is being used wisely, good stewardship. This was written by Rachel Wildrick, a member of Wellshire and sophomore at UC Boulder. Enjoy!


After my first year of college, the thing I’ve begun to get my head around most is the simple fact that life isn’t that simple. It isn’t just the sky is blue, as anyone familiar with the physics of light and refraction could tell you. Life requires considering all sorts of different data and interaction. In a similar way, ADU Guatemala has changed the way I view charity- no longer is it we give, they receive – too simple! Instead, charity is about not only meeting needs, but also meeting needs in a compassionate, yet helpful manner – we don’t just give, we help empower and help up our brothers and sisters… and that means giving with more than just that particular need in mind. It is the nonprofits that take into account the issues or problems that a situation presents (in other words, are a little more complicated to explain) that are the successful, effective, working organizations.

For example, ADU’s partnerships with good-standing, local churches who have seen a need and want to help meet it give the churches the opportunity to stimulate the area’s local economy (by employing locals and charging a fair price for water), and to also use the portion of whatever profit they make to help grow and lift up the community around them. On our trip there, that meant that we went to local schools and painted classrooms, took class pictures, and played with the children all in the name of the church we were working with.

At the local high school, the very idea of community service by others inspired a celebration for the entire school, involving a full-fledged banquet, gifts for us made by the shop class and a dance performance – this fabulous celebration was really a celebration of the outreach and the impact that this church was able to make on the school. Made possible BY ADU, and through ADU’s holistic approach, and their encouragement of serving the community through something like a small profit through selling clean, disease free water for a manageable and fair price makes a huge difference in the people in that area. I remember someone remarking after we left that day from the school, that this day is something that they will remember forever (whether it be just the image of white tall gringos attempting to challenge their star basketball team or us painting the inside and outside of their school, not only are the memories stamped on our hearts, but we have made an indelible mark on their lives as well.

It’s giving with knowledge and understanding of what you’re giving to… No longer will I give money or time to organizations who are giving handouts that don’t work for long… ADU sets the standard for empowering those that they serve, thoughtfully and with a mind to better the community. I obviously have a very high opinion of ADU, and think that they set the standard in many ways for non profit organizations, but one thing that is crucial to conscientious giving is the accountability of the organization. By keeping close record of all water sales, they are setting an example of good business and accountable habits for the churches they work with and the local employees, which as we’ve talked about, reaches the entire community.

In our giving to organizations that are accountable and effective, we in turn are being effective givers, where our time and money really count and make a difference. With the old ideas of simple donation (we give they receive) out the window, I want to suggest that giving is more about the Christian ideals like giving somebody the tools that will help them up, accountability to the community and to God, as well as giving back to the community that you live and work in.

It’s harder and more complicated to consider things like economy, business, community development, but I feel as though God calls us to consider the bigger issues, to consider the difficult things. God’s not about a temporary fix or handing out 500 dollars that’ll run out in no time. God is about solving long term problems with long term solutions. So while it may take an additional 15 minutes to describe, really, what your favorite charity does, I think it might just maybe be more of what God wants from our charity. Not just simple giving, but thoughtful, compassionate giving that addresses the problems, whether they be monumental or easily fixed.
Yes, the sky is blue… but give me 15 minutes and I could tell you the million different reasons and interacting sciences that make it work.

Another Sermonette/Message from the Wellshire Guatemala Team

I am going to share a couple more of these sermonettes because they really drive home the power of Global Missions and the important work of organizations like Habitat for Humanity and Healing Waters International.

This one is from Ray Johnson. Ray has been a member of Wellshire for decades and he went on this trip with his whole family (wife and two kids.) The message is pretty self-explanatory, so enjoy!

WHY GUATEMALA?

Good morning. My name is Ray Johnson, and I had the privilege of being part of Wellshire’s recent trip to Guatemala. I have to be honest. The main reason I went on the trip to Guatemala is that my wife told me I had to. She really wanted our family to participate together in an international mission trip ... and it was a great idea. But, I had two questions prior to this trip that made me hesitant about doing an international trip:

The first was “Why Guatemala?” Why travel all that distance to another country when you can find many of the same problems we are going there to address, right down the street in our own city? This is a question I asked myself and it is a question I was repeatedly asked by others.

That question was answered for me while I was in Guatemala. See, there are approximately 13,000,000 Guatemalans … of those, approximately 1,000,000 are presently living in the United States, some legally, some illegally, seeking a better life for themselves and their families. They are here hoping to work and be able to send money back to their families so that their lives can be better in Guatemala. And Guatemala is just one country where this is happening.

I also learned that drug and gang violence was on the rise in Guatemala. I learned that many of the gang leaders there were “trained” in Los Angeles gangs and were deported back to Guatemala after they had been arrested. Back in Guatemala, they’ve carried on with what they know.

When you travel to a country like Guatemala, or any other country for that matter, and you listen to the people there, you realize that no matter how different we look, or what language we speak, or what our customs or living standards are, God created us all the same. We all need food and shelter, we want to love and laugh, we want a safe place to raise our families, and the list of similarities goes on. In short, they desire the very things that we desire.

So, I truly believe that a man in Guatemala, given the hope of decent housing, clean water and an education for his children would rather stay with his family in his native land than travel to the United States in hopes of being able to send some money back to make the lives of his family better in his absence.

So what occurred to me on this trip is that maybe, just maybe, some of the problems occurring right down the street here in Denver and in other cities in our nation are truly global problems that need a global solution; a global solution that starts by providing hope for people in nations like Guatemala.

The second question that kept gnawing at me prior to this trip was “can we really hope to make a difference?” After all, I just told you that there are 13,000,000 Guatemalans and 19 of us who traveled down there for one week. We talked about this after we arrived in Guatemala. Greg Allen-Pickett told a story that I had heard before, but had forgotten. I won’t forget it again.

The story is about a young boy walking along a beach. The beach is littered with thousands of starfish that had been washed up on the beach in a storm the night before. As you know, starfish don’t move very fast, and their chance of making it back to the water before the sun rose and killed them was slim. So the young boy was picking them up one by one and casting them back into the water. A man came along and asked the boy; what are you doing? There are starfish along this beach for as far as you can see in both directions (maybe 13,000,000 of them)… you can’t possibly make a difference! The boy bent over, picked up another starfish, cast it into the water, looked at the man and said, “I made a difference to that one!”

So now when I think about the 19 of us traveling to Guatemala and working for four days on a Habitat for Humanity house for a woman named Ester, I can’t help but think “we made a difference to that one”… A difference that will impact her, her daughters and her grand children and maybe provide that glimmer of hope.

So next time you hear that Wellshire is planning a global mission trip, don’t be like I was. Remember two things: 1. We really have become a global society that needs global solutions, and 2. Don’t be paralyzed into inactivity, globally or locally, by thinking, I can’t possibly make a difference.

Guatemala and Global Drinking Water Crisis Message

Last Sunday my church celebrated our mission trip to Guatemala. Seven members of our mission team gave short messages/sermonettes/homilies to share our experience in Guatemala with the rest of Wellshire church. Below is the message I gave, which sort of expounded on the bible study that I led the last day our group was in Guatemala. . . enjoy!



How many of you have had the opportunity and privilege of traveling to Mexico or Guatemala?

How many of you were given the advice “Don’t drink the water?”

Many people believe that advice is just for Americans and that the locals can drink their own tap water.

The sad reality is that is simply not the case. In 90% of cities in Mexico, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, the tap water that comes out of the tap is so contaminated it would make anyone sick, no matter what your nationality. You see little bugs like salmonella, giardia, fecal coliforms, e coli and others don’t discriminate based on your nationality, anyone who comes in to contact with these little buggers gets sick.

That is a daily reality for the people that live in Guatemala and other developing countries, they can’t just go to the tap and get a glass of drinking water and they have to treat any water they are going to cook with too.


Some facts about the global drinking water crisis:


-More than 1.1 billion people in the world, 1 in 6, lack access to safe drinking water

-More than 1.5 million children under the age of 5 die from water borne illnesses each year, like the equivalent of 16 Boeing jumbo jets crashing each day, no survivors.

-Diarrhea from water borne disease is the second leading cause of mortality among children.

-Poor, urban communities of the developing world pay the highest prices in the world for water.

These are numbers. Numbers and statistics are important for us to try to understand the depth and breadth of a problem, but numbers never tell the whole story.

These numbers have faces, and we had the privilege of looking in those faces each day we were in Guatemala. Many of those faces are the photos I took on the trip in this blog post.

But our trip to Guatemala was not a story of sadness, it was a story of hope, because each one of us who went on the trip to Guatemala and each one of you who prayed for us while we were on the trip. . .

is working to change these numbers and just as important, looking in these faces and building relationships and solidarity with the people that represent these statistics.

As Christians, we are called to help others in the world who are hurting, struggling and not getting their basic needs met. We are called LOUDLY to do this throughout scripture.

In Matthew 25, Jesus states “. . . for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me. . .

Truly I tell you, just at you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

I have felt this call strongly in my life and it has led me to do development work in Latin America as the Field Operations Manager for Healing Waters International.

Each person will respond this call differently, by helping out a neighbor, by working in the soup kitchen or homeless shelter down the street, by traveling to a native American reservation and working there, or by doing global missions.

Each one of these are equally important and equally good responses to that call, but it is so important that we heed that call and like Jesus, actively work to feed the hungry, offer drink to the thirsty, comfort to the lonely, care to the sick.

We could learn statistics about all of these hurting people in our world, and statistics are important to grasp the scope of a problem, like the global problem for safe drinking water.

But we also need to remember that these numbers have faces.

We need to look in those faces and shine the light of Christ through our eyes and treat those in need with the dignity, respect and help that Christ is calling us to do.

So all of this really begs the question: What are you going to do to heed that call?

This is your call to action. In Healing Waters when talking about the global water crisis, we call it the H2OATH:

-Learn about the problem

-Do something about it

-Tell others

I encourage you to take your own oath for your own passion and calling for missional work, work outside the walls of this church, work that Jesus comes along side and does with us.

Tears of sadness and joy

God Bless you Claro. You are an inspiration

and you will be missed.

Me, Brock, Kerrie, Claro and

Mario (Healing Waters Guatemala Director)

Brock, Kerrie and Claro



Graham Johnson, one of the members of the
Wellshire team that went to Guatemala

Standing with Claro in front of his new house

I wrote about an incredible missionary family that I had the privilege of spending time with in Guatemala when I was there with the group from Wellshire in March. You can read that post here: http://blogadegregorio.blogspot.com/2009/05/great-ministry-in-guatemala.html

I was checking in with that family today, reading their blog and sending them an e-mail when I stumbled on this blog post written by Brock, the husband and father of the missionary family in Guatemala:
Claro

Claro died today.I have only known Claro for a few months, but I loved him. God
connected us, which always builds a friendship bond at a faster pace than
otherwise.

We met after his nephew came to us and asked if we would come visit his home. He had heard our ministry built houses in the community, and said his uncle Claro was in great need.He was right. Claro’s house was more like an old tool shed. Made of cornstalk, there were gaps everywhere, allowing space for the cold, rain, and wind to make life miserable. The inside was barely big enough for a twin-size makeshift bed, and a fire. The floors were dirt. His only belongings were a few dirty pieces of clothing, a some filthy dishes caked in soot, and a machete. He cooked over an open fire about 2 feet from his bed, giving him a constant inhale of smoke and dirt. No
electricity, no water, no plumbing… his house was cold and dark.

But Claro was a joy.

He smiled and talked. And talked, and talked... He told us how cold and dusty his house is, and how it always makes him sick. At 65 years old or so, he is difficult to understand (even for the locals), because he blurs and joins his words in a unique mutter. But he said “thank you God and thanks to you” no less than 20 times every time we talked.

When we finished his home, roughly the equivalent of a concrete block 2-car garage, he stood inside and cried. “Never in all my life did I think I would have a home like this.” That statement froze me. I wondered what kind of home I could envision myself standing in that would warrant the very same comment from me.

The house only has two small rooms. Instead of basking in the glory of his new space, he immediately moved his son, daughter in law, and granddaughter into the adjacent room.

2 weeks ago, with some friends that were visiting, we delivered Claro a new bed. When we moved out his old one, made of stiff hay, he said “don’t throw that away, I can sell that and make a little money!” We all laughed. He sat on his bed. We could tell he was amazed at how soft it was.

A few days later, some other friends had decided to bless Claro with a new chicken coup they had built. We went to his house to surprise him. After yelling for him and getting no answer, my friends waited at the street and I went up to see if he was home.I peeked in the front door and saw Claro lying in his bed. He was on top of his blanket, which made me smile as I realized he wasn’t cold. I felt bad waking him up, so I stood there and just looked at him for while. He looked comfortable.I called out his name and he popped up…said he was just taking a quick nap. We gave him the
chicken coup. He was very grateful. He told us he could manage the baby chicks
without a problem, and he was excited about the new micro business
opportunity.

That was a week ago. Today, I ran into Claro’s son on the street. Sobbing, he gave me the news that Claro has passed away suddenly in his sleep. Unexpected. Just like that, Claro was gone.

I just got home from the viewing in Claro’s house. He was lying in an open coffin, in the exact place that he had served us his famous fried chicken just over a month
earlier at his home dedication. As I stood over his coffin, looking at his face,
I could hear his scratchy voice: “Gracias a Dios, Gracias Ustedes.”

I am so humbled, so honored, to have had the opportunity to show the love of Jesus to Claro in the last couple months of his time on earth. After a long, difficult life living in extreme poverty, Claro spent his last couple months in comfort. I wish it could have been longer, but I believe he went out with a sense of dignity, an appreciation for God’s blessing, and the ability to leave behind a safe, warm home to his son.

Peace Claro. See you again soon. I’ll be looking forward to feasting together at the
Lord’s table – and having another round of that fried chicken.

I cried as I read this post. I cried tears of joy that Claro could see the love of Christ through the act of building a simple house and that he lived his last few months in comfort. I cried tears of sadness because I had the privilege of meeting Claro when I was in Guatemala in March, and he had touched me and other members of my group in a deeply profound way. Despite his humble surroundings, his love for God was unwaivering. This man was truly an inspiration and his departure from this earth, while glorious because he is now dwelling in heaven, was sad because he will be missed by those who had the privilege of knowing him.

Claro reminded me a lot of my grandma, who died two summers ago, just shy of her 100th birthday. My grandma was in incredible inspiration, with a quiet but profound faith. I miss her too and reading this story of Claro brought back some of those feelings. I will post the eulogy I wrote for my grandma in my next posting along with some photos.