The lessons of mission
Wheezer
Man, going to another culture and country really opens your eyes to how faith is lived out among God’s people. On our past mission trip to Guatemala, I was reawakened to the power of God and just how passsionate following Christ can be. As our host for the week, Fontaine Greene, said “You will see that the people of Guatemala are poor in material, but rich in Spirit”. I wish that the United States was more like that. It’s so easy in our culture to get sucked into gaining more and figuring that if someone has enough stuff, they must be doing God’s work the right way. From this past trip, I learned much about myself and the faith I aspire to have. First are foremost, the American way is not the best way to reach God and to live life in general. The purpose of mission is not to come in and “rescue” those who live in a different lifestyle. Who are we to tell them if they need “rescuing”? Many people that I encountered in Guatemala were happy with their culture and life because of the love and joy of God that filled them. Our purpose for mission is to build each other up and support each other in the body of Christ. One man, Edgar, that we were with the whole week, embodied this Spirit. He had gone through some tough times recently, but I always saw him with a smile on his face and a joke on his tougue. We were able to contribute money to him to buy windows for his house (which were covered in plastic only) and they tears of joy that he shed when we told him made me feel the Holy Spirit in a new and exciting way. Secondly, I learned that breaking down walls and extending one’s comfort zone is a must in faith. Americans and Guatemalans would walk down the same street and look at each other with a look that declared a difference in lifestyle and culture. But as soon as a “Buenos dias…” or “Dios te bendiga” (God bless you) was said, those walls were broken. I know some Spanish (enough to make me dangerous…) but being in a country where it was spoken all the time, I became apprehensive to speak to anyone. I streched my comfort and decided to try and communicate one day and the Spirit took care of the rest. My Spanish came back to me quickly and by the end of the trip, I was understanding about 90% of the Spanish I heard and speaking the language well. Finally and most importantly, I learned that no matter what we try to do on Earth, God has an ultimate plan. The thing that matters most in life is not what we do or accomplish, it’s who we are in Christ. We must never forget our first love because of the dire consequences of this forgetfulness. I learned this as I held a young boy named “Wheezer” who, when born, was tied up in a garbage bag and put in a dumpster to die. One year later, he was healthy and in my arms, laughing and playing as he enjoyed the new life God had blessed him with. God had and still has a plan for him, even though man tried to end him…
