Article for The Commissioner

Ditto, Nelson...can't quite seem to wrap myself around our trip, yet.
Here is the article that I will submit for next week's Commissioner. I must say that writing this has helped.
Cindy


"A Leap of Faith" … "An Invitation to Hope"

I was prepared for this trip. I had helped raise funds, had attended the team retreat, had met everyone on my team, had completed my team duties, had chosen gifts for my prayer partner, had been commissioned at the Ash Wednesday service, had packed my bag, had prepared my family for my absence, had done some research about Guatemala, and had even practiced my broken Spanish. I was prepared for the trip.

I wasn't prepared for the journey... the journey that would take us from our affluent surroundings to one of the most poverty stricken areas in the world... the journey that would take us from the heights of the Pacaya Volcano to the depths of the garbage dump in Guatemala City...a journey that would challenge our definition of wealth and would make us know that we are much richer for having been on this trip ...the journey that would remind us to look beyond the outward appearance of a filthy child to find a soul desperate for attention, approval and the hope of a better tomorrow...the journey that would make us understand that building relationships is more important than building houses...a journey that would change us all.Our work was done in a neighborhood called El Recuerdo, in English, "The Memory". El Recuerdo is a community built on the top of a landfill, a dump site. From the moment we arrived in this community until the hour the bus pulled away on the last day, we were both stunned and captivated by the surroundings and the people of El Recuerdo…

Stunned by the level of poverty of all who live in this walled community; captivated by the generosity of its people,

Stunned by the rampant drug use of some of the youth in an effort to escape the deplorable conditions; captivated by willingness of others to work tirelessly beside us each day,

Stunned by the feeling of utter hopelessness and despair as we gazed into the city dump, watching people fight to reclaim items that could be used or recycled; captivated by the innocent sounds of joy and laughter as we played in the common area with the children of El Recuerdo,

Stunned by the life stories of the Guatemalan “Vida Joven”, Young Life, staff…stories of murder, physical abuse, gang violence, and drug abuse; captivated by the willingness of the same staff to commit themselves to offering an invitation to hope to the youth through Jesus Christ.

This trip was a leap of faith for many of us. Plan for the trip but be willing to take the journey…may your journey be as fulfilling and glorious as ours was.
Cindy Jones