14 Do all things without grumbling or questioning, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life

Day Three

We began Saturday the same as Friday, meeting for devotions. We read through Philippians 2. The following truths stuck out to me brightly -

Philippians 2
3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

I want to count others better than myself. This is a tough thing to accomplish, but something I strive to do. If my Savior could come down to earth, make Himself nothing, and humble Himself by becoming obedient to death on a cross, how can I not do my best to be like Him?

The second truth to apply to my life is what I wrote at the top of this post. I so don’t want to complain or grumble… ever! I am supposed to be a bright shining light in this world. I don’t want to muddy that light with grumbling.

After devotions, we had breakfast. We were served a tasty meal of eggs and rice. Our next task was to help around the church with projects. I was part of the group that cleaned the church bakery. The job went quickly because we were many hands.

Our next stop was the dump outside the city. There are many families who live at the dump. They work all day in the scorching heat, collecting recyclable items. It is an extremely dirty, thankless job. These are the poorest of the people. This is suffering like I have never seen before.

We made our way into the dump in a van. As we drove into the dump, we saw groups of people scattered everywhere. Off to the left was a group that was picking the meat off the carcasses of cows, the entrails laying in a huge mountain. Most groups were picking up glass and plastic bottles and collecting them in carts.

Cal parked the van. We got out and divided up into groups. We had water and “The Book of Hope.” We went off to speak to the people who were hard at work. We met young men, women, tiny children, and elderly men and women. We met whole families. We met a man who loved the Lord, who tried to go to church with His family regularly. His wife was working another section of the dump.

The people were covered in filth, black from all the dust. They had a sad determination about them. Yet, they were extremely warm and friendly to us, accepting our water and our words of encouragement.

The people received the books with such delight. Some sat down to read what they had been given. Some of our group handed out candy and hair bands to the children. We met 2 sisters who were 14 and 15, their beauty shining through all the dirt.

I have so much respect for the people I met there. I only witnessed briefly what they experience for a life time. I can’t even imagine how much they must suffer.  Someone asked me how God could allow such a thing. I replied that God made us to have free will, to be in charge of His creation. How can we, the people He put in charge, allow such a thing?

We headed back to the church for lunch. I skipped the meal so I could grab a shower, already back to thinking of myself, my comfort.

We packed up and jumped on the bus to go to Leon, where we woulod spend the rest of our time. Tommy and Linda started a church 40 minutes outside Leon in Candalaria. We dropped our stuff off and headed for their church.

The church is basically a giant pavilion. They are building buildings. They are preparing to open a clinic. Linda invited me and Barbara to come back whenever we can to help with the clinic. They have an awesome garden, which is more like a small farm with fresh fruits and vegetables.

For dinner, we had rice and beans, fried cheese, salad, and fresh fruit smoothies. I tried everything, but stuck to the fresh fruits and veggies.

After dinner, we went to Santa Mathilda, a town that was created after a mud slide from hurricane Mitch. There is an active volcano in the region and it filled up with so much water, that it caused a mud slide. We did our dramas and showed “The God Man” movie. One little boy of about 5 years of age gave his life to the Lord. We prayed with the local people, said goodnight, and headed back to Leon for bed.

Dear God,
Thank You for revealing to me even now, a week later, my selfishness. O Lord how I wish I could go back to those wonderful people at the dump, to minister Your love to them. How I wish I could take some and place them in that shower to bathe them. Forgive us for not taking better care of each other Lord. Thank You for allowing me to finally see and understand. I love You! Here I am, send me! Amen.

Forever His…
Michelle