I had high hopes of updating this blog on the trip. Perhaps its the fact that I'm not one of those that likes to chronicle every action of the day. Or maybe its been the lack of wifi and power intermittently that seems to just take it out of me.
The truth is that I'm at a loss for words on this trip. It will take quite a while, maybe a lifetime, to fully digest this experience in context of my life in the States. As I try to capture this for you that might still be reading this blog, let me at least just give you a few things that I've started to pull from the experience here in Colombia.
1) I have a new definition of "I am third": We have a saying in F3 about being third. God first, Family/Others second, and you third. For the most part that is a nice saying, makes for a great t-shirt. Watching a man kill his best goat for you, cook it, and then serve it to you while you are in the chair, at a table, under the shade in the middle of the desert while his hungry family and he looks on with gratitude and hospitality.... that is I am third. I've never felt such generousity in my life. I actually have tears in my eyes as I write this.
2) I have a new set of heroes: Meeting the missionaries who go in to these parts of the world, raise their families in challenging conditions, and all while smiling and serving God. We can never appreciate their sacrifice for this work until we walk a mile or two or more in their shoes.
3) A saying I heard here.... "These people have nothing but God....we have everything but God"... Yep, that might just sum up the differences between our comfortable christianity and what these folks experience every day. When they pray for a sick child, pray for a son that is away in incarceration, pray for a family member, there is no Plan B. There is not immediate back up for the doctor in many cases. They pray believing God every time for his intervention in their life.
4) Can I love without judging with full compassion and grace? The experience of just serving and not asking questions of a man raising 8 kids in a hut on the side of a mountain who needs a few steps up to his house was a powerful experience. It was so moving to just go serve and not ask questions. Just do. As Christ did, he just went and ministered to people with no preconception, judgement, or qualification.
5) We have a huge mission field at home in the states. For all of those that have prayed, funded, and supported our trip. Thank you. We do have such an opportunity to share more with others where we live at home. Said differently, this is not an event, but a step on a journey of serving.
I'm sure I'll have more over the next few weeks when I can digest all of this fully. Right now I'm having a hard time uploading photos.
AMEN AMEN AMEN!!!!!
ReplyDelete