I think God cares more about investing in people. This week I went to visit a young man in his home. His name is Lucas and he's suffering from some kind of chronic disease that doctors can't identify. He's 32 years old, was normal up until 3 years ago, and now struggles to swallow. His weight is dropping, he has lost his ability to talk, and is limited to his bed. It has fallen upon Lucas' father Santiago to daily feed, clothe, and move him. Lucas was never married, and his mom (Santiago's wife) passed away several years ago. The two men and at least two daughters that I met live together in their home. It was Santiago who came to our clinic last weekend asking us to visit his son. Leslie has already visited and referred the family to the hospital in the past, so my time with them was mostly just to encourage and pray. Lucas and Santiago are both Christians, and I encouraged them to read the Bible, listen to the christian radio stations, and for Lucas to spend his time praying. As we prayed at the end Lucas closed his eyes and silently moved his lips in prayer. Though he never said a word I knew he was a young man trapped in a body that ached to move. A light part in the visit was when I went to leave. It had started to rain (sounding pretty heavy on their tin roof) so before I started the walk back to my motorcycle I bundled up in my green Gortex rain suit. Apparently I looked like a "turtle" to Lucas, the backpack under my jacket making me complete with a shell. It was good to see him smile and laugh as best he could.
There are a couple other people I visit every week or so, but it's honestly usually hard to go and see them--many of them with chronic illnesses that medically there is no cure for. Sometimes I hesitate to go, or just don't know what to say when I'm there. Today though Aaron and I were reading for our weekly devotional from James chapter 1. There James says that religion that pleases God is to care for widows and orphans in distress. God kind of stopped me with that verse and I think He was telling me that investing in the lives of even just a few people who have need is what pleases him. We see hundreds of people every week in clinic, some we have more relationship than others. But I think in my life, and maybe in all of our lives, we need to pray and seek out those few people in distress (the widows and the orphans) whom we can invest in. I never leave Nancy's (the little girl with cerebral paulsy) house without being glad I did. If I go with scripture, prayer, and a smile I'm finding it's enough to lift a few people's spirits and give them hope. If you're a Christian reading this, you have the ultimate source of hope to offer those around you. Just as I'm trying to do, I encourage you to look for those 1, 2, or 3 people that you can invest in.
(This is an older picture from when our Manos de Amor "Hands of Love" friends came from a church in the City to support us in a day of medical clinic. Their investment into their own people has been exemplatory for their fellow Guatemalan's)Our corn/feeding project is still underway, and so I don't have any concrete plans to pass on yet. First and foremost I and we as a ministry are praying that God would meet the needs of people this year--both physically with food and also spiritually. If the Lord can use us to do that then we are available. Just for fun...
We've found that:
1. One hundred pounds of corn will last a family of eight about 6 weeks.
2. 20,000 pounds of corn will feed 273 families for a year.
3. We still don't now the cheapest way to get corn here.
4. It would be best to work with the churches in collecting other foods for distribution.
5. By working with the churches needly families could be identified easier in outlying villages and distribution made more efficient.
6. We need to keep praying!
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