Gratefulness

One of the things I kinda got tired hearing from people that would return from foreign mission trips was how grateful they were for certain things. I knew that as American's we were doing well as a nation, we had a lot of luxuries. I've grown up in third world countries, I know that what we're seeing & experiencing is a way of life. Not that I am saying that those people were just spoiled Americans getting a spoon of reality out side their little world(sometimes the case is true) but their reports of what shocked them & moved them didn't necessarily surprise me. But after what I saw today with my own eyes, one can't help but think of how fortunate I am to have the opportunities, privileges, resources & funds to dream, & dream BIG! Walking through the slums today & looking at faces through my view finder, I couldn't help think… what if… What if my parents never adopted me, I could have been one of these kids. But if it had not been for God… His plan kicking in, setting out my path, I wouldn't have the privilege & great task of telling these kids stories back in the States. The stories of great difficulties & triumph were overwhelming. A little boy who is a Mission of Mercy kid, saw his dad kill his mom. Talk about trauma. But he sits in one of the few school rooms, learning & singing about Jesus, while he also learns his numbers & alphabets. God has not forgotten these little ones. He just wants us to get involved… to do His will… Get back to the basics of His Gospel. Walking through some of the slums, I couldn't even call it an alley, it was a path no wider than a coffee table winding through the houses if I could even call it that. I kinda felt guilty of complaining about my closet office back home, there were families of 8 eating, sleeping, cooking, & crapping in a room twice the size of my office!(about a 10'x5' room of theirs) Ofcourse running down the center of this "path" was sewer, as it wound through the maze. I'm not a claustrophobic person, but the heat, humidity, tight space, & people crowding in to see what the excitement was about… white people in their slum, made it kinda hard to breathe. The smell didn't bother me, the filth either, nor the poverty. What got to me was that for whom ever in there wants to dare try to make it out of there esp. children, the odds are stacked up, way up high against them. Over 3000 kids in this massive slum don't ever make it to their 5^th birthday. If they do the chances of them sold into bonded slavery or prostitution are high. But God… The ministry we were visiting with today has been amazing, with what they do for these kids. Being the extended hand & heart of God to them. I fell in love with them. I felt like I was walking in the middle of a UNICEF commercial. It was real & it exists TODAY! I have just begun to process what all I saw today. But there is hope in the middle of this, & to know that I am part of that hope makes my faith more valuable than ever! I'm tired of being a puffer fish of a Christian, with my bloated badges of all I proclaim to be & do. I just want to do… for His glory, not mine. Not even for my gratification of doing something humanitarian, but to see lives changed for Him, bec He turns them around to do even greater things in their time!

We had lots of laughs & giggles. Sharon got cow dung on her white pants! Jennie got sewage splashed on her leg, another lady almost got pick pocketed, Ruth's ankles were swollen, I almost had my Camcorder swiped & so much more, but at the end of the day it was sooooooo worth it.

Tomorrow is a light day, thank God. We almost didn't make it through the day walking around in the intense humidity. I continue to eat well & identify with my culture. We go shopping tomorrow evening, so if you want something, I'll see what I can do. I'm tired & out.