“Each one of them was Jesus in Disguise.” –Mother Teresa
I was blessed to be able to spend a week with Divine
Shepherd once again in the village of La Avenzada. The week was incredible,
mostly because it was so easy to see God everywhere. During the week we were
able to go on some house visits, host a chicken soup lunch for the community,
spend lots of time hanging out with the people in the community and playing
with kids, had bible studies, built relationships with the youth and at the end
of the week got to take them on an overnight retreat.
Last summer, the
village leaders met with Divine Shepherd to request that they start up some
kind of youth program. It was very evident that God was behind this because the
door to mentor these youth and build them up to be strong leaders in the faith
was opened wide for us. All we had to do was agree to walk through it. Because
of that meeting, a youth group was assembled, leaders for the group with found,
and since then they have been meeting together every Monday since February for
a bible study.
A few weeks ago, Cassie and I traveled up to La Union to
visit Beth and Cheyenne, two other interns that have been staying up there all
summer. During this visit we got to go to one of these bible studies. Beth had
been working with the girls all summer, yet they were still pretty reserved and
she struggled with getting them to answer questions or respond at all. However,
at this particular study she decided to read them a devotional after finishing
their usual study. We watched as the girls listened intently, glued to every
word she was reading. These girls don’t have access to devotionals and are just
learning some of the foundations of our faith. After leaving, Cassie and I
talked about how difficult it must be for them to personally grow in their
faith being in a community without many Christian leaders. It’s so important
that they not only learn the foundations of their faith but also know that
there is so much more that being a Christian has to offer. Knowing how much
Jesus is completely in love with you and that we have access to a personal
relationship with Him and then experiencing that is life-changing. After
witnessing this, God gave us the idea to get some kind of daily devotionals for
these girls so that they would be able to use them at home individually and
then also talk about them and grow together as a group. We thought these might
be able to serve as guides for them as just opening the bible and reading it
can be very intimidating for new Christians. God provided and we were able to
get a book for each of them sent to Sean to bring down just in time before he
left.
Each night in La Avenzada, we met with the youth where we
would play silly games, sing, pray, get to know each other, and spend some time
in the word learning together. One night all of us girls got to make chocolate
chip cookies (homemade cho chip cookies aren’t a thing here) together and then
have a bible study afterwards. At this bible study, we talked about the
importance of spending time daily in the word and with God. We got to present
them each with their new book and do the daily devotional together so they
understood what it was and how to use it. When the bible study was over, I
walked away for a minute and returned to find the girls sitting there reading
their books and already writing notes in them.
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| The girls in the youth group with their new devos |
As we spent more time together, we opened up with one
another and as each day passed, the girls seemed to get more and more
comfortable with us. On Friday we all left for Mariscos where we stayed at a
retreat center, similar to a camp for a night. In the afternoon, we got to go
to the lake with all the youth. For many, this was their first time at a lake
or even swimming. They were hesitant at first, some refusing to let go of the
stair railing but by the end, they were jumping off the dock, squealing with
laughter and having us wait a few feet away from there as they practiced
swimming to us underwater. Glancing around the lake, I felt surrounded by joy
as I saw people that couldn’t speak the same language, laughing hysterically
together, splashing each other, and swimming together.
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| Swimming with the girls in the lake in Mariscos |
During the retreat, we got to eat delicious food, play lots
of fun games and icebreakers, have a worship service, and have sessions where
we focused on some topics more in-depth. As the week and retreat progressed,
the girls began answering more questions, volunteering to read to the group,
even offering to pray for the group, something they would have NEVER considered
doing a few months, even weeks earlier. God used us to encourage these
individuals in their faith, to build them up, to counsel them, to be role
models in the faith. We are nothing near what strong Christian role models
should be, we mess up daily, and we don’t practice what we preach. We are from
thousands of miles away and we don’t even understand each other when we talk. But
he STILL uses our imperfect selves. He has been doing this since the beginning,
David was an adulterous, Moses was a murder, Paul made it his goal to get rid
of all Christians. But God still made examples of these people. The same God who
used unworthy people is STILL doing that with us which makes His power even
more apparent. The growth in these youth was awesome to see and we learned a
lot from them as well.
Saturday came quickly and soon enough it was time to say
goodbye to our new friends. As I’ve talked about in previous posts, these
relationships founded around Christ are inexplicable, unique bonds that hard to
understand for those that haven’t had a similar experience. Our group made a
line leading to their bus and as their group loaded onto the bus, they went
down the line so that we could all get a chance to tell everyone goodbye. Being
towards the end of the line I was able to watch as faces turned from smiles to
tears once hugs and goodbyes were exchanged. It was like a chain reaction as
the difficulty of goodbyes spread down the line from both us and them. It was
obvious that God used us to impact each other’s lives in some way or another.
It may have been different for every person but He worked through those
relationships and somehow everyone involved learned something or was able to
take something from this experience.
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| Everybody that attended the youth retreat |
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| My new friends in the youth group |
As Christians we are always saying “I saw God in you,” “God
is working through you,” “He is in us” blah, blah, blah. And while those are
worthwhile things to say, I think often times we are saying that without really
thinking about what that even means. It’s not some insignificant thing we
should be taking for granted. It’s not something we could be casually brushing
off or saying just as a means to complement someone. GOD IS ACTUALLY IN US. He
sent His spirit to dwell IN US, to help up love and serve in ways we never
could otherwise. If you take a moment to take a step back and really think
about it, that’s crazy. The God who made the universe decides to chill in us
and make himself apparent to us through ordinary people around us. We don’t see
Him face to face yet but He gives us each other at the right times just when we
need it.
It’s amazing what happens when you are all united for the
sole purpose of loving God and loving others together. Though we didn’t do it
perfectly all of the time, the team I worked on this week was really special. Mainly
because I was blessed to have the chance to see them do things and then be
like, “Whoa, thank you God for being there for me through them.” I was able to
feel his presence and receive the comfort, love, or support I needed through
those around me.
There were so many times everyone should have been crabby
through being exhausted and weary from going all day, hiking all the way up and
down the mountain, sleeping in tents, going days without showering, or not
having any time to themselves. But instead of being short with each other, God
was there being cheerful, laughing off the circumstances, and offering to help
do undesirable chores. When I was upset, God was there to listen to my
problems. When we were stranded late at night in a boat with no lights in the
middle of the lake, God was there to point out the beautiful stars or to keep
the conversation going to help people calm. When we had awkward encounters with
the youth because we ran out of things to say, God came up with an activity to
do or a handclap game to bring everyone together. God was in the eyes of a yearning
child as they came up asking me for the kids bible and sat with me for an hour
asking for story after story. When there were children that needed some extra
attention, I watched God scoop them up in His arms, throw them in the air over
and over even when exhausted, play tag for way longer than anyone wants to, or
tickle them until they overflowed with giggles. I saw God as he spoke words of
truth to the youth. God was there when I observed the youth answering questions
with words of wisdom or exhibiting leadership qualities. God helped to lead us
through the steep, jungle, muddy mountain paths so that we knew where to go. When
we were on house visits, I watched as God prayed for His people, that they may
know Him better.
Though I didn’t get to see God face to face, I was given
glimpses of Him all over the place through those surrounding me. He was in all
forms, in the joyful, welcoming people of the village, in the faces of the
innocent, trusting children, in the shape of my teammates as they did their
best to love in the way He did. God is everywhere all of time but it can be
easy to miss when He’s in the form of these seemingly small moments and people.
Yet, if your eyes are opened to all of that around you, you see that those
moments really aren’t that subtle at all but that instead the one who holds
everything in His hands is standing right in front of you.
I have been crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live
in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself
for me. Galatians 2:20
No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God
abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:12
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that
they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16
God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life
of love, we live in God and God lives in us. 1 John 4:17
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| The awesome team that God assembled for this week |
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| Loved having this little guy attached to my hip all week |
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| Chicken soup lunch for the whole community' |
