Technical Difficulties

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”
Psalm 19:14

Last week, I experienced “technical difficulties” again with communication. I was playing with the kids at the children’s home and saw that several of them had gone in to the old bus. (They have a cleared out, non-working bus with toys in it where the kids like to play.) I went in to the bus with one of the toddlers and sat down nearby the kids.

I was engaging with the little one when I noticed that one of the girls, I will call her Maria, was trying to tell me something. She was loud, quite persistent and clearly angry, but I honestly could not understand what I had to do with the situation. There were other little boys playing in the front of the bus and Maria and her little girl friend were at the back of the bus playing “house.” I think she might have been angry that we were in the bus because she wanted it to herself, but when I tried asking her questions to clarify, I still was not able to figure out what she wanted me or the others to do. Since we really were not doing anything that should have bothered her as we were in a different part of the bus, (the girls had blocked off the back half of the bus with the play kitchen and milk crates) I decided that it was okay for us to continue as we were.

Maria felt differently. She became more and more bothered by the situation and because I am a mature adult who would never allow my own emotions to affect how I react; (yeah right!) I felt that this was a good opportunity for Maria to learn that the world does not revolve around her and she needed to learn how to share space. And, it did not help her win my favor by making faces at me either!

As we all continued to play, Maria approached the boys, who were playing bows and arrows at that moment; and at first glance, I thought Maria had had a change of heart and was going to join in. Apparently, she had other ideas. She picked up an “arrow” (a bamboo stick) and hit one of the boys. Naturally, I immediately jumped up to take the stick away from her and told her “NO!” (At least I know how to communicate that in Spanish!) Maria took my actions to mean that I was going to attack her or something equally bad and she quickly vacated the bus. After that, I only saw Maria from a distance for the rest of the time that I was there as she laid low until I left. I have to admit that I was okay with that.

I was not proud of the way that I handled the situation with Maria. Yes, she was being naughty and there was a lesson she needed to learn through the situation, but my attitude toward her was also not Christ-like and I could have tried harder to communicate positively with her. The meditation of my heart was not pleasing in God’s sight. I took Maria’s actions toward me personally and I responded in anger.

Before returning to the home this week, I prayed about all of that and God reminded me of the verse above. God also put compassion in my heart for Maria. I do not know what kind of a background she has and she is fairly new to the home. She may have recently come from a situation where anger was the way to communicate or even abuse. I don’t know. But, God reminded me that love is the way to reach her.

And I am thankful to report that God brought a happy ending to this story. This week at the children’s home, God allowed me to have several positive interactions with Maria, through games that we played and one on one moments with her. At one point, she again hurt another child, but when I gently asked her about it, she admitted to it and even apologized to the other child on her own!

The Bible says, “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.” (Isaiah 59:1) God will not give up on Maria, even though I am completely human and threw in the towel last week. He loves Maria and wants to heal her and help her learn how to correctly handle frustrating situations. He has good plans for her life and wants to see her become one of His children.

Will you please take a minute right now to pray for Maria’s salvation? Please will you pray that God will reveal His love to her in a way that she can understand? And, please will you continue to pray for me that God will help me see the children through His eyes and with His love and that I will then be able to communicate that love to them?

Thank you.

Yolotepec

We began our journey one Friday morning before the sun came up. One might have thought we were riding a kind of crazy roller coaster by the way we were going up and down and around and around on the two-lane, pot-hole filled road through the mountains of Oaxaca. Along the way, we saw several donkeys and cows tied to the side of the road for grazing and some small landslides from the recent, heavy rains. After about three and a half hours of this (Dramamine!), we came around yet another corner and there before us stood the mountain town of Yolotepec, complete with a beautiful waterfall and houses that seemed to balance on the edges of the mountains.

Here in the town of Yolotepec, high up in the mountains, there is an extension training school for pastors. Once a month, missionaries come and teach the pastors who come from their villages. This time, I was invited to go along, so I could see the work and spend time with the children of the pastors who came. When we arrived, we were immediately invited to sit down and eat. They offered us soup and even provided spoons for us to use. (They usually eat the soup with their tortilla, so this was done especially for us.) After eating, the missionary ladies began to teach the classes while I went outside to have a quick look around, taking pictures and just watching the activities for a bit.

There were about ten-twelve kids present, so I pulled out the balloons I had brought and began to make balloon animals, etc. for them. This turned out to be a big hit (no matter that I only know how to make a few things) and the kids circled around me to watch. They all waited quietly and patiently for their turn and several of them continued to watch even after I had finished making their balloon.

We didn’t do a great deal of talking because for many of them (if not all), Spanish is a second language (they speak Chatino); but we did color a picture of Jesus with children and sing a song about the love of Jesus. Then, we talked about Jesus loving each one of them. It was a very simple message and I’m sure they’ve heard it before, but they were listening intently and colored the picture of Jesus in its entirety.

The quiet patience and attentiveness of the children surprised me. They were so sweet and would answer my questions with shyness and quiet voices. Their love for each other was evident in the way they helped the younger ones and played together. It was refreshing to see their innocence and I could not help but think that this is way it should be.

Later in the day, shortly before we said our goodbyes, two of the girls came up to me and literally draped themselves around me in a hug for several minutes. They melted my heart. And as we prepared to leave, the children gathered in a group and waved goodbye until after we had climbed in the car and were pulling away.

We crept back down through the winding mountains and then finished the last part of the journey on “regular” roads until arriving back in Oaxaca City after dark. It was the type of day that you almost think must have been a dream because it was so different from what I normally do; but I know it was real and I will never forget the experience. And who knows? Maybe I can take that twisty, curvy trip again someday!

Isn't It Amazing?

God is Good when there’s nothing good in me.
God is Hope and has covered all my sin.
God is Peace when my fear is crippling.
God is Truth even in my wandering.
(Words paraphrased from the song: “Forever Reign,” from Hillsongs, “A Beautiful Exchange.”)
I am so grateful God doesn’t love me based on my level of faithfulness to Him. Aren’t you? Just as the song says above, God is Good and He is Hope, Peace, and Truth. In Him, there is no condemnation. (Romans 8:1-2) Through Jesus, we have the promise of eternal life in heaven and joy while we live here on earth.

How amazing is that?