It is good to be back in Guatemala. I arrived midday yesterday without any problems.
One of my first tasks was to visit the Acción de Amor (Action of Love) construction site in zone 3 near the entrance to the garbage dump in Guatemala City. This is one of the places where a group of JBU students sweat and worked in March of this year to help construct Rayitos de Esperanza, a school and play area that will serve the people who live in the settlements on the edge of the garbage dump. The construction is being made possible through God's grace and through a memorial fund established by the Pollard family in memory of their son, Ben.
This whole area is reclaimed landfill. It does not have a lot of value beyond the fact that it can be occupied by countless families who need a place to live while they spend every day searching for treasures in the trash at the garbage dump. When I first saw the small property, it was quite unattractive, but the people of Iglesia Bautista Cristo es el Camino when to work to clean away the garbage and then to begin creating something new that will be of value to children and families in this place, many of whom don't have much hope. Even the name, Rayitos de Esperanza, means "little rays of hope."
The whole process reminded me of what I try to teach to my Gateway Seminar students every fall...the reality of creation, fall, and redemption of the Christian world view. God created an amazing world which has been corrupted by sin, but even in that corruption there is evidence of God's amazing creative power and the potential for redemption. This was a beautiful valley that was corrupted not only by the trash of a garbage dump but also by a system that holds people in this situation without much hope something different. The Action of Love project is bringing Little Rays of Hope to this place, redeeming corrupted land for a purpose that recognizes the dignity, beauty, and amazing potential of God's people...redeeming land to redeem lives.
As usual, once I arrived here, I found myself in the middle of many actions of love. Today, I get to drive two wheelchairs out to a place called Jalapa. And tomorrow an amazing group from JBU will arrive to continue with the Chajul water project.
Rayitos de Esperanza truly is a very special action of love, but I find myself surrounded by so many big and little actions of love. Even the family who lets me stay at their house, Enrique and Cecy Quiñónez, show me one action of love after they next as the continue in their daily ministry to the people of Guatemala, and as they open the doors of their home to me.
We have a powerful God who loves his children and who is actively involved with his creation. This is evidenced by countless actions of love around us every day. We just need to see them. Sadly, we often become distracted by the tragic, the sad, and the shocking events of the day, and it is easy to lose those "little rays of hope," even when we live lives of relative abundance.
Don't lose the opportunity to see the actions of love around you every day...and to participate in them.
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| The Rayitos de Esperanza school and sport/play area continue to take shape as part of the "Action of Love" project. Photo taken May 17, 2012. |
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