Day 3 - First day of ministry sites

Written by Jennifer:

Today we left early in the morning and headed to our ministry sites. Tim, Javier, Will and I started a 20 minute walk down the hill to a town with a name that translates literally as Community of August 11th. Coincidently today is August 11th so school was out and balloons were hung on the doorway to celebrate the anniversary. This community, more commonly known as El Gorrion, is only about 10 years old as this group of people moved to this area after their previous town on another hillside was engulfed by a mudslide. El Gorrion has no water supply and no sewage. Water is either collected from the rain or carried from the next town. The toilets are just deep holes in the ground.

Specifically, our ministry group worked with a social worker and went around the community talking with the people. Many women invited us into their homes and told us their stories. The living conditions in this town are very poor. Many families are struggling to get by. The women told us about the issues they are facing. Several families had children with medical issues or disabilities. These mothers are doing their best to give their children proper care although it is either difficult or impossible for them to afford. In some of these situations, child sponsorship is the only way these children are able to go to school or receive glasses or life saving medications. Please pray for the families of El Gorrion as they continue to face many stuggles.

The way of life in this town is entirely different from home and what I'm used to. Some of the sights we encountered were so surprising. In one of the homes that we entered the children greeted us with chickens' feet in their hands. These two year old twins were playing with the feet and sticking them in their mouths. So weird. After talking with the mother for a bit we played with the boys. I am pretty sure I have chicken feet-ness all over my face. Cool. There are also so many dogs that run around freely here. Many of them are so thin and some walk around with broken or hurt legs. On the way home from our work site we saw a dog tearing open a diaper. It was pretty nasty.

I think for me this lifestyle is so different. It feels like a separate world from my everyday life. It is so interesting to go into these homes of families that are so impoverished. One of the ladies gave us her perspective on life. She said you just need to laugh at things, otherwise life becomes unbearable. As I apply this to our culture I begin to wonder why we worry about our lives so much. The struggles we face seem incomparable to what I have encountered here. Perhaps we build up our struggles much too much. These women face many great challenges, but in the end all they can say is "God loves me and will take care of me and my family". I think I need to trust God more in difficult situations even if I believe I can work them out myself. I wonder what it would be like to come to a point where I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel, where I don't have much hope that I can progress my situation. I wonder what it would be like to encounter this and only have hope that comes from someone greater than I.