So I am trying really hard to keep up with this blog! It just so happens that a lot of things have been going on, too, so it makes it easier to come up with things to write. Also, I think I just need an outlet for some of my thoughts and reflections.
Luis and I are about to embark on a new journey with the ministry in El Paraiso. Starting this Friday, we are going to be going out every Friday afternoon to lead youth activities! This is so exciting to me because I have been wanting to do something like this since I first arrived in El Paraiso. Now it seems like the time to begin, and I am so ready to see what God is going to do!
Most of the community is made up of youth (youth here is 15-30). About half of those youth already have children of their own; most of them have "partners" cause they haven't been legally married yet. It seems like most of the young men get involved with alcohol, drugs, or some form of gang at a young age mostly because they have nothing else to do. The most exciting thing that happens in the community is monthly cock fighting events. Most people don't have jobs because there aren't jobs other than working out in the fields for probably about $1-$2 a day. So I say that some of these youth start going down the wrong path at an early age just to do something. Hopefully, having a weekly youth activity will help them to focus on something else and lead them to the One who gives an abundant life.
I feel so blessed to be apart of the work God is doing in El Paraiso. It is a blessing to see the progress that has been made through Tamara's efforts with the sewing class and setting up the beauty class and carpentry class. It's a blessing to see a group of 20-50 kids every Sunday and tell them a story they have never heard before from the Bible. It's a blessing to build relationships with the people and to be apart of their lives.
The hardest part about it all is sharing in their struggles, and yet it's a blessing as well. We have seen a lot of sickness in the community. Right now, one of our women, who is about 31 years old, is suffering from cervical cancer and is having a hysterectomy this Monday. She is the provider for her house and works daily making food and selling it, even when she is sick. A couple of weeks ago, she got robbed of all the money she had, but she bounced back and is still on the go. Her family hasn't been very supportive of her, and a friend will probably watch her kids while she goes to the hospital by herself on Monday.
Another woman, who is about in her 50's, is the community leader's wife. Tamara took her for an ultrasound of her thyroid a few weeks ago and found that she has about 5 nodules on her thyroid. She was supposed to go for a biopsy tomorrow, but we are going to have to reschedule. Her nephew, who is only 31, suffers from chronic kidney disease and was on dialysis at a hospital. Last week, they sent him home to die, only expecting him to live four days. Tomorrow is the fourth day.
A young 18 year old girl is about 16 weeks pregnant and has severe morning sickness. She cannot keep anything down and has had to have several IVs. Thankfully the baby is okay, but she only weighs about 95 pounds and keeps losing weight.
One of the men that has been attending our church has been suffering from what to me would be a nightmare. He got bit on the leg by some sort of fly that laid eggs in the wound. After the eggs hatched, the larvae began to eat away his leg. He has to forcefully squeeze them out!
These are just a few cases that we know of in the community. All of these people depend on centralized health care because they cannot afford good, private healthcare for themselves. Tamara and the ministry has been helping them the best that she can.
The hardest part about living here is always seeing need and never being able to fully meet that need. You can pay for someone to go to the doctor, but that doesn't mean they'll get better or that you'll be able to pay for surgery or medicine or ensure that they get the best service. You can get someone food that is hungry, but that food will be used up and they'll be hungry again. You can give or lend someone money, but sooner or later (and often sooner) they'll come back asking for more. Physical needs are almost never fully met.
Luke chapter 6:20-22 says, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man."
No one, especially the poor, really thinks of the poor and hungry as being blessed. No one equivocates suffering with blessing. But the reality is that if you never have been poor, never have known hunger, never have known pain and suffering, you never have really learned how to trust in God as if your life depends on it. When you don't know where the next meal will come from to feed your children, you get down on your hands and knees and beg God to provide. When you don't have any money or a cure to treat a medical problem, God is your only physician. Why is this such a blessing? Luke 6:23 says, "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven." The true reality is that this life is a mist compared to eternity. The only thing that will count in our lives is how much faith we put in Christ.
It's funny that El Paraiso means "Paradise." No one would probably think of it that way. While we hope and the ministry hopes to help improve quality of living in the community, I would like to think that these people are really just heading on the road to the Paradise Jesus describes in Luke 23:43. That one day we would all be people of Paradise, a community in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Please pray and keep praying for El Paraiso, the people mentioned in this blog, and the projects we are doing. Please pray for Tamara's family, the pastor Juan Pablo and his family, and Luis and I as we minister together. Pray that we would be able to stand firm and not let Satan get in our way as he often tries to. Pray for me and Luis as our faith is being tested as well with trusting in God's provision.
Thank you for reading. I hope you are richly blessed in Christ Jesus.
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