When Guatemala Meets Nineveh...

My friend Meghan recently returned from a mission trip through her church to Guatemala.  She sent out a letter to friends and family to share news of how her trip went and I wanted to post some excerpts from her beautiful, thoughtfully-written story:

"The first day at Potter's House our wonderful hosts drove us through the city cemetery to an overlook of the garbage dump where 11,000 people comprising 16 different communities live around it to scavenge amidst the refuse to find at least some manner of food for their family and something they could possibly recycle or resourcefully use in another product to sell.  I've seen poverty before, but I've never seen anything like this.  These precious people, made in the image of God, rummage through grotesque, nauseating waste.  Not only do they compete among each other to find the best trash, but they compete with vultures, dozens of them, not only circling overhead, but scrounging through the refuse as well.  Large bulldozers push garbage into another deep ravine and the methane gas from a landfill fire below filled the air.  Standing at the edge of the cemetery overlooking this scene was unbelievable.  This was our introduction.  This was the scene that set the stage for the week...


One of my teammates hit the nail on the head when he said, 'If Jesus was physically on earth right now, He'd run to the dump.'  He'd be the first to pick up the addicted man passed out on the middle of the street from sniffing glue who cries out for help to be different but everything he tries in his own strength to change fails.  Jesus would be the one laughing and playing with the children, beckoning them to Himself.  He'd stand in the middle of the dump with the vultures swirling above, telling people of their worth and value.  And he'd place his hands on the shoulders of the single mommas reassuring them of his presence."


I love this.  I had been waiting for an impetus to a blog post to share Meghan's story and found one today.  I have been reading through "The Jesus Storybook Bible" (and don't be surprised to find more of my "preachings" from, yes, a children's bible on the old blog!) and ran across this today in a retelling of Jonah and the Whale.

   "God had a job for Jonah.  But Jonah didn't want it.  'Go to Nineveh, God said, 'and tell your worst enemies that I love them.'
   'NO!' said Jonah. 'Those are bad people doing bad things.' 
   'Exactly', said God. 'They have run far away from me. But I can't stop loving them. I will give them a new start. I will forgive them.'
   'NO!' said Jonah. 'They don't deserve it!'
   'I'll run away,' Jonah said to himself. 'Far away--so far away that God won't be able to find me. Then I won't have to do what God says! It's a good plan!'"

And of course, we know how that good plan of Jonah's turned out.  I laughed at how silly it sounded that Jonah decided he could just run away from God.  How silly that he didn't want to obey!  It only took me a split second to realize that this is an extremely apt description of humankind in general.  We are all running away from God, everyday, in some form or another.  We fill our heads every second with anything and everything to keep our minds occupied and keep God out.  (Since the Lord is dealing with me heavily on this one lately, there is another post coming that will expound on this. :)  So what is the "Nineveh" you are avoiding and what "boat" are you taking to avoid it?


So excited.  And nervous.  Just finished signing up to go on my first international mission trip. :)