Good day to you, friends, and be blessed.
We continue our coverage of Compassion International's Blogging Trip to Nicaragua--a country that shares Denver's time zone, which means the bloggers are typing away and posting way after my bedtime.
Christy Jordan from Southern Plate posted earlier than the rest, so I can share a few highlights before I nod off.
Mrs. Jordan and the rest of the Compassion crew visited the dump today and went on two home visits--one to Christy's sponsored teenager's home.
Do you remember the stench from your last trip to the city dump, however long ago that was? Lucita, a Nicaraguan grandmother, has worked at this dump for 22 years, picking plastic out of the trash to sell for less than $1.00 a day. She arrives at 5 in the morning and leaves after the last truck finishes dumping.
Christy shares what Lucita says: "I have worked here for 22 years. I am not ashamed to work here. This is what we do to survive. It is good work and I work hard."
It is good work and I work hard. Friends, that's a grateful heart. What do we have, instead, here in the first world? Grumbling and complaining and a sense of entitlement. We're all guilty at times, sadly.
Dear Lord, help us. Help us to open our eyes and see.
When Compassion takes these trips, who learns the most? The bloggers and readers, or the native people they visit? It's us my friends--the bloggers and readers.
We learn how empty we are, and how full they are.
We learn how little they have, and how much we have.
We learn how blessed they are, and how spoiled we are.
They have nothing, and yet they have everything. Dignity, joy, laughter, gratitude.
God isn't unfair in how He distributes wealth, and we aren't getting the better end of the deal. We have comfort and these people have God. We push God out of our comfortable lives because most of the time, we don't need Him.
Those in abject poverty need Him every day to survive, and they don't forget him. They don't find better things to do than to sit down and talk with him. They don't use the material to push Him away.
Christy writes of a two-year-old child who accompanies her mother to the dump each day:
Because while that child may not mind napping on trash, God minds it a great deal. We are accountable for everything we've been given and we can't afford to mess this up.
The problem doesn't lie in how God's distributed wealth...but in how we're distributing it.
Luke 12:48 Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.
Follow all the blog posts from the week's trip here.
View all the photos from the week here.
Sponsor a child here.
Both the quotes I shared here, and the picture shared above, are from Christy's blog post, here. Keely Marie Scott takes all the trip photos.
We continue our coverage of Compassion International's Blogging Trip to Nicaragua--a country that shares Denver's time zone, which means the bloggers are typing away and posting way after my bedtime.
Christy Jordan from Southern Plate posted earlier than the rest, so I can share a few highlights before I nod off.
Mrs. Jordan and the rest of the Compassion crew visited the dump today and went on two home visits--one to Christy's sponsored teenager's home.
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| Compassion International Photo - Nicaraguan Dump, shared on Southern Plate, 6/18/13 |
Do you remember the stench from your last trip to the city dump, however long ago that was? Lucita, a Nicaraguan grandmother, has worked at this dump for 22 years, picking plastic out of the trash to sell for less than $1.00 a day. She arrives at 5 in the morning and leaves after the last truck finishes dumping.
Christy shares what Lucita says: "I have worked here for 22 years. I am not ashamed to work here. This is what we do to survive. It is good work and I work hard."
It is good work and I work hard. Friends, that's a grateful heart. What do we have, instead, here in the first world? Grumbling and complaining and a sense of entitlement. We're all guilty at times, sadly.
Dear Lord, help us. Help us to open our eyes and see.
When Compassion takes these trips, who learns the most? The bloggers and readers, or the native people they visit? It's us my friends--the bloggers and readers.
We learn how empty we are, and how full they are.
We learn how little they have, and how much we have.
We learn how blessed they are, and how spoiled we are.
They have nothing, and yet they have everything. Dignity, joy, laughter, gratitude.
God isn't unfair in how He distributes wealth, and we aren't getting the better end of the deal. We have comfort and these people have God. We push God out of our comfortable lives because most of the time, we don't need Him.
Those in abject poverty need Him every day to survive, and they don't forget him. They don't find better things to do than to sit down and talk with him. They don't use the material to push Him away.
Christy writes of a two-year-old child who accompanies her mother to the dump each day:
"A little angel, who appeared to be around two, found a pen top in a bundle of trash and began chewing on it, smiling as she pulled it out of her mouth to see how her teeth had pinched their outline into the plastic. Later she got tired and laid down on top of bags of trash for a little rest."I implore you, as you imagine a two-year-old child napping on bags of trash at the city dump, to sponsor a child, or spread the word. Please, do one or both of them today.
Because while that child may not mind napping on trash, God minds it a great deal. We are accountable for everything we've been given and we can't afford to mess this up.
The problem doesn't lie in how God's distributed wealth...but in how we're distributing it.
Luke 12:48 Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.
Follow all the blog posts from the week's trip here.
View all the photos from the week here.
Sponsor a child here.
Both the quotes I shared here, and the picture shared above, are from Christy's blog post, here. Keely Marie Scott takes all the trip photos.
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