This is a blog that I wrote while I was in El Salvador. This experience really changed me and helped me to put different things in perspective. Hope you enjoy it!
Monday, July 21, 2014
Dirty Hands
Blog post written by Maribeth
Last night we had the privilege of making food and going out to serve the homeless. I have never actually fed the homeless before because it is too dangerous to do so in Argentina. I was excited and had prayed a lot that the Lord would allow me to see these people with his eyes.
The first step of this process was to make a big assembly line. I must say that they had a great system going. We prepared sandwiches and included a bag of cookies, chips, an apple, a juice box and a Bible verse. We quickly prepared around 144 meals. Then we all loaded up in the back of the truck, prayed, and we were off. It was so incredible to see the beautiful city at night. The whole experience truly was amazing. We stopped at many places that Kurt (the missionary host) knew by heart. It was almost unreal how people would "magically" appear from the dark corners at the vibration of the truck. My job for the first part was passing out hygiene products (Yes, I am a nurse and washing my hands is crucial to my existence). Little did I know that the Lord was going to teach me a big lesson tonight.
At the second stop I handed out a bag of food to a man who thanked me I could see how his hungry belly was thankful because his eyes sparkled in the night reflection. He then did something that I did not expect. He held out his dirty hand to me. As a nurse I knew that his hand would not be clean by any stretch of the imagination and I did not want to think of all the germs that he had. I held back my hand for a second, but then the Holy Spirit came upon my heart and said "Maribeth, he is my child and I love him. Do the same." "Ok Lord." I smiled, held out my hand and said "Muchas bendiciones" (which means many blessings). For a second in my mind time stopped. I could see how the spiritual and physical world collided by such a simple action:touch. Because of security reasons we where not let out of the truck yet I had felt the dirtiness of homelessness. This was a defining moments for me because of the conviction that the Lord brought to my heart and mind at that moment. My thoughts came back to "reality" as the we sharply turned a corner. But little did I know that part of my heart will always be at that dark street corner in San Salvador
As the truck took off I was forced back into my seat. I have learned that I can really fit in small places. Part of the joys about being an TCK is that personal space is only a suggestion and not a rule. So when 20 people squished into the back of a truck that would comfortably fit 8 people I was perfectly comfortable. I am only 5'3'' so I naturally do not need lots of room. I am not a touchily feely type of person but there is just something so sweet to be overseas serving the Lord in the back of a truck as the cool latin american wind blows thought your face and you feel like a sardine. It truly is what makes my heart feel so happy. As we drove along the cool dark night, God really brought conviction to my heart. I realised what a shadow life I sometime live. I realised how much I complain about such meaningless things when I have SO much. I realised that I could be on the street dirty, hungry, waiting and praying in my heart that bright blue truck would turn the corner and bring me a meal.Yet for some odd and unknown reasons I have so much yet I am blinded by it all.
Another heart breaking experience was to see a little girl approaching the truck. I was not prepared to see such a little children on the street. God spoke to me again and reminded me that these are his children. He loves them and wants me to love them like real humans as well. So many times we only want to take our Christianity to our "clean, air conditioned churches," but we are really missing out of the kingdom mentality and loving HIS forgotten people. We often only want to touch the world with our sterile gloves,with hand sanitizer clipped to our backpacks. We are afraid to touch the dirt of the world. But this is what we are called to do. So, let's take off the sterile gloves and start loving our world by getting our HANDS DIRTY!
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