The Risk to Love


The life of a missionary brings the risk of feeling the pain of those you are serving.  The poor, the needy, are no longer those people over there.  They are now personal relationships with names faces, shared experiences, friends.  It is sad when it is that person over there, but when you have been in their house and looked in the eyes of their kids, it becomes part of my life too.




My friend from Peru, Luisdina, has been calling me in desperation telling me that they are completely out of food.  They can't leave their home, her husband has no work, and their four boys are hungry.  My heart hurts for them.

I checked in with my friend, Sarina, to see if she had recovered from her serious diarreah.  She told me through tears, that it has been 15 days, and she is afraid.  There are no doctors around, and they have no money.  I find myself fearing for her life.  Something that could be so simple, turns into something life threatening

Now, here we are in a new mission post, beginning new relationships. Do we take the risk again?  Do we take the time to enter into new relationships?

A few weeks ago, a single mom of three boys took the risk in the midst of the stay-at-home order to come to my house and sell the fish her 14 year old son had caught.  I took the opportunity to ask a few questions:  How are people doing during this hard time?  Do they have work?  Do they have food?  How is your family?  Do you have food?  She answers they do.  Three weeks later, she returned, sheepishly reminding me of the question I had previously asked.  Then informing me that they are now out of food.   We are privileged to be able to give her food.





On one of our evening walks, we passed by a neighbor who we see regularly.  Usually we wave and continue on our way, but this time, we stopped to talk.  She shared with us that they are struggling.  Her husband hurt his back and can no longer cut grass (they do this with a machete), so they are without money to pay for their needs.  I invited her to work for me cleaning our house.  She has faithfully come and works hard.  It has also provided an opportunity for Aviana to make a new friend as she has been bringing along her 3 year old daughter.




The relationships are beginning.  Once again, we are taking the risk, because it is where we find how to really love.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Mission Lives On

Image
It has been too long since I have sent an update on our mission.  Our mission still lives on.  We are still very much engaged in Costa Rica. We continue to hear from Peru occasionally as well.   Having lived abroad in poor areas, our responsibility as stewards stretches far.  If my neighbor here knocked on my door, asking for help, I would take it seriously and see how I can help.  Well, now I have literal neighbors from Peru and Costa Rica who still "knock on my door" asking for help.  I take this very seriously, knowing that God is both in the face of those in need and he asks us to help those in need.  I want to thank those of you who have joined us to make it possible to respond and help meet some of those needs that come to our door. That being said, I have been able to continue to travel to Costa Rica, where I continue to connect with people in a tangible way. My greatest joy in returning is to serve alongside of Don Mundo and Doña Petrona and encourage them as local mi
Read more

Personal Encounter ofJesus Carrying His Cross

Image
 How to summarize my most recent visit to Costa Rica?  Upon returning home from Costa Rica, I was praying the Stations of the Cross.  As I was reflecting on the stations, faces of the people I encountered in Costa Rica came into my mind.  With tears welling up in my eyes, I realized that in Costa Rica, I just encountered Jesus carrying his cross in the people I met while there.  I would like to take you through the stations and allow you to meet Jesus carry the cross in these people as they are carrying the cross. 1. First Station- Jesus is Condemned to Death In this first station, I see the face of Hermana Ana.  I see her courage as she serves in Coopevega.  Sister Ana is a Sister of the Congregation of Misioneras Clarisas del Santisimo Sacramento.  Hermana Ana, along with two other sisters, share that in all their years of serving, this particular mission post has been the most difficult in terms of apathy from the people in response to their invitations to Christ and participation i
Read more

Ready to find out where we are going?

Image
This is the post you have all been waiting for…where we will reveal our mission post. But, before we get to that, I would like to give tribute to our 3 weeks in General Cepeda, Mexico.   We are driving back to Louisiana from Mexico as I write this.   The drive has provided many hours of reflection and conversation about our time in Mexico.   I asked everyone what they would like to share with you from our time in Mexico.   Isaac wants you to know about the miraculous events, Gemma wants to tell you about our visits to the Rancho’s, Augustine wants you to know about the fun he had, Bridget wants you to know about living in the Mission House, and Aviana wants to tell you that she talked  to people, played with people and was nice to people here in Mexico.   Jason wants to tell you about the work projects, and I want to share with you some of the people we encountered. On top of a mountain over looking General Cepeda. A big part of our time in Mexico w
Read more