keeping in step

"since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." Galatians 5:25

Surely, you have seems few of the pictures below from our first day in La Chureca... the poverty and living conditions could only be rivaled in this world by a few places - the people are quite simply some of the poorest on earth.

As a father of a little boy, I experience and see things at different level than kids - if you are a parent, you understand. It's one thing to think that the child you just met is malnourished, sick, barefoot in a dump but still beautiful (all true)... It is quite another thing to stumble upon children the same age as yours, and imagine him being there for even day. It is literally unthinkable to me... One picture below shows the "floor" of a home we visited, which has a few kiddos - you can see a small toy zamboni that the little boy plays with in the corner where valuable trash is collected a sorted. This is life for those in La Chureca.

We visited and walked around, checking in on families that Dan knows, as well as learning of a few other ministries that are in the dump - a medical clinic, a school, etc. It's quite powerful for our team to realize in a place of such darkness, God's Spirit has been at work long before we got here and will continue long after we are gone.

We took time to walk up to the top of the dump, where city trucks roll in and out, nonstop, by the dozens... They dump their trash and it was rare to see one that had picked up a few stowaways, who hop in as they drive through, so that they can get first pickings when it is dumped... the stench is phenomenally horrific - you can only take short breaths, and that's when the wind is carrying the smoke and odor away from you. I cannot imagine ever getting use to the smell any more than I can imagine playing barefoot in a sewer - but all around us, they are use to it. As we circles up to pray, most everyone was crying from deep in their soul; this is not what these beautiful people have been created for!

This place is a wasteland and an obvious place of darkness, yet if we could have God's eyes, we would see that regardless of our manicured lawns, shiny cars, and perfect homes, he sees all broken people this was... Perhaps spiritual darkness that is manifest in the physical world is more stark, but it is darkness just the same... We need our Savior, for our eternal souls, but for our earthly restoration as well.

Today, we will visit many families and two more ministries - please pray that we may keep in step with what Gods Spirit is doing in La Chureca, but as well in our lives. Pray for continued safety and protection against the heat, sickness, and hardness of heart.

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