The calm, peaceful, quiet guise of this beautiful village finally dropped and we got a glimpse of some dark things that were happening in the background. It’s as if for this past week we’ve been looking at a shiny, polished, wonderfully-crafted coffin made out of the finest wood. Yesterday, that coffin was opened and the foul stench of death came out.
For the past week we’ve been giving presentations at several schools in and around Quyquyho. The topics varied from abuse, alcohol, drugs, pregnancy and life skills. When we asked the students if they had any questions, most of them didn't say anything or asked generic questions that we had already covered -a sign of courtesy more than genuine curiosity.
Yesterday, however, we handed out pieces of paper so they could write down their questions in private. This new confidentiality seemed to encourage them, and after the presentation we had a bag full of deep, personal, poignant questions: "Sometimes I feel lonely and I cut myself. What should I do?" "Boys pressure me to have sex with them. What do I tell them?" "My dad drinks everyday and I don't know what to tell him" "Who do I go to if I've been sexually abused?" "How does one deal with drug addiction?" The questions kept going...
We barely had time to answer three of them, and we left the schools feeling burdened and overwhelmed by all these issues. Inevitably, our instinct is to want to intervene right away and fix things and make it all better -but that notion soon disappears as soon as we remember that we're mere sinners trying to help other sinners.
More than ever we're relying on God's grace -desperately. The need is great and there is so much to be done. Our prayer is that, in the few days that we have left in the village, that God would bring concrete focus to our work: the specific conversation we need to have, the specific class we need to give, the specific high school student we should pray for, the specific girl from the home we should hug and love.
Though the rancid smell from this open coffin overwhelms the senses, there is an aroma that is sweeter still: the grace of God.
"For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing." (2 Corinthians 2:15)
Sobering thoughts, but beautifully expressed, especially the coffin metaphor.
ReplyDeleteHopefully, the team can point the kids to resources in the area -- that is, if they exist!
"...we're mere sinners trying to help other sinners". We are more than that, we are Christians that sin and have resources thru Christ to help others. Sometimes it is via our testimony, other times, it is having a poignant for the situation of the moment. It can seem like nothing to us, but it is God's rhema word for the individual at hand. God is still in the supernatural business of intervention. I know, He even took care of my left foot. He also intervened by divine appt. to extend my life for several many more years. /// What Guillermo said was real and so is God's creative solutions./////Janeen -- a friend of Jory and Eileen
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