Walking up a mound of garbage isn’t the typical day in my life… but for some people it is. After making it to Jinotepe, Nicaragua about a week and a half ago (working alongside Glenn and Lynne Schweitzer, two missionaries from the New England area who moved here seven years ago), we took a day trip to the dumps in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua.
I walked around a bend on an old dirt road, where dozens of dump trucks passed us by – some filled with branches, some filled with garbage from hospitals (syringes, catheters, IVs, etc), and some filled with everyday things you would throw away.
As we got closer, the smell began to overwhelm me, the flies buzzed all around, and I began to see dogs and chickens eating whatever they could find.
A community has been built around this dump… 200 families call the dump in Managua their home. I can’t even imagine. As Pastor Manuel took Seth, Kari, and I around, we began talking to the people in the area. We walked up to an overlook where all you could see was mounds and mounds of trash bordered by water in the distance. We prayed for the people living in the vicinity… God spoke to me – “see, Molly, these are the least, in whom I care for… what matters is the spiritual…”
We carried on walking and met a family of seven, who moved into their house one year ago. After we prayed for the obvious, we continued on toward a house playing Christian music, where we found a lady grounded in her faith, yet struggling with her marriage. As we finished lifting her up in prayer, the children from the previous house came running after us to ask us to prophecy over the sixteen-year-old girl. We walked back up to their home and began speaking truth into her life. Rain started pouring down harder, so the family invited us to sit in their small home until the skies dried up.
Well, the rain never passed, so we began walking over more piles of trash in the pouring down rain. I walked over stuffed animals, broken glass, empty hair-dye bottles, syringes, etc. I’ve never walked over so much trash in my life. I was drenched and walking through “only God knows what.” The thought of “it’s time to go home” came to my mind, and then God spoke to me, “some people don’t get to go home to a place outside of the rain and beyond the heaps of trash… this is their home.” I can’t even imagine… my words became few… I didn’t even know what to pray… but what I do know -
God cares about them…
A few pictures to bring it into reality
Cows eating from the branches we saw brought to the dump in the back of a truck
This is work for many men (& women).
Even your typical animals help in the separation and hauling of trash...
This dump is their "playground."
One of many houses in this community...
What may seem as a dump on one side...can look beautiful on the other...
For the past few days, I have been living with a family in Santa Tecla, a town near San Salvador. I have to say that there is something special about living in a home of a local – new perspectives arise.
From day one, my family has taken me in like their own child. Jennifer, the daughter of 30 years, gave up her bedroom, so I can spend the week with them. The first morning I woke up, I accidentally knocked my glass of water off the bed stand with my hand… shattering the glass all over the floor. So I took responsibility (what else was I to do?) and told my Salvadorian mom…I thought of all the possible ways she could react, but when I told her, she reacted in a way I never thought. She embraced me in a strong hug, stroked my hair, and kept telling me, “It’s ok. I’m sorry. It’s ok. I’m sorry…” She even told me not to worry about replacing the glass. She is so sweet and continues to make sure I feel at home, especially making sure I NEVER go hungry.
My family owns a flower shop; the son began the business in February.
June 17th is “Papa’s Dia” (Father’s Day) in El Salvador, so I helped
Andres deliver flowers to father’s around the city, as well as for a
few birthdays! (The business is still just beginning, so please pray
that this business will flourish to provide an income for the family.)
That night the family invited me out-to-eat with them for Father’s Day, so we all loaded up in the car and went to Pizza Hut! However, the restaurant was too busy that our pizza never showed up on our table. But it was still special to join the family for a special occasion!!
As I spend time with Judith, Jennifer, and Andres, I’m constantly learning. First of all, my limited Spanish can only take me so far in conversations, but I still try hard. I’m always told “the more you use a language, the more natural it becomes.” This is very true…but no worries, I still have a long way to go to allow Spanish to be “natural”. The family shows me tons of PATIENCE, as we struggle through conversations together.
And the biggest lesson I’m continuing to learn is that
there is NO BARRIER when LOVE is the PRIMARY LANGUAGE spoken.
In Panama, all my days have been different… Even if they didn't seem different, they would still be gifts from God!
The first few days in Panama were spent living at a hostel in the city. I reflect back on this time and see the goodness of God shine through. As we've stayed in hostels in Beijing and then in Central America, I meet people on a journey - trying to "figure" out life… knowing a little more is out there than meets the eye. We've met people from Israel, America, Australia, Great Britain, China, Columbia, etc… all in different walks of life, yet on a journey. God has blessed us to connect on a deeper level with many…
Then I moved to an island of the Caribbean coast to spend time with the Kuna tribe. The island was a home to 1000 people; I could walk the diameter of the island in about 5 minutes. It was a true blessing to spend time. We would spend time playing with the children, hosting programs for children and adults, cleaning the "streets" (which are really small sand pathways), and the best of all, praying for women in their homes. It was a wonderful time, as I found myself deeply encouraged, and I pray that the pastor found himself encouraged as well.
I came back a little early to spend time with the all girls team BELOVED ONE! It was another gift from the God. I lived at an orphanage in the city. The children were really great - I taught them to stand on their heads and helped them turn back flips!! It was great just playing and loving on them, as they loved on us… there is something about a loving touch of a child.
During this time, we were able to spend a morning talking to prostitutes at the women's clinic. I encourage you to read Kari Stembel's blog about this time!
As we travel from place to place, I am finding the importance of "being" and allowing God to bring opportunities my way to share His love. Everywhere I am, I ask God to show me who He wants me to visit with, who He wants me to pray with… and when I truly listen to Him, I'm not even able to find words to thank Him for the "gift of today."
Jesus answered: " ‘Love the Lord your God will all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
After we love our Lord with ALL your HEART, with ALL your SOUL, with ALL your STRENGTH, with ALL your MIND, what is left?
I believe everyone on this planet would agree we are made up of three parts: Body, Mind, and Soul. Agree?
Around Deuteronomy 6:5, Moses teaches Israel what God has taught him. He says, "Hear, O Israel…Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."
If all of us are made up of only a heart, a soul, and a mind (and given strength by God - for the "joy of the Lord is our strength" Nehemiah 8:10) - and we are called to love our Lord with ALL of it, what is left?
If we truly fulfill this commandment, we've loved God with ALL of us - nothing is left. In Leviticus 6:18, God teaches Israel through Moses to "love [their] neighbor as themselves.] But if we love our God with ALL that we are, do we have room to love our neighbor or better yet, ourselves?
I'm not so sure we do… but what I do know is …
because we love God with ALL that we are, He then can love through us. By loving Him with ALL of us, we will begin to truly love ourselves because ultimately it's God, our Father and Creator, loving our imperfections and all. We will also begin to truly love others because it is God loving them through us - imperfections and all. For God is love; He formed us out of His unending and never-failing LOVE.
You know, if we live to truly love our Lord with all that we are, we will never have a problem loving someone else. We won't even have an issue loving ourselves!!
May you always LOVE your LORD with ALL your HEART, MIND, and SOUL!!
*Please pray for our team as we travel to work alongside the Kunas in Kuna Yala, Panama.*
The Kunas are the second largest indigenous group in the country, with close to 65,000 people in the whole Panamanian territory. While some Kunas live in Panama City, most Kunas remain in Kuna Yala, a protected indigenous semi-autonomous territory in northern Panama. We will live with in their villages located on small islands off the Caribbean coast. According to a native Kuna, many times pastors in the islands lack training and remain pastors on faith and love of the people. We will hopefully bring encouragement to the pastors, as well as pray for them while we are there.
"Buenos Dias" "? Como estas?" "Bien, gracias. ? y, usted?" "Bien"
These are just a few of the statements I'm learning in Spanish. I took two years of Spanish in high school, yet I have learned more these past two weeks than I ever remember…
There could be many reasons for this: 1. I'm surrounded by native speakers and immersed in the culture. 2. I desire to learn the language. 3. Maybe I really do have previous knowledge I didn't know about. 4. Probably the most likely, God is answering my prayers!
However, learning a new language isn't easy. I'm in a class of complete beginners. All five of us have different learning styles. Heather enjoys drawing while the teacher is teaching; she focuses better. John wants to know every detail and the "why" behind every rule. Jeanette just goes for it. Kari sits quietly until asked a question; I can see her mind really pressing in to understand. And I just try and pray for an epiphany!!
We're all growing in our knowledge and conversational skills in Spanish. We've had amazing, interactive teachers for the entire first week… and Monday, our conversational teacher changed…
She opened the class by teaching reflexive verbs in Spanish straight from the book. (We must remember that my friend Jeanette has only had a week of Spanish class in her entire 33 years of life.) First of all, reflexive verbs are over our head; we're just trying to remember the meaning behind certain verbs. Also, our teacher would correct us and move on, absolutely no body language or response to what we were saying. Naturally, we were all becoming a little frustrated and wondering where this teacher came from; her teaching style was completely different than our previous teachers. Being a fixer, I tried to change the subject by asking to play a game using our Spanish skills, after all it is our conversation class. Jeanette became completely overwhelmed and silently left the classroom. When another teacher asked how she was, she began to cry. Previous to the trip, she taught in inter-city Detroit for nine years and one year in Brazil. She knows how to teach and how her students respond, but it has been a long time where she learned something brand-new for the absolute first time in her life. This was just how she reacted; she truly felt like her students. Ironically, there was beauty in our five reactions of trying to truly comprehend something a little above our head.
I've learned how I respond when not fully understanding what I'm learning. I was able to feel how my 3rd grade students felt last year. Even though I would try to individualize my teaching, I know many of my students struggled with the 3rd grade curriculum. I truly believe every teacher should go learn something different and new…
Sometimes we forget how to learn things for the first time. As a teacher, I set in many workshops that built upon each other. Yet, now I am in a classroom, where the teacher speaks primarily in a language I only have bit of knowledge. And I'm learning how to be a student again…
(In addition, my patience for "broken English speakers" is growing - for I know I only have a part of the whole Spanish language; so I guess I am living as a "broken Spanish speaker.")
If you ever want to take Spanish in Costa Rica, I highly recommend EPHIFANIA SCHOOL in San Jose!!
I love birthdays!! Every morning growing up, I would stumble down stairs to find a cinnamon roll and a candle at my favorite breakfast seat! This is the one thing that remained consistent for EVERY birthday!! It's something I look forward to on my birthday… and all my siblings birthdays!!
I didn't know if the tradition would follow me… and being away from my family… I figured it wouldn't follow me… but… (was I wrong!)
I woke up to crate paper and balloons all over my bed.
I went over to the "boys' house" where all meals are served. As I walk into the room, everyone sings "Happy Birthday," and Seth has cut mangoes and laid them out just for me.
Later in the morning, Heather and Jeanette walked in with two pans of "homemade" cinnamon rolls (and Danny made the icing)!
We ride the bus to Spanish class,
and I walk into another "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" from my teacher!
Every Friday at the school is dancing lessons! The guy who cleans the school has such a gentle spirit danced with me for the last part of the lessons! He was a great leader!
And then, we make COOKIE DOUGH trying to speak in only Spanish... Some our teachers had never eaten cookie dough - more or less made it ONLY to eat it!!
We walk back to the bus… Traday took this picture… We could put this one in "People" magazine…
The squad took me to a Mexican food restaurant and some how - I got my food first...
Jeanette asked Christopher to cook me an "African" dinner. It was so good - African with a Indian twist - my two favorites!
Heather and Jeanette cooked my favorite birthday cake - "Blackforest Cake" or come like to call it "Chocolate pudding delight." It was fabulous…
And then the night began with Salsa dancing and karaoke. Seth and I sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" - it was fun, but the singing was far less than par…
Posted in Central America
by Molly Garhttp://mollygarner.theworldrace.org/editor/scripts/moz/icons/btnImage.gifner
on 5/15/2008
So, I know it's been sometime since I posted. I haven't felt like writing. Honestly, I've been looking forward to the comforts of home and what lies ahead. It's not fair to me - it's not fair to you - and certainly not fair to God that my mind is focused on the future. God calls us to be in the present and not to worry about what lies ahead - "… do NOT worry about YOUR life …" (Matthew 6:25)
As a little homesickness has set in on these last 2 1/2 months, I think "Why am I out here?" "Why am I away from my family?" This is the human inside of me asking and pondering these questions. But what use does it do for me to sit and think about such things… a week ago my great aunt died… my nephew graduated from preschool… my sister-in-law found out she's having a baby… my cousin is soon to be married… The human inside of me is asking why can't I be there… but then I remember…
The sole reason God created us was out of His love for us. If we say He created us to bring Him glory or for companionship, it shows God had a need… and He has no need. He has never had a need. So, the only reason He created us was out of His love. He desires to grow closer to every single one of us. He happened to call me away from my friends and family because He wanted to place me in an environment to grow closer to Him. He has a unique relationship with each one of us, and He happened to call me away; He might build His relationship with you in a completely different way. So out of my love for Him, I was obedient and followed His call…
For God is our ULTIMATE…
You know, God has given me many surprises this year that I NEVER expected. Being content with being away from friends and family and knowing that at some point I would be homesick, I packed my backpack and headed on the journey.
But God knew what I didn't … He knew how to demonstrate the deep love for me:
At Christmas, I was able to see my brother and sister-in-law in Taiwan!! I promised Kevin, one of my brother's roommates in college, I would see him in Taiwan (eventually), never did I ever think it would be on my journey to spread God's love to the ends of the earth this year… I was able to see Kevin commit his life to Nicole, the love of his life! And on this Christmas adventure, God worked in many other miraculous ways, some I may never know the depth of…
In Africa, I was able to spend time with Matthew! God is using and has used him to transform a hospital in Cambine, Mozambique. I was able to meet many people he has built relationships with over this past year. He is one of the most humble servants of the Lord I have ever met…
Between Africa and Costa Rica, God granted me a trip of a lifetime!! I stayed back from my squad, as they journeyed to Costa Rica, to spend time with the Racers whom left in January 2008 and encourage them how God directed - or maybe they encouraged me.
Shortly after, I flew into Houston for Sarah Beth and Nathan's wedding. Sarah Beth is one of my best friends from college - a truly loyal friend and woman after God's heart. It was wonderful to stand beside her on her wedding day to witness a fairy tale of hers come true!!
At the wedding, I was able to stand next to Alicia, one of my other best friends from college. Throughout wedding festivities, I got to hold and love on Anna, Alicia's little angel born in September right after I left on the journey…
And... I got to spend time with my family... Dad, Mom, Jenny, and Brayden...
Then God continues to surprise me…
The Friday before the wedding, I found out Joni, a best friend from high school who is a prayer warrior, had Maher, her little boy, three weeks early. I wanted to see her so bad, but I didn't have time to drive to Beaumont because my flight was leaving 8:00 the morning after the wedding. I was hesitant to tell anyone I was flying home. However, God works in his magical powers (as I like to say) and one of my legs of flight from Houston to Costa Rica got canceled, so I spent the one more night in Houston. My Sunday, which was supposed to be spent on a plane from Houston to Charlotte to Atlanta - to spend the night in Atlanta - to fly on Monday from Atlanta to Charlotte to Costa Rica, didn't go as planned - for God's plans are greater than our own. I called Nicole, my best friend since 5th grade, who happens to live around Houston, to see if she wanted to visit Joni. Maher spent one week in NICU at St. Elizabeth's Hospital and this happened to be the day he was able to go home for the first time.. This is one of the few weekends Nicole had time, so she came to pick me up at my hotel, and we drove down to Beaumont, where Maher was at St. Elizabeth's hospital. It just so happened that we were there to surprise Joni when Maher was discharged from NICU and carried down to the car to sleep in his own home for the first time. So God surprised me with the joy of seeing a new life be welcomed into fresh air!
I can't help but look back at the miraculous happenings God orchestrated just for ME! God takes care of His children and knows exactly what they need at the exact time they need it. So, why worry… well you know, after writing this blog to you … I don't think I will… I love you all and are praying for you daily!
After days of traveling, I finally landed in Costa Rica. As our teams prayed through ministry locations, we came to the conclusion that God is showing us and telling us to stay together as a squad. How can we truly turn what we've been learning into a lifestyle, if we are not given the freedom to seek as individuals where God wants to use our giftings? If we're honest with ourselves, we won't be around these teams the rest of our lives. But what a better way to live out freedom than surrounding ourselves with 26 like-minded Christians who desire to bring out the giftings in each other and spur one another on in love to become great.
So, now I'm sitting at the YWAM base in Costa Rica surrounded by my squad. We've gone on prayer walks/runs around the community, built relations with the people on the base, etc. Today, one of our teams will bake cookies for the security guards. There's a mixture of teams going to the slum area of San Jose, hospitals in the area, a place that works with women prostitutes, etc. These are some of the same opportunities we find all over the world; all we can do is ask daily where God wants to use us.
I can't wait to share the rest of the journey through Central America with you. We never know what God has in store of us…
