When I heard we were going to visit the garbage dump to talk to the people who lived there, I was excited. Since this is my second time in Central America and having seen how much trash just lies around in the streets, I imagined houses being built from scrap metal right by the mounds of trash. What I saw was exactly what I imagined, but I was still surprised by the reality of it. Our friend Kevin (he is a 19 year old missionary from Guatemala who is living with us) told me that people live there because they don’t have the money to live everywhere else and that they search through the garbage for any plastic, aluminum, or glass that could possibly be recycled for money. I was so overwhelmed that I almost couldn’t move. All I could do was pray for these people and that they would know how much God loves them and that He has bigger plans for them. I started thinking that this situation is the epitome of “rock bottom.” If I were in that situation, I would think to myself that I was not worthy or able to overcome it. So I just prayed that God would reveal to them that He created them for something much bigger than what the world has handed them. After that, all I could do was ask God, “Now that I have seen this with my own eyes, what do you want me to do with this information?” I’m still not sure of the answer, but I know that God is working on me.
That night God reminded me of Ecclesiates 3:1-11 :
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet[a]no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
I felt God telling me that THIS is that time. It is the time for all of those things. To build relationships. To break down walls. To love. To give up expectations and things that hold us back. To search for who God wants me to be. THIS is that time.
Here are two of my teammates, Walker (standing) and Alex. They are amazing men of God.
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