Hephzibah

Another day at the track, o dear, my body is both pleased and angry at me… but I feel more ALIVE.

We piled into a van and headed to Desamparados (without support – which I have renamed Hephzibah – my delight is in her-Today we went to “Los Guidos” a really poor, really rough town. My cousins all warned us that the only people who go in there and come out alive are the people who live there, and even then chances are slim…

But we went and we met with Pastor Eduardo. He asked us if he could speak a bit with us. The group all decked out in their white shirts with the green lettering “go” listened attentively as the pastor shared and I translated.

He spoke of being able to recognize Jesus in the eyes, in the life of the people we are with, and in doing that we would be able to recognize Jesus in the eyes and the life of the people we are ministering to. He approached Joanna, a normal teenage girl who struggles with identity. He looked at her and he said, I can see Jesus in your eyes. She beamed. Then he grabbed Kris’s hands and looked at his eyes and he explained that it wasn’t by chance that the person sitting next to him was there. That it was imperative to see Jesus in his eyes and treat him as such- the person sitting next to him was Santi- our brother who Kris has been railing on for the past year with sarcastic jokes and lofty distance. Santi looked encouraged as the pastor started talking about Santi and how Jesus was present in his life and could be seen in his eyes.

We sang songs, krist translated for Joanna and Kelly while they shared their testemonies of God's faithfulness, and healings in their lives, and played with the kids. I was given the group of 12-14 year olds. We played hot potatoe and they taught me a game similar to big booty but it was called Juan Juan Pedro. Afterwards we helped serve the food for the food program that they have going on.

There was a boy who ate something like a bite of his plate of food. He was so used to not eating that whenever he did, he threw up. JESUS, HAVE MERCY

Right now the food program is feeding over a hundred kids with only half the budget that they need to adequately pay the cooks. They barely make it month by month, but by the
grace of God they are still there.