Serving Christ...

In this blog, I am sharing the innermost parts of my heart with you, my readers.  Some of this has only been shared with a couple of close friends. Most of what I have written here has been shared with no one up to this point.  My prayer is that it is first and foremost for the Glory of God but that it also blesses your life and inspires you to be ALL you can be in serving Jesus Christ our Lord.    

I arrived in Guatemala on April 3^rd of this year.  Within two weeks of arriving, Mike and Walter asked me if I would help out in the Angelitos dorm.  They had a Guatemalan worker who was getting married and leaving Casa Aleluya on April 30^th.  Working on the weekends would give Irene, our coordinator, time off to be with her family and go to church.  I told them I had come here to serve and if they needed me to do that, I would be happy to help them.  After I said that, I felt very good.  After all, it sounded very self-righteous at the time and it was also the right thing to do.  However, within two weeks I was thinking entirely differently.  I wanted to be anywhere but Angelitos because it was very hard.  Within one week, many changes took place, because of my recommendation to the director, and the mood here was not good.  The children were great and the light of my life – the problem was with the workers.  Considering I am the only American in charge over here, it made for a strained relationship to say the least.  I cried out to the Lord and told Him I wanted the girls to like me and I wanted a relationship with them.  Also, at some point in the future we were hopefully going to do ministry together.  However, with these decisions, that just wasn’t happening.  The Lord very kindly said to me, “I will be the ONE who makes relationships with you and the children and then I will receive the Glory and not you.”  Ouch!  So, I told the Lord I would continue to work here.  Some weekends, I must confess, my attitude was anything but good.  Then, at a staff meeting, I learned that we had another missionary coming in June and she was going to live in Angelitos.  I was elated as I thought she would take over and I would be freed of this responsibility.  However, Casa had different plans for her and wanted me to stay in Angelitos on the weekends.  To say that I was disappointed…is an understatement.

     I cried out to the Lord again and asked Him to please give this dorm to someone else and He lovingly said, ‘No’.   On one particularly difficult weekend, I was so very tired, overwhelmed and weary.  We had a lice outbreak in the nursery and everything had to be washed:  blankets, bedding, cribs, etc.  Then we had to shampoo 10 children’s’ heads and leave the shampoo on for 10 minutes.  Let me tell you that entertaining babies and 2 year olds for 10 minutes is difficult to say the least.   I have never seen so many blankets and sheets in one place in my entire life.  I thought we would never get through washing all of them.  Glenda does the washing for the entire dorm on the weekend so I offered to help her with this because of the large amount of things that needed to be washed.  Early Sunday morning I arose, read my Bible and prayed to be released from this duty again, even cried some (actually a lot), and drudgingly walked to the laundry room to get the last of the blankets we had washed the night before.  Upon entering the nursery, I laid the load of blankets on the counter.  I began folding them when one little boy grabs my left leg and another grabs my right leg and says, “My mommy”, “no, my mommy” and a tug of war ensued.  I looked up and in my heart said, “Lord, Is this the answer to my prayer?”  I knew that it was and that this was the place I was to serve. 

      The situation has gotten better but it is like riding on a roller coaster at the County Fair.  It has its ups and downs.  Recently, I had to take charge of yet another difficult situation and the mood here was tense.  I did what I had to do and what was right but the response from some of the workers was not pleasant.  The children here have been so hurt in their young life, that when anyone of us on staff has to correct them, sometimes they won’t speak to you for a long time.  That attitude kind of permeates throughout the entire dorm to the other workers as well. You might say, ‘It is a united front’.  I prayed constantly and asked God to show me how to bridge this gap and show these girls how very much I love them.  On the following weekend, the Lord said to me, “Serve them”.  Two very simple words were my answer from the Lord.  My first thought was - that’s easy; serving is one of my spiritual gifts and I like working with the children.  So on Saturday, I took my sewing machine to Angelitos so that I could keep an eye on everything and altered clothes all day long.  The boys had received new dress slacks and they needed to be taken up and hemmed.  For the clothes to be ready for church the next day, I worked until late at night and then retired to my apartment.  I got up early Sunday morning and went back to Angelitos.  I greeted the girls in the kitchen and helped with setting the tables for breakfast.  Then after breakfast, I went to the nursery to help bathe all the children while the girls dressed them.  After finishing with the bathing, I played for a while in the floor with the babies and toddlers.  Then I went to help one of the girls in the kitchen (the other one had asked to go to church).  I asked her what I could do to help, and she gave me the job of chopping vegetables for the sauce they were making.  Since they cook for approximately 50 people each meal, it was a HUGE basket of tomatoes.  I asked her how she wanted them chopped and she showed me.  Let me mention here that she wanted them cut into ¼” pieces.   I told myself I could do this… however, only part of the way into it; I told the Lord that this wasn’t my idea of having fun.  The task seemed like a never ending job.  While chopping tomato after tomato, the Lord, like the gentle loving Father He is, began to remind me that He came to serve.  He brought to my mind all the stories of the New Testament and how He, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, humbled Himself, left the splendor of Heaven, was born in a manger and served mankind.  He even served those who rejected Him, spit on Him, and beat Him.  He died for those same individuals as well as for you and me.  By the time, I was finished with those tomatoes; I had a blister on my hand from the knife I was using and a new attitude in my heart.  ‘Who am I Lord to question serving you with these menial tasks when you showed me the perfect way to serve by giving Your life for others?’   

Philippians Chapter 2, verses 1-9 says,

“Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.  Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests but also for the interests of others.  Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  For this reason also, God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name…

 
    I spent the rest of that Sunday talking with the girls (workers) about their school work, their life, and telling them how good they were doing.  I have worked in this dorm every weekend since the first of May and for the very first time, I began to feel, a sense of camaraderie between me and them.  In a cry of desperation, the Father showed me how to reach them and bridge the gap of our differences.  Being desperate is exactly where the Father wants each of us, then we depend solely on Him because we can do NOTHING ourselves.  In a devotional book from Beth Moore, she says, “Victory always begins with a cry for help.  When we come to the end of ourselves and cry out for help, amazing things happen.” I began to realize something this week.  Being in Angelitos has stretched me in ways both physically and spiritually that could not have been attained by doing only sewing classes.  My Father, who knows everything about me, knew this and that is why He so lovingly said ‘No’ to my request time and time again.  I wouldn’t trade being here for anything because I have fallen totally in love with these children.  I enjoy my time here, and hope to be here a long time and see these boys and girls grow up into fine men and women of God.  I am sure that I will have more roller coaster rides here and that is fine because my Father is molding and refining me in His own sweet, gentle way.  I want to be refined, as painful as that is, to be as pure silver (Psalm 66) with no impurities and then He alone receives all the glory and honor forever.   Amen.

My Life in Angelitos

    Some of you may be wondering what I do in the Angelitos dorm on the weekends.   I thought I would give you a glimpse into my weekends so that you will have an idea.  First, let me tell you about Angelitos and the people who live there.  Angelitos is where our youngest children stay at Casa Aleluya.  It is located directly to the left as you enter the front gate. 

 

Angelitos is divided into 3 sections with girls, boys, and babies/toddlers.  In the girl’s dorm, we have a total of 13 children ages 3 to 8; in our boy’s dorm, there are a total of 15 with an age range of 4 to 9; and in our nursery, we have 9 children ages 13 months to 2 years old.  Currently, Angelitos also houses our children who are in need of dialysis every day.  There are 2 boys and 1 girl who live in two different rooms along with the 3 people who care for them.  We also have several apartments/living quarters for various people such as:  our coordinator, one of our American missionaries, and some of our full time workers in Angelitos.  We also have a commercial kitchen and dining room.  All of our children in Angelitos eat in this dorm along with the workers.  Our larger cafeteria/dining room, known as the blue building, are where all other children at Casa eat.  We also have a bodega (storage unit) where all donations of clothing, shoes, and baby supplies are located along with a room used for counseling sessions with our children.   There is also a laundry room with a large commercial washer and dryer.  As you can see, it is a very large dorm which serves many functions.  There are two groups of workers and two coordinators for the Angelitos dorm.  One group works Monday through Friday and then we have a separate group that works on the weekends.  This gives our full time workers through the week some time off.  They usually have classes on Saturday and Sunday at the University.  The weekend workers are all university students with the exception of three workers who are seniors graduating this year.
     Irene is Guatemalan, a nurse, and our coordinator through the week.  Yours truly is the coordinator on the weekends.  When I work on the weekend, it gives Irene an opportunity to go home and be with her family, worship in her church, and do outside ministry.  Irene lives at Casa from Monday morning at 8:00am to 4:00pm on Friday afternoon.

      On the weekends, we have 3 workers in the nursery during the day with 1 worker who stays with the babies and toddlers at night.  We have 1 worker for each of the girls and boys dorm.   All of our workers sleep in the room with the children in case the children are sick or in need of someone at night.  We also have two girls who cook and prepare all meals for the children and workers.   They are wonderful cooks and keep our kitchen/dining room area spotless.   We also have one person who does all the laundry for the entire dorm.  Let me note here that we use large garbage cans on wheels for hampers and we have one for each section of Angelitos.  The hampers are always full to overflowing each morning.  Our washing machine and dryer get a good work out every day.

      A typical weekend looks something like this:  On Friday afternoon when I enter the dorm area, I am usually greeted by multiple children shouting my name and running up to me for hugs and kisses.  The younger ones who have trouble with my name usually say – 'Share lone', while some call me Mami.  Sometimes our children call the femal visitors Mami because they really don’t know who their mother is.  I then check in with Irene to get the report on the children.  She informs me of the ones who are sick, the medications they are taking, and the ones who will be going to court on Monday so that I can see that they are ready on time.  We document everything from cuts, and bruises, to medications.  These records are very important when we go to court so that we can explain why they have a bruise, etc.
   

 

   Irene leaves around 4:00pm and then I try to speak to each one and then more hugs and kisses are given and received.  At 4:30pm, the dinner bell rings and all of our larger kids scurry to their dorm to wash their hands, say the blessing, and line up to go to the dining room.  All of our toddlers go to the dining room while someone in the nursery stays behind and feeds the 3 smaller ones who sit in a high chair. 

 

 

 

 After dinner, it is time for showers and pajamas.  The older boys and girls usually get to watch a movie before going to sleep.  We don’t allow them to watch a lot of television and try to monitor what they do watch. We like for them to see family films and programs suitable for young children.  We also have a rule that only Christian music can be played at Casa.

     It is incredibly quiet in Angelitos at bed time.  Around 8:00pm, I check all the areas of Angelitos to make sure everything is in order -  say ‘Good Night’ to all and then retire to my apartment for the evening.  On Saturdays, I am up at 4:30am, and return to Angelitos by 5:30am or 6:00am.  The breakfast bell rings promptly at 6:30am. 

   In the nursery area, the night time person leaves at 6:30am and the day time workers arrive.  The children are dressed, lined up and headed to the dining room where we usually have pancakes or cereal along with milk and fruit.  After breakfast, it is bath time for the children in the nursery.

 

  They are usually bathed in the sink and then dressed for the day.  The older children brush their teeth and help clean the dorms.  They clean the bathrooms, make the beds, and mop the floors. 








When this is finished, it is time to go have some fun on our play ground outside.  We also put the babies  in the stroller and take them along with the toddlers outside for some sunshine.  If it is raining, we have a large covered area in the center of Angelitos where the children can play.  This keeps the children from being cooped up in a dorm room when the weather is bad.  The children all have snack time mid-morning which consists of some type of fruit and then they play outside until time for lunch at 11:30am. 

     Lunch is our biggest meal of the day and we usually have chicken or meat along with pasta or rice and vegetables.  The children then return to their dorms for the quietest time of the day – nap time.    Sometimes, I take a nap at the same time just to be energized for the afternoon. J

     After nap time, the babies/toddlers have juice and cookies and the older children go back outside to play until dinner time.  The dinner bell rings at 4:30pm and we usually have some type of sandwich and milk.  Our sandwiches are usually refried beans, ham, egg, or jelly.  The children love the refried bean sandwiches.  After dinner, it is time for the older children to have showers and get dressed for bed.  The routine is pretty much the same for Sunday with the exception of Children’s church at 7:30am.  Can you imagine getting 30 children dressed and ready for breakfast by 6:30am and then church at 7:30am?  I use to think that getting 3 children ready for church was a task until I witnessed the routine in Angelitos.

    There is really no physical work that I have to do in Angelitos as it is my job to oversee the workers and make sure that everyone is in the right place doing their job and that the children are always safe.    However, sometimes I take the children out to the playground and let the workers clean.  One Saturday while on the playground, I experienced what I like to refer to as a ‘God’ moment.  One of our young boys age 9 was talking to me when I was sitting watching the children play.   I told him that he was tall and he must take after his daddy.  He said, “I have no father”.  I told him that he did have a father because in the Bible in the book of Psalms, God tells us that He is a father to the fatherless.  (Psalm 68:5)  He looked and me and said, “God is my Father?”  I said, “Yes, He is and He is my Father too”.  He seemed to take all of that in and smiled the biggest smile and said, “Dios es mi Papa”(God is my Father).  So many of our children don’t get to experience a ‘daddy’ because either their father died, or he abandoned them. 

    I could literally go on and on about each of the children in Angelitos because I have so enjoyed getting to know them over the past few months.  They are very close to my heart.  Jesus told the disciples in the Bible, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these”.  I have enjoyed experiencing daily life here while also serving our youngest residents in Casa Aleluya.  On days when I am drained, feeling overwhelmed, or a bit homesick, the children make me laugh.  Through their energy and exuberance for life, I have a renewed vision of ministry every weekend.

    It is not something I would have chosen to do, but through serving here in Angelitos, the Father has taught me so much.  He is continuing to work in and through me for these little one's here in Casa Aleluya. 

“And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’   Matthew 25:40