Preparing for this trip we have been told what to pack, what we should wear, how to act in certain cultural situations, how to be happy no matter what we are eating (which is sometimes questionable, like an iguana), but there wasn´t any training on how to deal with emptiness and the feeling of helplessness. Although there is much joy and laughter that happens on this adventure we are on, there are times when we feel defeated.
This morning our groups walked about 25 minutes from our house to an area that was radically different from even our life here in San Vicente. About four years ago there was a volcanic eruption that destroyed many families homes with hot lava. These people were left with literally nothing but the clothes on their back . Complete and utter devastation had washed their lives away.
But these people have prevailed. The government gave them a minimal amount of money to rebuild a house, but these houses are more like shacks. They are made with little of the usual construction materials, but there are tarps, cardboard, pieces of tin, cloth, and whatever was there to be used. Walking through these homes and talking to these broken people was so difficult. My heart just broke for them. We would ask if they needed anything or if we could help them in any way or pray for them, but their response was unattainable. They needed everything. Money, food, clothes, medicine, health… Everything we take for granted. And all we could give them was prayer and shower them with God´s love.
This experience just reminds me that I am powerless. As much as I want to help and care for people, to comfort the needy, only God has the power to save. Only He can heal the broken and create joy from sorrow. All I can do is cry out to Him and allow Him to do what I can´t.
