Guatemala Day 4!

 

Guatemala (Day 4)

Today, after building three more houses, we rented a “fuboilito” court and played soccer with adults and children from the San Lucas Tolimán community. Many of the folks that played with us were men from the construction crews that helped us at our work sites. One word can describe our experience, JOY. It was actually the second time we did this, but our students were so insistent on doing it again that we decided to skip showers and ice cream to rent the court a second time.

You see, when you play soccer with a group of Guatemalans there is the resounding sound of laughter. Of joy. It is what every student spoke about after the first time we played. And the truth is, our kids did not play the same way. Our students were intense, competitive, and out there to win. So really, what our students wanted was not merely more time to play, but more time to learn from our Guatemalan friends. To learn that life is not always about winning or losing, scoring or assisting, outplaying or overpowering. That time on the fubolito court can really just be fun. That soccer can really just be about having a good time. That it can be about joy.

Each night as we debrief our days and ask Jesus to open our eyes to what he wants us to see, we share about the things we saw that were new, challenging, and beautiful. And each night at least one student will say “These people have nothing, but they have so much _____.” After playing soccer, the statement made by our students was, “These people have nothing, but they have so much JOY.” I love it when students begin to realize that joy is not linked to their circumstances, or their possessions, or the score at the end of the game. It certainly isn’t for our Guatemalan friends, and it doesn’t have to be for us either.

In fact as the week has gone by, our students have noticed that our new Guatemalan friends are not just filled with joy, but they are generous, kind, accepting, patient, welcoming, hospitable, and incredibly hard working. And all of this, as our students have observed, while having “nothing.” It really makes you wonder if we have the right definitions of the words “nothing” and “everything,” doesn’t it? Because what I really think is that are Guatemalan friends may be the ones with “everything” after all.

Tonight we opened our Bibles and read Luke 10:25-37 together. In this account a lawyer asks Jesus to define for for the crowd the definition of “neighbor.” Jesus answers with a story. You should read it. It just might be the case that we have another definition backwards too.

I’ll let the pictures tell the story of the rest of our day.

Privileged to Serve (and really proud of our students),

Rich and the Team