Theirs

At first I was a bit hurt when the teacher commented to the delegation from St. Paul Area Synod that they were the first people to visit them from another country. I had been to their community twice before within the year and had even worshipped with them in nearly hundred degree heat. I thought that my presence was not important to them.

Then they commented on my presence there and that they knew me. One man even invited me specifically to his home for lunch (we had been split up in 6 different homes as this community is too poor to be able to provide for more than one mouth extra per household) so that he could try to get his agenda across, I knew what he was doing and to be careful. After lunch, I spoke with him and two other men while waiting for the delegation to finish eating lunch.

I heard the sound of the creature waiting between his willingness to “persuade” me into helping his family and the hope in the eyes of the other two men. I found that I had the words to preach to them that day the hope that only Christ can bring.

Under the biggest tree in the community, we talked about the nature of our partnership with the two Synods (the ILAG has new Companion Synod relationships with Southeastern Synod and St. Paul Area Synod) and I also talked to them about what hope is using Romans and that we have a God who loves us and will provide for us. I talked about how they need to learn to work together as a church and a community and that if they do not learn to work together if we or anyone else brings an economic development project to them that it will destroy their community instead of helping it. It is true that they have very real needs but we need to make haste slowly. I talked about the abundance of blessings that they have received from God. One of the men has a son that suffered brain damage as they fled into Mexico across a river. He sits in their home unsure of the day and unable to communicate, yet his father despite the pain is thankful that his son lives. We talked about how God has promised to provide us our daily bread and that we can hold on to that with all of our hope. I preached that day using Matthew 6:24-34 under the shade of the tree as we waited and they listened.

Later that day Esther brought up to me their comment of how this had been the first group of Americans to visit them and yet it was my third visit. She said that for them I am already theirs. I am not a visitor.