OH Boy! It's been a week back from guatemala and I really miss it!
I've already said some stuff about this trip and I don't want to be a bore but I think more can be said...
One thing to be said is that since I have been back, Panimaquin and the people there have been on my heart every day. Everyone there had a impact in some way on me, From the humility and kindness of pastor Lazaro, the warm heart of Mario, down to the cute and adorable smile of little Glendy (I think I want to adopt a little guatemalan girl). Even with the limited spanish most of us were able to speak to the people in, relationships were built and we were shown such acceptance, and the awesome thing is that this was coming out of a cultural back ground where the village we stayed with and the village right next door hated eachother not to long ago because of the fact that the other village wasn't indigenious to the region. But because of the grace of God working in these peoples lives a lot of these rivalries and issues are being healed. So we, gringos, were welcomed into the fellowship of these believers and shown honor because there was a sense that our connection was deeper than nationality and that our bond ran deeper than our own blood... we are a family, one body, brought together by the love of one God. I can't wait to learn more spanish and return to panimaquin more times to build relationships with the people even better and hopefully impart some spirit of change in these beautiful people just as they have done to me.
our bond runs deeper than bloodlines and cannot be stopped by borderlines. let's tear down the fences put up around our minds and join the family of humanity that is brought together within the broken body of Christ.
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That's a fantastic line of thinking.
ReplyDeleteIt is always easy to see what defines ourselves, and what makes others different. To see how we are all so similar and one family, however, required a different kind of thinking, which is an admirable way to view the world.
This was one of the awesome revelations God gave me in Guatemala after reading a Shane Claiborne book, haha. About how when we pray the Lord's prayer, we are declaring that we are all one family. And that love has the longest arms... that God embraces us all as Father.
ReplyDeleteI hope that we really hold this dear and keep it through our lives here in the States. (Your italicized line should be on a plaque or something)