A lesson in compassion

One of my favorite worship songs has a line in it that says, "Let my heart break for what breaks Yours." This past week God has blessed me with experiences that have done just this. A professor at Whitworth taught me that another meaning for the word compassion is a feeling that comes from the guts or the insides of your being. This is a great picture of how I felt when helping some of the family in the towns of Sarita and San Pedro la Cocona. In one instance in Sarita, I was explaining medicine instructions to a mother with 4 children. She had just delivered her youngest recently via C-section and appeared extremely exhausted and obviously was not recovered from the operation. Her newborn baby was probably one of the sickest I have seen since being here. He had just received a nebulizer breathing treatment for bronchial pneumonia. I remember vividly the mother's face and how tired her eyes looked. We saw more mothers that day with their children than I remember at other times. During this trip to the town of San Pedro la Cocona, Tito explained to us how one family had impacted him and helped him to better understand what was needed in addition to medical help. Tito first met this family after tending to one of their younger children who had been extremely sick from parasites and was extremely malnourished. After setting up the clinics for our last day, we stopped by the home of this family. The mother was home with her five children and the second youngest was very sick at the time. They lived in a two-room structure that no one in the U.S. would consider a house. It was not even able to give them proper shelter from the intense rains and possible intruders. Their roof was basically rusted away and it was obvious that the family was not eating well from the looks of what had to have been a kitchen. As we prayed for this family and gave the mother some medicine for her child, I felt the now more familiar wrenching in my heart. The following day we were blessed to serve this family with medicine, including the drug of choice for the trip (albendazol-an antiparasitic), and vitamins. We were also able to put a new roof on this family's house and bring food to them. It is amazing how important the father is in the families here. You can tell if a family has a good father if the children are being fed and they have sufficient shelter. Sadly, some of the fathers in this area have not been taught the importance of how to spend money. It pains me to see that most of the families we see do not have the father present with them. It is evident in the faces of the mothers how life is for them and their children at home. Not all of the families are without a father-figure present, but it seems more common than the contrary. It is also amazing how important clean water, shelter, and food is and how everyday I unknowingly take these things for granted. It is so easy to forget that there are people without access to these basic needs. Along with feeling helpless about providing all that these people need, I am reminded of how powerful the hope I have found in Christ is to share. Without hope, we really have nothing, regardless of the material possessions or necessities we are blessed with. What was different after leaving on the last day was a sense of hope instilled in the people. Prais God for moving in ways we can not. He doesn't need us to be a part of His great plan to bring His children back into His embrace. One of the things I have been learning here is to do every work using all of my ability taking every opportunity to love others no matter where they are from. The people who came from this last team taught me much about loving others whole-heartedly. Either from working diligently counting pills in the Pharmacy or for praying for those who receive them. These people would jump at the chance to sweat profusely outside while putting fluoride in the mouths of the children. Joy was definately a contagious feeling with these fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. There are many stories I could share about the people I have spent time with last week. It is so great how you can be blessed through the most unexpected conversations, especially when Jesus is included.
This week we have been working in the office. It has been great having the new addition to our intern team, Trevor, here to help organize medicine and play an occasional, roaring game of King's Corner after work. He is going on his last year of medical school and has been a great help to the doctors here. It's also great to have a new person here for the Guatemalan's to tease. This morning we met all of the SPU students who are joining us next week in the clinics. Half of the students are working in the medical part and the other half is working with the children. They have been helping at America Latina (a private Christian school in the city) with the teachers and also traveling to schools, giving fluoride to the students. Prayers for preparing the hearts of these students are gladly welcomed. These students have an obvious excitement to serve and my hopes are that we are all able to work together well. Prayers so that the staff at La Mision does not get over-exhausted from the expected stress with the upcoming week having so many young people to organize. Praises again for the time that has been extended for me here and for the unknown that is to come tomorrow. Praises for being blessed in the greatest and smallest ways. Thank you for your prayers and for reading. Here is one of my favorite prayers by A.W. Tozer:

O God, be Thou exalted over my possessions. Nothing of earth's treasures shall seem dear unto me if only Thou art glorified in my life. Be Thou exalted over my friendships. I am determined that Thou shalt be above all, though I must stand deserted and alone in the midst of the earth. Be Thou exalted above my comforts. Though it mean the loss of bodily comforts and the carrying of heavy crosses, I shall keep my vow made this day before Thee. Be Thou exalted over my reputation. Make me ambitious to please Thee even if as a result I must sink into obscurity and my name be forgotten as a dream. Rise, O Lord, into The proper place of honor, above my ambitions, above my likes and dislikes, above my family, my health and even my life itself. Let me sink that Thou mayest rise above. Ride forth upon me as Thou didst ride into Jerusalem mounted upon the humble little beast, a colt, the foal of an ass, and let me hear the children cry to Thee, 'Hosanna in the highest.'
Amen.