I AM

Madi was out of diapers early one morning, so I popped her in the stroller, bundled her in a blanket and we headed out to one of the tienda’s near my house…on our way home, one of the boys who sleeps on my street in front of my apartment, called out to me and to anyone else who would listen “ Dos quetzales…solamente dos….por favor” he was almost whimpering, crying out and desperation was written all over his face….in his hand he held a little alcohol bottle that they use to sniff glue, and he was shaking the bottle, turning it over to make sure there was nothing left in it, sticking it in his nose and mouth and all the while begging for two quetzals…I could hear him long after I had walked down the street. Later that day as I was walking to go meet a friend, I was ohhing and ahhing with Madi ( who of course was brilliantly getting alot out of our little nature lesson, I think she was even taking notes) how gorgeous the volcanoes were that particular afternoon, after a heavy rain that morning, the air had cleared and you could see crystal clear every part of the mountains except the very tops, that were encircled by clouds…you know that “heart hurting” kind of beauty and once again I was struck with the utter beauty of this country and yet tragic pain as well…God is at work and you don’t have to look hard or long to see His hand moving in such a mighty way throughout this country and it is thrilling. A group of us, very dear friends are just seeking the Lord about what He wants us to DO with this vision and passion, He has laid on our hearts for the children of Guatemala, each of us have had and are having defining moments that are nothing but the orchestration of the Lord. Right now we are at the very foundations of this “something” and there is a lot of praying, brainstorming and sharing and I have never been so excited and filled with such anticipation in my life…I am not sure what exactly, not sure when and definitely not sure how but “On the mount of the Lord, it will be provided” Gen 22:14 Exciting days!!!

I remember a couple of years ago when the ManChen orphanage was in full gear here in Antigua…it was very sad place and especially sad for little guy named Daniel

…Daniel was about a year old and was a struggler…having some neurological damage, Daniel acted like a 2 or 3 month old and because his needs weren’t met, he spent a lot of his time fussing and crying, which compounded the problem for the already overworked and few and far between caregivers and he was more often than not just left in his bed…crying One afternoon, we were feeding babies for dinner and each person, had two and three babies and only Daniel was not getting fed, he just lay in his crib and wailed…I walked over and asked one of the nannies if he had eaten yet and she said “He doesn’t really eat much” I picked him up and he immediately stopped crying and I began to feed him slowly, a lot dripped out of his mouth but he was eating and I was crying …. I sat there and cried and tried to feed Daniel and just said out loud to the Lord “Why aren’t you here, Lord, why aren’t You stepping in for this baby who has no one to advocate for him” and He said “I AM” and I stuck another spoon full of cereal in his mouth and in that moment I realized that the presence of the Lord was all over that orphanage, there was not one part of Himself that He was withholding from these children and it changed me and it changed my perspective…instead of desperation and hopeless, which are both directly from the enemy, it is this joy and unbelievable privilege to walk into a place like ManChen and in the power of cross, the hope of the gospel and the powerful love of God and say “Let’s go be apart of the love of Jesus to these children” “I AM” That’s what I hear Him saying as my friends and I pray and seek His face about what He wants us to do…I AM