Big trucks are barreling down the road pouring out a river of black exhaust and motorcycles buzz around them on the four lane highway to Antigua. This is my view from the first row of the van we are currently riding in. Although we are leaving Guatemala I'm still thinking about our work in the landfill and the mystery man who is now in the van with us. The day started off like any other with breakfast at Seteca then heading over to the lot for material gathering. We head off to the landfill to finish the house from yesterday but team # 1 soon finds out that there was an incident the night before at the house they were reroofing. The policia were there and sorting out a situation between the homes owner and neighbor who was unhappy she wasn't having her home improved. So we had to move on to install stoves at other locations. My team begins work today with the help of the mystery man. The mystery person just appeared yesterday at the opposite end of a load a aluminum siding I was carrying. Upon questioning why he was here helping I became extremely confused from his answers. I inquired if he worked for pastor Saul's church to which he answered "no". I asked if he knew the family and he said "no". So the mystery man saw the dumbfound look on my face and simply said "I do this for the same reason you do it, because I love Jesus". I was stunned. This mystery man was working to help the people of the landfill for no other reason except he loved Jesus with all his heart and that he wanted to serve his neighbor. However the story doesn't end there. The mystery man stopped carrying aluminum for a minute to tell me more. His name is Jóse. He is 22 years old and spent most of his life in an orphanage. His mother left him and his father beat him. One day he ran away from his fathers beating so the next time his father tied him up by his foot and beat him severely. The neighbor called the cops when they heard the beating and they came and took Jóse to the orphanage. He never saw his parents again. He now lives with his girlfriends parents in the landfill. This is a man who wasn't raised by a good family nor has hardly any worldly possessions. Yet in his on words, has overcome everything through his relationship with Jesus. Jóse told me that it was through meeting and helping American missionaries that he meet Jesus and stay on the narrow path that God requires. Jose is a perfect example of how God loves things that are lost. God loves us all if we will just seek him first. Jóse being inspired and mentored by missionaries is an example of why Going to All the Nations as Jesus commanded is not optional. I've been blessed by Jóse and everybody in Guatemala this week. I look forward to what tomorrow holds.
Matthew 9:37&38
Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few;38 Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
"God values things that are lost"
David Waldrip
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