The Last Day A Lasting Day

We had an incredible example of the power of God today as we delivered bags of beans, flour, rice and coffee to the extremely needy in a location where we served two years ago. As we walked down the dusty, rocky roads around Rock of Salvation church, we reconnected with friends and made new ones. People were amazed that we actually came back to see them. Their faces beamed as we recalled their names and told them how great it was to see them. Building a building is one thing. Building a friendship through the love of God is something else altogether.

One of the people we were most excited to reconnect with was Nixon. Nixon is a great life lesson on how we need to be careful of prejudgment. When we met him two years ago, he was one of the workers helping us on the construction site. Forty something years old and slight of build, Nixon kept to himself and spent much of the first day shoveling dirt and mixing the concrete for the mortar. He did not make much eye contact. He seemed unremarkable in almost every way except for his work ethic. By the end of day two he was best friends with everyone. His incredible singing voice inspired us all. He and Bob played guitars on the front porch, entertaining throngs of children of all ages. He outplayed everyone on the soccer field. He looked everyone in the eye, grinned widely, and hugged dearly. Everyone loved him.

We still do. As we walked up to his house today, he met us halfway, riding his bike and laughing. He jumped off and hugs multiplied. We gave him a very special gift: a life sized cardboard Bob. He was so excited! Baptist Men is building Nixon a new house and we are sure Bob will have a prominent place.

We had one bag of food left to deliver. We asked Nixon who needed food the most. He led us down a rugged path to a ramshackle two room hut. He introduced us to Arianna, a forty year old single mother with eight children. She was a wonderful woman and graciously invited us into her home. Her eyes welled with joyful tears when we delivered her the bag of food. She hugged us all and thanked us continuously. As we turned to leave, we noticed a handwritten message that summarized so much for us. On her front door was painted:

"Dios bendiga este hogar", which translated means "God Bless This Home".

By anyone's standard, this woman had incredible needs. Yet she was happy and thankful for what she had. She is a great example for all of us.

We are all excited to travel home to our families tomorrow. We pray that as we return to our lives back home, we carry the lessons we have learned this week with us and always keep them in our hearts.

Dios te ama. To God be the glory.