Abundance (Nate)

A while back, our friend Emily Wiggins recommended a podcast about adoption and orphans (check it out here:
Crown on Orphans). A couple of things stuck out to me that I’d like to reproduce here, and then I’d like to share some of my thoughts and reactions.

In the podcast, Crown Ministries mention that “It is God who allows us to make money and earn a living, God who teaches us to manage it wisely, and it is God who expects us to use those resources to fulfill his purposes- and caring for orphans and widows is a huge part of God’s heart.”

I agree completely that God has given us abundant resources in the form of his creation (water, plants, dirt, sun, air) and that, combined with our reasoning abilities and physical abilities, give us lots of options for how to “make” money and live. I also agree that God had in mind some specific uses for the stuff he’s given us other than just entertaining ourselves. For instance, maybe my ability to make more than enough for me to live on is part of God’s design. In Jesus’ day, a man could provide for his whole family by using just a donkey and his own hard labor. Aren’t we now able to provide so much more since we have tons of machines doing the hard stuff for us? Of course. So what are we doing with the excess? If we were truly using our resources wisely and in the way God intended, we should be using our abundance to help widows and orphans, as God commands us to do. Stated another way, our ability to sustain life is abundant and should be shared with those orphans and widows because it is a huge part of God’s heart.

In the podcast, they also mention some depressing statistics about the 130 million orphans in the world, many of whom are economic orphans. It flattens me that some families give up a kid they brought into the world because they feel like they can’t provide for the child. But the podcast also points out the hope mentioned in Psalm 68 as well. Just in case you’re so depressed by the statistics that you’re incapacitated and can’t bring yourself to do a quick search at www.biblegateway.com, here’s the part I’m talking about:

Psalm 68

5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.

6 God sets the lonely in families, ^[b]
he leads forth the prisoners with singing;
but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

9 You gave abundant showers, O God;
you refreshed your weary inheritance.

10 Your people settled in it,
and from your bounty, O God, you provided for the poor.

If ever I feel overwhelmed that there are just too many orphans to take care of, or that widows are just a part of society, I should come back to this passage. God does these things! He’s a father to orphans and a husband for widows. He’s an adoption specialist!

Which makes me wonder, if God is looking out for the orphans and widows, that means I can go about making my wallet fat and eating as much protein as I can while driving an SUV right?

Well I guess that’s true if I don’t want to be a part of God’s purposes on earth or care about the things he does, which is basically not being a follower, or disciple of him. But that sounds pretty futile to me and probably is the most depressing thing I can think of.

Maybe I need to consider how God goes about doing these things. The podcast quotes Rick Warren saying that the Church is the world’s biggest distribution network and the thing we’re supposed to move is compassion. God pours out his love on us (one of the ways is in providing for our physical needs), and, in turn, we are to pour out his love to the rest of the world.

Which brings me full circle. I have an abundance. I have excess. I am capable of providing for more than just my family. And if I’m not, I’m being disobedient and not being a good manager of the resources God has given me.

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

–Nate

Perspective

I know we said we were going to take turns blogging, but Nate’s priority this week is to work on the upstairs apartment. (Yes, we have apartments–more on that some other time.) So, to take some of the pressure off him, I (Rachael) am going to be blogging again this week.

Our trip two weeks ago caused me to think about perspective. After making two back-to-back trips to Guatemala, my view (or perspective) of the U.S. changed. I love to travel and would like to live abroad, but, as it turns out, I kind of like the U.S., too! Of all things, guess what I realized I like? The roads. They’re straight. And not bumpy. And we can cover long distances quickly. And I don’t feel like puking every time we turn a corner. (I also like the fact that we can drive with our windows down and not choke on pollution, and we can walk on the sidewalks without worrying about land mines, but that’s another story…) Anyway, of all things I could come to appreciate, I’m surprised it’s something as mundane as our highways.

Also, I find it interesting that Jody and I were together 24-7, but we saw things entirely differently. While she was having her special moments with Mili, I was thinking about Alejandra. While she was cuddling with Cristal, Nate and I were getting clobbered by Danny. Besides the basic who, what, when, where details, our blogs tell completely different stories.

Last, but not least, as I was looking through our pictures, I got a glimpse of the kids’ perspective. As we were hanging out with the babies, some of the older kids (Danny, Jose, Alejandra, and Estuardo) hijacked our camera. At the time, I was too busy worrying about how to make sure we brought the gadget home in one piece to think about what they were seeing through the lens. Now, back in the U.S., it’s fun to click through the pictures and pick out the ones that the kids took. It’s not hard, because the way they see the world is so different from the way we mature, well-trained, and well-educated adults do. They don’t do it “right.” They zoom in too much. They cut off people’s heads. They’re out of focus. They take pictures of the sky. Funny how things that are so “wrong” end up being “all right.”

I get the feeling there’s probably some great truth hidden in that last line, but instead of trying to go there on this chilly Monday morning, I’ll just leave you with the pictures.

(BTW-This first one is my personal favorite, but Nate is partial to the last one.)

Guat Wrap Up

As I was looking over our blog last night, I realized that a lot of the content of my blog posts has centered on our time with the babies.  Interestingly, this wasn’t the original plan.  We had hoped to spend equal time at the babies’ home, Eliza Martinez, and San Gabriel.  However, due to circumstances beyond our control, our time at EM and SG was cut in half. 

 

I can’t help but think that things worked out for the best, despite the unexpected changes.  The children, especially those closest to Juan Pablo, all seem to know what’s happening.  Others have left them because of adoption, and it’s obvious that they know that JuanPi is next.  It’s good that Jody, Nate, and I could be there to give them individualized attention and love just as they start to feel the loss of their friend.

 

Over the course of this short trip, we made the most of our limited time with the older boys.  With loads of help from our van driver (William), Ana (she works for Buckner), and the staff of the two homes, we managed to get a picture and a completed survey from each boy.  The surveys will give us insight into the boys’ lives (birthday, favorite super hero, tshirt size, what makes them happy, what life was like before they came to the orphanage, etc.) and will hopefully help people in the U.S. get to know these boys in a more personal and individualized way. 

 

Right now, the biggest logistical challenge is the high turnover rate.  I have a picture we took in August of seven boys.  Today, only two of the seven are still at San Gabriel.  As I understand it, San Gabriel is being used as a juvenile correctional facility.  A judge determines how long they are supposed to stay, but escape is common.

 

Perhaps this is part of the reason why many groups don’t focus on SG.  It’s hard to get to know them, because they don’t hang around.  On top of that, these boys are tough.  They aren’t cute like the babies or heart wrenching like the special needs kids at EM. Let me tell you a story to illustrate.  At one point, Nate and Jody went to find a bathroom and Ana and William were inside with the other boys.  This left me all by myself trying to pass out some little gift, like Playdough or candy, to a group of four or five boys.  I’m getting used to the madness that comes with passing out gifts, but I was surprised when one of the boys pinned me up against a wall and wouldn’t let me go.   It wasn’t a big deal.  Really, it wasn’t.  They were all smiling and laughing, and when I very adamantly told them, “No.  Move now,” they moved. 

 

If anything, this experience gave me new determination to return to these boys.  They don’t know how to interact with females.  To survive, they’ve had to be defensive and aggressive.  They haven’t had parents teach them right and wrong, good and bad, appropriate and inappropriate.  They don’t know what it’s like to be loved. 

 

This is where we come in.  No, we can’t adopt them all and bring them into stable, secure, loving, nuclear families, but we can show them love.  We can bring gifts and write letters.  We can pray for them and send birthday cards.  We can smile at them, play soccer with them, and give them a hug.  They need us to look at their rough, deviant, aggressive, unlikable exteriors and choose to love them in spite of what we see.

 

After all, isn’t this what everyone needs?