A Day in a Life –Part II
This time of the year it is very wet here in Nicaragua. October is the rainiest of the rainy season, which comes with a damp feel to sheets, clothes, and everything else. What is dust for half of year now becomes mud.
So, last Saturday around 4 P.M. our favorite tortilla deliverer stopped by with her last 15 tortillas. Stephen had bought a lot the day before as we did not plan on getting more, but we invited her inside for a drink of water. She was still hoping to make the sell so she lingered some and in that time the clouds let loose with a complete down poor.
The forecast showed a downpour for the rest of the afternoon and we were reluctant to send this little girl out in the pouring rain. So somewhere between wanting to get her out of the house and a long time desire to connect with her family, we offered her a ride to her house. The problem was that she still had 15 more tortillas, and it was very clear that she was not going to get in the car until the tortillas had a home! Her bargaining skills kicked in as well as our sympathies, and now we have a lot more tortillas.
The rain had let up slightly so we headed out to the car, and while standing with the doors open, she told us that her sister was here and asked if we could give her a ride, too. Of course, we would feel better about taking two than just one (we still have our American teaching of propriety with children), so Estella ran half way down the block to a young teenager standing against the wall. As she told her sister about the ride, her sister hid behind a car, and was nervously laughing, and shaking her head. It took a minute or two of convincing before she reluctantly came over to the car and got in. All the commotion brought the neighbors out to watch as the gringoes herded the two girls into the car- this was just the beginning of our adventure!
We drove to the end of town and then out past the huge chicken farm. The next left was onto a road of puddles and garbage. The car we have right now is a 1994 Toyota Corrolla, which we are borrowing. We hit a muddy part, but we kept on going, we hit a really muddy part, but we kept on going, then we hit a really, really muddy part, and I was saying out loud, “God, help us, God help us, God help us!” The girls giggled nervously from the backseat.
I finally saw something I recognized- the dump. I knew that there was a better way out of here than the road we had come. The girls said turn right, taking us about two miles past the furthest I had been out of town before. It was only a few miles, but it was another big step in material poverty.
The next right was down a lane that had seen more bikes, horses and people than cars. The girls directed us to an area with a people of all ages were milling around, a few very rough shacks, horses, cows, and chickens. As we pulled up into the muddy lot, everyone stopped what they were doing and starred and then starred some more when we got out of the car. A young boy ran by yelling, “Gringoes, Gringoes, Gringoes, loco, loco”.
Estella and her sister, ran away and we found ourselves standing in the midst of the people feeling very strange. I shared with them how much we have appreciated the tortillas and that we met Estella in that way. Then I told them of a big rain storm in Masatepe, and how we felt that we should bring her home. What we did not tell them was that we had been praying and hoping for an opportunity to meet the family to see how God might use us in their lives. We chatted a bit, which broke the ice and created smiles on the faces of the kids and adults. We said our good-byes with a hope to see them later.
As we headed back into town, I was struck with what I see every day in Masatepe as poverty, looked very nice in comparison to what we just saw a few miles out of town. A feeling of indignation comes up in me at these times, and it usually is accompanied with a feeling of helplessness, and some fear. Indignant that people should not have to live this way, helpless because we do not have the resources to help as we would like, and fear not responding well.
We have been here long enough to know that to just give materially often creates dependency and shame, but to give like Jesus gave, requires a personal investment that can be confusing and heart-breaking at times.
The other side though is that God has given us contact with this girl and her family, and I have to trust that He will provide the means and the heart to respond to them as He would ask. The adventure continues!