Yesterday was our team's first day in the dump, La Chureca. The first look at desperation and darkness came about one half of a mile outside of the dump. The road leading into La Chureca was littered with debris and countless people were picking through absolute filth to try and find things to sustain them.
As we entered the dump, some members from last year's team were visibly excited while the first timers' chins were in their laps. One member of last year's team actually said to Daniel (our leader from Nicaragua), "Wow? They have cleaned it up and even put a building at the entrance."
I will do my best to describe what it was like entering the dump for the first time, but I am sure you can understand that there is really no possible way this can be done effectively:
My thoughts at first quickly followed my eyes. Voulchers were everywhere along with dogs, pigs, cows and chickens all looking for food. Garbage was piled high and low as far as the eye could see. When we exited the vehicle, Daniel walked us away from the garbage and into the "city." He showed us the school, clinic, church and general store. It became clear to me that this was not a dump with homes and people living in it. This was actually a small town where the city dumped its garbage.
Just when I thought I could take no more, God showed us His beautiful perfect image - smiling, jumping, laughing, excited CHILDREN! Where they all came from, I had no idea but it was awesome! They wanted to be lifted up, spun around, hugged and loved. God and all of His glory present in such a terrible place.
I will try to post more later about our first encounters; we go back later today to serve lunch in the school. I am guessing I will have more stories.
Mark
No comments:
Post a Comment