A report from Ben

 We had a wonderful time with a team that came to the community a couple of weeks ago. It is always gratifying to watch people come together as a team and build relationships with the people in the community. It is not an easy place to visit.  Many people in Danlí do not even know where the landfill is, nor that people are living and working there. The fact that people would spend their own time and money to come here requires, well, something special.  There is smoke from the landfill fires, billions of flies, the smell of rotting refuse, and poverty that is impossible to ignore. You have to make an intentional effort to look beyond those things and truly see the people there — people who are, in so many ways, just like ourselves. This was Ben’s second trip to the community, and here are some of his thoughts from the trip:

When Ron asked me to write something for the newsletter, I thought, “Man, how do you summarize what we did in a short note?” Our April trip (Luis, Richard, Mark, Christie, and myself) to support Ron and José at the trash dump was filled with so many moments and activities: a water balloon fight at the school (good idea, Mark), making lunch for the school, painting the playgrounds, finishing Maynor’s house, handing out sandwiches at the top of the dump to those working as recyclers, a powerful nighttime worship service (I was so encouraged to see the men showing up), and sharing lunches in homes throughout the community. Those are usually the kinds of things we list when we talk about mission trips — the “what” of what we did. But what I love about trips with Ron is that he never lets us lose sight of the “why.” For him, the “why” is the point, and I’m deeply thankful for that. He wants us to see and love these people the way Jesus does. He wants us to enter into their spaces, to sit with them, know them, and connect with them. And when you truly get to know these people, you cannot help but love them. Ron and José clearly do — and they invite us into that love as well.

John 13:34 says, “I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” One moment from this trip especially reminded me of that “why,” and it is something I will never forget. There is a particular student who has become very important to me over my two visits, and Ron has been working to help her receive care for her deafness. During our visit to the school, I noticed she seemed especially downcast while the other children were acting like normal kids around her. Later, she came over to us. Through Luis, she shared that she had experienced a particularly difficult 24 hours and simply needed a hug.

So we hugged her.  

The picture above is one I took in that moment. If you want to know what it looks like to be the loving arms of Jesus to a heartbroken little deaf girl living in a trash dump, this photo is it. Please join me in praying for her and for her family — they desperately need it. Thank You, Jesus, for allowing us to shine Your love into some of the darkest places and among Your most precious image bearers. It is truly an honor.

Pictures from the trip : Facebook