Trash, Vulchers, & Gods Children

A day at the dump – November 16th, 2018 / Blog Post from the World Race!

This month we are working with the AIM base down here in Granada, Nicaragua. It is a beautiful 70 acre property where they host Bible studies and services with the locals. They also open up their land to numerous soccer and kickball teams so they can practice and have their games on the weekend. Their main goal and mission is to encourage and empower the local pastors and churches in the area. The base brings all the pastors and churches together so that they can be unified in sharing God’s love to the community due to division and comparison among the churches in the area. 

In the last two weeks that I have been here my team and I have gotten to do various ministry opportunities such as: door to door evangelism, manual labor (macheting, gardening, picking limes and plantains, etc) playing soccer, making bracelets with the local women, going to the local nursing home, and putting on a kids program. 

One of the last ministry opportunities we got to be a part of was a food distribution at the local dump. The base leaders go there every Wednesday and Friday to feed the locals that are rummaging through the trash. The people there spend most of their day poking through the trash to find any left over metal, plastic, and other recyclables. On a good day, they receive $1 – $1.50 for the pieces of trash they find. They are technically the third person to look through the trash. When the trash is first put out on the street, they’re people who go out and search through for anything to sell. Then the people who grab the trash and take it to the dump, go through it and pick up anything left over from the first group. Lastly, once the trash is dropped off at the dump the third party people get to look through it and see if there’s anything to sell. We went to the dump to love on and feed the third party people; Gods Beloved Children. 

So We got up early, put on our close toed shoes, ate some breakfast and got ready for another beautiful day in Nicaragua. We hustled and bustled to get ready and then hopped into the back of Jesses (our translator) pickup truck down the dusty road. We drove uphill into the dump. The first thing that hit me was the stench of trash. The second thing was seeing people standing around and poking through the huge piles of trash along with all vulchers. The third thing that hit me was the thought: “you may be picking up the thirds; but you aren’t the thirds or last pick in Gods heart.” I wanted them to know how loved they were. Not out of pity because of their circumstances; but because they are truly loved. 

Even if they lived in a mansion; they are loved. If you live in a medium sized family style home; and your struggling to find time with your kids because work seems to be the priority now a days; you are loved. Even if you live in a small apartment and your struggling to provide for your kids because your a single parent; you are loved. Even if you have no place at all to lay your head at night; you are loved. 

One thing I took away from that experience is that we are all loved by the Creator of the universe. No matter what we looked like or what our position is in life. The beautiful people I met at the dump that day were people that don’t have it easy; yet they work hard in life. They don’t let earthly circumstances determine their worth. They wake up every day and walk many manyyy miles to the dump to pick through the leftovers so they can provide for their families. One thing I realized was that they have so many passion, endurance and heart. They could be wallowing in self pity because of their earthly circumstances, but instead they wake up everyday, put their trust in God and go to work at the dump. 

I hope to be like them. I want to wake up everyday, praise Him regardless of my living conditions. Praise Him regardless of the struggles going on in your life, and regardless of the expectations that we might have had about how our life was supposed to be. I want to challenge you to sit down with God each morning and thank Him for the little things and big things that He has given/done in your life; even if you think it’s nothing.. it’s something! I hope this was encouraging to y’all:) I can’t wait to share my thoughts and experiences with everyone so soon! 

Blessings, 

Hannah