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| I LOVE this picture in action... each person tells a story! |
Travel between Semuc-Champey and Totonicapan spans the width of the country from east to west, covering: Izabal, Alta Verapaz, El Quiché, and Huehuetenango, covering the 300 kilometers, or 186 miles in 11 hours, 12 minutes, and 2 seconds. Our travels took us through mountain passes, paved highways, gravel, raw ground, clay, and mud.
Passing through elevations of over 10,000 feet, we took our lunch and dinner from the small tiendas that we could find along the way. We drove through areas that were fully void of food and water.
About mid-way through a 60 kilometer stretch through a dirt trail mountain pass, our van came along a single mother in traditional Mayan clothing, standing near the road with her two young sons. At a glance, they looked to be about 8 and 10 years old. We began to pass them by, but something about them just looked out of sorts. Something just felt desperate about them.
I slowed and the oldest of the two boys ran to my window while the younger one ran to the passenger side. I looked down and the boy. He was wearing thin pants that were coated with dust from the road, and a blue shirt. His nose was congested and his shoes were in pieces.
I leaned down and I motioned him over to my window. I reached into a small coin purse that we keep in the van console and I pulled out about 10 coins, totaling around 4 Quetzals (about 50¢). I placed it in his hand and his eyes looked solidly into my own as he spoke, a thank-you that seemed somehow deeply appreciative of the gift, but desperate with the knowledge that it just wasn't enough to quench the desolations that surrounded him.
I looked back at his hand... his young palms were deeply creased and dirt was ground into the folds his skin. And they were rough. This little boy already knew the pain of labor.
At this moment his younger brother circled around and began to plead with me. I rolled up my window and began to drive away.
To my astonishment, the young boy kept running beside our van. As I accelerated so did he. I was driving uphill on rocky terrain... and this boy in broken shoes was pacing me. I could no longer pass him by.
I stopped the van and leaned down out of the window. Motioning him to hold his hands up like a cup, I poured the entire contents of the change pouch into them. Now that we were close, I was able to really see his face. He had sores around his cracked lips. Mucus was dried around his nose, undoubtably a combination of a wood fire inside his house, and nasal irritation caused by dust, pollens, and molds.
I began to roll back up the window when I heard his voice, "Caballero, aqua por favor. Necesito aqua para mi familia. Cracked lips... dried dust on their clothes... yes... this family wasn't looking for a handout, they genuinely needed the on of the most basic elements of survival, water.
When I looked into the eyes of these young boys, I saw into eternity. I saw the face of Jesus in their thirst. I saw the face of our two adopted daughters when we first encountered them in orphanages in impoverished cities. I reflected on the goal of adoption here in Guatemala that I share with my wife Kellie... these young boys are near the age of that we pray to one day adopt.
I even saw myself. Desperate. Needing. Hoping.
Antony, my friend and ministry partner suddenly was nudging my arm. He handed me his bottle of water and I handed it over to the boy who took it with a mighty smile.
Thousands upon thousands of thirsty little mouths up here in these mountains, and I can't quench them all... but at least for a moment today, we quenched the thirst of three.
It will never be about those we cannot help, but it will always be about those who are placed in our paths... that we can. We must do what we can for the ONE that is in front of us.
Emmaus is about meeting Christ along the road and I have no doubt that today we encounter him in the faces of two small boys who were thirsty and asking for a drink.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me,
I was in prison and you came to me.’
Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to
one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
Mt 25:31-40
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