The perspective of a ¨first¨.

Dios de Vendiga! (God bless you) I´ve been working on that for days... haha Praise the Lord for what we have. We are so blessed! Walking into the dump yesterday opened my eyes to how blessed we really are.

I met the Lord´s precious ones right in the middle of a trash dump. The vultures surround the dump half a mile high, and the stench of burning trash stays with you all day. Yet in the middle of it all many have called it home. Dirt floors and one bed for who knows how many, but they all seem happy and somewhat content. Some, unfortunately were not as content and gave in to sniffing glue to get out of there world.. Broke my heart.

Each adult or child were thankful to see us. We prayed for a few, gave out some blowpops, Sprees, Bibles and gave big hugs to the filthy, yet adorable children. Many had health issues. There was a new clinic that had a long line of people waiting for treatment. We had to leave somewhat abruptly due to potential danger with likely gangs.

Seeing it all gives me a new perspective on who the ¨first¨ really are and who are the ¨last¨. The Lord says That many of the first will be last, and the last will be first. I realize that a lot of these people, although malnourished and at the very bottom seem to be the ones to have the most faith. They are much more likely to have faith in Jesus Christ and proclaim Him as Lord and Savior than some of the most provided for. I believe, without a doubt, that we Americans are who the Lord referred to when He said the first will be last. Is it not true that in America, where religion is everywhere and the gospel message has gone all around, that it seems very hard to spread seed on good soil. Yet in an impoverished and broken society, many sprint through the narrow door to find salvation.

Although I still take for granted so much of what I have, I give the Lord praise for all the rich blessings i have. These precious ones, the beloved of the Lord are so thankful for anything they receive, and I believe that the Lord stretches out His hand to provide for them. The poorest of the poor in America are rich compared to the poor in Nicaragua.

Let us take hold of the fact that we are the ¨first¨ in this life and break out of the mold. We must never forget what we have. Let´s kick it up a notch in our generosity to the ¨lasts¨.
Lord, give us clean hands and contrite hearts. Awaken our nation to the fact that we are not the norm around the world, and give us grace to never let our faith be distorted by our riches.

Dios De Vendiga!
Love,

Daniel