An EXCELLENT Five Days

My prayer going into my time in El Salvador was, “God, please open my the eyes of my heart and allow me to see, through my physical eyes what you want me to see, allow me to see through my spiritual eyes what you want me to see, allow me to see through my emotions what you want me to see...”

What did I see/learn?

First: People matter! The culture, ethnicity, race, or country does not matter, people are people. They/we are made in the image and likeness of God. People matter to God, therefore they better matter to me!

Second: Poverty is multi-faceted. I asked a young man who I was traveling with over the past 3 to 4 days, “What is poverty?” He said, “I was taught in school that poverty was lack of resources, mostly material, but NOW I see this is a very limited definition of poverty. Poverty is lacking a relationship with God, poverty is lacking an authentic relationship with a community or with others, as well as lacking resources.” This man, though young in years, was quite wise.

Third: It’s NOT about me. What’s amazing, and I’ll speak for myself, is how often life is all wrapped around me, me, me. There is a tidal wave tendency to be quite “self” absorbed in our American/Orange County culture. However, my identity in Jesus Christ, forces me to think otherwise. The pull might be to make life all about us, but we MUST resist this pull.

Thanks for taking this trip with me. I look forward to seeing you at The Crossing this weekend.

Tim