Missionary Impossible

What do I really need? What would I really desire to leave after I have passed away? What can I live without? I was once on a mission trip to Guatemala and these questions really came to life for me. We were on a medical trip into some of the villages surrounding Guatemala City.

Our group had gathered numerous supplies for the trip. We were focused on helping children, so we brought vaccines, food products, clothes, vitamins, toothpaste, toothbrushes, toys, bibles, tracks, and puppets. I even bought a guitar that I planned on giving away when I left.

I was at one of the smaller villages around lake Atitlan, handing out care-packages with a little candy, toiletries, vitamins, some small toys, and some simple tracks, when I was struck hard by a thought. The image in my head sickened me and made me have to stop for a moment and come to grips with the realities of life.

I thought about these bags of carefully selected items and the love and care that went into preparing and delivering each one of them. I thought about the wonderful children that were receiving these bags and how these bags weren’t just a nice gift, they were needed supplies that these children were lacking. Then I thought about how long these supplies would really last and who was going to be there to fill their many needs after our mission trip was long over. It dawned on me that 90 percent of the items that we were delivering would need replenishing in only a few weeks. These supplies took our group weeks to obtain and prepare, and we would only be able to help a few thousand. The poverty we witnessed made me see how very few things in my life that I really ‘needed.’ My heart lowered. Was what we were doing futile?

Two distinct epiphanies came out of this heart-searching moment:

1) Poverty will always be amongst us.
2) Treat the causes, even while addressing the symptoms.

Jesus said this very thing in Mark:

Mark 14:7 (New International Version)
7 The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.

My definition of ‘poverty’ is a state of being where there is an inability to obtain the items needed for existence. An impoverished person is in need of aid from an outside source.

From a humanistic perspective, what are the basic human needs? Food, clothing, medicine and shelter all take top billing. These items are certainly necessary for daily existence, but none of them are the real issue. The humanistic view, in general, sees the immediate needs and tries to address them. This is, without a doubt, a necessary action: we need to handle the immediate problem. But is this really enough?

There is an old saying that was rattling through my head. It was something like. “If you feed a man a fish, and he will eat well for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he will eat well for a lifetime.”

Feeding, clothing, medicating, and providing shelter are worthy goals, but there needed to be more. We needed to know much more about them and be a part of their life, so that we could know the things that they really needed. We needed to do this in a way that didn’t imply that we were imposing our way of life on them, but rather, we were enabling them to live a better way of their own lifestyle. We needed to equip these people to feed themselves. We needed to break the cycle of poverty that has existed for generations. We also needed to equip them with hope.

This kind of hope can only come through the Gospel, but how effective can a group of foreigners, who spoke enough Spanish to get themselves in big trouble, be? Once (or, technically ‘as’) man’s basic needs are being met, then we can discuss eternal ones. We needed to train leaders with willing hearts to speak to their own people. Nurturing, equipping and educating are not bandages to their problems: they are long-term solutions that will perpetuate themselves, long after we were gone. It all seemed so obvious, yet I was oblivious to it until that very moment.

The mission’s organization, Missionary Ventures, which I went to Guatemala with, understood this far better than I did, or ever will, for that matter. What I was thinking in my head, was actually their primary focus and I couldn’t grasp this until I went there for myself. Through their efforts, and God’s blessings, they have been able to help local villagers open physician’s clinics, churches, shelters, schools, and orphanages. Their people were committed, loving, and courageous, I was honored to get to be with them.

When we were in Nebaj, a small village up in the mountains, there was an orphanage run by a single man. It had over 30 children in it. When he started, he could barely feed the four or five children that he had. This group looked at his situation and realized that his property was on a fresh-water stream. They also found out that no one in his village fished for food. The only fish they had was when they came down the mountain. They taught this man how to make a fish farm. He sold his fish in the market place. When I was there, he had enough money to feed, clothe and seek out other children. He was also building his second home (and a second fish-farm) to house more orphans. This man gave these children all of their basic needs, he taught them to read and write, he shared with them about God's love for them, and gave them love in ways that they could see God’s heart tangibly.

The changes in his life were monumental. More importantly, what will he leave behind? He will leave a legacy of love, and of breaking the cycle of imprisonment that these children were destined to. He has preached the Gospel to them, in ways that we will never be able to. The sources of his need were addressed and the symptoms went away.

If you are interested in missionary work, I would highly recommend looking this group up (Missionary Ventures), but they are certainly not the only ones with this heart and vision.

I loved my mission trips, but I hated what it showed in my heart. I repented and God’s grace, love and compassion has covered me. I am loved and so must I love. I pray that more of Guatemala would rub off on me when I feel the need to have more ‘stuff’. Please feel free to share your experiences.

In Christ
Doug