The Same Moon

No matter what our differences are, we all look at the same moon

-Katrina Mayer

We are Guatemala bound in 2 weeks and I am beyond excited. Is there even a word to describe how excited I am? Yeah, I don't think so. But I saw this quote by Katrina Mayer today, and it really humbled me thinking about going to Guat. When I was there this past summer, I didn't realize that I had fallen into the trap that a lot of short term missions people fall into– feeling like you're superior to the people you are going to help. What really got to me was on the third or fourth trip out into the villages, we passed a family walking up one of the many hills. We passed a lot of people walking, but this family really caught my attention. One of the little girls had Down syndrome. Usually I wouldn't think twice about someone having that disorder, but it suddenly hit me really hard that these people are just like me and you. They may not have the same stuff that we have or have the amount of money that we have or even live lives remotely similar to ours, but they are still as human as we are and still deserving and worthy of love as we are. As we prepare to go to Guat in March, one of my biggest prayers for us is to not fall into the trap that I fell into last July. I want us not to come as distanced gringos who don't care about the people and their culture but to come as servants, willing to do whatever it takes to build relationships with the people and to help the people in whatever measure we can. God thinks we're worth His Son coming to die, so why don't we think that others are worth the same thing?