Bolivia Reflections (post 2): Animal Crackers

There were a lot of things that "struck me" on this trip. First and foremost is that the people I met were incredibly generous. The women at one of the sites made bags for all of us. These bags were hand-stitched and would probably retail at 40-50 dollars back home. That same site prepared a feast, literally, with a special dish and 4 cakes! It was to celebrate the anniversary of their church. A feast for us! On sponsor day, one family took the wool from their sheep and made a vest for their sponsor. And there were little moments too.

Johnny (2 yrs) 

We stopped at three sites: 2 Child Development Centers (CDC) and 1 Child Survival Project (CSP). At our first site,  CDC #804, I met and played with a lot of children. These kids are starved for attention because their parents are simply trying to survive. We spend 2 days at # 804 and I ended up meeting Johnny. He's 2. He doesn't say too much but simply runs around the center. His mother works in the kitchen at the site. Johnny, like most children, loves crackers. Yes, in Bolivia much to my delight, they have animal crackers. Johnny was sitting in the corner and spilled his on the floor. Another person from our team and I noticed this and we got him more crackers. Unlike an American child who would (most likely) have enjoyed getting an extra bag of crackers, Johnny could not understand why he would get another bag. Do you know what he did? He gave the new bag of crackers away to a friend. He did not see a reason to keep them for himself. And that, for whatever reason, has stuck with me. Maybe because my 2 year old self, let alone my current 31 year old self, would not have reacted in that way at all.

What is it about these people that enables them to give even though they have no idea where their next meal is coming from? The only way that I can explain it is through faith in God. Just as Jesus told us that He really does take care of us like He does all living things...these people have nothing but God to hold onto each and everyday. In many ways, that is a challenge to admit. We encourage self-reliance. Some utter the statement: "God helps those who help themselves" and I cringe at that. No, He doesn't. Go back and read the Bible. Time and time again God helps those who couldn't help themselves to show His Power and Love. Sure, God gave us a brain but at the end of the day - at least for me - everything does flow from Him. And truth be told, I forget that a lot.  It's quite easy to do so in our society. We can fix things - often quickly. In doing so, it's easy to forget or deny God or even make idols out of other things.