Extremes

Life here is surreal. I have come to think of Guatemala as a land of extremes. It is home to the highest mountain peak in all of Central America, but also contains over 200 miles of sea-level coastline. There is a city with a metropolitan population of 2.5 million people, as well as hundreds of tiny, dusty, remote hamlets scattered throughout the rural countryside. We've got cutting-edge technology, and subsistence farmers who dry their hand-planted, hand-irrigated, hand-picked corn on the tin roofs of their houses. Remember - all of this is in a nation roughly the size of Tennessee.

These facts and figures about the landscape and the population, though, aren't the most surreal part. The most surreal part comes in our daily lives and interactions, where we keep finding ourselves face-to-face with the truly startling juxtapositions of Guatemala.

I'll give you some examples.

A few nights ago we had a friend over to our house for supper. As you'd expect, our conversation was varied and interesting. We discussed chili recipes, favorite books, places we'd visited in the U.S. And, then, without even a pause, we turned to other local matters - like how she'd seen the youngest shoe shine boy in the park (ten years old) getting arrested for sleeping in the park instead of going to "the dorms," which the government provides for these homeless kids. Despite his pleas to be left alone, and explanation that he can't go to the dorms or he'll get raped by the bigger boys, he was still taken to jail. Or, there was the 16 year old prostitute who delivered her baby on a park bench and then abandoned it at the hospital so she could go back to getting high on glue and making money selling her body. After all, she had to eat.

These things really happened.  Recently. A few blocks from my house. In the same park where wealthy tourists and the rich locals celebrate with too much booze and giant suppers every Friday night.

But, they're not isolated incidents, either. We see these types of things all the time.

The view of the mountains here is truly breathtaking, but so is the smell from the street dogs, trash, diesel smoke, and people urinating in the streets. 

Amidst the dazzling array and amount of food for sale in the market (everything from fresh shrimp and fish, to exotic fruits and veggies), there are also people who are literally starving.

We've never yet gone to grab a bite to eat at a fast-food place without having our meal interrupted by a street kid trying to sell us gum or candy for 1Q in order to get enough money to buy some tortillas to fill their bellies. The irony of seeing food go to waste right in front of hungry kids is painful. (We always buy the candy, by the way.)

One of the hardest juxtapositions is when we see fancy cars or big, expensive trucks narrowly miss the homeless (often drunk) people who pass out/sleep on the sidewalks and end up with an arm or leg in the street. Unfortunately, the swerve often comes too late, and there are frequent fatalities and serious injuries around town from such situations.

One extreme we were pleasantly surprised to find was just how nice almost everyone here has been. Yes, we've had some unpleasant experiences with people harassing us a bit, and one or two vendors in the market who refused to wait on us. But, mostly what we experience is a level of warmth, openness, and love that we were unaccustomed to in the states. People here greet everyone with a kiss on the cheek. (This takes some getting used to. Trust me!) They genuinely are excited to talk with you, and ALWAYS take the time to really connect with those around them. We have felt so very, very welcomed here!

On the other hand, there are the deep spiritual challenges. The superstitions, the mix of religious practices, and the fervent and  faithful processions - many times carried out by people who believe that is the way to salvation, and unaware that Jesus is the ONLY name by which man may be saved (Acts 4:12), and then by grace and not by works (Eph. 2:8).

The latter is even harder to be surrounded by than hungry kids or desperately poor adults. And, it is what we primarily came here for. Physical poverty and starvation are nothing compared to spiritual poverty and starvation, after all. Though, with the help of God and all of our faithful supporters, we are endeavoring to be an answer for as many of these problems in as many people's lives as we can.

When it comes down to it, Guatemala really is a nation of extremes. Some of them are discouraging. Some are astonishing. Some are downright heart breaking. But, there's nothing so extreme as the unending, unparalleled, limitless love of God, and His ability to change lives and eternities through Christ. That's the extreme I'm going to embrace to the fullest, because I know it's the only one that really matters. It's the only one that lasts.