Dirt, Band-Aids, Paint & Prayer
Location: Mexico
Camera info: Canon Rebel 350D • lens 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
ISO 200 • f 5.6 • 1/320 sec
The cliche says “A picture is worth 1000 words,” but sometimes a few extra are helpful. 🙂 This was one of my favorite pictures from the Mexico building trip, because I think it summed everything up perfectly. (If you missed the earlier story, I wrote about it here and here.) In the picture are four things that remind me of the trip: dirt, band-aids, paint, and prayer.
The dirt is probably self-explanatory. We were in Mexico, and it was everywhere!!! When the team first arrived, some had a difficult time adjusting to the mess after leaving the comfort of America. All that was forgotten, however, when we caught one of the local kids trying to drink out of one of the construction wash barrels because that was the cleanest water they had. Ick. A large tank of clean water was quickly added to the project.
My friend had a very good reason why her fingers were covered in band-aids. She had been working on stucco all day. The mixture we used included sand, cement, water, and lime. The last ingredient is hard on skin, so we usually wore cloves to work with it. However, my friend noticed there were gaps in the stucco near the roof, where the angle was too small for gloves to fit. After several failed attempts with a trowel, she gave up and took off the gloves to fix it with her fingertips. We didn’t want gaps that would let in breezes in the winter. The mixture chewed up her fingers quite a bit after several hours of work, but she was happy that the kids would stay warm and dry.
Paint was the finishing touch on the houses, along with a numbered plaque. It was our pay of personalizing each building and making it look more cozy. The inside walls were unfinished, but outside, we went crazy! My team’s building had blue window and door frames. The large building used wood and chicken wire under the stucco to create an embossed cross on the outside wall.
Finally, but most importantly, we prayed for the kids, the families, and the other work teams. It was the faith of the host family that led them to care for all the homeless children, and it was faith that led the three work teams to help build the orphanage. God brought us all together at one time to make a miracle for those kids, and we needed to take time and thank Him.
Do you have a picture that tells a story you love to share? Let us know… and don’t forget to include a link!
India’s Temple Children
Location: India
Camera info: Canon Rebel 350D • lens 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6
ISO 100 • f 2.8 • 1/140 sec
As our tour group neared a Hindu temple in southern India, we were met by this little boy dressed as one of the Hindu gods. He was more than willing to strike a pose and let us take pictures – for a small fee. After all, entertaining the visitors was his full-time job.
The life of a temple child is very difficult. Most of these children are dedicated to the temple deity as infants, in order to bring their families good luck. Never seeing their parents again, they are raised in the temple to serve the local gods, which includes a variety of jobs. The boys, like this one, often serve as bahurupis (“the many-faced“), street entertainers who dress up as the gods and perform for locals and tourists alike. It’s a difficult job, because a convincing actor will go all day without shoes, eating or using the restroom. Many are not allowed to talk, even as passers-by treat them harshly.
Girls often face even more difficult circumstances. In the past, their roles were also entertainers. Indian missionary Amy Carmichael once wrote,
“The duties of the temple girls were to carry the kumbarti (the sacred light); to fan the idol with chamaras (fans); to dance and sing before the god. They were the only women who could read and write, play an instrument, and sing and dance. Their presence was believed to bring good luck to a wedding, and they had power to avert the ‘evil eye.'”
Today, Many infant girls dedicated to the temples are “married” to the temple deity and are considered devadasi (basically a “divine prostitute“). Their job is to provide sexual favors for the priests and male worshipers who frequent the temple. When they get older (around 5-7 yrs old), they are auctioned off to become a child concubine. Many girls are re-sold after they pass puberty, and more than half end up in brothels for the remainder of their lives. This practice was outlawed decades ago, but perpetrators are rarely punished, so it continues today, especially in rural areas. Tradition and poverty are strong motivators in this society.
Poverty can bring people to do all sorts of things they would never consider otherwise. What have the poor in your area done to cope?
A Journey of Faith
Location: Indonesia
Camera info: Fuji Finepix A303 / Automatic Point & Shoot
ISO 100 • f 7.0 • 1/220 sec
This week’s picture reminded me of the journey we are all on. Life can take us through both good times and hard times, and both are needed to grow. Several months ago, I wrote a post about the goodness of God in natural disasters. What about when the struggles are personal? Is He there for us then as well?
This past week included some of the hardest moments I’ve had in years. I spent hours begging God for answers, getting upset at His silence, or waiting quietly in expectation. Finally, despite my frustration, I took time to worship. I’m a music freak, so for me that means cranking up the volume to 11 and dancing. I barely made it through the first song before I was at His feet, crying. I saw that in my time of struggle, I had simply forgotten who He was.
“He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.”
(Psalm 146:7-9 & 147:3-4 NIV)
God does all these things, but not always on our schedule. Sometimes His healing takes time, and sometimes His justice comes to the world when we are not there to see it. Other times, He just holds us close and lets the pain help build character in our lives. IMHO, brokenness sucks. Yet sometimes I need to remember that Jesus went through the same things – willingly! – in order to be there for me when I’m hurting. Not only that, but He promises to use it for something good… someday.
What pain are you going through right now? Can you see God working through it?
Where is God in Japan?
Location: Japan
Camera info: Fuji Finepix A303 / Automatic Point & Shoot
ISO 100 • f 2.8 • 1/60 sec
“How could God allow something like this to happen?” is the most-asked question in times of natural disaster. This week, as Japan still reels from the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami, they are faced with new risks from an overheated nuclear reactor and winter snow. When does it end? What can we do? And most of all, WHY is it even happening? No one can really answer that last question. We all have our theories, especially when it pertains to God. Some answer it by denying his existence. Others place the blame on a world that has been damaged by humanity’s selfishness. Some claim it’s just random chance, while some blame the devil or evil powers. Some even say God caused it for a greater purpose. No one really knows for sure. And even if someone had the right answers, would that really do anything to ease the pain of someone who lost a family member or home? Not at all.
Instead of trying to answer impossible questions, I prefer to focus on what I do know: God exists. As the girl in the picture is reading, He really is King of Kings and Lord of Lords over the whole earth, including Japan. I have seen His work in so many ways I can’t even count anymore. He understands our pain. Through Jesus, God experienced our heartbreak, our fears, and even physical pain and death. He cried. He got exhausted and overwhelmed at times. He got angry sometimes. Everything we face, and every question we have asked, He has known firsthand. Finally, He is good. In times like these, it’s easy to question that. We want to put the blame on someone, as it helps us deal with the pain. But looking back at every painful moment in my life, I can see how God was able to bring a much greater good out of it. I’m sure He can do the same with Japan, even if we’re not seeing it right now.
What it really comes down to is faith. God is good, even now. Can you trust that? A friend of mine suggested that it is not having a huge faith that makes a person strong. Rather, it only takes a small amount of faith in very great circumstances. That’s the test of who we really are. In talking about people who had overcome great circumstances, he said, “I used to think they were amazing in spite of the impossible odds. But it was the impossible odds that made their faith amazing. Those circumstances they found themselves in made them realize how much more they needed God. Maybe that’s why Christ compared faith to a mustard-seed. You don’t need a lot of it, you just need to see the size of the circumstances you need it in. I pray that I realize I need FAITH MORE… not more faith.” (Andrew Chandler)
What questions do you have for God? Have you found a way to hold on to faith in hard times like this? What’s your story?
Pictures Around the World 