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Hunker Down with Kes

Spreading Peanut Butter, Jelly…..And Hope

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It’s tough going off with a bunch of Christian folks…when you are the only heathen in the group! They didn’t hesitate for a second to jump on an airplane and take off. To Guatemala of all places!

They went to build houses, host medical clinics, distribute food and lift spirits in some fairly impoverished areas of that little Central American country. I went along to see the Mayan ruins and eat some fresh avocados.

Robby and Norman purported to be in charge. But little Debra told everybody what to do! We flew into Guatemala City and headed for the mountains! Before I could get a glimpse of the first mounds of an earlier civilization we were divided into teams, prayed over and dispersed to our specific assignments.

I’m telling you, these people didn’t waste no time getting “about the Father’s business!”

Tracey and Chaka headed up the medical team. I’d never seen people work like they did. They examined older Guatemalans, middle aged ones, little kids…all day long! They didn’t take a break; they didn’t go to the bathroom; they didn’t look around; they didn’t eat their carefully prepared peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made for our lunch.

They just took care of the needs of one person after another.

I saw the elderly, skinny gentleman come in while Cathy was busy passing out toothbrushes, bath cloths and various health products to the adults as they exited the makeshift clinic. I knew this old guy would steal her heart…

She took one look and grabbed her “carefully prepared” PB and J sandwich and rushed over and gave it to him. While he was still thanking her, she gave her other sandwich to his friend.

It gets worse! Katerina, who is young enough to be my granddaughter, gave HER sandwiches away. Gomer, who doesn’t even go to our church, gave away HIS sandwiches. People, I didn’t have much breakfast. I’m soooo hungry I could eat the left hind leg of a jersey bull!

I reluctantly joined in with the giving. But my heart—and my stomach—wasn’t shouting hallelujah and jumping pews like the others.

It took “some doing” for this team to find a job I could handle. While Brian, Robby, Pastor Eli, Steve, Tommy, Gomer, Jennifer, Norman and Debra were off building houses, I was passing out toys to every Guatemalan child I could find.

One of those toys was a Frisbee. Wait a second! My heart finally jumped a pew! “Cathy, do my work for a few minutes. Me and my new amigo here are going outside.”

By the time I showed him how to spin that thing out of his hand, 27 more amigos had gathered around. The game was on! I couldn’t speak one word of Spanish, but I could interpret the smiles. And the laughter. And the pure joy.

I was pushing Amigo 4 out of the way as I leaped over him to catch a high one from Amigo 13…when Amigo 6 cut my legs out from under me. These guys picked this game up quick as a wink. And they played like it was the seventh game of the World Series.

Just like kids are supposed to!

Thousands showed up the next day. I had to break out the soccer ball. And realized I was going to need a lot more sandwiches!

Talk about a great trip! Everybody else was doing mission work while I gave away their lunches and played with the young people…

And this team—if you don’t count me—was extraordinary. Jennifer and Denise were from Monroe, Georgia. They just heard we were going and got on the plane. Steve joined our church one Sunday and went on this trip the next. How’s that for getting involved.

Shanna and Denise got a “day at the spa” at one of the building sites. The kids gave them a “makeover” that included braided hair, smeared on lipstick and a light snack of gummy bears that had rolled around on the dirt floor. That’s a little more “missionarying” than I could have done!

Jennifer gave away her overalls. Tommy was rock steady on this trip, cooking breakfast, cleaning up, doing whatever it took… Eli led devotions in the morning, worked all day, prayed for us at night. I believe he did sleep a few minutes on one Wednesday evening.

Gomer has been a missionary in West Africa for the past 17 years. He gets a month off to come home—and he signed up for this trip. He’s either crazy or that’s Lottie Moon/Jim Elliot type stuff…

At night, when we all should have been in bed, these people would have meetings—I kid you not!—it about drove me nuts!—to discuss how they could better help the Guatemalan people

It was always about the people.

Serving them. Touching them. Sharing Christ with them.

I got so caught up watching these missionaries, marveling at their over-the-top love for folks they didn’t know and most likely would never see again, I forgot to visit a Mayan ruin and I didn’t take one bite of a fresh avocado.

And I can tell you for dead certain positive, I will never look at a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the same way again…

Respectfully,
Kes