There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes of building relationships with people, earning their trust and respect.  Sometimes it’s working hard with them and sweating with them out in the fields, other times it’s enjoying a birthday party or special occasion with them, but yet at other times it’s agonizing with them while someone is sick or has just passed away. It’s at these times we live out our testimony among the people … the same people that are trying to understand why we would want to be with them in the first place. You see, it just doesn’t make sense to love people unconditionally … by the “world’s” standard of thinking anyway.

When we first started working there, most people would not give us the time of day and would never have invited us into their home. Now days, things have changed drastically … and for the better. We can’t hardly get in and out of the village now without being stopped and asked to get out and go eat with them and by far the most amazing feeling of trust … is when the kids come running up to greet us as if we were long-lost family members. Well, we are family members now … eternal family members, as several people have surrendered their lives to Christ and last Sunday, the first five people wanted to publicly show their obedience to Christ through baptism.

It was amazing to see how God orchestrated everything, as the day started out rainy and cold. We had purchased a small children’s swimming pool, but soon realized that we didn’t have enough water available to fill it even halfway. So we constructed a small frame out of PVC pipe, and used a heavy tarp as a liner and then connected to a hot water shower that we had previously installed and started filling it up.

As we started preparing everything, the rain stopped, the clouds started clearing out and the sun even started shining!  After each person was baptized, they stayed in and helped baptized the next person. It was a great opportunity to teach the people that not only are they capable and authorized to do the great commission … but they are commanded to do so!  They are learning from the start that it should be an expectation of every Christ follower to serve others.

In some of these villages, a public display of allegiance to Christ can be costly. Sometimes they are ostracized by their family members or the rest of the community, sometimes they are denied basic rights in the village and other times they are run out of the village or even something worse … so this was a very big deal and we’re very proud of each and every one of them!

As we finished up and headed out of the village we looked behind us and saw an amazing sight … the clouds had started moving up the mountains from out of the valley below us, as if they were given permission to come back.  And so they did, it turned cold and cloudy on our way out and it started raining again.  What an awesome day the Lord gave us!

As I looked out of the office window of the house we rent, I could see an elderly woman quietly and as quickly as possible, move to an area that had any kind of decent grass growing, spread out her bag and quickly cut the grass as low as possible with her hand sickle and lay it on the bag.

Everybody here knows that it’s a big No-No, to trespass on somebody else’s land and even more so when you take without asking … from that land, so I was surprised to hear her outside, but I could see her desperation. I noticed an elderly man off in the distance, that was presumably her husband. After I admired their efficiency for a while, I made my way down out of the house and went to go greet them. I tried my best not to startle them, but the look on her face when I came out the front door said it all and then she said “I didn’t see anybody around and thought it would be okay to take some grass for my animals … there is less land available for the animals to feed on now, than before”. I greeted them both and told them that they are welcome anytime and in fact the very place where they are searching for animal feed, will have a lot more of it in the future.

I enjoyed the great smile on their faces when I told them that this parcel of land was actually a mini experimental farm, that will be used to train people just like them, so that they can get more yields, out of less land and with minimal water usage.

So in the end, it was a great opportunity to meet new people and to let them know that not only are they welcome … but bring their friends next time as well!

The other amazing thing about this particular well (that is actually quite a blessing) is that the water is pretty close to the surface as compared to so many other places where we have to go very deep in order to find water and almost always hit some pretty hard rock, but in this area it was pretty soft. We can do a lot of cool things and actually feel good about ourselves doing them, but we have to be careful, that we’re not actually teaching them to fail.  As we’re helping people to help themselves, it’s crucial to keep in mind that we are teaching them as we’re helping them. Otherwise they won’t be able to maintain what we have done together, nor would they be able to reproduce it, in order to help their neighbors.As we continue to love people to Christ, we’re looking for a lot less tears …and a lot more smiles!

These people were very happy to learn how to make their own blankets, especially when it gets down below freezing and the little shacks have gaps in the boards big enough to put your hand in.

We were able to start an egg incubation facility in one village, where some of the production goes to provide meals for school children that otherwise would not get a lunch at all.

Most people in these villages eat what they can grow and sometimes that’s not very much, due to a lack of water, lack of fertilizer and the various crop diseases. That’s why we have helped people install drip irrigation projects, taught them how to mix fertilizer and to disinfect the soil.

The plants don’t always end up looking this nice, but a little hard work goes a long way. We recently had some unusual cold weather come in and had several plants freeze, so during those times we’ll have to design some secondary heat sources.

Most of the people are subsistence farmers, so from the time they get up in the morning, until the time they go to bed, they worry about feeding their families … in a very real way.

This is Protacio with one of his daughters, we helped him start a church in his village by building relationships through new and exciting non-traditional methods. He was recently elected to a local leadership position in his village and has earned the respect of many.

It’s not all work and no play … or rather, sometimes play … is work!  If we really want to communicate with people, we have to be willing to spend the time to know them better.

We are always looking for ways, to impact their lives in a good way … something that can really make a difference, which might be something as simple as this adobe brick oven that is being built, so that they’ll have fresh bread in the village.

Some trout or tilapia projects are always tasty!

Quail eggs have more nutrients and less cholesterol than chicken eggs.

We were blessed by the opportunity to train some pastors that came from Haiti.

To help them overcome the issues they face in their own country, to help provide for the needs of others, to help send their own missionaries and to help sustain themselves in the ministry.

For many people, the lifestyle has stayed the same for generations.

Their identity and how they view themselves hasn’t changed much either.

They maintain ancient customs and traditions.

Many children have never slept on a mattress.

Some of the villages are hard to get to and the roads are a little rough.

That is … if the road is still there!

And here’s what happens when your summer intern doesn’t eat all of his allotted insects that are offered at meal time.

( just kidding about the machete … not about the insects.)

Some of this type of lifestyle, maybe a little different for some of us.

The thought that this leaky bucket may be the closest thing to a shower many of these people have ever seen is quite convicting.

 … and if, while looking at these pictures, you start to think … “that isn’t for me”

 … Then that statement would be correct … because it’s neither for you, nor about you … it’s about them.

And it’s about these.

It’s about serving others and teaching them to do the same.

Perhaps making even a small impact in the life of someone.

 … will have a larger … Community … impact.  If you’re like me, I remind myself on a regular basis: That I am not my own, I have been bought with a price (1 Cor.6:19-20) … and that price deserves action!