Mysterious Riches: March 7, 2016
Mysterious things. They draw our attention, they frustrate us with their unpredictability, they keep us wondering about the world and about ourselves. They irk us, mostly because they squirm like frisky amphibians and escape the grasp of the control we crave.
Angel once asked me, "What do you really think about us [drug-addicts and street kids]?" I wonder why he asked me that. What experiences and schemas does he have of church folk or of gringos that made him ask that question...
A couple months ago, you may recall we jumped into a recently ministry called "Sigo Vivo" by a strange combination of relationships and our emptiness of our Saturday afternoons. All in all, it consists of a few hours spending time with a somewhat fluid group of (mostly) young folks, most of whom live the majority of their life in the streets. We eat together, sing songs together, offer some simple medical treatment, and do some kind of activity/group discussion centered in the Gospel. We had no idea what would come of it, but knew that if we didn't make ourselves [uncomfortably] close to those on the fringe, we certainly wouldn't experience the grace and the stories that come in those environments. Over time, Alaina and I have gained some affinity towards a few of them, whose names we can remember and/or whom we've had some connective conversations with.
Right now Sigo Vivo is just a Saturday afternoon program. It was in a church, the church decided not to have them in their building, then it was outside in a park for awhile, and now we have a smallish but ample building to meet in (!) just up the hill from the garbage dump. We can sit for a few hours, talk about their week, treat wounds and sicknesses, ask questions and hear some stories, but we hope for more. We hope for deeper and/or more consistent relationships. But there is so much dissonance between our lives, trying to craft reciprocal relationships out of what appears incompatible is...a mysterious thing. When, where, and how can we intersect them outside of the organized structure of Sigo Vivo? What is wise? What communicates care and love while not putting us in the position of "white foreign benefactors"? How can we be bringers of the gospel that speaks in their context, not from ours? How will friendship and discipleship hold hands? Can we just not worry about it all and "hang out"?
Our friends at Sigo Vivo are kind, they laugh well, they are often high on paint thinner, they are grateful, they see the grace of God in just having what they need to live, they are less than aromatic, they have incredible stories, they are those pushed aside by the broken system of Guatemala's economy and education and family structure, and sometimes by their choices. Their lives will be stuck in poverty and addiction if they don't reach for the [readily available] resources of rehab, but it takes the finger of God and it takes relationships to get them there, and to get them out of rehab into something different than from where they came.
While we're sure that God will grow the good things he desires out of Sigo Vivo and/or our relationships in that circle, we don't know what that looks like. God's a big God and is in the business of growing kingdom things even if we're not capable of growing them ourselves. God is a mysterious God, who in fact crafted a Gospel of mystery that can sometimes feel like a slippery amphibian, I suppose. God's given us some good people here to work through these questions with. And truths that encourage:
"How great...are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Colossians 1:27
We tell you this so you can pray. (because we really just introduced you to a bunch of hard questions...haha sorry.)
-For good, growing, reciprocal, gospel-centered, personal relationships with our friends from Sigo Vivo.
-For Pastor Rudy, he's having surgery in the coming weeks.
-For Sigo Vivo..how will it grow or change going forward? More interaction during the week? A halfway house for those coming out of rehab? This is highly dependent on 1) Rudy's recovery from surgery 2) Rudy's ability to dedicate himself to more with Sigo Vivo while still making a living 3) Collaboration with other people/groups with similar missions in the area.
So if you could join with us over the next season to petition for these things, we'd be grateful. Be warned: the movement is un-Americanly slow. Haha. But hopefully beautiful.
Thank you for caring and walking with us.
-AJ and Alaina
thewestys.weebly.com
P.S. Some Things We're Into Lately
1. Verse: Philippians 2:5-7 - Servanthood: giving up what is valuable to me to give what is valuable to someone else.
2. Show: "Suits" - it's about lawyers
3. Book: Village Medical Manual - Mary Vanderkooi
4. Album: Phase - Jack Garrat
5. Activity: Making Beautiful Cards For People!
6. Song: Lo Unico Que Quiero - Marco Barrientos
7. Language: Learning to conjugate verbs in the subjunctive tense...
Angel once asked me, "What do you really think about us [drug-addicts and street kids]?" I wonder why he asked me that. What experiences and schemas does he have of church folk or of gringos that made him ask that question...
A couple months ago, you may recall we jumped into a recently ministry called "Sigo Vivo" by a strange combination of relationships and our emptiness of our Saturday afternoons. All in all, it consists of a few hours spending time with a somewhat fluid group of (mostly) young folks, most of whom live the majority of their life in the streets. We eat together, sing songs together, offer some simple medical treatment, and do some kind of activity/group discussion centered in the Gospel. We had no idea what would come of it, but knew that if we didn't make ourselves [uncomfortably] close to those on the fringe, we certainly wouldn't experience the grace and the stories that come in those environments. Over time, Alaina and I have gained some affinity towards a few of them, whose names we can remember and/or whom we've had some connective conversations with.
Right now Sigo Vivo is just a Saturday afternoon program. It was in a church, the church decided not to have them in their building, then it was outside in a park for awhile, and now we have a smallish but ample building to meet in (!) just up the hill from the garbage dump. We can sit for a few hours, talk about their week, treat wounds and sicknesses, ask questions and hear some stories, but we hope for more. We hope for deeper and/or more consistent relationships. But there is so much dissonance between our lives, trying to craft reciprocal relationships out of what appears incompatible is...a mysterious thing. When, where, and how can we intersect them outside of the organized structure of Sigo Vivo? What is wise? What communicates care and love while not putting us in the position of "white foreign benefactors"? How can we be bringers of the gospel that speaks in their context, not from ours? How will friendship and discipleship hold hands? Can we just not worry about it all and "hang out"?
Our friends at Sigo Vivo are kind, they laugh well, they are often high on paint thinner, they are grateful, they see the grace of God in just having what they need to live, they are less than aromatic, they have incredible stories, they are those pushed aside by the broken system of Guatemala's economy and education and family structure, and sometimes by their choices. Their lives will be stuck in poverty and addiction if they don't reach for the [readily available] resources of rehab, but it takes the finger of God and it takes relationships to get them there, and to get them out of rehab into something different than from where they came.
While we're sure that God will grow the good things he desires out of Sigo Vivo and/or our relationships in that circle, we don't know what that looks like. God's a big God and is in the business of growing kingdom things even if we're not capable of growing them ourselves. God is a mysterious God, who in fact crafted a Gospel of mystery that can sometimes feel like a slippery amphibian, I suppose. God's given us some good people here to work through these questions with. And truths that encourage:
"How great...are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Colossians 1:27
We tell you this so you can pray. (because we really just introduced you to a bunch of hard questions...haha sorry.)
-For good, growing, reciprocal, gospel-centered, personal relationships with our friends from Sigo Vivo.
-For Pastor Rudy, he's having surgery in the coming weeks.
-For Sigo Vivo..how will it grow or change going forward? More interaction during the week? A halfway house for those coming out of rehab? This is highly dependent on 1) Rudy's recovery from surgery 2) Rudy's ability to dedicate himself to more with Sigo Vivo while still making a living 3) Collaboration with other people/groups with similar missions in the area.
So if you could join with us over the next season to petition for these things, we'd be grateful. Be warned: the movement is un-Americanly slow. Haha. But hopefully beautiful.
Thank you for caring and walking with us.
-AJ and Alaina
thewestys.weebly.com
P.S. Some Things We're Into Lately
1. Verse: Philippians 2:5-7 - Servanthood: giving up what is valuable to me to give what is valuable to someone else.
2. Show: "Suits" - it's about lawyers
3. Book: Village Medical Manual - Mary Vanderkooi
4. Album: Phase - Jack Garrat
5. Activity: Making Beautiful Cards For People!
6. Song: Lo Unico Que Quiero - Marco Barrientos
7. Language: Learning to conjugate verbs in the subjunctive tense...