Christmas has come and gone, we are well over a few weeks into 2007, and the month of Single’s Awareness Day is upon us.
Only joking, my friends! There is plenty of love to be pondered on and celebrated around this time of year, even for those of us without a “significant other” to celebrate it with. There is a love which goes beyond human comprehension and a simple expression of flowers and candy; this love left the majesty of His throne to humbly come as a man and give His life to pay the debt we all owe, yet none of us could pay. The fact is that the love of God goes far beyond all descriptions which man or woman may use to try and describe it. The wonderful thing about this divine love, you see, is while believers of The Gospel have encountered this love and will testify that it has changed their life, there is always more to learn about God’s love. There is always a new way to discover this “agape” kind of love. It seems, however, that agape usually finds me rather than I find it.
When asked to write a follow-up article to “Feliz Navidad: Christmas in Action” (I can’t take credit for the title, by the way), my mind immediately raced with countless stories of things I learned on our ten day Guatemalan trip. I opened my journal from the trip and fanned through the pages, scanning for things about the trip which seem most important. I thought about how we gave toys to the children of Sector 7 (one of the more underprivileged industrialized portions of Guatemala City), how we told Bible stories to children in numerous villages, and about the children’s AIDS hospital and the overwhelming love those children showed to us (though we expected it to be vice-versa). All of these things were key parts of the trip and I hope I never forget any of them. The thing which impacted me most, however, has nothing to do with our team doing anything. It has nothing to do with something the missionaries said while we served with them. If you look on the itinerary of our trip, you will not find it there either. What touched my heart (and broke it) when we were in Guatemala was a prostitute.
The primary ministry of Sector 7 is not children, though that is a large part of it. The ministry Tom and Elizabeth (the missionaries we worked with) established in this portion of Guatemala City specifically targets the prostitutes and homeless of the area. They own a small building in the heart of Sector 7 which they have named The Mary Magdalene House. On either side of the house there are hotels only a block away, each containing rooms which the prostitutes rent for business purposes. This is not meant to be graphic; it is reality.
Tom and Elizabeth hold regular church services in The “Mary Mag” house as we came to call it, each service conducted with the front garage doors open to the streets so that whoever wishes may come in- even if only for a moment. One of these services took place during our visit to the house, and I took my place at the back, near the street. At the time I had no idea, but this meant I would sit among the prostitutes and men with severe alcohol addiction. I could not help but notice that during the service many of the prostitutes would leave to return to the street. One woman in particular caught my attention, though I do not know her name. All I know is she was dressed in an oversized plaid sweater, a beanie, khakis, and dress shoes that were uncomfortably too small. It was clear that she was high on something, I have no idea what. She was completely unaware of what was going on around her and the other prostitutes simply laughed at her.
Later we blocked off the street to have a Christmas party for the children. I broke away for a little while to sit on the sidewalk and sift through things. Across the road I saw that same woman on a doorstep being taunted by some man. It did not matter, however; he was a potential customer.
Before Guatemala I thought of prostitution as an ungodly act of rebellion against what is good and ethical. It took no effort for me to condemn a prostitute in my mind for the way she would choose to live her life… but this was different. She did not choose prostitution because she “loved sin too much,” because she is “very worldly,” or any other reason like that; she is imprisoned by it. There is a great chance that this woman grew up in Sector 7 and learned that if she was to eat then she must sell her body. Inevitably she became pregnant and therefore had to provide for the child as well. Eventually she wanted so badly to escape from this prison that she resorted to narcotics as some sort of temporary release. Now she has to make money to pay for food, her child, and the drugs. Why am I confident in the likelihood of this story? Lupita, a woman who now works with Tom, used to be a prostitute in Sector 7. She can easy verify the validity of these stories.
“Josh, I love her.”
From here I could go on and on about how self-righteous I tend to be (and how I’m not the only one), I could preach about how there is no hierarchy of sin, etc. and elaborate on that isolated moment for a long time. None of that is the point of this article.
The point is simple; there are plenty of needs in the world. There are many who need food, help with drug abuse, shelter, safety, freedom from oppressive governments, comfort, and many other things. The biggest need in the world today, however, is for people to know that their Creator loves them. They need to know He came up with this huge, elaborate, intricate plan to save them from prisons like prostitution and allow them to take part in a relationship like no other. They need to know the way He did that is by coming to earth as a lowly man, “humbling Himself to the point of death on a cross” (Philippians 2.8), and He conquered death itself so we could share in His victory.
That woman, just like the rest of the world, does not need condemnation. She does not need a twelve-step plan to fix what is wrong. She does not need someone to tell her that she is going to hell; she probably believes she is already in it. What she NEEDS is salvation, knowledge of agape (unconditional) love, and that both were made perfectly clear through Jesus Christ and are only available in Him.
The world needs to know the God who is love. I need to learn how to make Him known.
Josh Crocker is a student at Anderson University and served last summer on Seesalt’s program staff. He is heavily involved with BCM, is an excellent keyboardist/singer, and likes to balk tackwards. When staff were stressed, they just rubbed Josh’s shaved head and all was well. The fact that he’s a great guy helps too.
Picture Notes: Photo at the top of the page is of Josh and Lupita’s son. Middle photo is a sign that translates to say “Jesus Christ: The Hope of Guatemala.” The bottom photo is of the woman that Josh saw across the street.