I had the opportunity to visit Granada last weekend, where I was fall of 2009. It was great to be able to visit all the people and families that the other girls and I had built relationships with, see some of the good changes that have happened in their lives! I thank God for the chance to be back there and see how He’s been working.
While I was there, I was walking back to my hotel one night. Across the street from the side of a large Catholic church was a building, and on the steps of the building were a woman and her two sons. The boys were sleeping, and she had her hand out for money. When I passed her, she caught my eye and stared at me. Unfortunately, sometimes we see “beggars” or homeless people and don’t really think in depth about them. I know I am guilty of this! But something about her really broke my heart. I can honestly say that there was just hopelessness and emptiness in her eyes. She was probably in her 30’s and weighed maybe around 120-130 lbs. She looked almost sick, and somewhat emaciated. So I bought a couple meals and brought them over to her.
The boys were still sleeping, and I gave her the food. I sat down next to her and asked her name, the children’s names, and things like that. She answered all my questions, and began to talk. Her name is Margarita, she has four children. The other two weren’t there, the one was sleeping because he had gone to the doctor and is very sick, but medicine is too expensive for them to buy. She actually began to cry, and tell me how hard things are. She told me she was from another town but that her father of the children beats her, so they don’t live there anymore. She was a real person, a woman, with the same feelings we all have, who wants better for her children, for herself. Because I have everything I need and want, does that mean my life has more value? In reality, that is the only real difference between her and me as human beings.
I really didn’t know what to say that would encourage her or make her “feel better”, but I really just wanted her to know that I cared. I told her that there was a Heaven and a God and that this world is not all there is.
The reason I wrote this is because the bible talked so much about the poor, that we speak of them and remember them and defend them and pray for them and be a part of their lives. It seems hard to do but there are so many opportunities to be involved in with people who are really struggling in this life. We forget that these are souls that God has created, and He too wants better for them. We forget our list of blessings, and that people truly do worry about what they are going to eat every day, and feed their children. They have real feelings, things make them laugh and hurt and smile and feel lonely and make them sad.
I’m not a very bold person but please pray and think about ways to be involved with other people who are struggling like this. Whether it’s in the US or somewhere else, it really is our responsibility as the church and God’s followers to become a part of their lives. We all have difficulties, and we all need each other.
Isaiah 31:8-9 “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly, defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
