His

After school on Thursday I was rocked by diversity. I taught third grade PE first of all which is full of enough personalities to entertain me for days. It was their final PE class, so they were a little crazy. Dodge ball was a bad idea! School got out at 12 and I went to lunch with one of my seniors and another friend who could give him some advice on playing soccer in the states. He went home stoked and motivated to pursue his dream. I left lunch at 1:30 and went to have a tour of the new multi million dollar golf course. I was blown away that something so extravagant could be less than a mile from people living in tin shacks with dirt floors. I then went back to my apartments and decided to take a motorcycle ride to the East end of the island. The East end is a 45 minute drive and very secluded. There are small indigenous villages of Garifuna island people and beautiful views. Within hours I had been in the midst of millionaires who "own" the island, soccer players who "run" the island, kids who "are" the island, Garifuna people who are rooted to the island, and teachers who are trying to impact the island. I get frustrated with the concentrated wealth here along side the ridiculous poverty. The rich are creating yet another private environment where people can come to hide from the poverty on the outside of their cement walls. The people who are in poverty are surrounded by drugs, violence and ignorance. They have a small opportunity to be educated but even then there is little to no room for upward mobility. Most of the students at my school come from wealthy families and are caught up in materialism and worldly success which makes it hard to get through to them. My apartment is right next to the power plant, in the hottest part of the island with one window and no A/C. It is not the most pleasant place but I have a roof, a bed and running water. It is easy to get bogged down in negativity when I look at everything around me and begin to analyze things but God wanted to remind me of his reality. As I drove the 45 minute ride back to my home in Los Fuertes and thought through all of this, I heard God say "This is my island and these are all My people." That millionaire who will play golf this week is Gods child, My students are his, the soccer coaches are his, Pablo, Jarvick and Bebe are his, the tourists are his, I am his and I am here for him.
There are crappy situations everywhere, Sometimes I want to close my eyes and run away but we are called to more. It would have been easy for Jesus to turn and walk away from the adulteress woman allowing her to be stoned by her accusers, but he stood by her side. He could have ignored the lepers or the blind but he touched them and made mud to heal their eyes. Jesus stopped for each one and truly cared for them. I want to follow in his footsteps and I am praying that he will help me to stay focused and motivated to do that. This is his island and these are his people.




"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"