"Hope" is not a final goodbye

Wow. It´s me again, Ariel from Ash Creek in Texas. Tonight is our last official night in Lima, Peru, and I must say that this mission trip has been the most special, the most touching, and the hardest that I have been on. It wasn´t because of the bonds I formed with the leaders, translators, or my fellow churchmates. It is because of the children and experiences God gave me that I am changed.

What started out as an almost-awkward relationship between the boys and the youth of Ash Creek bloomed into friendship and love. I may not believe in love at first sight, but after this trip I definitely believe in love after three days. Powerful things happen after three days because of love. (Just ask a couple of disciples and a gal named Mary.) What, the reader may ask, is so important about these boys? What makes them so special? Bear with me, while I hopefully illuminate.

After three days of telling Bible stories, playing games, and developing friendship and love, we took the boys to the movie theatre. By the way their eyes shone, one would think that we had taken them to a royal palace. The excitement and happiness were obvious on each and every boy´s face. What would it be like to have next to nothing, to become excited over popcorn and Coke, and see a movie? Those of us at Ash Creek received a tiny glimpse into the answer to that question. To us, it was normally nothing to go to the movies; what made this time special, this time so happy for us, was to see the joy in the boys.

However, it seems like every good time must end. After the final games and the final Bible story, we had to say goodbye. Rather ironically, it was at the end that I realized for the first time that I loved all of the boys very much but may not ever see them again. Loving someone so much, and wanting to give them so much more than they have comes at a painful cost when the time you have together is short. We gave them goodie bags, but I felt it was not enough. I knew they deserved more than the bleak housing and dirty concrete walls surrounding them. They deserved love and hope and compassion... but I was powerless to give it to them.Without hope, the concrete would remain around their hearts and the dirt would never go away. But what I did not give them, I believe God provided. To each boy a Bible was given, so that they may come to know Him as a Savior. They were given hope, one of the most precious aspects in life. Even with tears streaming down our faces, and mouthing the words, ¨Te amo¨ to the boys, I felt a single, flickering flame of hope as the bus pulled away from the orphanage for the last time.

A really special teacher once explained the importance of hope to our Sunday School class. Once again, as a human, I looked at things through a short-term view, instead of through heaven´s view. God has given me hope that, even though things may never be good for the boys on Earth, we will meet again in heaven, and we will play the same games, sing the same goofy songs, and never have to say goodbye.

*The following is one of those goofy quotes like in the movies that somehow fits with the story...*

"It well may be that we will never meet again in this lifetime, so let me say before we part that you´ll be with me, like a handprint on my heart...Who can say if I´ve been changed for the better, but because I knew you, I have been changed for good." (from the Broadway musical "Wicked")

*The following is a verse, because everything should end with some sort of scripture. I´ll stop talking now and let you finish reading and actually go get some sleep...*

"And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthisans 13: 13)