and He shall supply our every need.

Today was another great day of love, laughter and learning in Huehue. God continues to reveal pieces of himself to me during this trip, and I am awestruck how every bit he shows me throughout a day coincides. Today was a perfect example of this. We began the morning on a trek up the mountain to deliver clothing to communities at the very top. The journey was gorgeous. We were literally above the clouds, and the view of the mountains framing the city in the valley was enough to trump my fear of traveling on a narrow, windy road around a mountain on a bus. But even that did not compare with the beauty of what we saw at the top.

As soon as we reached our first stop and people saw potato sacks full of clothing on the top of our bus, families came running. They came with their own sacks to fill with (what was to them) new clothing, and as I reached in our bags each time to grab a handful, mothers all around me were pushing and shoving to have a part. One time, in particular, I grabbed a large leather jacket, and instantly, every woman around me began pulling on it. The woman whose bag I had intended it for walked away without it, and that was one of the hardest things to watch throughout the morning. Yes, we were giving a gift to people who don't have much, but we didn't have enough for everyone. And sometimes it was hard to recognize the huge smiles and "gracias" from those who received because of the dejected faces of those who did not. It was especially difficult to watch the empty-handed children who watched other children take home a new toy. Yet, despite the difficulty, I know that God used me and my team this morning to meet the needs of these people, and I am so thankful for the ability and resources to do so. It is all too easy to wonder why God has placed me in a loving home with warm, clean water and access to anything I could want or need when people around the world have nothing of the same. But I know God has given me those resources as a calling, so that I may go into those other parts of the world to show that God does indeed provide.

Later, in our VBS lesson at the orphanage, we discussed the Biblical response to the work we did this morning. We read Matthew 6:25-34 and Philippians 4:19, which promise us the Lord will supply every need and we cannot worry otherwise. How amazing is it that we taught a concept we had already seen in action this morning? And not only have we seen it this morning, but every day through the kids at the orphanage. The Lord has provided for them by bringing them to a safe, caring place to stay where their caretakers really and truly love them. These kids already knew that God meets their needs because they have seen it more fully than we ever have or possibly ever will--we, instead, had to be reminded.

God also reminded me that our wants pale in comparison to the needs of these people we serve. My reading of Francis Chan's Crazy Love went along with this idea when he poses the question, "Which is more messed up--that we have so much compared to everyone else, or that we don't think we're rich? That on any given day we might flippantly call ourselves "broke" or "poor"? We are neither of those things. We are rich. Filthy rich." We are rarely content with what we have when most of the world is content with just receiving the bare necessities. It's a hard lesson to learn, but when you see an old man smile because he's just received 5 or 10-year-old clothing for his grandchildren, it is so worth it.

--Lauren Sharpe