I haven’t shared about it here, but a little over a month ago we were contacted by Bienestar Social (Social Wellness - a department of the Guatemalan Government) and asked to be a part of a new foster family program they want to start. They were asking us to help recruit and train families who are willing to take in a child, and then provide supervision to them once a child was placed. This is a brand new program, and the government is approaching it in an intelligent manner, asking successful homes who provide high quality care for orphans to lead the way.
For me, this was a no-brainer. Through this new program, we have the potential to multiply the number of children that we can keep out of orphanages and provide a loving, family environment for each of them. We immediately agreed and had a face-to-face meeting with the director of the program the following week.
Then, about two weeks ago, we received an invitation to be a part of a meeting with the First Lady of Guatemala, Patricia Marroquín, in the National Palace. The meeting was to discuss this new program Of course, we readily agreed, and last Tuesday we drove into Guatemala City for the meeting.
It is probably no surprise to any of you that I am not a dress-up kind of guy. But I realized that I should not wear jeans and a T-shirt to meet the First Lady. After some digging through my clothes, I was able to find a pair of black dress pants, black shoes, and a dress shirt from one of my daughters’ weddings. In addition, I realized I did own three ties, one of which is a novelty Christmas tie that plays Jingle Bells. I really wanted to go with the last one, but opted for one of the first two after careful contemplation.
Manuel and I left extra early (three hours before the scheduled time), because we wanted to make sure we were not late. But Guatemala City struck again, and we were caught in a horrible traffic jam. By the time we reached the Palace, we were almost 40 minutes late. Fortunately, we were not the only ones. We were ushered into the meeting, which was already in progress, and were placed at the only empty spots down at the far end of the table.
The meeting included about 20 representatives of Christian ministries which care for orphans, along with a long list of dignitaries. In addition to the First Lady, there was a Senator from NC and their state’s Director of Family Services. There were also directors of various Guatemalan governmental agencies. In total, there were about 40 of us gathered around a U-shaped arrangement of tables.
The meeting consisted of the representatives from NC encouraging us to care for orphans. (Thanks for that. Never even considered caring for orphans.) Then we had a line of people giving us information that we all knew. Finally, there was a brief question and answer time. Most of this was filled with people who did not ask questions, but instead tried to showcase their own ministries. I tried to ask a question, but being at the end of the table made it difficult to be recognized. At this point, I was feeling frustrated and wondered why we even came.
When the meeting was finally dismissed, I walked over to talk to the Senator from North Carolina. (Sorry, his name escapes me.) I thought it would be nice to greet someone from my home state and welcome him to Guatemala. But I had only been talking to him a moment when I turned and realized that the First Lady was standing next to us looking at me. So I excused myself and greeted her.
I will be honest, I had no real agenda to discuss with her. It was an honor to meet her, because both she and her husband seem to be people of character who really care about this country. He is the first President that I have seen who seems intent on doing the right thing, and the result of his work are already showing after less than a year in office. So I just thought that I would greet her and thank her for the work she and her husband were doing. And I did just that.
But then I realized that I was still talking. And I realized I was talking to her about unjust adoption laws in Guatemala that were hurting all orphans, particularly those with special needs. And I thought, “Daryl, what are you doing?!? Just shut up! This is the First Lady and you are complaining about the country’s laws! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!”
But I didn’t. I continued to talk to her about our work and about the challenges we are facing. I told her about the need to find homes for children with special needs. I told her that current adoption laws were making that nearly impossible. And then…wait for it…I began to choke up as I spoke with her. At this point, I decided that I could not make a bigger fool of myself and determined I should probably excuse myself and hide under the closest table.
But then, I realized something. Patricia Marroquín, the First Lady of Guatemala, had reached out and grabbed my arm, and she was choking back tears. She was listening, and she cared. And then she assured me that she would speak with her husband to see what they could do to help. She asked for my contact information and said her office would be in touch to talk more about the problem.
And, suddenly, I felt a little less stupid and glad that we had come. I don’t know if it will result in any changes or not, but the concerns were heard. And she cared.
On the way home, Manuel and I talked about the meeting. We discussed that it was a privilege to meet her and speak with her. But we were also struck with the reality that God is no respecter of persons. He is not impressed by men and women and their titles. He does not see presidents, first ladies or senators. He does not notice status and wealth. He does not care about man’s “power” because any power that man possesses is puny next to our Almighty God.
In fact, just the opposite. He seems to have a special affection for the weak, the poor, the oppressed and the powerless. He promises that those people who are last in this life will be first in His Kingdom.
And we were struck by the reality that the visits we make with poor families in a dirt floor shacks are more important to God than any meeting we have with celebrities and politicians. His heart can be found among the least of these in houses built with rusty sheet metal and bamboo. We are closest to God in the midst of the slum, not in palaces. Those are the meetings that are truly important to God.
And that line of thought has lead me down another road. Particularly the current Presidential election in the United States. There sure is a lot of attention being placed on it. It appears that very few people like their choices, but almost everyone feels it is important to choose and choose wisely, because the future of the country is at stake. Everyone seems to believe that this choice will determine the rise and fall of the nation.
Now, I have no problem with a believer voting and helping choose the President. After all, if we can have a voice, why shouldn’t we use that voice? So please don’t confuse my words as being an encouragement to opt out on all political involvement.
However, I do want to point out that the only hope for our nation and our world is Jesus Christ, not the person that sits in the White House. As a result, what happens on November 8, 2016 is far less important than what happens in and through the lives of Christ-followers each and every day. Will the church be The Church? Will we love recklessly? Will we serve passionately? Will we draw people to Jesus today? Will we show the world Jesus in the way we live, speak and love?
Currently I am seeing believers very focused on November 8. I see arguments and hurtful words between believers. I see inflammatory posts. I see anger and darkness spewing from those that should be shining light. And it breaks my heart.
It is particularly bad this election as the church wrestles with whether it can or cannot endorse and support a particular candidate. There is no need for me to address my own stance on this issue, because it doesn’t matter. Where we stand on the issue is less important that how we stand on it. And I see many taking a stand on the issue while tearing apart others who don’t agree with them. And this is happening on both sides of the issue.
At the end of the day, the person in the White House will be the person God chooses to be there. We can talk and vote all we want to, but God will accomplish His purposes. God will place the man or woman there that He chooses. Period. Sometimes He chooses a leader to bless a nation. Sometime He chooses one to punish and bring the nation to repentance. But He chooses.
What is really at stake right now is not who wins the election, but how the church will represent Jesus. Will the church of Jesus Christ add to the noisy yelling and bitterness that is already over-abundant? Or will the church show Jesus to the nation by being voices of love and peacemaking?
The most important question we must ask is this: “Is Christ being glorified in me and through me?” And we must ask that question frequently in all areas of our lives.
- Is He being glorified in the way I work?
- Is He being glorified in the way I go to school?
- Is He being glorified in my community through me?
- And…is He being glorified in the way I am politically involved?
What our nation needs is not a new and better President. It needs Jesus. Are we presenting ourselves and our God in a way that draws our family…our neighbors…our Facebook friends…our nation to Him? That is the question.
If our candidate wins the election but we fail in this greatest task, we have lost. And not only us, but the church and our nation has lost as well.
Let us vote, or not vote, as God leads. But, more importantly, let us pray, serve and love in Jesus’ name. When we do this, we all win. And that is what is really important.
Blessings from Guatemala!
Daryl, Wanda and the Crew
