Saturday, January 29, 2011
BLACK WATER (Agua Negras)
Agua Negras is a very poor community located on the shores of the shipping port in Puerto Plata. A few times a year when a storm surge drives the ocean waters inland and up the rivers, the sewage lagoons flood, dispelling up to 3 feet of its waste water into this community. Sandra Tineo, a pastor/teacher & administrator of children, teens & women’s programs is a beacon of light in this community.
With a team from Thanks Living Lutheran Church in Nebraska, we visited Sandra to decipher where the greatest needs were in her community and how we can help. As we carefully watched our step to avoid stepping in the black (sewage) water, we followed Sandra on a tour, and saw the love of Christ in her to all the folks she encountered. Greeting each person by name, tousling the heads of children and even picking up a small boy who had fallen and scraped his knees….
she
gave a kind word of encouragement to each and everyone we met. Our eyes were opened to the reality of life for so many people who pay rent to live in these unsafe and sometimes uninhabitable places, but who also joyously attend the small churches to be filled with the love of Jesus. Together with the local people, she encourages & empowers them to work together to raise the floors by 3 feet & repair their homes using funds graciously donated by many different mission organizations.
Can we say the same for ourselves? Where is our focus ... on pleasing our own self interests & desires ... or serving others? Jesus offers rather a fresh and much-needed invitation to our "me-first" generation. Jesus says, in effect, "Be a servant . . . give to others!" (Mark 10:45).
But how? By regarding others as more important than yourself. Look for ways to support, encourage, build up, and stimulate the other person. This requires an attitude that would rather give than receive. “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3-4)
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