The Pink (and Blue) Elephants
in the Room
Because of Child Sponsorship, I didn't
have a prayer.
I took a group of women to Tijuana last
week, my first trip there in 2 years. My
last visit was also with Women of Vision,
and some of the same women were on this trip.
In the morning, we visited several
energetic microfinance borrowers at their businesses. It was a whirlwind display of practical and
creative enterprises, all of these run by women: a convenience store, a beauty
shop, a produce stand, even a pet food shop and an internet cafe. The latter business owner was clearly a
serial entrepreneur. With each
subsequent loan, she has addressed one more customer need and business
opportunity after another in her "cyber cafe"...moving from telephone
access to computer access, to arcade games for the bored children of computer
users, to a snack counter, refrigerated drinks, even a still-rare indoor toilet
for customers.
These were fun visits, learning about
the impact of the loans, seeing once again the confidence that running a
business builds in these women, most of them single mothers.
But our host Bárbara was wise in
scheduling those visits prior to our stop at the Las Palmas Community
Center. Because once we arrived at Las
Palmas, all love broke loose.
Most of the visitors in the group are sponsoring
children now in Tijuana—something which has only become possible in the past
couple of years. The staff and community
volunteers had arranged for virtually every one of our group’s children to meet
us at the community center. A couple of
these children had met their sponsors two years ago, and you'd have thought a
favorite aunt had just arrived for a visit.
There were hugs, squeals (especially from the women in our group), and
laps to be sat upon.
We tried to organize our usual program
overview, and each person around our large circle introduced themselves. But each time a sponsored child was
introduced, or a sponsor mentioned the name of their child, another connection
was made and everything stopped for new hugs and more exclamations of
glee.
A little side drama was happening for my
wife Janet and me. In a shadowed corner
sat little Jose Antonio with his mother, his head buried into her chest. He's our sponsored child, a replacement for
another "Jose" who moved away last year. We chose this little guy because his photo
looked so forlorn, and we wondered if he was mentally disabled. In fact, he has just been diagnosed with some
learning disability—probably autism or Asperger’s Syndrome. He kept his head down but his eyes piercing
straight ahead, never smiling, and at times headbutting his mom's chest. She was embarrassed, and I'm sure that
whatever small disappointment we felt in comparing the reaction of the other
sponsored children against the reaction of our Jose Antonio was magnified many
times over in her heart.
As the introductions continued amidst
the growing din, Bárbara tried valiantly to keep the process going, but it was as
though she was trying singlehandedly to hold back a dam. It was a powerful reminder to me, a guy who
earned quite honestly the moniker "Agenda Trenda", that connection
trumps information.
You see, there was an elephant of love
in the room that day, and even when we tried to focus on other topics, such as
the important work being done in economic development, sanitation, delinquency
prevention, health... that elephant kept getting in the way and demanding the
attention of everyone's heart—even those who didn't have a sponsored child.
And it was beautiful to behold. Though geographically Sponsor and Child live
less than two hours apart, socially and economically they are practically on
different continents. Yet the bond of
relationship was so strong and tangible that it was the most important reality
in the room.
I've always had a strong desire for
these one-day trips across the border to be a window that gives visitors a
clear understanding of WV's global methodology. It's rather amazing really,
that in just a few hours, a person can have a cross-cultural Vision Trip
experience, and they can come back much better educated on just how sound our
program model is and how its underlying principals operate anywhere in the
world. I've thought with satisfaction
many times of the day when a pastor told me, "Traveling with you Cory is
like getting a graduate-level course in Christian Community Development."
So when I was younger and more
agenda-driven, I'd have been frustrated that so little of this wonderful,
important knowledge was imparted last week. But instead, great love was
imparted. An entire crowded roomful of love was on display, in the staff and
community volunteers, as well as in the children and their sponsors.
And in the final analysis, the most
intelligent, logical, world-class program is nothing without love. 1 Cor 13
makes it clear that only that which is deeply and truly rooted in love will
make any difference at all. At least on
this trip, I saw that Love had a better idea of what could be accomplished than
I did, and I didn’t fight it.
I've recently realized that a primary
motivation for my writing is that I want readers to experience the love I've
come to feel for the poor, and to realize that really, we are all the
same. Or, in the beautiful words of
Father Greg Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries, which provides economic
opportunities for inner-city youth and gang members in LA, "It's not us
versus them; there is only us."
So, was my "agenda"
achieved? More to the point, I think
God's was. It’s not knowledge versus love. In
the end, there is only love.
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