Spring Branch Community Church: Missions

What is poverty. Do we really understand what poverty means? What is the face of the poor? Who are the faces of the poor? Our team experienced a place, that for many of us, was the worst place we have ever been. A place that is replayed in countries throughout the world. La Chureca is the dump in Managua and inside the gates is a city, a community of people that live off the trash and waste of others. In La Chureca, fires burn around the area with smoke hanging in the air. Flies buzz around everyone and the scent of rot fills the senses. Among the waste and smoke, a child smiles over the fence and waves at us. We wave and call greetings to those close enough to see us. Many are working and wave back to us. We have spent the first part of the morning with a ministry that provides child care to some of the youngest kids of the dump. The ministry is limited to the number of kids they can afford to feed. Part of our trip is a donation to this ministry to enable these people to feed kids what may have been their only full meal that day. Such a small amount can feed kids here for weeks. And having spent a day with these kids, babies, and workers, we see the face of poverty. We see that those faces are no different from our own. The children smile and climb on us, they help us wash walls and show us their worn toys. Back at the dump we see kids given food. We see the small spark that happens with the presence of those who want to make a difference. There is also a difference in us. The face of poverty has become personal. We struggle with how this can exist. How this can change. Can we change it?

One thing that strikes me, that I was not prepared for, was the community in this place. When I picture people living off a trash dump, I imagine a survival of the fittest atmosphere. And I'm sure that that is present. What I was not prepared for was a community caring for each other amidst the poverty. How can we build into this community the message of hope? We wrestle with this. And we hope that you will engage with us in our desire to enrich the lives of those we meet here. We live in a world that searches for a purpose, and we serve a God of hope. And we rejoice in the prospect of hope.                      -Lindsey