A day in the life of Mario

The person I have been affected by the most in Lima has been a guy named Mario. He is in his late 20's and he works in the orphanage that Jeremy and I worked with for a while. I have learned so much from him, not because of the words he has said, but his daily life is the gospel lived out. From the morning to the evening Mario does as much as he can to show others the love of Jesus. I have a really good friend who keeps telling me that everything in life is interconnected. I am beginning to believe that the little things that we do daily have a much larger affect on the world than we could ever imagine. Mario gets up every morning and if he doesn't spend the night at the orphanage he takes a 2hr bus ride from Lima to visit the kids. The hospital was the first place we visited when we went out to the orphanage. At first I was confused why so many of the kids in the hospital had nothing wrong with them. I soon realized that they were there visiting with their friends, trying to cheer them up. The love and affection of Mario is contagious. He has poured so much love out on those kids that can't help but give it back to others. One afternoon we were walking to get some groceries and there was an old homeless man by the side of the rode selling candy. It was a very sad thing to see. Nobody would look at him and most people tried to avoid walking to close to him on the sidewalk. It reminded me of many situations that i have seen in Abilene back home. Some people were willing to give him some money, but Mario's reaction to the man was natrually different. He went up to the man and sat down next to him showing not pity but love. Mario proceeded to buy some candy from him. I will never forget the image of Mario walking straight to commune with the old man while the rest of us where frozen. I asked him about the conversation with the old man later that night. He said that the life of a Christian calls us to treat all people the same, the love of God shows no favor. I have read and heard that before but this is the first time I have seen this lived out on a daily basis. Mario has convinced me that the little interactions in our day matter. I pray that God will give me those same eyes to see those who need his love reguardless of any man made class system. When the kingdom life is lived out on a daily basis it is a beautiful thing!

The Family

For the last 4 days i have been going to work at an orphange about two hours outside of Lima. It is very hard to try and describe my experience there in a few paragraphs. I learned so much during my time there. The owner of the orphangage is a man named Miguel. He is an ordinary man with an extraordinary story. A while back Miguel's only son became sick and he took him to the hospital. His son died in the hospital while he was still in his arms. As he was leaving the hospital heartbroken he saw two orphan boys sitting on the side of the street. He invited them to stay at his house that night. The next night the two boys came back with two friends. Miguel's family has grown to 600 children that he takes care of with the support a few incredible volunteers and some support from some churches back home. Miguel has taught me so much of what it means to live the gospel. They refer to the place as a community. It is not until now that i realize the impact of that word compared to the word orphange. Many times we don't realize the power of words. By changing the rhetoric of the community from orphanage to family he has instilled hope into the hearts of the children.