Yesterday I had the privilege of visiting a poor village called Isopo. A week from tomorrow a group of 20 will be traveling down here from my college. They will spend 8 days serving these people and this country that I have fallen so head over heels for. We will spend Sunday of the trip in this village. (Isopo) We make it a rule to visit each of the places we intend to take groups BEFORE the group actually arrives. We would never want to take people into a situation we aren't 100% sure is safe. So Jen, Dorian, and a preacher friend jumped in the car with me to make the maybe 20 mile journey. 20 miles...sounds close right....sure in theory. However, in actuality it was FOREVER away because the road we had to travel down was absolutely the worst road I've ever been on. I am a farm girl born and raised on no name back roads and I've spent close to a year traveling on whatever roads necessary to take us where we needed to go. I feel certain though that none of that comes close to this road. It was made up purely of rocks, dirt, and more craters, crevices, and cracks than even the moon can possess. Due to the conditions of the road we were forced to drive at a snails pace or risk shaking our innards loose. When we finally made it down the road (an hour later) we came to the church we were going to visit. It literally was made of a few rickety looking wooden poles. Then they had wrapped some very thin and old tin around the poles to make the walls. The "walls" came up to my head and stopped. After that it was open until you reached the ceiling which was made up of the same tin. It had a dirt floor that was littered with broken glass and trash. However, I couldn't quit thinking of how different it would be if our churches worried less about the structure we worship in and more about the worship itself. What if we spent less on the building and more on those in the building. After being at the church we had a chance to visit and build relationships with some of the people in the community. I was once again humbled and amazed by the conditions that some live in. I was shocked by the condition of their roads and the modest way of life. It was an amazing day and I look forward to working there with the group!
The view!
The path we walked down when the car could go no farther.
The church
6 comments:
Ash when you go back you might want to chose a different pair of shoes. flip flops might not be the best shoe.
Why won't my shoes work when I get home?
If the road is worse than the one to Didasko, you might have to fly the group in! ha!!
They might work at home but not sure they will work building houses, so I might take another pair of shoes with you
This looks like the road to La Tigra the people the scenery and the little children along the road.
Ha. I thought you meant when I "got back" as in to the states...that I needed to wear different shoes. :) I am DEFINITELY wearing different shoes next time. We were climbing through some NASTY stuff! Oh this road tops the one to Didasko! Heck it was rough.
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