CRACKED POTS

Before we left on our trip for Guatemala on January 20-27, Bob Beams, our mission trip leader, sent out the following note reminding us and our friends and family of our goal – to spread the light of Christ around the world.

“In our Christmas Eve service at 121 Community Church, our Pastor lit one person's candle at the front of the darkened church.  That person lit another candle and the lighting spread from person to person until the whole room was ablaze with light.  It was to symbolize how we as Christians pass on our faith from person to person throughout the world giving the light of Jesus to darkened places in the hearts of many in our area and to people throughout the world.  A few days after Christmas a group boarded a plane for Russia and some for India .  They shared their light in these desperate places and now the flames are being passed around even as we speak.” 

Bob also asked that friends and family would be in prayer for these girls on the afternoon of the 25th when they are offered the chance to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior as our week with them drew to a close.

Two members of our team, Bob and Les had laid some groundwork with the girls the week before the rest of the team arrived. They attended language school in Guatemala and taught a class at the Manchen Girls Home in the afternoon. As a result when our team of 10 arrived at the home on Monday afternoon the girls were chanting for us as they waited for the nuns to let us in! They were just so excited to have someone to come and love on them and be excited to come see them!! (We felt like celebrities!)

When we arrived the first day, although glad to see us, you could still tell they were hesitant and fearful. After spending the week with them doing Vacation Bible School type activities and getting to know them, the girls blossomed before our eyes. Every afternoon, we would arrive to lots of hugs and greetings and every evening we would struggle to leave. There were several tiny babies and girls that were pregnant. Thirteen seemed to be the most common age for pregnancy. That hit me hard to think of the lives these girls have led at such a young age. These girls are placed in this home for their protection. We did not get all the stories but some have been sold by their parents for prostitution, some were neglected or abused, and the list goes on – they just need protection and LOVE. Only God's love can shine into some of the places these girls have been and we were hoping for an opportunity to enjoy the brilliance of the light.

What a privilege to tell these girls that no matter what has happened in their life that God loves them so very much that he sent his one and only perfect Son to die on the cross so that HE could have a relationship with them – his perfect little princesses! It was a great joy to have 27 girls accept Christ, but the one that meant so much to me was sweet Marabel. Marabel was young mother who had tried to run away the day before and also tried to kill her precious 3-year-old girl. Marabel was not successful on either account and the next day she accepted Christ as her Savior. Hopefully, her daughter Catherine will also be raised as a Christian from Marabel's new found love in Christ. What a change God can make in your life!

Another aspect of the trip was strengthening the walk of others. One of the interpreters, Marcia, had a wonderful interaction with a girl named Angie. Marcia was interpreting the story of the cracked pot for Les as he told it to his group. Perhaps you have heard this story – it speaks to many of us on serving as well:

A water bearer had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it. While the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you."  "Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?" "I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house." Each of us has our own unique flaws.

We're all cracked pots. But if we will allow it, the Lord will use our flaws to grace His Father's table. In God's great economy, nothing goes to waste. So as we seek ways to minister together, and as God calls you to the tasks He has appointed for you, don't be afraid of your flaws. Acknowledge them, and allow Him to take advantage of them, and you, too, can be the cause of beauty in His pathway. "But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize .” ( Philippians 3:13 )

One of the girls came up to Marcia after the story and was in tears. She said that she had been saved before but never understood how God could allow her to be raped by her father and yet he did not rape her sisters. She still felt useless and tainted. This story spoke to her and made her feel loved and worthwhile. This was Marcia's first trip as an interpreter and this was a moving experience for her too!

You may go on a mission trip thinking about what you are giving but you come away realizing how changed you are and what little you brought with you. Nothing puts your life into perspective more than a mission trip. God seems to bring humility subtly before you. As we were walking back from the Manchen on the first evening, Derek Tomlinson said, “Man! My feet hurt!” Right at that very moment a very scraggly man passed us on Derek's right, no shoes with swollen, unhappy-looking feet. Derek quietly said, “Guess my feet don't hurt so much anymore”. It can be humbling to realize ALL we have to be thankful for. A pair of shoes seems so simple, doesn't it??

What a blessing it is to get to be the hands and feet of Christ. Most importantly, I think we felt more like the arms of Christ as we offered many, many hugs. It was very difficult to leave. We all had very heavy hearts. Each day two members of the group would present a devotional in the morning to the team. As God's timing goes, Melissa Jornad was chosen for the last day and her words were perfect. She said that she used to struggle when she sent her daughter Lilly off to school but she just had to picture that God had Lilly cupped in His hands. She encouraged us to remember that as we leave these girls that we are not leaving them alone. God has each and every one of them cupped in His hands.

So you think you can't do missions? Just let the light of Christ's love in you shine outwardly in the love and care that you offer to others. How hard is that, really? The toughest sacrifice is to your calendar and your pocketbook, but I guarantee you that when you are done that sacrifice is NOTHING compared to what you will have gained.

::Becky Epps

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