Hope

Here is a post I wrote days ago while in Costa Rica.  Had trouble uploading pics, but here some finally are!  Hope you'll come this next Sunday, March 11 at 10:10 am to the Parish Hall to learn more about our trip and how you can be a part of Emmanuel's ongoing partnership with the community of Estrada in Costa Rica in the days to come.

Sometimes it is easier to pray.
Here, out of my comfort zone is one of those times.
Words come quickly.
I look at the trees and the skyline and am in awe of God's greatness and attention to every detail.
And then I walk into the some of the poorest parts here and I pray even harder.
I pray for the children and all who will walk upon this square piece of land that the Diocese owns in the Estrada community. I hear the airplanes overhead and know that pesticides will be sprayed from the planes onto the banana crops and that some of the people's homes are nearby.  God's children of all ages live here.
I wonder about their homes in this world that can be cruel and unfair.
With poverty everywhere, I wonder how anyone can live in such conditions as a beloved child of God.
And then their smiles come and I know that God is full of hope and love and that in the midst of such, God is clearly present.
They have been cautious at first and hesitant, yet curious to learn more about these newcomers to their land.  All rightfully so.  And in time, there is joy on their faces.  The team has brought God's love to them too in a million ways.
The children color and paint as if the crayons and paintbrushes are jewels.
I help paint the red door for the front of the church along with them and I imagine people walking past it in the days to come.
At times, do they hope for better?  Where is their hope?  They have dreams; they have wishes.  One child told me today she wanted to be a forensic doctor.  Hope is here in the midst.
And God nudges me and tells me that God is their only hope.  And that it is an honor to be here as a bearer of that.  If we don't come, who will?
And today, today is all God has given me.  And so I pray.
And I hold onto God's hope.
And I am thankful that words come easily.

Let our prayers rise up always, O God as incense before you.

Empower us to be your beloved children who are full of your extravagant generosity, hope, and love for all your children far and near.
May we always remember O God, that we are your Easter people.  Poverty, wrong and need are not the end.  We full of Hope to share with everyone.
Amen.

The Reverend Amy Huacani