Monday, June 9, 2014

Breaking the Rules

"Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God."
-2 Corinthians 3:5

I stood awkwardly in a room with five other Potter's House staff members, unsure of what to do with myself.  Silvia, with whom I'd worked with almost exclusively my first two weeks in Guatemala, leaned over a collection of cup cakes and placed a candle in each one.  The five of us waited patiently for a few minutes when finally a young pair of eyes peered shyly into the doorway of the room before entering.  At once we all shouted "Feliz CumpleaƱos!!" and gave a great cheer.  Eight-year-old Andrea, Silvia's sponsor child through Potter's House, walked into the room with a meek smile on her face--until she saw Silvia.  She gave her a big hug and exclaimed, "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten it was my birthday!"



As I watched Andrea open her presents (matching umbrella, rain coat, and boots so Andrea can navigate the often rainy walk home in style), I couldn't help but focus on how tired Silvia was.  She had just finished two weeks straight of overtime work helping me find and furnish an apartment, open a bank account, purchase a phone plan and internet, arrange for transportation to work, find a church, and navigate the red tape foreigner's face when moving to the country.  She came to work early and left late.  And despite her exhaustion, she mustered the effort to arrange for something every child deserves--to be celebrated on her birthday.

A Normal Day at the Office


Silvia's effort is the essence of what it's like to work at Potter's House.  There's no such thing as a normal office job here.  The children we serve occupy the same building for lunch and school.  On any given day, there will be a vocational class for adults, a celebration service for the elderly, day camp for the kids, and so on.

Just next to my office there's a classroom of high school school students who have learned they can stop by my office any time to chat or discuss their communications-related projects.  My presence has allowed them the first lessons about cameras they've ever had.

My office.

Starting with a Vacation

It didn't sit well with me when I, upon arriving in Guatemala, learned that the first item on my schedule was an all expenses paid staff retreat to Guatemala's fanciest resort.  A donor had given a large gift with the special instructions that it be used to give the staff a break.  So instead of working with the people of the dump, I climbed onto a tour bus headed for rural Guatemala.

During the course of the retreat my attitude shifted upon reflecting how hard staff members, like Silvia, worked.  Providing spiritual and physical service to the people of the dump community is a most tiring labor of love.  They were due for some spiritual and physical restoration themselves!

So, strangely, my first video from my time in Guatemala is not about the dump.  It's a "thank you" video to the donors who made the retreat possible.  I managed to capture a marriage proposal at the end, you might want to check it out. :)




Back to the Dump


Life has returned to normal at Potter's House and I'm now working on bigger, better videos.  The focus of my work is again on the people of the dump community, where it's supposed to be.  But for a short while, it felt right to break the rules and focus on the staff.  It can be easily forgotten what significant rest and salary they give up in order to serve the poor.

Silvia returned to work too, as busy as ever.  But one part of her routine will not feel like work to her.  Every week, she leaves her office at lunchtime and walks down the stairs to visit Andrea, who receives a lunch and education through Potter's House.  She won't be alone--A few other staff members will be walking down to visit their sponsor children too.