I have told you of our trip to Guatemala and the experience we had with the McDonalds motorcycle… Well, while we were there, towards the end of the week, we were able to visit a nearby city called Antigua (An-teeg-wa). This city was nestled in the foothills of a mountain which looked like one of those cities you see in Clint Eastwood’s movie “A Fist full of Dollars”. The only difference is they did have doors and cobble stone roads.
While there, we basked in the beauty of the country side with its active volcano in the background along with its rich culture of “Chicken Busses” running everywhere. On the edge of the city was a Mall. Yes, you shopaholics, it was a buyers paradise. But for the locals it was their livelihood as well as a market place where they got their food and goods needed to survive. And if your curiosity is up, yes, there was also the black market… We could have, and I stress “could have”, purchased the movie “The Passion of the Christ” for $10.00 American, and this was before it hit the movie theaters in the US.
Our oldest son, Jeremy, saw a stand with Nike tennis shoes for sale. They were $150.00 shoes selling for about $20.00. Jeremy thought he found the ultimate sale but quickly found out that unless your shoe size is 9 small or smaller the sale did you no good. You see, the folks in Guatemala have small feet…J
Well, as we strolled down the aisles of goods for sale, one thing became very apparent. These people will stop at nothing to sell you something. If you see something you like, or don’t like, and it is priced at $70.00 American, this price will drop to $5.00 before you can get away from them. Sometimes these folks will follow you for three aisles trying to get you to buy an item that you may have looked at for more than 30 seconds.
If you asked me, 'what one thing stood out the most about these people?' I would have to say that they are a lost people. Their entire lives are solely focused on making money. The culture there is very poor and I am sure that if they don’t sell something they may not eat that day.
There is no sense of God or that He exists in any of the lives of the people. There is a great need for the gospel to be preached to people such as these, whether here or abroad. Matthew 18:10-11 says, “Take head that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angles always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. 11) For the Son of Man has come to save that which is lost.”
As we live in our own little world, do we take God for granted? Do we take our lives for granted as we live in good homes and have food on the table? Remember, just because we may be Christian doesn’t mean that our job is done…
“The Greatest Adventure in Life is seen through the Love of Christ”
Bro John 501-262-0015
