by: Randy Phillips | Sr. Director of Church Partnerships
A noisy restaurant, a meal, laughter. This seemed an ordinary moment, yet it was drenched with the extraordinary. A meek and humble couple from the “red zone”—a poor area with exceptionally high crime rate in Guatemala City—was having a meal with their new friends from the United States. This was a partnership trip between two churches. Two churches walking together, both very different, yet with a common vision to care for those most in need: the orphan and vulnerable family. The meal carried on, as did the stories. A petite, soft-spoken woman, the wife of a humble and kind pastor, started to share her story. The meal faded as her story gripped the hearts of those at the table.
God does great things through ordinary people in ordinary places. Her story was loaded with prayers of faith answered from places of desperation. She told of a desperate mother praying to a god in that moment unfamiliar, yet believing for the healing of her newborn daughter. God answered. A daughter was healed and a mother’s heart was transformed. This miraculous moment birthed a passion in this humble couple to serve Jesus and those in need in their community. My own faith was being stretched as I listened.
I took a bite of bread and looked around the table. This ordinary place, meal, and conversation was becoming something more, something holy. These moments are common as we learn from and serve the church in hard places. One value of church partnership at World Orphans is learning over teaching. This value focuses our attention on relationships, asking open-ended questions, and learning from our international partners. This meal and the heart posture of this visiting US church was an open invitation to see and understand another’s reality, including joys and celebrations as well as sorrows and struggles.
Another desperation story was shared. As this little church was being birthed, funds were needed to create a space in front of their home for people to meet. Striving to put food on the table any given day made this desire seem impossible. Prayers went up for God to meet the need. A few days went by and the phone rang—a bank calling to share there was money in an account and available for withdrawal. The significance of this call was this bank was one where they did not have an account. In faith, and maybe out of curiosity, this couple traveled to the bank and walked in and met with the teller. The teller asked how much money was in the account. I learned this is a common question to verify account ownership. The number spoken to the teller was the specific number prayed for just days earlier. The number in the account was the same. God had provided for them through an anonymous donor.
A bank with money you didn’t earn in an account that you didn’t have. The gospel was on full display here, and we were seeing it in a new way. Jesus forgives and gives grace without limit from an account we never had with currency we could never earn. All of us at this table were learning from another’s faith and self-sacrifice for those in their community. Each story had a rhythm of sorrow to joy, of lack then provision. A cry out to God, answered in miraculous ways. Through people, for people, especially those most vulnerable, those in hard places.
This ordinary meal at a restaurant offered two churches a way to learn from one another, to see faith anew, to encourage one another and be inspired. This meal reaffirmed the gospel as good news for ordinary people in ordinary places. This meal also reaffirmed when we open ourselves to another and ask open ended questions, we may just “taste and see that the Lord is good,” and experience the gospel in a new way. (Psalm 34:8a NIV)
This article was originally published in the World Orphans Spring Insight Magazine 2023.