Spiritual Light

Written Saturday, March 16.

"Voy a trabajar en el basurero."

Translation: "I'm going to work in the dump."  In Guatemala City, when you refer to "The Dump," everyone knows exactly which community you are referring to.

So I understood the look of surprise on the face of the friendly Guatemalan woman sitting next to me on the airplane when I told her where I was going.  Very proud of her country, my new friend was quick to remind me that Guatemala had many bright spots.  "Ten cuidado," she said.  Be careful.

I'm expecting to find many bright spots in the dump.  Many in that community, through the discipleship of The Potters House, have come to believe that God's presence does in fact exist in the dump and that He wants a relationship with them.  I can't wait to meet these people and hear their stories of rescue and transformation.

The only outlet available nearby was in the bathroom.  No one was around so...I wrote this blog in a bathroom.

Video cameras, by function, capture light.  But once the light is captured, few people put the film (or memory card) away and never look at it.  Most want to look at the images produced and show them to others.  Similarly, Matthew 5:14-15 says, "You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand and it gives light to all the house.

I love the imagery that "a city on a hill cannot be hidden."  It won't be hard to identify the believers in the dump community.  Their light will shine, as on a hill.  And this light has power.  Martin Luther King once said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that."

Just before I left for Guatemala, Ian Cameron advised me to "See the light through the darkness."  Some of the most beautiful shots in cinematography occur when a small amount of light breaks through a mostly darkness-filled shot.  Think, for example, of the beauty of stars in the night sky.  But even more powerful is when spiritual light, which can be seen in the lives of believers, is captured.  I want to capture this kind of light, and broadcast it for everyone to see.

For anyone interested, here's the website of The Potters House: http://www.pottershouse.org.gt/
And enjoy the two videos below.  The first is of me giving a tour of Seteca, where I'm staying.  The second is a music video to shots I took from the airplane to Guatemala.

-Joe

If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to my upcoming trip my work in Guatemala, please see the instructions at the bottom of this blog.