Wednesday

Wednesday, March 20.

Today is our day off. We will have our fifth day of clinic on Saturday instead.

Having slept in, we load the bus for a tourist adventure. We are going into the mountains today to a park and a town.

I look out my window to see a rolicking teenage brother with his two young sisters playing tag on the narrow upward street. Mama smiling in the nearby doorway.

Driving slowly down a hilly street we pause. I find myself on level with a Mama flipping tortillas in her kitchen. I see her through my tinted window though she is cannot see me. There is something sacred about the sight; something of the divine as I catch a glimpse of her mother’s heart.

As we leave the city, I see a sign in Spanish that I can read. It says Jesus is the only exit. It makes me smile.

I sit next to Eva and we chat all the way up the mountain. She tells me her name means Warrior, Child of the Champion. It is the perfect name for one such as she, whose job it is to fight for the children. She does so with courage and grace and humor.

Picacho de Noche park is our first stop. It is on Silver Mountain and features a giant statue of Jesus at his Ascension. In the 1800’s, this area was rich in gold and silver mines. This mountain in particular is riddled with abandoned Silver mines, hence its name.

It is a haven of natural beauty with Jesus as it’s focal point. He watches over the city with hands outstretched. As I stand behind Him, it is a picture of Deuteronomy 31:8- “the Lord is the One Who goes ahead of you. He will not take away his help from you or give you up, so have no fear”.

The team comes together under the trees to talk about our week. There have been some heavy issues. What a perfect place to gather and encourage each other to bring those issues to God. His statue reminding us that He has gone ahead of us so we do not need to fear.

There is a boulder at the foot of Jesus that holds a plaque of Luke 24:50-51:“…And He lifted up his hands and blessed them.” And so He does, again, today.

We stop at a ‘mini zoo’ for lunch. It features two of the country’s national icons: the national animal, the white tailed deer and the national bird, the scarlet macaw. There is also a tapir, a javelina/warthoggish dude, bunnies, ponies and some very talkative sheep. We find a lovely respite among the trees and flowers.

The afternoon is spent shopping in a quaint town of shop lined streets. It is good to decompress and simply be with each other.