Inconvenient truth

Have you heard of what is going on in Venezuela? Maybe you’ve seen an article headline or a quick news story on your TV screen, but are you actually aware of what the people of Venezuela are going through? 

According to an Aljazerra article,  “The Venezuelan people struggle to cope with the toxic effects of hyperinflation, severe debt and chronic food and medicine shortages, as Venezuela – once the wealthiest country in the region – is mired in the worst economic crisis in its history. 

‘Venezuelans today cannot eat. You see people eating from the garbage,’ says Professor Margarita Lopez Maya, Central University of Venezuela.” (http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/the-big-picture/2018/02/riches-rags-venezuela-economic-crisis-180211123942491.html) 

As the country heads towards a projected 13,000 percent inflation in 2018 it has become the most recent hurting people group that I’m casually aware of from my comfortable couch in Georgia. 

 

---

 Why am I writing about this? 

I started 2018 with 31 days in South America. I helped run a training camp in Colombia and traveled with my squad into Ecuador for a debrief. 

Months ago I sat at a desk in our Georgia office and mapped out the dates of travel and projected time. We were going to be travelling on Superbowl Sunday, but I set it up that we would travel during the day and get to Quito, Ecuador in time to find a restaurant or sports grill and watch the big game. 

What a cool bonding moment for the whole group. The plan seemed perfect. 

---

 Back to Venezuela. On Feb 4th we started our travel day at 6 AM and took our bus to the Colombia-Ecuador border. 

Our border crossing ended up taking 6 hours. 

The lines were full of people leaving Venezuela and hoping to start a new life in a neighboring country, mainly Peru. Hundreds of people dragging their life with them in a suitcase, and the infrastructure simply wasn’t made to handle that many people. 

As our movement slowed to a crawl I could sense the Superbowl viewing slipping away. I felt a mix of sadness, frustration and impatience in my heart. As I saw people cutting in line at points and the lack of order it only got worse. 

Then I got perspective….

I began to get out of my ‘bubble’ and talk to the people around me. Hear their stories, share food together and my heart slowly turned from an internal focus to breaking for what these people were journeying through. 

I spent the most time talking with Gabriel and Hungary, a son and mother who were on their way to Lima, Peru. We spent hours talking about life, memories and dreams. 

After we finally got stamped into Ecuador I asked to pray with them. As I hugged Gabriel we both held it for a bit longer than normal and had tears lingering in our eyes. I honestly wanted to cry so bad because I could feel in my heart the pain of their journey. 

Now, I could easily talk about the rest of the travel day.

– The challenge to find bus tickets with all the crowds.

– The missed Superbowl.

– The fact our hostel was past check-in so we had to sleep at the bus station and take the 2 AM bus to our final destination. 

– The 24 hours straight of travel. 

Yet, all of it suddenly seemed so small and insignificant. 

The inconvenience of my day suddenly seemed so small and insignificant. My heart broke that day for the people of Venezuela.

---

 Now that I’m back in the USA I don’t really have a great answer of what to do with the crisis. Is greater awareness enough? Can I commit to praying for Gabriel and Hungary? 

I don’t always know what to do, but in that day I was fortunate enough to tangibly love and encourage people who were hurting. 

My pride was put in check and my priorities got in line a bit more with what really mattered. 

So if you haven’t, take a few minutes to read about Venezuela and her people. Be aware. Pray. Give thanks for what you have in front of you and let the blessings of your life come into perspective.