How Guatemala Welcomed Me

I’m in Guatemala (that sentence is for my benefit, I’ve been marveling at the fact that I am in Guatemala all day).

We flew in to Guatemala City Thursday evening, our plane touched down a little after 7 pm.

A little after “a little after 7 pm”, Mount Pacaya (one of Guatemala’s three active volcanoes) erupted.

Pacaya is 18 miles south of Guatemala City. The eruption threw a large amount of ash into the air and it began raining (along with the actual rain of that evening) down on the city.

We walked out of the airport to black volcano ash falling from the sky.

This isn’t what I’ve seen but apparently this is how Guatemala welcomed me:

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I’m in Guatemala working with Potter’s House Association (Casa del Alfarero) to figure out how to take their ministry to the over 10,000 scavengers that live off of the Guatemala City garbage dump to the next level.

Originally we were planning on spending two days experiencing the ministry, connecting with the people of this community, and working through some of the initial steps of the project.

For the most part, we’ve done that. But the experience has definitely changed because of the volcano.

First, the ash.

From last night’s eruption, there was enough ash to blanket the city. We awoke the morning to the whole city beginning to sweep and scoop up the gritty soot. We had a conversation about whether any of us have experienced something like this before. The closest I’ve ever come is being in downtown Manhattan on September 11th. But this isn’t really like that. For me, this isn’t that alarming. As I’ve thought about that I think the reason is that I’ve never been here. I don’t know what normal is. This conclusion caused a momentary crisis of conscious (“Am I really comfortable with my image of this city being so dirty?!?!”), but I got over it pretty quickly for two reasons: 1. Yes, I’m comfortable with the assumption that this city would be this dirty because I came here to visit a garbage dump that is notorious worldwide. 2. The ash is indicative of the fact that THIS SITUATION IS NOT OKAY. At the core of Potter’s House’s message is that the situation in the dump is NOT ACCEPTABLE. The volcanic ash doesn’t make this more NOT ACCEPTABLE, none of this is what God intended.

Second, the city’s response.

In response to the volcano, the mayor declared a state of calamity for 15 days. Schools have been shut down. Government services have been re-focused on clean-up efforts. Access to the dump has been severely restricted. As a result, the normal pulse of the city and the dump is different (so I’ve been told). We went down to the dump and there was practically no activity (not what you would expect if up to 1 million pounds of trash get recycled per day). It’s interesting to think about how such a massive clean up is mobilized and the effect that ripples through the rest of the city (schools are closed so parents have to stay home so they don’t earn money today).

Third, travel.

The ash from the volcano quickly covered the runways at La Aurora International airport. Shortly after we landed Thursday night they closed the airport. We were the last plane to land. As of Thursday night, all flights for Friday and Saturday were canceled (we were supposed to fly out at 6:55 am on Sunday). I say “supposed” to because now Sunday flights have been canceled.

Our hosts graciously spent many hours trying to figure out how to get us home. The succeeded (and if you’re reading this, THANK YOU! My family thanks you too.)

So tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon, I board a bus to El Salvador and spend the night there. Sunday early afternoon, I get on  a plane and fly to Miami. and spend the night there. Monday early morning, I get on a different plane and fly to Chicago, spend a few hours there and the get on another plane to Grand Rapids. I’ll end up spending roughly the same amount of time getting home that I’ll have spent in Guatemala (thank you very much, Pacaya).

But.

But the trip, the experience, and the work have exceeded expectations and it’s only been one day. I have so much I could say about it. The passion of Potter’s House is becoming my passion and you can expect to hear so much more about the amazing things they’re doing here and the amazing ways that they’re doing it. The volcano hasn’t done anything but become an interesting anecdote.

Let me leave you with the words of Edgar Guitz, the Executive Director, describing what his experience has been with the things this ministry has achieved in this 24 years of work in the dump.

It feels like we are running through the jungle following Christ. We have no idea where he’s taking us. Maybe he says ‘Go this way.’ and we can’t see where it leads. He says, “Rest here for awhile.’ and we look around and don’t understand why would would stop in this place. He is taking us on this amazing journey but we seldom can see two feet in front of our face. But we are running.