One question we often get when we talk to potential supporters is: "Does Hungry for Life only feed people?"
Honestly, it's a perfectly understandable question. We usually chuckle and proceed to explain in depth the enormous capacity in which Hungry for Life Partners with ministries across the world to reach those in need - not just with physical needs being met, but in telling them about the Gospel: That Christ died for them in their darkest hour so that they might have life eternally with him, based on nothing they did for him, but only out of his grace.
I was trying to think of a way to adequately write about what Hungry for Life does without being boring, so I decided that the best way was to simply tell you the stories that I know and have experienced from working with this organization.
I am going to start with one from Guatemala.
Hungry for Life has a partnership with a church in Guatemala called Iglesia Galilea. This church has, for over a decade, been building houses, new cook stoves, churches and schools for their community in Guatemala. Hungry for Life has partnered with them to get them more resources and teams to travel down there to make more of this possible.
Zak's first trip with HFL in 2012 was with this field partner. When he got back, we immediately discussed what it would look like for me to join him the next time it was possible. In 2013, we had that opportunity.
We worked on a lot of projects while we were there, but there is one that always sticks out in my mind. It is of a family in a village called Zapote. You wouldn't know there were over 4,000 residents in this village because of the overgrowth of jungle and the 10 mile dirt road leading up to the village that is more primitive than even the seasonal roads in northern Michigan where I grew up.
For two days, we drove down that dirt road piled into a van, crossing rivers and praying the rain would hold off long enough for us to do the work we had come to do.
The work we were doing was rebuilding a house for a family - A grandmother, a mother and two children. There was no husband or father that we met - which meant he was most likely gone for good or he worked in town most days of the week and didn't have time or money to travel back and forth each day down the ten mile road to see his family until the weekend.
Our job was to tear down this family's original dilapidated structure of a house and in it's place, build one that was more structurally sound. Their original house had holes everywhere. Inside there was a corner full of dirt and bug-covered clutter that represented all of their possessions. There was a mattress set in the middle of the dirt floor with a couple ratty blankets on it.
The women watched in silence as we began to clear all their belongings out of their house and take apart the roof and then the walls. While one of the workers was taking boards down, a snake fell from the roof and brushed his shoulder as it slithered to the ground. They killed it and then later when they told the mother about it, she cried with joy. The snake was a Jumping Viper and had crawled into their house over a year ago. They turned their house upside down trying to find it without success, which meant that they just lived in fear and didn't sleep when it rained for fear that the snake would climb into bed with them.
The children of the village came to us for "dulces" (candy) and to take pictures with our phones and teach us words in Spanish. The neighbors watched the "gringos" as we worked and often asked questions about what we were doing. I always thought it was the greatest thing was when the pastor of the church in Zapote could answer them by telling them it was a gift, just like salvation. They hadn't done anything to earn it and there was nothing that was required to pay back for the gift. It was simply a gift.
When we finished the house, Zak and I were asked to give the women the key to their new house. It was so much less than what we wanted to give them - just a glorified shack with two by four's holding it up and sheets of laminate metal for siding. There was no fancy welcome sign, no white picket fence, no security system. Just a padlock with a chain around a plywood door. But even that small thing - something that only costs a couple hundred U.S. dollars - was more than they could have ever hoped for in this life. And we were granted the opportunity to hand them the key to their new house.
Zak was choking back tears as they gave us each a hug. Afterwards, he told me that he was so overwhelmed with their gratitude and their poverty. Without Christ, this family had absolutely nothing to live for. No reward in this life or the next. No weekends. No vacations. Just the prayer that illness wouldn't fall upon them and take their lives or the lives of their children.
So maybe I wish I could have given them something more material...but the hope of Christ, as immaterial as it may be, is so much more valuable to them than anything we could ever build.
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This is just one of many stories I hope to share about what God is doing through Hungry for Life. If you are interested in partnering with us prayerfully or financially, please contact Zak at zak.harris@hlfusa.org or go to our Support Website: zakharris.org. Thank you all and be blessed!
