San Benito Poite

So.....here is a quick summary of the last few weeks. 
San Benito Poite....
A few weeks ago we went on our first week of outreach. It was to a remote village out in the bush called San Bentio Poite (we all pronounces "poite" more like "pointe"). The trip that was suppose to take 5 hours to get there, ended up taking 12. Mostly due to flat tires, random stops, then getting lost in the dark in the middle of the jungle, then losing a spare tire out the back door in the dark in the middle of the jungle. None-the-less, we got there the next day after staying at a village along the way.
No running water or electricity and cement floors to sleep on. To make up for that though, there was a beautiful waterfall and a wonderful community that we all fell in love with. We worked mostly with the kids and the women. Despite going to bless them, they blessed us. There were many issues with this village culturally and spiritually....for example, women being second class. But they were welcoming and the kids were a blast to play with.
We were invited in to share their food, which there was little of, learn how to make corn tortillas; taste dried, raw cocoa bean for the first time; pet a wild baby jaguar and many other experiences. What outweighed them all was just falling in love with a beautiful people.
For me (Sarah), it was wonderful sitting with these little girls who were slapped by boys and considered nothing by most of their culture and to speak words of encouragement to them. Just basic words like "you are beautiful" or "you are so loved by Jesus" brought their faces up with huge smiles! Or even to be able to talk with a mother who never looked anyone full in the face or who started to cry when I prayed words of value and love over her. Leaving was bittersweet. I felt so blessed, and full. Full to overflowing.
With all that came a weight. A weight heavy on my heart. That these people need love so desperately. These women and girls need to be shown love and their worth and value in Christ. These men need to be shown how to value all human life.
These are the kind of people I want to go to. Not the people who have got it figured out. But the people who need to simply be loved by an amazing Father. Who need healing emotionally and spiritually. How often do I let myself and my pride get in the way of speaking out a few words or love or encouragement when He tells me to?
My prayer is that I stop getting in the way. That I will live and speak the love that so many people need.

That was a bit of Poite for me.