Sughey draws us pictures. There are hills. Always hills.
She draws houses, colorful and whole. Cats with sombreros, rainbows and daisies.
And there is grass. Green grass with apple trees in the foreground and roses on the ground. If we’re lucky, she’ll draw herself into the picture with a dress, pink or red, and her long black hair.
Before we came to Peru I knew she was in poverty. I knew that she had to be in order to be recommended for the Compassion program but I even said last week to someone in explanation about our trip that I thought it might not be “that bad.”
I truly said that.
I actually thought that Sughey’s family’s situation might not be “that bad.” Sure they were in need perhaps, but Peru has a public school system. Kids receive meals and help at the Compassion center during the week. They have tutors. It can’t be “that bad.”
Plus there were her pictures. They were beautiful and joyful and I could almost hear the contentment shout at me through the page.
Unmistaken joy and certain hope. I knew it.
In my mind I pictured her living near grass and trees and streams.
In my mind I saw cloudy mornings and rainy afternoons.
In my mind I thought it couldn’t be that bad.
We walked through her town today. It’s still a part of Lima but it sits right up against those hills that were now familiar to me from her pictures.
Nothing green. No trees (except for a few cacti) and not a rose in sight. In fact, this area of Peru gets almost no precipitation at all and the hills have been as dry as a bone forever.
Yet Sughey smiles.
What I had seen in her pictures wasn’t a real representation of where she actually lived. Because I walked her streets and I stepped into her home. There were no flowers and no apple trees. Her home was bare with dirt floors and no door. It was, in fact, “that bad.”
What I had seen was her hope.
It was hope that shouted through the page. Hope that drew daisies and cats. Hope that colored in rainbows in a rain-less sky.
God let me watch hope in a hopeless place today in the form of a little girl who will not and cannot give up dreaming.
Have you seen HOPE lately?
To sponsor a child in Peru with Compassion International, click here.
To learn more about Compassion click here.
hello, Jesus!
ONLY HE…would have even thot of putting that kind of hope in a little girl’s heart…
ONLY HE…could have even figured out how to do it…
ONLY HE…could have done that in so many millions of “little hearts” all over the world!…
WOW…only HE!
amazing!
dad
“That bad” makes you see how good He is — and want to share the hope of Him everywhere.
Love to you, friend.
So much.
Love this post! Found you from your post on the Compassion Facebook page. What a blessing that you were able to visit your Compassion child. I am prayerfully hoping that one day, my family will have a chance to visit one of our Compassion kids. Until then, we will continue to pray for them and their families and faithfully write to them.
i am thrilled for you, that you got to meet your girl. i think of our own girl and boy and the letters and photos they send us. our girl asks, “when are you coming to see me?” oh! i hope.
i too think it must not be “that bad,” but then i think how far can $38 a month go? farther than i know. and i know the prayers that accompany that $38 goes to the heart of Father God, Who knows her, knows him. He will rescue, He will redeem, He will provide, He will lead in truth, He will lavish love. He will, for that is His way.
God Speed in your travels and in your spirit on your adventure.
It is amazing how children in poverty can teach us.
I see how many children in the US are not content. How they want more toys, more stuff. How their joy is so hard to see sometimes. And yet, children with less, children with MUCH LESS, have a more tangible appreciation for life.
I pray that you will see that even more as you go through your trip. That your eyes, heart, and hands would be open to what God wants to do in and through you- while you are there, and after you come home.
Thank you for your honest and beautiful post.
Wow Sarah, this was beautiful. What an incredible opportunity you had.
Blessings,
Christina
Thank you, Sarah, for letting us know that it is that bad . .. but that He gives them hope. God bless you and all He is doing through you being there.
Sarah, we showed your girls your “Sughey pictures” this morning…
they are amazing “little hearts” too…you know that well!
your Hope read the article…she wouldn’t let me scroll past the pictures until she could read the words…
“how sad,” she said as she finished…
then, as we talked, she began to see how powerful her own name is…how the heart can see things that are not true yet…in REAL hope!
Jesus makes AMAZING little hearts!
love,
dad
just beautiful. This blog entry, as well as your dad’s posts!
So very beautiful! So very encouraging! I was almost in tears in your last post about your tears. I can only imagine the feelings and thoughts you were having.
Welcome to Peru! I’m enjoying your blog posts and your experience.
My husband and I are long term missionaries here. We adore the people we live in community with every day. I found your site through a tweet by Chad about worship in the street, that was retweeted by Paul Baloche
LOVE IT!
Looking forward to reading more!
Amanda
I love that Chad is wearing an NPR t-shirt.
That it really was THAT bad is one of the things that I cannot shake, too. But even more so, how so many have found joy in the Lord and hope in their situations. So humbling.
right i know! isn’t that cool? (npr)
and yes, i agree with you. there is so much joy in places like these.
[...] Have You Seen Hope? @ The Best Days Of My Life – A child’s propensity toward hope is so beautiful. This will bring tears… [...]
Sarah,
After reading your blog this week, the Lord really put it in my heart to learn more about Compassion International.I really prayed about this, and now have a 7 year old little girl to pray for, and write to. I am so excited to be able to bless this child. Thank you, Sarah, the lord is really using you!
Thank you Beverly! I’m so happy for you and the 7 year old little girl. I’m sure you will find the blessings mutual =)
[...] day by day, as I watched hope spring new in the middle of outward hopelessness and I saw children lead in grace and kindness, I also watched the weak things of this world [...]