I Wish I Had Pictures

Today was a day that I never expected. I'm not sure how to even describe it because it came as such a shock. A good one I guess, I'm really not sure because I haven't had the time to really think about it. Maybe I'll figure it out as I write about it now...

Last night, Randy called me up and asked me if I wanted to attend his church this morning. Randy is a Youth for Christ missionary that I knew while in Bolivia, and he is back in Denver for a few week vacation before he heads back (many of you may recall the 180 bus trip I took with Randy over Christmas). Youth for Christ actually had about 5 short-timers work for them while I was there, and they are all from the Denver area and currently living here. I couldn't really hear Randy too well on the phone and all that he was saying (i understood he was going to share a little bit), but I got the name of the church and decided I would go visit it. Pretty typical behavior really, visit a bunch of churches when you first move to a place...

This morning I showed up maybe 15 minutes late to the service, and didn't have the time to find Randy and the other YFC missionaries so I just sat down somewhere in the middle. About 5 minutes later, I noticed 5 people up front with hooded sweatshirts and baseball caps under the pulled hoodies. My heart literally skipped a beat, and not because I was scared or anything like that. They looked exactly like how the shoe shiner guys dressed in La Paz. Spitting image. They even had the cloths that wrapped around their face, so that only their eyes could be seen. It took me back to Bolivia so quickly that I almost couldn't believe it. It was almost overwhelming. It made me want to be back in La Paz at that instant. Later they got up, and Randy shared about his ministry with the shoe shiners of La Paz. It was strange to probably be the only person in the congregation that knew exactly what he was talking about and who he was talking about and why he had chosen the things he was talking about. It made me miss a life that now feels so distant, yet at times like this morning so near. It made me think of a lot of my students. to name a few who might read this blog, dan, diego, matheo, jose manuel, juan manuel, pablo, berman, sarah, andy, horacio, iara, cecy, mia, oneide, alex, lucas, alex l., dulce, heber, juan felipe, jeremy, and the list goes on and on.

Everyone puts their time in this life at a different place, with different people. While todays images took me back to a different time, it reminded and challenged me to really live WITH the people that are around me. Not above them or on a different plane, but in the same place, with the same struggles and pains, and with the same dreams and hopes. It can really be done anywhere, even though days like today made me feel temporarily like my place is supposed to be in Bolivia.

There is a reason they were dressed as shoe shiners this morning, just as there is a reason as to why they shine shoes with these guys in the streets of La Paz. They did an excellent job of reminding me on a day I was not expecting to be reminded...