A Positive Perspective

Life is always about perspective. We can try to find the meaning of life, happiness, and every good thing, but in the end it always revolves around perspective. We realized just how important perspective can be shortly after arriving here in Mizque, Bolivia. As we were sitting outside eating dinner one night Lisa said to me, “This spot is very romantic.” At that point the reality of Lisa’s comment hit us and we began to laugh. What struck us as comical was the ironic placement of such a comment. We were sitting at a concrete slab located under a tree surrounded by garbage left by the previous renters. There were dirty diapers, chicken parts and feathers, pop bottles, broken wine glasses, knives, rakes and of course several miscellaneous bicycle pieces. Not 20 feet away from our romantic spot sat our only bathroom and shower located 50 ft. away from our home.



On top of all the garbage outside, we remembered the complete disaster on the inside. When we would open a door a few dozen cockroaches would crawl out. Then if we tapped the table in the kitchen, more than fifty cockroaches would fall onto the floor. We had spent the first three days killing and cleaning up thousands of cockroaches and mosquitoes (no exaggeration) as well as paint every soiled wall in our new home. Lisa had amazingly managed to forget her immediate surroundings and think of the potential one spot might have in the future.

A good perspective, like Lisa had, requires an attitude of seeing the possibilities and understanding how to achieve them. Two weeks after moving into our home we had painted the walls, cleaned the yard, and made it feel like home. We still average a dozen cockroaches a day, but these serve as a great distractions for our new puppy. If you were to ask one of us today about the home, we can tell you that God has blessed us with a beautiful place that He is going to use for His purposes. Reality is, without a positive perspective prior to the house being clean, the end result wouldn’t be what it is today.

This principal has Biblical implications. As it says in Romans 5:8 “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” While we were still bathed in sin and filth in His eyes, Christ came and died because He knew what the end result would be. As we look at the issues that are rampant in our village here, we realize this same perspective is the only way we will make it here in Mizque. One neighbor is a physically abusive alcoholic who we often hear screaming at his wife and three kids (mud walls do not stop much). Another neighbor is a doctor who calls upon spirits for healing and across the street is a shrine to the local idol, Senor de Burgos. God has a lot of cleaning up to do in Mizque, and we are thrilled He has called both you in prayer and us through being here to roll up our sleeves and believe.