0n Holy Ground, In This Dump Where True Love and True Worth Were Found

Aug 2
08:59

2011

Richard Grabowski

Richard Grabowski

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I have been in a pretty interesting place the last couple of weeks, well months really…o.k. almost 7 years now…but, I only want to share the last couple of weeks.

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What began almost 7 years ago from me as a call to God to reveal a purpose for my life has jettisoned Suzan and me on what has to be the most exciting,0n Holy Ground, In This Dump Where True Love and True Worth Were Found Articles well at least most interesting time of our life.  However; through all of the experiences we have had, something of special significance has happened, in one of the strangest places I know.  

Seven years ago when Suzan and I fasted and prayed for a purpose, we were serious in heart and mind.  We prayed for years for a revelation.  We read our Bibles seeking direction and studied current material offering direction and insight into discovering God’s purpose.  We took identity test, spiritual tests, sought guidance, took a mission trip, and visited almost 100 Christian business men and women all in an attempt to “see” what God had in store for us. 

And then we came upon that fateful day when our lives would change forever.  Through the mystery of the King of Kings our eyes were opened to the unimaginable number of people living without a shelter and felt the call to do something about it.  So our journey began: to understand, contribute into, and work at delivering shelters to those 1.4 billion people in need around the world.  Seven years later our minds are full of facts and figures about poverty, housing, and the impact of a home.  We know the importance of micro-business, green construction, conventional construction, sustainable communities, and so much more.  We have been to cool places like the UN, and Capital Hill, Switzerland, Mexico and Haiti.  We have experienced Gods provision as we poured every dime we had into doing the work we have been called to do.  We have overcome great heartache and physical travails…what a journey!  We also learned many of God’s truths during this time and I personally have seen my Bible become the living Word and have an intimate understanding of many of the figures in the bible and can relate to their experiences.

We also toiled through the years.  Day and night we have focused on one thing:  Sheltering God’s Creation.  And some pretty cool things have come of that.  Not the least of which is coming to know the unimaginable impact a shelter/house/home can have on peoples lives for generations.

But all this, in many ways, is the side story. 

none of these things could have prepared me for the most exciting and important day of my life to date.  

 You see, I was standing in a dump a few weeks ago.  The dump is literally the dump of the capital city of 1.1 million people. 

 I was with a dear friend as we were visiting with families who are in need of a house.  What was so evident was that everyone who lives in this place is in need of a house and our ability to make a selection was going to be limited to the first families we met.  Not exactly the best way to make a selection but it became painfully clear within several minutes that we could not talk to anyone else because we were not going to be able to fill the needs that everyone had. 

However; we chose to walk the streets of the community and really take in the almost incomprehensible sights.  The notion of what is considered “living” was so foreign, so oblique, so strange compared to anything I had experienced before. 

What I need you to know though is this:  I’ve seen poverty and destruction before.  Previously, I was in Haiti and visited with a pastor in Cite Soleil; which is generally regarded as one of the poorest and most dangerous areas of the Western Hemisphere.  So I have had experiences that compared equally in poverty to these on the dump, and in some ways were even more desperate because of the earthquake damage. 

But something very special happened on this dump.  I entered!

I entered into the homes of people whom I did not know and visited with them about their lives, their families, and their work.  I was in the kitchen and bedroom, and out houses of people who cared about their home as much as you and I.  This is their “place”…it has children, and parents and memories just like I do.  But this was no place any of us would call home, or vacation spot, not even a shed for the back yard, nor chicken coop, nor anything other then something to discard.  Yet this is their home. 

Deep in the recesses of though and feeling, something new was percolating up.    What was this new thing?   Oh so sweat was the presence of Christ amongst the pungent odors of this place.  And there in that dump, the stark reality that I “got it” beyond anything I had ever gotten before took hold. 

Holy Holy Holy Lord God almighty….on holy ground, in this dump where true love and true worth were found.

I knew once again a change in my life was taking place.  A change I felt before.  The kind where you recognize nothing can ever be the same.  One that is impossible to deny.  I know with unwavering certainty that our Lord speaks to us.  What he “spoke” to me this day was so full of grace and mercy, so full of his undeniable love I tear up even now, weeks later, as I write this down.   

On that day there was a reversal of order:  you see, seven years ago  I called to God for a purpose worth living for.  And he responded.  But today he has called out to me.  He has revealed the true nature of the work at hand.

u see, I am so blessed to have a purpose.  Something worth working for, something worth so much trouble and cost so much.  Sheltering people around the world is noble, and important.  It is honorable and satisfying.  It is more then I could ever have imagined doing.

But God gave me something much more important that day.  He made a way available for me to fall even deeper in love with Him.  And through that love He filled my heart with a love for people and those around the world in the same situation, and a love for this place and the places just like it.  But most importantly, he has opened my eyes wider to see more completely the True Shelterer.  He has made the desire of my heart to glorify Him and to shelter these souls with the knowledge of Christ so that they can receive the rooms which He has prepared in advance for them: and thereafter, secondly, to shelter the physical body.

 I am indeed a blessed man!

 Thanks for your time.  I hope you are encouraged in your own journey and know that the Hope of Christ is worth loosing everything for.  I am a former Marine and was willing to give my life for my country…now I am a son to Christ and am willing to lay down my life for the souls who are without the knowledge of the rooms our Lord has prepared for them because they have not heard.  And although I received honor through my duty to my country, I received Love from our Lord worth infinitely more than anything I have received before in my life   Be encouraged, press on…it’s worth it. 

 

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