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A Gateway of Hope

I have been reading some truly horrific things in the news here in El Salvador this week. A six year old girl was barbarically raped and murdered as part of a gang initiation rite. A police agent was brutally killed in front of his children. Meanwhile, the daily grind of violence pushes school attendance down and pulls the homicide rate up. I try to hide the paper from my children and swallow the physically ill feelings that this news brings.

It seems like there is nothing left to do in the face of such reckless evil than to simply despair, give up, and wave the white flag. We deeply love this country, and it feels like it’s falling down before my eyes. How can I tell people that they can get up? That there is a path through these troubles?

When I focus on the circumstances and the headlines, it is easy to despair. It becomes easy to doubt that God is really here at all. But I need only turn to His Word to remember that He is all about working in the darkness and in the trouble.

His Word overflows with images of restoration and growth in desert places, it is filled with pictures of love and cleansing redemption in dark lands. He calls people to Himself, and sets things right. He works in the dry dirt to bring forth green leaves and fruit.

Hosea 2:15 speaks of this very thing. The verse says these words:

I will return her vineyards to her
and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope.
She will give herself to me there,
as she did long ago when she was young,
when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt.

This passage is about God and His people. The “Valley of Trouble” is a translation of the Valley of Achor which was a real place that was synonymous with the suffering and pain that sin and evil causes in the world. That is what makes this so beautiful. God chooses the very place of evil and suffering to redeem the wreckage into a place of Hope, new life, and growth. This passage promises a fresh start to those He loves.

Only God can do this, and because He is working I need not despair. Evil does not have the last word, and the deep pain caused by sin is not where it all ends. Instead, it is the very place where God begins to move, to cultivate new life, and to bring hope where we  think there is none.

These horrific headlines show again how desperately our world needs this healing news. These reports stand as reminders that God is working in the most broken places, and I thank Him again that I can be a part of it.

Thank you God that are building a Gateway of Hope right here in El Salvador.

4 Responses to A Gateway of Hope

  1. Very well spoken. All of this that is going on just makes Barb and I want to be there even sooner to be part of that healing process. Know that we are praying for you everyday along with all of God’s servants in that beautiful country.

  2. My prayers are so deep right now for you and your family …my heart aches for such violence in that beautiful country. Stay encouraged and hopeful that our God is in control Of all that is happening. I pray for peace for you all.

  3. I never knew. I just never realized how bad it is. I think we live a very “sheltered” life in the US. Many prayers for your continued work in El Salvador. God’s Word helps us all to “bloom” where we are “planted” and you and your team have clearly been planted by God to work in El Salvador where the need is great! Mission work seems very daunting. I thank God for using you to answer His Call to reach out to those in need. Praying for the safety for the staff and volunteers and for the Holy Spirit to move in the hearts of God’s people to increase their faith in Him as they experience desperate times.

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