Lent: Day Eleven

This is one of my favorite photos from our trip to El Salvador. Sarah used her limited Spanish to say hello to a few kids, ask them what their favorite color was, and suddenly she was surrounded by her new friends.

To paraphrase the movie, "Jerry McGuire," she had them at "Hola!"

They felt noticed, important even. Here was a beautiful woman from America, and she wanted to know what color was their favorite. What's more, she smiled and got excited when they answered. And when she didn't understand their words, she tried to clarify, to have them teach her a new word in their language.

We all want to be heard. We all want to be known. And when Living Water--or any other mission's agency, for that matter--goes into a country, it is a perfect chance to let people know that someone wants to know them, that someone hears them and cares about the big things like dirty water and the little things like pink being the color they love most.

The ultimate hope is that somehow us loving them will let them know that God loves them infinitely more. He knows the number of hairs on their head. He knows their name.

I fast so that more people around the world will be heard, known, and loved.