Drums for Christ
  • Home
  • Blogs
  • Engage
  • Newsletters
  • What We Do
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Media
  • Giving Tuesday
  • Christmas 2021
  • Link Page

Blog Posts

Who is your neighbor?

10/11/2012

 
Picture
We recently had an interesting experience that took me by surprise. 
We had been noticing the absence of an acquaintance of ours, a woman in
her early 40s. She was our only real connection to the owner of our house (her mother is the owner). We usually
saw her a couple of times a month, as her family still owns farm land around our house and she came to check on crops.  She always came to the back door and we talked.  But lately, we hadn’t seen her and it became noticeably odd since it is now time to replant the fields and she was not around. 
So we mentioned it to our neighbor. 

“Oh.  You didn’t know?  She is in prison.” 
Wow! That was a shocker!  Well, not really… we knew that she was in some sort of trouble because we had received warrants and court summons for her on several occasions since our house belongs to the family and is evidently listed as her legal address.  We passed these papers on to her when we would see her and she took them and laughed them off, so we weren’t too surprised that she was in trouble, but prison was an extreme we hadn’t considered!  We continued to talk to the neighbor (who is a cousin) and found out that she is in prison for HUMAN TRAFFICKING!  That was a shock, for sure!  But, small town gossip being what it is, we weren’t too ready to believe the first story down the pipeline.  However, a couple of weeks later, another family member showed up at our door to sell us tickets to a fundraising dinner to help the family pay for legal fees. The family member was truthful and told us that she was in prison for the same crime that we had heard about before. 

This really took me back a bit.  How do I feel about knowing that I have been sitting around chatting about life with a human trafficker?  I really wasn’t
sure how to feel about it.  I had some astonishment and some anger. 
I was surprised that we had been so naïve and hadn’t seen it, although
that isn’t something that just pops out in casual conversation.  I felt a little violated.  I was a little scared that I had been that involved with someone who had so little value for human life and I had allowed her to be close to me or to my daughter.  Frankly, the whole thing gave me the heebie-jeebies.

But why, exactly, does this bother me at all? I know for a fact that we have treated, ministered to, and prayed for terrorists and narco-traffickers in our medical campaigns.  I have personally translated for battered and abused women and children as they met with the doctor, only to have the husband/father/perpetrator show up later in the day for treatment. We minister to alcoholics and drug addicts.  We know, for a fact, that practicing witches have been in our ministry and bible studies and their children have attended our schools.  None of that gave me much alarm or caused me to think twice.  So why does this human trafficker get under my skin?

I really don’t have an answer.  I’m still trying to work this out in my own mind and my own heart.  I’m seeking God’s guidance on this one.  And I’m struggling with it.  I know that Jesus summed up the whole law in two statements - love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself. And then we have the teachings about ‘who is your neighbor’, which basically gets summed up into every human on this earth is your neighbor, and that all have sinned and
fallen short. So why is this so hard?

My good friend and missionary colleague, Louise Reimer, is working in the women’s prison here in Peru.  She enters the prison each week and holds Bible study and discipleship groups with women there.  Interestingly enough, the
human trafficker I’m writing about appeared in her class one day.  Just one day. She hasn’t been back since that one encounter.

I have so much esteem for my colleague. I’m so glad that God called her to that ministry!  In many ways, I feel that she is so much stronger than I am. 
I’m not sure that I could go into that situation each week. I think God calls each of us according to the gifts he has given us and I guess he knew that I wasn’t the one for a prison ministry, but Louise was.  She sees past their crimes and their issues and sees real people who need Christ and need a fresh start.  She doesn’t see murderers and drug dealers and human traffickers.  She sees people with names and families.  She sees a series of poor choices and bad decisions. And more than anything, she sees possibilities and hope for change and growth and a different future. I’m really proud of my friend and her ministry.  
 




Comments are closed.

    RSS Feed

    Laurie Drum

    In my USA life, I was a teacher in Texas for 15 years.  I was also a professional photographer, a soccer mom, a horsewoman, and the neighborhood hospitality queen.  I did "Joanna Gaines farmhouse style" before Chip and JoJo were even a thing - we restored an 1884 Victorian farmhouse in small town Texas and did shiplap walls until I thought I'd go crazy. I taught at NASA, scuba dived with astronauts in training, and studied animals at Sea World for educational purposes. I've tried just about everything, because I have an insatiable need to know if I can do it! Never underestimate a Texas girl in cowboy boots!

    ​In 2006, my husband Billy and I became cross-cultural workers (CCWs) with TMS Global.  For five years, we served in three rural Quechua Wanca villages in the Andes of Peru.  And when I say rural, I mean RURAL - like no potty!  I spent my days in Peru learning to live a Quechua lifestyle in a rustic adobe house - cooking Peruvian foods, sewing with Quechua women, raising my chickens and goats and pigs, and planting my gardens. Now I live my life in small town Spain, serving other cross-cultural workers via teaching and training and care, and helping displaced people to navigate their new reality in Europe.

    I'm passionate about fostering personal growth, growth in community, and growth in The Kingdom. Walking alongside others and helping them to use their unique design, their gifts and strengths and maximize their abilities to fulfill their God-given purpose - that's what makes my heart sing! 

    Archives

    November 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    January 2012

    Categories

    All

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Blogs
  • Engage
  • Newsletters
  • What We Do
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Media
  • Giving Tuesday
  • Christmas 2021
  • Link Page