Signs of Hope in The Lemonade

In Guatemala City we took our students to the largest slum of Central America, called La Limonada (literally, The Lemonade), sitting at the feet of two of the most amazing urban leaders in the city, Tita Evertsz and Pastor Erwin Shorty Luna.

Tita has 15 years experience serving La Limonada through specialized children's programs before and after school. She literally had to escort us into the slum due to its level of danger. The respect the community has for her was our protection. We descended down into a ravine via a path leading around slum shacks cobbled together by rusting corrugated tin, rotten wood and concrete, to one of two schools she has built. The ravine flowed with a river of garbage and sewage, but it could not overwhelm the river of hope that flows in this notorious slum.

Just the week prior Tita had received a death threat from gang members who wanted protection money. Yet even the threat served the kingdom because some young gang members she had been loving and serving, upon seeing how shaken Tita was, dropped to their knees in prayer for her, indignant that someone should threaten her. God allowed them to see the impact of such threats on someone they loved -- significant because some of them had demanded protection money of others. I know this is an overused phrase, but she is truly the Mother Teresa of Guatemala.

Shorty is one of Joel’s gang chaplains, who grew up a street kid on the streets of Guatemala City and then was a major gang member in L.A. A powerfully built man with a quick smile, he is now working hand in hand with Tita doing some church planting work in the heart of La Limonada. He is a mature Christian who flows with a deep knowledge of Scripture and a spirit of joy.

The whole community loves Shorty and Tita as they have built relationships through Tita’s schools, and Shorty’s fearless mentoring of violent youth.

Then we visited a shack where a severely retarded 16 year old girl lived like a hermit on a rotting mattress in a corner of a dark room. The shack was perched over the ravine. Her mother was overwhelmed, as well as trapped by an abusive husband, who was sexually abusing the three daughters. I felt like throwing him out the window into the ravine, but thankfully Tita is pursuing a wiser approach. During that visit we were able to get the ball rolling to get the girl to a care facility run by an associate. A God-ordained coincidence — a Dios-idence according to Tita — meant the colleague was just a five minute walk from the shack when we called him. He was able to join us right away and get the story. Tita began to ramp up her relationship with the Mom and look for a way out for her and the girls, which are few, given the abject poverty.

Shorty and Tita are signs of hope that the world needs to know about.

We also spent an afternoon and evening in the city of Peronia where a controversial pastor has garnered a peace accord between the two rival gangs in his community. He spent the entire day with us. We met former rival gang members that are now friends. Crime in the whole district has dropped a reported 74%. More hope.

The Scriptures say, "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God." (Ps 46:5). La Limonada (literally, The Lemonade -- leaves a sour taste) is becoming a city of God. Others see shacks wrapped in misery. Tita and Shorty said they feel that unless you can learn to see joy and beauty in the midst of pain sand suffering you will never last in this call of God. I needed to hear that and see it demonstrated. I see hope and fragrance of sweet lemonade.