Sometimes I think I’m living in a symphony. Since I play guitar I’ll go ahead and call myself the guitarist, and I’ll call the violinist Marta (you’ll see why in a minute). On our own we’re nothing extravagant. We play our pieces independently, unaware the other exists and the masterpiece that could be made if blended together.

 

Let me tell you a story:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like to think of God as the conductor of our lives, an orchestrator of sorts, weaving people and places together to achieve his purpose, his symphony. Marta ignited passion in the volunteers, showing us that the heart of life can’t be found in a department store or a large bank account. We gave Marta an opportunity to have a new life– a life where she could sleep in a bed and be able to feed her family.

 

Picture God as the conductor of your life, and imagine yourself as an instrument in his symphony.  There are millions of instruments out there just waiting to be turned into a masterpiece.

 

 

Taylor

Marta had a fierce but burdensome look in her eyes that can only come from a life rooted in hardship and pain. If you look long enough though, you’ll see an ember of hope. Check out the picture below and you’ll see what I mean.

 

Marta, a mother of seven, made about 20 limpera ($1) a week washing her sister’s clothes. Her rusted shack, slanted on the dusty ground from years of storms, contained a plank of wood to sleep on along with the bare essentials in order for her and her seven children to survive. As we were working on our sunburns and talking with Marta outside her shack, her oldest child came home blackened from head to toe after a hard day of work harvesting sugar cane. There are moments in life when a person is overcome by an indescribably strong yearning to help someone regardless of what it takes to do so– this was one of those moments.

Our group asked Marta about her passions and things she likes to do for fun. Marta had the hardest time answering a question that a middle school kid could write a book about because the concept of “fun” didn’t exist. Her answer was simple and humble: I like to wash clothes. That one sentence ignited us. We asked Marta what she thought about starting her own clothing business where she could sell clothes to community members and wash the clothes they already had. In an instant that hopeful ember in her eyes replaced the burdened look she once had.

 

That night at our compound, our small team of 6 reached out to every volunteer asking for clothing donations in order to start Marta’s business. People were literally giving the clothes off their back for this woman. 12 hours later we had over 150 donations of shoes, shirts, pants, etc–which were then handed over to the community bank to help Marta create a sustainable business to support her family. Months later, we learned that Marta’s business was thriving and that she has a new roof and a mattress for her home.

About two years ago I was on a service trip with a group of students establishing a bank in a mountainous community of Honduras called Pajarillos. This bank, which was run by community members, was a place where locals could take out loans for their businesses and start savings accounts. During our time there, our team split up into small groups to meet with local families and encourage them to set up savings accounts and/or take out a loan for their business. Little did I know that amidst the encouraging and constructive conversations, I was about to meet the poorest woman I have ever encountered, Marta.