Note – This was written in 2008 and originally published in the Monticello News.
“The breaking makes a sound I never thought could be so beautiful and loud, fury filled
and we collide.”
I was listening to David Crowder on my ipod as Hector drove the van up and through the mountains as we left Panajachel on our return trip to Guatemala City. I actually thought the lyrics were “the heart breaking makes a sound…” and it really got me because after having spent five days in Pana and seeing God’s people at work, my heart was broken…but in a good way. When our hearts break for what breaks God’s heart, it’s beautiful…because that’s when we move. So much of our journey with God can feel like a collision of things that shouldn’t go together. To see the extreme poverty in the village of Concepcion, yet to feel the joy and gratitude of the family who was getting a new house. To see the hardened faces and hearts of people who are so worldly, yet to feel the love and acceptance they receive upon entering Solomon’s Porch. “When our depravity meets His divinity it is a beautiful collision.”
Solomon’s Porch is a fascinating ministry and it’s a place of collision. The love of God
collides with the world. Fixed ideas about evangelism and how to “do church” collide
with the reality of broken lives. And in the middle of it all, the Porch de Salomon staff
love the people who come there. I had never been on a mission trip before Pana and
really didn’t have any expectations. But it may be that the mission experience at Porch
de Salomon collides with traditional expectations. There is no question that basic needs
are met through the work of the ministry; housing, food, clothing and education. Our
team worked to complete the floor of Domingo’s house. We also brought suitcases
stuffed with clothing and medicine which will be used to help the local people.
For me though, it is the ministry of the coffee house that is compelling. I met people
there who have had their lives transformed by the amazing love of Christ. But those
same people may not have been open to the Gospel had they been approached through
traditional means. They simply were loved and accepted when they came to the Porch
and because of that, they listened and heard the Good News. Who would have
imagined that a place where you can listen to “Sweet Home Alabama” played by the
house band while sipping a drink could be just the environment to change lives for the
glory of God. But I saw it and it is a beautiful collision.
Whatever is 