reparando

For the past 17 years I’ve been traveling all over the world on short-term mission trips. I’ve had the privilege of leading literally hundreds of people on trips exposing them to what God is doing, and can do through them, around the globe. Last week was a dream come true for me. I was able to take my wife and two oldest girls (ages 6 & 7) on our first “family mission trip” to Guatemala. Serving with the Radford family, some friends of ours who are missionaries, at an orphanage that they work at was an incredible experience for my family. But surprisingly what captured my attention and has my heart still stirring was a movie that Lee and Angel showed Lisa and I one evening after the girls were in bed.

The name of the film is “Reparando” and, it was produced and directed by Scott Moore. The story that it tells has breathed fresh hope into me. As a result of being on short term mission trips around the world I’ve grown accustomed to seeing the fruit of what North American missionaries have done over the past 50 years. Exporting our own Western Culture and version of Jesus, creating a sense of dependency, entitlement, and reinforcing a poverty mindset. As a result I’ve seen the Gospel stifled as I’ve sat across the table from Africans who tell me they want me to build them a building so they can have a church. Forgetting that they are the Church, and the power of the Gospel, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is alive in them! In ‘Reparando’ it was so incredibly refreshing to see the story of the Gospel taking root in the lives of Guatemalans and then in turn watching God work through nationals, not the great white hope from America, to change their country. Scott had this to say about the film:

“In 2006, my wife and I visited Guatemala to meet our adopted son for the first time. We were amazed by the contrast between the beauty of the land and the unbelievable hardships of the people.” 

“I wanted to tell a story in hopes that other people can be placed in the same place I was when I was there. Not just the issues and problems, but the fact that God is responding through Guatemalans.” Scott Moore Producer/Director

The following is a bit of a backdrop on the film. Click on the trailer below or go to this link to learn more and get your own copy of the film.

On the morning of June 18. 1954, the US CIA dropped leaflets in Guatemala City demanding the resignation of the president. Guatemala was ravaged by Civil War for the next 36 years. But hope is rising. In the midst of incredible odds, victims have been transformed into champions who willfully embrace the pain of their past to help repair the next generation. This is their story. Shorty – a former gang member who is now a pastor, and Tita – a woman who started a school in Guatemala’s most notorious slum have joined forces to repair La Limonada.