Is “It” in You?

“Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given you through prophecy when the elders laid their hands on you.” — 1 Timothy 4:14

This week at Árbol de Vida Training Center (aka Gringo Ranch) has been FULL—full of people, learning, laughter, hard work, and most importantly, gifts being discovered and shared. 

We welcomed 17 Community Health Promoters, a visiting nursing educator/Deaconess/my friend (Ronda), a returning mission team member (Marian),

and a whole lot of energy and enthusiasm from Ivonne, Panchita and Estela who led the course. We explored safe water, sanitation, hygiene, and healthy living.

We built an eco-sustainable dry composting toilet, celebrated the official debut of our Hope on Wheels trailer, and put our training to work during a dental hygiene workshop in a local village with children.

First, let’s talk about Blanca. For more than three years, Blanca has served as a Community Health Promoter in Tlancualpican, helping hundreds of people learn about dental hygiene, blood pressure monitoring, sanitation, and healthier living. She is also raising three boys while her husband works legally in Canada to help provide for their family. The 2017 earthquake, whose epicenter was in her village, destroyed their home and forced the family to begin again on a modest piece of farmland with nothing on it and nothing growing. Little by little, they constructed the shell of a new home and started planting their field, but one basic need remained unmet: a safe, sanitary place for human waste—for the family’s health and for the health of their soil.

This week, that changed. The Community Health Promoters worked alongside Blanca to construct an eco-sustainable dry composting toilet for her family. Blanca now has a safe sanitation solution that she can use, demonstrate, and share with others. And while there may not be anything particularly glamorous about a composting toilet, there is something beautiful about what it represents.

Blanca already knows the importance of sanitation. She understands the challenges facing her community. She has a heart for service. The toilet didn’t give Blanca those gifts. It gave her another practical tool that could be shared. That is the heart of community development: building on what is already there.

And Blanca isn't alone. Among our 17 new Community Health Promoters were three special teams: sisters Nadia and Karen, mother and daughter Lupita and Fe, and pastor and layperson Lizeth and Paola. As we listened to their stories and shared this week together, we watched women who may have entered the training wondering what they could contribute begin to discover just how much they already have to offer. They learned from one another, just as Blanca has learned from the women around her.

Learning their stories is one of the great gifts of this work. So is watching their confidence grow—seeing them find their voices, recognize their own worth, grow in their love of self, and become increasingly comfortable speaking in front of others. And then came the dental hygiene workshops with children. These ladies SHINED!

They taught proper tooth brushing, applied fluoride, encouraged healthy habits, sang creative songs, and enthusiastically used our tooth mascot. They discovered that they really can stand in front of a group and make a difference!

Then came our official debut of Hope on Wheels—GYTTE’s mobile outreach trailer, fully decked out with construction supplies, educational materials, and practical resources to use and share in their communities. This is a new ministry tool that I’m super proud of! This team of promoters quickly deemed themselves the “Godmothers of Hope on Wheels” as they surrounded the trailer in prayer, blessing its ministry and the communities it will serve.

For these new promoters, seeing Hope on Wheels ready for action helped make the possibilities of their service feel real.  What I thought was cool is that the excitement continued over dinner as the women began connecting their new knowledge with resources already present in their own lives. “My husband’s brother is a doctor.” “My family business is concrete.” “I know a university professor who teaches nutrition.” One by one, they began to realize: “I have something to offer.”

One of the things that brings me the greatest joy is helping people recognize the gifts that are already there. Maybe that is what Paul was reminding Timothy: Do not neglect the gift that is in you. Don’t overlook it because it seems ordinary. Don’t discount it because someone else has a different skill. The gift may already be there, waiting for an opportunity to be used.

This group of 17 dynamos is discovering what is already in them—finding their voices, building their confidence, learning new skills, connecting with one another, and preparing to take those gifts back into their communities.  These women are going to ROCK their community health outreach!