Change. In more ways than one.

Have you ever had one of those moments when you know that your life will never be the same? I have, but they seem to come more frequently here in Copan.

I should back up a bit and tell you a bit about myself and how I got to this crazy place. Hi, I’m Jason and I’m the newest addition to the team here at UPH. I am from Northern Ireland and am currently on a Year Abroad from my university in St Andrews where I study French and Spanish. I arrived here on September 5th and am here until next August after the summer Camps. So…

Part of my job this year is assisting the New Sites Director Kourtney plan, prepare and run Pilot programs in different neighbourhoods. This week we are in a barrio called San Pedrito Abajo and last thursday and Saturday Kourtney and I went around the neighbourhood getting the word out there, registering kids for the program and generally just getting to know the people up there. This experience will go down as one of the most formative of my life. Entering some of the homes really had a profound impact on me. I have seen poverty before but to be confronted by it so-to-speak to such a degree is something completely different. It’s very difficult to realise just how much God has blessed your life and how seemingly unblessed these people are.

Its during these times, I feel, that we come to a crossroads, do we believe that life is capricious and some, like us, are lucky while others aren’t? Or do we content ourselves in the sovereignty and love of God, knowing that He truly wants the best for us?

Gradually, I am coming to the second option. God’s plans are not our plans, and I truly believe that He is here in Copan, moving in the hearts of the people here. As much as myheart breaks for the poor and marginalised here in Copan, I know that the LORD’s heart is eternally breaking because of the injustice all across the world. It is through experiences like these that I am so thankful and blessed to be working with an organization like UPH, I am seeing lives change before my eyes. God is cultivating in me a heart for the poor. God is using UPH and He is using me to change the lives of the people of Copan. To realise this fact is awe-inspiring and humbling. I rejoice in it.

Jason

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