Kutter Family Easter 2012 from Jamie Kutter on Vimeo.

-Saint Teresa of Avila

I woke up with this pressing thought this morning. We are giving up! …and when I say we, I mean Christians. I, of course, don’t mean ALL Christians, but I think this can be said for an overwhelming number. I know there was a time in my life that this could have been said of me. A lingering thought has been with me since I first visited this country back in August of last year….”the problem is just too huge.” I literally can not grasp the extent of need here and across the rest world. We, as humanity, have really made a mess of what we have been given. And I’m not just talking about a beautiful (yet flawed) planet, I’m talking about our ability to learn, our ability to draw close to God if we so choose, our ability to be Jesus for this dying world, and our ability to care for one another. Since God has turned my world upside down by calling us to move to another country (leaving everything familiar and dear to us to follow HIM) I’ve actually thought a lot about Jesus’ return. I’m not joking when I say I’ve prayed that it would be sooner rather than later. I’ve thought, “we just need Him to come rescue us from the mess we’ve made….and NOW!” I look around and think what on earth can “we” do? What on earth can “I” do? There is such an incredible need. Last week we were at an orphanage trying to find the next three girls that will become a part of our home. It broke my heart to see that after we finished meeting with one, they immediately had another to meet with us, and so on and so on. Each with a story that is unimaginable. UNIMAGINABLE. Girls who at the age of 17 have a first grade education. Girls who have been abused their entire life by the only people they ever loved. Girls who have been rejected and abandoned by their own families. Girls who are heartbroken. Girls who know unbearable poverty. Girls whose worth is defined by a lie. Girls who need incredible healing. Girls who need our Jesus. OUR Jesus. Don’t you see, we (those of us in Christ), have ALL they need. We (most definitely including myself) have got to stop throwing up our hands, saying, “the problem is just too big, we can’t do it, we need you, Jesus, to come back here.” We have got to start being His hands. Together.

This is what He is speaking to my heart, “…Help me, Help them.” This is our great commission. People need to be set free from what has held them captive their entire lives. Only Jesus can do the freeing, but it is our great privilege to share that message. We have the truth.

The devil is after US (the believers). His only concern for the unbelievers is to make sure they remain blind. He is OUR enemy more than theirs…it is his priority to keep Christians in captivity with his lies. Captivity from the abundant life that Jesus has waiting for us. But even scarier still is that our captivity is keeping others from hope in Jesus as well. The devil’s lies are so intricately woven into our thoughts that we start believing them as truth.  This is very dangerous. We have to start getting into the word of God to release the grips of these lies. It is time for me (for us) to dive in. It is time to start doing our part.

To those whom much is given, much is required. I have always felt very convicted by the verse Luke 12:48. We are HIS hands and in that we have been given much. The quote at the top struck a cord with me and I hope it will with you as well. He has no other feet, but mine. No other hands, but mine. He has no money, but mine. He has no arms to hug a fatherless child, but HE HAS MINE. It is interesting to me that if He wanted to do all of this without us He would have, but yet we are chosen. I don’t know about you, but I love to be included. I love to be needed. I love to have something to give. What an incredible opportunity! How are we using it?

I’ve had a lot of people ask me what we are doing in Honduras, so I wanted to briefly share what we are doing here. We are here working with Arrow Child & Family Ministries (a very large ministry for children & families based in the States). It is truly an incredible organization. While we have several ministry goals in Honduras our most tangible ministry is operating a girl’s home for teenage girls that are at an extreme social risk. Our primary goal is to share the hope of Christ with these girls and give them an education. Personally, I’ve always taken education for granted. It has become strikingly clear to me through my experiences here that education is an INCREDIBLE gift. I love that this home is a family. For some of these girls it is the only true family that they have ever had. At capacity we will have 24-30 girls at Casa de Ester. We are a small home in order to really invest and pour into the life of each girl. Many of them will only be with us for a few years before it is time for them to go off to school (we have high hopes for many of them to attend college) or in some cases start their career. We are here to bring light to lives that have been sheltered in the dark. We so appreciate your financial support of this ministry (through Arrow in Honduras), your words of encouragement, and most importantly your prayers!

They are waiting for HIS hands to retrieve them from such a deep darkness. If we could only grasp the realization that WE are His hands.

How cute is it that they eat their donuts the same way?! Who says saving the best for last is the way to go??? I think they are on to something!

Remember Ryan’s birthday video from last year…here. I’m trying to make this a tradition, except this year I was on my own to get good footage (I had no Joey helping me out! I’m still learning!). It was a great day…

On Sundays we as a family go to church with the Casa de Ester girls and then after church we go out for lunch. This is a special treat. After church today we headed to Kentucky Fried Chicken for lunch (yes, they have those here! along with lots of other fried chicken places). It was really crowded today and it is always a little crazy getting seated and food ordered for just under 20 people. I had just gotten my food and was working on getting my girls situated with their food when a very dirty little face appeared to my left and was asking me for something in spanish. My spanish is not very good. It is even worse in a loud, hectic environment. He left almost as suddenly as he had appeared and I turned to Ryan realizing at that moment what he had said….he was asking me for just a little bit of food. I immediately looked down at the pile of food in front of me and my heart sank. The words of Jesus rang loud in my ears “….whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for me.” I scanned the restaurant for him and saw him pass to a few other tables before leaving the restaurant pretty quickly with what looked like a half of a biscuit that someone had given him. Ryan and I both started piling chicken strips, french fries and biscuits in a napkin for him. Ryan went and filled up one of our cups for him. We had plenty to spare.

Then I saw the little boy outside peering in through the windows. You know what he saw when he looked in that restaurant…he saw families having lunch after church. Just as we were a family having lunch after church. He saw large tables full of people enjoying a warm meal together. He saw them eating, talking and laughing. I wondered in that moment what his little life was like…did he have a family? Was his belly always hungry? Did he ever get to share a warm meal with someone who loved him?

I am not going to lie I have always been opposed to beggars.  Here it is definitely more in your face than it is at home. I have always leaned toward the side that believes that giving to a beggar is somehow supporting him/her, so that he/she never has any desire to go get a job and work hard to make money the respectable way. The “me” side of me thought maybe I shouldn’t give this little boy food, because then he will always come in here and disrupt people while they are trying to eat. But luckily, the holy spirit was just a tad louder than my spirit in that moment. We were to share our food. Ryan went outside and gave him the food. That precious little boy sat alone on a bench in front of the restaurant and ate the food in a hurry. You know, now as I’m typing this I wish I could say I pulled up a chair and invited him to sit with us…wouldn’t that be radical Christianity? Wouldn’t that be the kind of thing most “Christians” don’t even understand? I want to be more like that. Because if THAT were Jesus….

God taught me something today and I know that He is stretching my heart in this area. I can not possibly imagine what most of these people’s lives have been like. I can not possibly imagine what it means to have REAL need. To really be hungry. To really be unloved. I can not possibly imagine, so how can I possibly judge? So often Christians forget that it is not our job to judge. I forget that it is NOT my job to judge. It is only my job to serve. Isn’t that what Christ said in Matthew 25:31-46?

I know that it is not safe to offer help in every situation, but I am praying that the Lord will open my ears so that I will hear. I want to hear His voice, so that I know when He wants me to help. I am learning…..learning to be one of His sheep.