Mapping the Hope
Mapping the Hope
Applied Theology in the Urban Environment 3
This is the third essay in a short series about applied theology in the urban environment. The application of theology is the practice of incarnating ourselves in our immediate context. It is to map the hurt, hope, and heart of our communities. If you haven’t read the first two posts of the series, click the links below.
Preciosos Momentos
Colonia Santa Fe is quite a dangerous place. Gangs control the area with ruthless violence. Poverty is everywhere. There is, however, a light that shines its light in the middle of darkness. It is little school in the middle of it all. It is called Preciosos Momentos (Precious Moments, PM). And yes, you may have guessed it. It has images of the little figurines painted on its walls.
Marta runs PM. She is a fearless leader who serves the children of Colonia Santa Fe with reckless abandonment. The first time I met Marta, I was at a grassroots leaders training in 2011. We sat together and started talking about the pain and suffering of Guatemalan children. She told me that the reason she started the school was because she felt her insides move when she saw the children of Santa Fe. She felt like she was going to vomit, not because of a feeling of disgust, but because she felt compassion for the children. The feelings of love and urgency to do something were so strong that she felt sick. Her words have always reminded me of Jesus’ feelings for the crowd on Mark 6:34: “he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.”
Since the beginning of the school, around the year 2000, she has been housing children who have suffered abuse, violence, or have lost their parents due to gang violence. She feeds them, clothes them, and above all, loves them with her whole heart. One thing that has always shocked me about Marta is that she doesn’t feel bad for the children. She feels hopeful. She dreams for them and with them. Not that the horrors of her neighborhood are not real. The killings continue. But, as she would say: “Si uno no sueña con ellos, ellos no volverán a soñar” (If one doesn’t dream with them, the will not dream for themselves again).
For many years, I went toPreciosos Momentos to visit Marta. She became a mentor in matters of faith, fatherhood, and practical theology. As I write these words, my heart feels hopeful. I need to visit Marta at Colonia Santa Fe.
Spokes Café
Guatemala is a hard country to live in. It is not only because of our history and violence. It is also the fact that decayed hopes kill our dreams and desires for a better future. Amid all that, Rolando has been a beacon of hope for many. He has helped me to reimagine what hope is many times.
Rolando worked for many years accompanying youth who grew up in safe homes and orphanages. During that time, he realized that the youth lacked basic social skills and work ethic. In addition, they didn’t have a community around them that would guide them. As a result, once these young people faced the hardships of the world outside, they would immediately try to find ways to go back to the institutions where they grew up. They left the institution, but the institution marked their souls and stayed within them.
Rolando also loves coffee. He is a gifted barista and coffee roaster. I owe my coffee snobbism to him. His love for coffee is what he has used to serve the Guatemalan youth that he loves. In 2018, he founded Spokes Café, a social enterprise that has served as a place for young people to grow in community. At first, the idea was to create a space that would teach some basic life skills to the youth that he worked with. He thinks that a job is a good starting point to create a safety net for people who need it. As time went by, the dream grew to attract a community that loves the youth and coffee. The clients and friends at Spokes knew from the beginning that good coffee was a tool to create a community around people who needed it.
It was really difficult to get Spokes to take off. But, Rolando remained hopeful. When I think of Rolando, I feel hopeful. When I stop and drink a cup of coffee at Spokes I feel connected. Spokes Café is on the side of one of the main roads coming into Guatemala City. For those who know where to look, the will find a small coffee shop that will become a community.
Mapping the Hope
The two people and places that I mentioned above are beacons of hope in a city that has experienced a lot of pain. Mapping the hope is the exercise and implementation of a cartography of joy. In other words, we remember the places where we have experienced happiness, community, and love. Then, we connect them with the people we shared those experiences with. We trace a line between the geography and the people that inhabit that specific context. When we place those dots on a physical and mental map of our community, we will have joyful and hopeful points of reference that will make resilience, joy, and hope more likely.
Some times, hope will be very easy to see. Other times, hope will be difficult to find. We may need to look back to trace the joy that brings us hope amid a present that may seem hopeless. We may have to learn to see with new eyes, just like Marta did. We may also have to create and invite a community that can help us see hope. We cannot do it on our own. In Rolando’s words: “We are like spokes in the wheel of hope. We need to push and pull with each other to keep the center stable.”
Marta, Rolando, and many other leaders have taught me that two of the most important tasks of theology are: to create community, and to help others fall in love with our city so that the community can help us discipline our love. Mapping the hope is to love our city and community into greatness, beauty, and peace. In the words of G. K. Chesterton: “Men did not love Rome because she was great. She was great because they had loved her.”
Reflection questions:
What is a place in your city that brings you joy, and why?
Who do you go to when you feel down, hopeless, or overwhelmed?
The answers to these questions may be the first steps to map the hope of your community.
Another beautiful piece.
What is a place in your city that brings you joy, and why?
The Mall (basically our central park) where I walk around with my friend John when we've taken too long to meet up. We go for coffee at one of the innumerable coffee shops in Armagh and then walk for an hour and talk, theologize and pray. John is a local religious leader who is constantly asking difficult questions and attempting to dive deeper into faithfulness and ushering people into the Kingdom. We butt heads on certain things but we also come back 6 to 8 months later to revisit our friendship.
Who do you go to when you feel down, hopeless, or overwhelmed?
I go to to my wife. Sonya's is a wild faith that doesn't follow the beaten paths but tends to make sense once I've given her the due honour to pay attention and be blessed.