Les & Diana Morris

Who knew that doing so much laundry was part of the mission?! Seriously though, I haven’t seen so much dirty clothing in a long time, like we saw yesterday and today; and I mean really gross, muddy, wet, musty clothing.  We’re in the midst of cleaning clothes that have been donated for the store in Los Anonos, run by Adriana.

Sometimes, well-intentioned people, with good hearts donate things that really should be trashed or at least carefully looked at and cleaned before donating.  In the US, Goodwill and Salvation Army often don’t even accept clothes that are in poor condition, yet for some reason people feel that these same items make wonderful donations on the Mission Field.  The challenge is to ask yourself these questions:

Would I want to receive these clothes in this condition?

Would I wear these clothes, if they were given to me?

Would I give these clothes / items (books, sheets, place mats, etc.) to my spouse? my friend? my children?

If you answer “NO” to any of these questions, then they shouldn’t be donated!  People, the world over, want to look their best and feel good about themselves, their appearance and their homes.  It doesn’t matter what continent you’re on, how much or little money you have … these things do matter.

So,why all this laundry you ask?  Well, I’ll tell you!  Yesterday items were donated, “sans sorting and cleaning.”  A short-term mission team from New Life and I, along with Jessie and Shannon (the 2 interns living with us) sorted through a ton of stuff that arrived in dripping wet black plastic bags.  Suffice it to say, we filled 7 garbage bags full of items that could NOT be salvaged.  Yet, on a positive note, there were quite a few items, that with some intense cleaning, bright sun and clean air, COULD be redeemed and repurposed.  Voila!

So, I started doing laundry yesterday afternoon, hung out my last load at 10PM last night, and have started in again this morning.  2 loads remain after the current one, but most of these loads are needing to run through the extra heavy duty “muy sucio” cycle twice to come clean.  We hope that each item will bless the folks who come to the Los Anonos store and buy these clothes, blankets and towels for next to nothing.

… and we’re ever mindful, while we can sort, wash, wash again and get things clean, only God can clean hearts and lives … and yes, they have to be cleaned far more often than we would want.  Thankfully He makes our sins, white as snow and 1 John 1: 9 tells us,

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.