anibal.
i asked God to show me His joy this month.
He gave me anibal.
when i think of calama, i will always think about anibal.
we met anibal during our first week or so in calama, during a time where we were still struggling to figure out how to make strong connections in the community and follow where God leads us. he owns a little kiosk near one of the skate parks. he is always smiling, always laughing, and everyone is his best friend (immediately).
when i told him i wanted to interview him to share his story with my family and friends, he was very excited (and wanted to make sure i was writing everything he said down).
anibal is from santiago, but moved to northern chile 27 years ago to work in the mines. he’s worked in chuquicamata – the world’s biggest open copper mine pit, but his favorite mine is minera escondida because it paid the most. he worked as a “supervisor of machines.” the schedule is 14 days on, 14 days off, 8-12 hour shifts. we ask if it’s dangerous, but he says there are “not really very many deaths.”
when his son graduated college, he left the mines and opened up a store: kiosko bamboo, where he sells snacks, drinks, and ice cream. he lives in the kiosk – he says it’s because when he didn’t live there, it was frequently broken into and people would steal all of his merchandise. however, now he is looking to go back to the mines because it pays better.
we visit him almost every day and whenever we go he gives us something, juice, snacks, ice cream, and refuses to let us pay, shooing us to sit down and saying “regalo! regalo!” he is incredibly generous for someone who doesn’t have much.
he speaks some english, and always tells us: “i speak in english, you speak in spanish.” he patiently teaches us words and knows whenever he does speak in spanish if he looks at me i’ll probably say “no entiendo.” then he just laughs “que linda, que linda!” and he breaks it down for me.
if you could do anything, what would you do?
// “i love to paint with oils. i wish i could paint all day.”
who are you, what do you want people to know about you?
// “superman! no, no, no, kidding.”
(some of this was lost in translation, he thought we meant us – not the world – and so he continued and said:)
// “amiguitas nunca me olviden esten donde esten por yo las voy a recorder siempre.”
little friends, never forget me wherever you are, i will always remember you.
what is the best advice someone gave you?
it was from his father, when he left santiago 27 years ago:
// “no rendirme nunca ante la advercidad / respetar a todo tipo de personas.”
never give up before adversity and respect all types of people.
we invited him to church last sunday and he came with us! he was a big help actually, helping translate some of the things for us. afterwards he stayed for brunch.
what do you believe in?
// “aliens! i’ve seen a spaceship bigger than an airplane five
times outside the mines. i also believe in my friends.
in the remember. in you.”
what do you know about God?
// “He exists and nothing more than that.”
what do you know about Jesus?
//”He is God’s son and is in Heaven, He is an eternal being.”
do you think God knows about you and your problems?
//“no. He doesn’t know. there are too many other
problems in the world, much bigger than mine.
i can solve my own problems and i would prefer if God
would work on the bigger ones.”
when are you happy?
// “i am happy when i am with people like you.”
why are you always smiling?
//”because i don’t want anyone to know my problems. my smile is a mask.”
when we were talking about beliefs and thoughts,
anibal also shared this with us:
//”you need to know more about people’s hearts,
their internal pain and problems. you can sit next to each other
in church on sunday, but you do not know each other’s hearts.”
it broke my heart when the man i see so much joy in told me that his smile is just a mask. at first, it felt … like that’s just perfect, so typical. the world is full of pain & suffering, people just doing the best they can and maybe i’ll look for real joy and never find it – when i think i find it, it isn’t real – but the more i think about it, the more i see strength behind his smile. he has a lot of problems but he smiles anyway. he goes out of his way to make others smile. he laughs the loudest and smiles the biggest and it feels a u t h e n t i c & g e n u i n e . and maybe there’s joy in that – maybe we just learn to practice smiling when we’re feeling sad – and maybe it isn’t fake, maybe in those moments the mask is broken – and maybe our joy isn’t dependent on our circumstances, it’s something that comes from inside,
but here i am a g a i n , back to asking: what is joy? and how do i obtain it?
and i can read the definitions, i can search the Bible, i can comprehend that it is different than happiness – happiness is temporary and joy sustains despite suffering and problems, it is a fruit of the spirit and ultimately something that comes from the Lord but –
maybe it isn’t something to be understood.
it’s just something we have to feel.
and anibal, he reminds me that it’s out there.
and i believe the Lord delights in anibal and
that anibal has joy inside him despite his problems.
he gave me joy, just getting to know him.
(i felt it, even if only fleetingly).
& i hope we gave him some too.
thank you, anibal.