The sun was setting once again in Villa El Salvador. I knew it was time for church, but I just needed to escape to go against maybe what I should have been doing and just breathe in the sunset. To just for a moment gaze into the beauty of God´s creation.
I had for the past couple of days been dealing with what does it mean to be a Christian. And how do I learn to relate that to other people. What is the good news? A couple neighborhood kids came running up and began playing and hanging on me. I put one of the little girls up on my shoulder and spun her around in circles. I looked at the other kids there. And they would come up and hug me, they just wanted to be near to me. And somehow in that moment. I just thought to myself this is church. Breathing in fresh air and watching the sunset and playing with kids and hugging them. That is what worship is about to me.
Finally it was time to go back in to church. I went in and sat in the back. We are always suppose to sit in the first two rows, but I just wanted to sit on the dirty floor in the back behind the big main door. I didn´t want a seat of honor. I just was trying to process everything. It got towards the end and there was this lady I had met earlier with Hannah. Hannah had been talking to this lady and we prayed for her. Her son couldn´t walk and her husband was an alchoholic. She told us that she had come from pretty far away. She wanted to come and get prayer at the church. I had not seen very many people, who seemed so far removed from hope. Her eyes were filled with hopelessness and sadness.
Right when they started inviting people up to the front for church. This lady started to go forward, but then hesitated and walked out of the church. I caught her at the door and she said she was going to get some food for her baby, but I didn´t really believe her. She actually did go get some food and I kept an eye on her because I did not want her to leave without getting prayer. Finally she came out of the store and started walking back home. I ran after her and asked if she wanted prayer from the church. I could tell she did so I escorted her up to the front of the church and left her with a lady who was going to pray for her.
After the church was over she walked passed Hannah and I. We could not believe the difference in this womans life. She had the hugest smile on her face. She said that they had prayed for her and she now had hope and also that she was going to come to the other services happening at the church.
I walked outside into the dusty streets and found myself, blowen away by the grace of God. I don´t understand why God uses us sometimes. I was not even doing what I was suppose to be doing. It is cool to see God show up all the time even when we least expect it. I started maybe for a moment to understand a little about what good news was. It was finding hope amongst the hardness of life. It was finding love when you needed it. It is finding grace when you don´t think you deserve it. It is seeing God once again completely do what He does best, transforms lives.
