I would like to preface this post with saying we are all safe…
After a long adventure day and a few hours of team time we found ourselves awake much later than anticipated.
Before bed a few of us wanted to check emails and connect with loved ones back home. Our wifi access is only upstairs so while half of us talked on the third floor down the other half were upstairs on phones or laptops. Within 15-20 minutes we heard a rush and scurry and laughter coming downstairs into our room. Well, I thought to myself, that’s encouraging to see teammates laughing together. The tone quickly changed. They closed the door behind them and came and sat on the bottom bunks with us. They explained that they heard a noise upstairs and it sounded like someone was at the front door trying to get in! They said they heard a truck and men talking and the door rattle so they hid in the chapel. After a little while they came back downstairs to us. Apparently laughter is some teammates response to scary situations. Good to know.
After their news my mind took off! Sometimes it’s a blessing. Sometimes it’s a curse. Ok, so if someone wants to get in how realistic is it that they can get to us through three locked doors… I started analyzing the fortitude of each door and the flaws of each passage way to reach us. I asked my teammates if both the hallway and chapel doors were closed. To which they replied, yes. Even the silver one in the chapel? Oh. No. Not that one. My eyes had already done a complete scan of the entrances and exits including windows to where we were staying days ago. A habit I picked up along the way somewhere. I suppose having an analytical mind isn’t all bad. Anyways, silver door, open. Other doors, closed and locked. I walked them through an entrance plan if someone really wanted to get in…and those glass doors to the chapel wouldn’t hold up. Someone mentioned telling the pastors but we were still processing and assessing risk. Our team started thinking of things in our room they could use as weapons, to which I replied: no one has a gun and that’s a trump card so we should definitely tell the pastors what you heard.
At this point we decided to contact our pastors who were staying in the apartment above the church. Joey, our team leader wrote a text with her Colombian phone while Haylee translated it into Spanish on her phone. It was interesting to see the speed of our translating and T9 texting to an iPhone responding. Messages were coming back to us faster than we could accurately decipher or even think to respond. Send message-send to- send on local sim- T9 write message- send to- confirm send- sent. Except when we tried to respond to all the messages Joey’s phone stopped sending them! Scary situation and no communication, ideal. Jordan turned her’s on and began the send message- send message to- send on this sim… Lucy was calling Joey’s phone. At least she had enough minutes to receive calls. My team quickly shuffled the answered phone down the line to ME. Apparently my Spanish is good enough to explain this one. We decided that we definitely wanted them to come down and double check everything. She had texted and told us on the phone what it was that we heard by now but we still wanted them to come. While I was on the phone my teammates heard a noise. A bang or a thud… I’m not sure. I missed that one. Maybe because my brain was trying to translate everything to Spanish and decide whether or not I needed all this adrenaline at the same time. In any case, they came down.
We sat in pure silence awaiting their arrival. My heart raced and I could feel my body getting ready to fight if needed. I considered looking under the door for feet but couldn’t move from my spot. What was that noise they heard? Was it someone inside? Was it one of the many stray dogs or cats outside our window? Prayer. Hello! Danielle, pray! I began praying for peace and wisdom and protection of divine and supernatural strength. I prayed for my teammates and their peace and protection. Then we heard it. The rattle of the lock. The creaking of a heavy door being opened, one that’s meant to protect us. Then again, the second locked door in a dull screetech along the floor as it opened so as to notify us that it’s barrier is no longer in place. “It’s them”, I said aloud. “It has to be them.” We were all exchanging quick glances then staring back at our closed and locked but wooden door. We heard footsteps but no other noises and certainly no voices that would tell us if it’s ok to breath or not. “It’s Lucy”, I said as I heard the footsteps get louder. Another thing my detail oriented self picks up on… the way people sound when they walk and other strange habits. I could picture her walking down the steps as each foot hit the stone staircase and grew louder. Still no words and still no movement from within our room. Then, they stopped. There were feet and I could make out a small shadow under the door. I was sure it was her but I still didn’t move when I heard the knock. There was a quick exchange of words and Melanie was soon to her feet when she knew it was Lucy.
We opened the door in a sheepish but relieved state. She asked why we were still up and why couldn’t we sleep. The noise was just a neighbor returning home and unlocking his garage. She and Ricardo are closer to the front door than we are all the way down here on the third floor. They were staying in the apartment above the church and it’s true, they were closer to the door. Something Alyssa pointed out as we were discussing whether or not we wanted them to come down. She asked if we wanted her to pray and before I translated to my team I said YES! Quickly turning to the team I said she’s going to pray with us. We formed a circle and took the hand of someone next to us.
Her prayer tonight made me think about the kind of angels that terrified men when they saw them and the power of Christ that shook the land and literally conquered death. Her prayer for our peace made me think of clear blue skies and sun kisses on my skin. A warm, heavenly place in the hands of God! The God who created the universe and gives the breath of life! She prayed for restful sleep and the blood of Christ over our fears. THE BLOOD OF CHRIST over our fears about the door and what that could have meant. I could stay in that place of prayer forever. I felt united with God as I gripped her hand and a teammates. And not the type of united that I used to think of when I would feel the whisper of the Holy Spirit but a power that I’ve never felt before. A power that makes “the fear of God” clear to me. We can’t fear a God that we create or put in a box or that we think has limits. His angels are real and from what I’ve read they’re nothing to mess with. But they don’t even come close in comparison to God our creator, God our king, God our father. I get to call my God Abba, Father. It brings tears to my eyes knowing that He loves us. The power that he has is made available to us! We’re not talking cute faith that looks good to others and feels good to our conscience. Out here we are talking faith that literally casts out demons, angels that protect greater than any warrior, wounds that are healed and sealed up. We have been encouraged to pray big and bold prayers by our leaders. I started to and they’ve been answered but I haven’t prayed as big as the God I experienced tonight. This is real. This is real life.
Still tearing up… Abba, I wish I knew sooner. Thank you for revealing yourself to me. Thank you for sending Lucy to pray with us. Thank you for the example that Ricardo was in this situation. Coming down here with his wife but staying out of our room yet still praying over the situation then offering that we can sleep in the apartment with them if needed. Thank you for your love and protection. Thank you for being bigger than my fears. Thank you for your peace.
2:30am
There is a cat meowing outside the window…
