She was sitting in front of the Banamex, wrapped in a dirty rag of a dress with another dirty rag covering her mouth. She looked up at us as we passed, but it didn´t seem to register in her mind. We were just more faces in an endless sea of passerby that…well… pass her by.
We stopped at a coffee shop a couple blocks away and talked about the hardships of life we face, like depression and indecision. After finishing our cafe´lecheros and bon-bons, we paid the bill and left a tip, making sure the waiters knew we gringos weren’t about to jip them. We ran into Gary Black and Andrew Shearman a couple cafe´s down. They asked how our ministry was going. We told them how we searched for this guy Andre´s, but couldn’t find him. Talia and Ryan had met him a few days before and had since been going back to establish relationship with him. After going through town and back, we decided to stop and get some coffee. I’m a little amazed that we admitted this to Gary and Andrew. These are two of the leaders who have been pouring Truth into us the past few days, readying us for ministry ahead. Gary gave us a slight kick in the butt when he said he hoped none of us would spend the next 11 months playing frisbee. (He and Andrew reminded us how real this all is… the Kingdom of Heaven being at hand and the battle going on around us. If we have such authority, why aren’t we engaging? Come on church! But that’s another blog all together).
Convicted, we remembered the woman in front of the bank. We grabbed our things and started praying.
“Lord Jesus, give us your heart for this woman. Show us how to love her and teach us how to listen.”
We went to her, Jeff, Talia and I while Ryan went further on to cover us in prayer. Introducing ourselves and receiving her permission, we sat down next to her and started talking. We asked her name.
She looked around wildly, giggled a little, then said: “Me no recuerdo mi nombre” (I don’t remember my name). She smelled badly. The ragged dress she wore had holes everywhere and she clutched it to her body the best she could. She covered her mouth with a colorful, yet dirty rag saying that she had much pain there. A lot of what she said didn’t make any sense. Jeff translated the majority of the conversation for us. She would say some things that made sense…pain in her mouth…she sits on this street and another…yes she would eat the bread we bought her…and so on. Then she would go onto talking about a man’s mustache.
After sitting with her awhile praying silently, Talia groaned, “Oh dear Jesus” and tears overwhelmed her. She turned to me, “Why can’t we do anything for her? I am so frustrated”. This woman was gone mentally. She said she had no family and nowhere to sleep except the street. Her hair was filled with a dry, mint colored paste that balled up near her forehead. We bought her bread and water and offered our ears, our attention, our notice. In the end, Jeff asked if we could pray for her. She said yes. We prayed for healing, for freedom from the oppression she was under and for provision. She looked into our eyes afterwards and said she felt
peace.
I am not sure what the Lord did while we prayed. We didn’t see an actual healing, but
something moved. Something spoke to her spirit and confirmed it in ours.
Church, children of God, rise up and praise the Lord today! Know who you are in Christ and what that means. If you don’t fully know, then seek to know. We cannot live our lives sitting on a pew just receiving and receiving. We need to pour out –
I
need
to pour out. We need to reach this world!
The Lord will provide everything we need- he will take care of us! Let’s have a little faith! Come on America! This isn’t a game.
The kingdom of God is near.
