This month in Colombia has been filled with challenges and moments of celebrations. Being the first World Race team to come to Colombia, my squad is pretty much the trial run on this country. While driving into Colombia, I was listening to Disney songs, thanks to another squad mate for having the Disney Spotify station on her phone, and I came across the song from the movie Tarzan called Strangers Like Me. There is one line in that song that says “come with me now to see my world, where there’s beauty beyond your dream.” That line has stuck with me this entire month. It’s like God was saying you are the first group to come to Colombia and I want to show you the beauty that is in this country. There is beauty that I will show you if you just take my hand and follow me. God is calling me to come see the world and all He has created and to find the beauty in places where it may not seem there is any. Colombia has a reputation for being a dangerous place where drugs are a huge problem and crime is very high. I believe God has placed my squad and I here to be a light in the darkness.
One of the days my team and I were working construction at a house down the street from where we are staying, I felt God wanted to show me what life was like in Colombia and how people lived. When we get to the house it’s a small room with bricks all over the inside and a mess all over the place. We walk into a smaller room where two sisters sleep together and a kitchen that is smaller than closets in the US. We were suppose to rip the roof off and replace it since their roof was caving in. We rip the panels off and put a brand new roof up. In the process dirt is falling all over the floor and luckily we had everything covered up in the bedroom so nothing got dirty. While we were there it was like the Spirit of God came in and said “ you see how these people are living. You complain about little things back home of comfort and space and these people are so happy with their beds and a roof over their heads. You never truly understand what comfort is until you step into another country and see how the people are living. These people didn’t have much but they were happy and proud of what they had. They even made us snacks and drinks to thank us for helping them out. It blows my mind to see people who have nothing but give you what they had to bless you because of what you’re doing to help them. God has shown me time and time again how people who cling to His Word have few earthly treasures but they have the love of the Father and they rejoice and they live like they have everything.
Another day we went to a school to sing some songs, dance, do skits, and pray. On this day we got the high school age kids. We get up to sing and the kids have no expressions on their faces. We are dancing up there looking like idiots and these kids aren’t interested in singing or dancing. It’s pretty terrifying to be on stage in front of kids and have them just stare at you and have no emotions. So by the end of the service, we give the option for anyone with anything on their hearts to come up and pray with us. After a few moments of no one coming up, kids start walking up to us. I had one young man come to me and ask for prayer about his family. His mom had died 2 years ago and he was bouncing around his family. His relationship with his dad was complicated and he felt alone. Now earlier when the kids were staring I was thinking this is scary and I don’t want to be around these kids because they don’t even care and they aren’t going to want anything to do with us. When that kid came up for prayer, my heart broke for him. It was like God was saying you judged these kids so quickly and you thought they wanted nothing. Here is a child of mine who wants to feel like he isn’t alone.
This whole month I have been wrestling with am I on The Father’s mission or am I on my mission. I felt in that moment I was only caring about myself. I was thinking I wanted to get off that stage and get out. Had I done that I would’ve missed out on blessing a young kid and praying for his needs. God says I will show you something in this and guess what since you’re here with him right now, you can tell him he isn’t alone. I prayed for the young man and when he walked away I could see in his eyes that he was just happy that someone was there for him and that he wasn’t alone. When I stopped focusing on the needs I wanted and took into account the needs of others, I saw God step up and intervene in the situation. That’s the lesson I have been learning this month so far. I have been trying to focus my mission not on my mission and what I can do but in God’s missions and what he has called me to do. If I keep my eyes fixed on Him and His Word then I am always on His mission. That’s why I originally came. I felt a call to go on the Father’s mission and to step out of comfort and to step out into the world and proclaim the love of God. To serve the people and to advance His kingdom. These four months have been an amazing experience and God has taught me so much.
“Come with me now to see my world, where there’s beauty beyond your dreams”
