Leaving expectations behind, ministry each month has looked
entirely different and has brought different outcomes. The relationships we
have built in each place have all had their eternal effects in the Kingdom. I
am not fully aware of how each relationship built will continue to create a
ripple effect for the expansion of His Kingdom but the only thing I am aware of
is that God’s love was present and love is the greatest of all. Beginning with
the Dominican, I was very excited each day to head into the neighborhood and
spend quality time with some families we had become close with. Particularly
the women, their hearts are so eager for the presence of God, and I choose to
believe that is was God’s presence that drew them toward us. As Clara and I
would go through the neighborhood on occasion and do prayer walks, I looked
around and saw the desperation for a Savior. I saw the strongholds of addiction
and the life that settled for less than God has to offer.
I saw that people didn’t really love themselves and thus
they surely didn’t know how to love and respect others. I saw young boys making
indecent gestures with the body parts. I saw innocence robbed. I don’t know if
I thought I was going to step into the World Race thinking God had given me
some sort of super power that would make people change on the spot. Did I
really think talking about God’s love would change their minds and open their
eyes? I am no superwoman and I have no power to change the heart of men. The
only power to change the heart of men lies in our Savior and He does use us for
this mission. He alone can do all and He has chosen to include us in journey.
So the best I can do is step out of the picture while my spirit leads in truth
and love.
Would you like to hear that in month one alone over a dozen
people came to Christ? I know I would love to be able to say that! And why stop
at a dozen?! I would love to say that
our time there and our actions there alone opened up the eyes and everything
finally clicked for the people of Las Latas. The truth is, we came in, we
loved, we prayed, we hoped and continue to hope. We choose to believe that
there was a seed; we choose to hope that attempting our hardest to learn and
speak Spanish to communicate meant something. We choose to hope that speaking
to them about our testimonies at the church service spoke to one eager heart. That
trying to get the kids involved in cleaning up the streets with trash bags may
have awaken a new habit.
The truth is they need to know that they are worth it, they
want to know that they aren’t the left over scraps of humanity dumped off in a
hopeless and endless road. So how do we show them that? How can you do that
without dumping a large sum of money in their hands and say, okay go ahead and
figure it out. Now you have some money, go ahead and try to get your life
together and pull out of the generational iniquities and strongholds. Good
luck. All I know is that we came to Love Christ; the rest is the overflowing
effects of loving Him, where He takes that and what He does with it is only foreseen
by the Almighty Himself.
