Our team had a fantastic experience ministering in San Juan on Thursday. We went out to visit a women’s shelter, and spend some time interacting with the women and children. Our team had prayed the day before, and had a strong sense of God wanted us to do while we were there. An older lady, Juana, met us when we arrived in San Juan, and talked our ears off as she guided us to where the women were waiting. She kept telling us, “Thank you, thank you, we appreciate you coming so much.” We turned the corner and found about twenty women, waiting on the front porch of the main building. Many children danced around us, others clung shyly to their mothers’ skirts.
Sarah began our presentation with a fun game for the kids: “Wah Master”, which they loved. Gary & Katherine put their Spanish skills to use and taught them “Gloria a Dios”. Within moments, kids were jumping up in their groups, trying to outsing the others. While we had the children’s attention, Ashley shared a story and demonstration about sin and the cleansing effect that Jesus has on our lives. Casey rounded out our presentation by sharing her testimony with the women, and inviting them to pray.
As soon as we had closed, the women rushed forward, pushing their children to the front, asking us to please pray for them. We began to hear bits and pieces of their stories, all of them heartbreaking. “This boy’s mother died a year ago. We don’t know where his father is. Now his grandmother, a widow, is trying to raise him.” “I want my child to get an education, but we can’t afford the school supplies”. “This woman’s husband is in prison for killing one of their four children. She’s here at the shelter, trying to raise the other three on her own.” Though the stories were all different, the request was always the same: Please pray for my child.
Our team split up to pray over and bless each child, then each woman who wanted prayer as well. Although the women will continue to live in difficult circumstances, our team felt so blessed to have the chance to share God’s love with them. To remind them that God does care, that He will look after their children, and that they are not alone in this world.
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27
