On Saturday we ended our time serving in ministry at Ciudad Refugio. It has been a difficult couple of days trying to process everything and getting through all of the goodbyes. It is hard to walk away from something and people we have poured so much of our hearts into. One of the girls on our team (Kat) said its so hard saying goodbye because we Loved so hard and loved well.
During the past month we didn’t have a specific ministry identity as a team because we did so many different things, or at least that is what it appeared to be at first. Over the past 48 hrs I have come to realize that our ministry identity was living and doing life. Ministry this month was so much more than the projects and the structure. It was about living the gospel and being present with the people who we were blessed to do this season of life with.
For me a lot of this month it was difficult to put life into words. I struggled with trying to put how God was moving and how I saw God into words. I guess that is because God is bigger than any words we could form. How can I put into words the emotions people have when they see unconditional love for the first time, when they feel like the chains that have been holding them down for their entire life are gone.
We saw Jesus this month in ways that simply can’t be described. We saw Jesus in a teenage boy who came from the poorest neighborhood, whose family really didn’t wan’t him. We gained a baby brother who was so full of the spirit that all he knew how to do was just pour it out onto other people. He might not have fully understood it but he didn’t have to because Jesus was working through him. We saw Jesus through Germans. (yes Germans in Colombia) We thought we were going in to show people what it meant to love like Jesus and to have a servants heart, but it was them who showed us what it meant. When times got hard or we didn’t have answers it was them who provided a shoulder to lean on or a laugh in our bellies (Churros). We saw Jesus in each and everyone of their walks even in struggling with believing in Jesus and allowing him into their hearts.
We saw Jesus in brokenness and then in redemption. I saw Jesus in former drug and alcohol addicts who showed me how to be selfless and be a servant. It might have been part of their rehab program to serve but you could genuinely tell that it was coming from their hearts. They genuinely had the desire to serve us and put us before themselves. We saw Jesus in drug addicts who were living on the street. We we able to restore their humanity and show them that God still loves them even if it was only for brief moments.
I learned this month that sometimes we are simply called to be seed planters. We were brought into the peoples lives for a small amount of time and ultimately we may never know how each and everyone of their stories end but we were blessed with the opportunity to plant a seed in that story that God now has the opportunity to water and harvest.
Through us God was able to spark fires in the hearts of many people and its because of our selflessness and our willingness to say yes to whatever was presented to us that some people got to witness what unconditional love looks like and ultimately the love of the father. This month blessed my team and myself in ways that we could never imagine. I came into the World Race not bringing any expectations and I am glad I did because its impossible to put the plans of the father into normal thought. He is just way bigger than I could ever expect myself.
Goodbyes are hard, they are even harder when you love well and pour out you life. But I am thankful for them. I am thankful for the opportunities for the hard goodbyes and knowing that through all the goodbyes and emotions Jesus is with us completely. After all he did make the hardest goodbye when he chose to go up on the cross and leave his family and disciples.
I am looking forward to 10 more months that are full of difficult goodbyes and overwhelming love. Our time in Colombia has come to a close. You’re next Ecuador we’re coming for you.
