I wrote all of this after the first week of ministry but right before I was going to post it I had this fear in my heart and quickly lost the courage to post it, thinking that it wasn’t deep enough or that it didn’t fully grasp what actually happened. So today, I was talking to my mom and she wanted to hear more stories so I told her about this and she encouraged me to post it, exactly as it is. Which is the exact thing that Jesus is challenging me to do currently: come to Him just as I am, inviting Him into my big mess.
But anyways, this is from the perspective after being in Colombia for a week.
We began our ministry on Friday morning by traveling to a nearby town about 30 minutes away called Manantiales. Let me tell ya, the bus drivers are some of the most skilled people I have ever met, but at the same time, some of the scariest moments of my life occurred during the drives back and forth. But when in doubt, pray it out. When we arrived, we were all assigned different tasks to help clean the school compound where about 80 children of all ages from around the community attend for schooling, camps, games (futbol) and to learn a about Jesus.
After cleaning, we were all assigned different tasks again and put into groups. They had some people walk around on the streets to pick up trash and hand out flyers with information about the activities that will be going on for the kids at the compound for the next few weeks and to also just put smiles on peoples faces. The other group, the one I was in, we were to go into the homes of some of the women who are wanting to pursue the Lord further and just want some prayer, support, encouragement and really just to bless them in any way we could.
So, my group of 5 walked into this little town with our translator. We ended up at the wonderful home of Miss Gloria. Honestly, it was pretty awkward at first because most of us only know basic conversation, if any, and we weren’t used to having a translator. We eventually asked about her family and how we could pray for them. She told us that she had a troubled son who was addicted to drinking and drugs. Gloria was very worried about him and she wanted him to attend a rehab center but most places cost money and were too expensive for her. She also told us about her knee, that she had an accident when she was a teen and hasn’t been able to get a good job, if any at all. We asked about what it means to follow Jesus to her and she said she goes to a prayer group on Friday and sometimes Sunday. It makes her feel better and inspires her to be better for a couple of days and then would go back to her old ways of drinking and dancing. We told her that Jesus is going to love her no matter what but the only way He can change her heart is if she commits herself to Him and continues to pursue Him, that those temporary pleasures will never fulfill her. Then she wanted to hear our testimonies, so we went around the room and shared a snippet of our lives with her, which she really enjoyed to hear because she does not know very many Christians. We all prayed over her and her family before we had to walk back.
The next day in Manantiales, we all just loved on the children as much as we could, as I was slowly relearning my Spanish words from high school. It’s pretty fun attempting to have a conversation with a 4 year old about colors and sports and animals! But, I am hoping to learn more about their specific stories the next couple weeks.
Prayer Requests: Pray for Miss Gloria, that she would have the desire in her heart to pursue the Lord on a deeper level. To depend on Him for strength and knowing that He has the greatest plan for her and her son. Pray that Jesus would reveal Himself to her son, that He would show him that He is worthy of His abundant love. Pray for the children in Manantiales, that these next 2 weeks of getting to love on them would show them the love of God through that.
Here is a video compiling the month!
