He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named

 

The name is not well accepted in most of the areas of Colombia— especially in Medellín. In fact, many people hesitate to mention the name out loud for fear of the reaction they might receive from those who hear. I have heard people joke and call him “Voldemort.” If you are a Harry Potter fan, you will understand the depth of the power in a name. However, in this case, the villain is not the fictitious powerful and dangerous wizard but rather a very real terror— Pablo Escobar.

 

The Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist in the 1980s controlled more than 80% of the cocaine smuggled into the United States— the US pushed for his capture and extradition. Escobar worked with a small group to form the infamous Medellin Cartel. 

Escobar unleashed his fury on his enemies in the hopes of influencing Colombian politics by killing thousands of people, including politicians, civil servants, journalists and ordinary citizens. His terror campaign claimed the lives of three Colombian presidential candidates, an attorney general, scores of judges and more than 1,000 police officers. In addition, Escobar was implicated as the mastermind behind the bombing of a Colombian jetliner in 1989 that killed more than 100 people. 

Escobar’s terror eventually turned public opinion against him and caused a breakup of the alliance of drug traffickers. In 1993, he was killed by Colombian police. Deeply scarred by one man and his murderous ascent to the top of the drug industry, Medellín is working hard to rebuild its spirit and long history of independence. Twenty-five years ago, Time magazine dubbed Colombia’s Medellin “the most dangerous city on Earth”.

 

This month, our entire squad has been working with an organization named Ciudad Refugio. Established in 1993 (did you catch that? Yes, it was the year that Escobar was killed. I am convinced that this date is not a coincidence), they have so many amazing programs:

 

•men’s homeless shelter

•recovery programs for men and women (residential restoration)

•youth development program

•agua panela outreach

•volunteer exchange

•homeschooling

•children’s feeding

 

Everyday ministry was extremely diverse but this is me attempting to sum up what a week looked like for us.

 

Monday and Tuesday are our rest day and adventure day.

 

Our squad divided into one of three things for the morning: worked alongside the women in the recovery program in the kitchen, worked with food donations, or spent the morning preparing to lead worship later that day.

 

I worked in the kitchen twice and then prepared for worship once.

 

After lunch, our entire squad would walk to a nearby park infamously known for the use of drugs and other illegal activities— Parque Bolivar.

 

Those who had spent the morning preparing for worship would set up and worship while everyone else would go around the park in small groups praying for people, getting to meet people, playing soccer, or simply just having a conversation. Here we also tried to tell as many people that we could about the services that Ciudad Refugio offered just two blocks away.

 

The one time I had prepared for worship, I kept getting pulled to help with interpreting. What a blessing it has been to be able to help others communicate!

 

Once we returned from the park, we usually had Team Time and then dinner. After dinner, we had Wednesday night service where we often were given the opportunity to lead worship as a squad and share some of our testimonies and a Biblical word.

 

After the evening service, a 15-passenger van full of people would head to “Aguapanela ministry.” Aguapanela is a literal type of drink in Colombia that is sweet. But during this time, the van would make its way to an area, usually a street, where many people found themselves homeless and under deep influence of various chemicals.

 

We were warned to wear closed-toe shoes to avoid needles and other things on the ground. We also wore neon orange vests, took off all jewelry, left our cellphones behind, were asked to never be out of the sight of the van, and were suggested to pray for others with our eyes open.

 

I will not lie, I was pretty nervous before going to Aguapanela ministry. I wasn’t truly sure what to expect.

 

While 2 people handed out food and the aguapanela drink, the rest would walk through the dark, dirty, and damp street crowded with an estimate of 100 men and women in half of the block. I am going to use my squadmate’s words to describe what could be seen:

 

“One man stood in the middle of the street staring up at the night sky saying something unintelligible, another with crippled legs selling drugs, another with a band around his arm and a needle in the other hand we continued to walk as we watched him inject this foreign substance into his bloodstream. Another woman stood off in the distance with her shirt only half on her body, another woman was dancing, and as I watched this scene unravel before my eyes, I wanted so badly to bring hope to these people!” – Rob

Oh, man. Thursdays have always been my favorite day of the week and I have never truly known why. But was I thankful for Thursdays during this month! On all but one Thursday, I had the opportunity to make the trek to a small neighborhood called “8 de marzo” which means “March 8th.”

 

There, we worked alongside an organization called “Pa’ Mi Barrio” which means “For My Neighborhood” in English. I had the honor of meeting the founders, Deisy and her husband, Ron.

 

I don’t want to give too much away on this yet because I want to write a whole blog post on this 🙂 Be on the look out for that post! It will probably be titled “Brother” or “For My Neighborhood”…I haven’t decided yet, obviously… haha

 

On the one Thursday that I was unable to go to “Pa’ Mi Barrio,” I joined other squadmates in working alongside the women in the recovery program in the kitchen. We were either helping prepare lunch or deep cleaning the kitchen.

 

After coming back from “8 de marzo,” it was dinner time and we would have another team time.

 

Fridays were also some of my favorite days. Around 12 of us would pack after breakfast for our overnight stay in a neighborhood called “Manantiales.” I thrived here. The small neighborhood reminded me so much of the remote villages I had visited in Guatemala or the community living in Tomas Borge that relied on the local city dump.

 

We spent the day walking around the neighborhood and praising God, praying for people, but, mainly, inviting kids to come to the weekly Saturday program.

 

We had a few kiddos walk around with us who immediately had my heart— Sarah, Sara, Wendy, and Jose Manuel.

 

 

After walking around for a few hours in the beautiful sun, we would walk to the school that permitted Ciudad Refugio to host the Saturday program and eat lunch.

 

After lunch, we prepared our lessons for the next day and spent time just hanging out and having fun. Usually, that meant playing games like duck,duck, goose; wheelbarrow races; empires; and murder in the dark. And, yes, we are all in our 20’s. 😀 It was a blast!

 

After a morning devotional and breakfast, some of us walked around the neighborhood and picked up kiddos.

Once the day began, it was non-stop busy! We met so many wonderful kids and played with them.

 

Around 10ish, all the kiddos would be gathered in the outdoor basketball court for some worship. I learned so many new kid songs in Spanish!

 

We then broke off into age groups and led a 30 minutes lesson followed by an engaging activity. Our age groups were 2 to 5, 6 to 9, 10 to 12, and 13 and up. Every time, I worked with the 10 to 12 year olds.

 

After the lesson and activity, all the kids gathered back to the court to get a snack, which was more like a small meal, and some playing around.

 

We would leave at 12:30 and some of the older kids would come back to Ciudad Refugio for an overnight program before church the next morning.

 

 

 

 

Saturday evenings, we would attend a church service and, again, were given the opportunity to lead worship as a squad and share some of our testimonies and a Biblical word.

 

I was able to share my testimony once 🙂

 

Church started at 10am Sunday mornings and some of the squad would get to attend the church service while others helped out with Children’s worship and Sunday school lessons. I got to help with kiddos on two Sundays and then attend church one Sunday.