Alejandra is one of the most lovely people who impacted me during my time in Medellin, Colombia. She selflessly served alongside and translated for us whenever we were doing ministry. What stands out about her the most is her JOY. Alejandra has such a contagious joyful spirit. She radiates God’s love and joy by singing praise to the Lord and dancing everywhere she goes. When you’re in her presence, it’s near impossible to not join in on the singing, dancing, and laughter. She knows she is a beloved daughter of the King, and she walks in confidence of her title. If you were to meet Alejandra, you would never know she struggled with a horrible drug addiction for years or that she went through the drug rehabilitation program at Ciudad Refugio – Her story is a testament to God’s steadfast love, relentless forgiveness, and all-powerful redemption.
I’m grateful to call Alejandra my sister in Christ. She is a force for the Kingdom. Please pray that God continues to use Alejandra’s story of redemption to bring others into a relationship with Jesus.
“I was lost but I found the most deep lover in the universe.
I wanna share with you a little bit of my story. I’m gonna start with my addiction to heroine. I was so hooked, my entire life revolved around the high that heroine gave me. I lived for it.
I started shooting and injecting myself with heroine 6 years ago. I numbed myself with heroine for a total of 7 years. I thought I was going to die.
One night I bought 500 hundred pesos worth of bad cocaine and heroine. I was planning to inject myself but before I did, I began praying and begging God that I would die that night from an overdose. I was tired of living this life, I was tired of living this way. Before injecting, I finished my prayer saying that if I don’t die, it’s because you have a bigger plan for my life (Jeremiah 29:11).
I cried out to Jesus with my problems. That night God saved me from death. God listened to my prayer and guided me to Ciudad Refugio. Cuidad Refugio was God’s grace and mercy to me; it was my second chance at life. Ciudad Refugio offers love and hope to many oppressed people in Medellin. The program that changed my life was the drug rehabilitation program. This program is year long program focusing on developing a relationship with Jesus and discovering the hope, love, and redemption the God offers. I completed the program on February 23, 2017. By God’s grace, I have been clean for heroine for 32 months. I can’t believe God gave me the opportunity at a new life. I trust God in his healing and his power to change my desires.
One of my biggest struggles was that I believed the lies that heroine can satisfy me. I believed the lie that everyone told me I couldn’t beat addiction and become clean from using heroine. In my own strength I couldn’t do it but God can do it. God’s plan for my life was better than anything I could have dreamed of. Now I live a life of abundance following Jesus. I no longer need drugs because He is my beloved.”
