One day a man who came to do ministry in the city of Medellin, Colombia stopped to pray for a homeless man. While praying, he heard many other men circle around him, and he thought they were going to take his life. When he opened his eyes and looked around, he saw that the men who had encircled him were weeping: they all wanted prayer, too. This was the beginning of the ministry I am currently serving at: Fundacion Ciudad Refugio.
Today, the ministry does many things (homeless shelter, rehabilitation center for men and women, children’s ministry, bakery, etc…) but every Wednesday night they go out to one of the more dangerous streets of Medellin to continue the ministry of the roots of the foundation. They bring bread and Agua Panela, a popular South American sweet drink made from hardened sugar cane, to hand out to the people of the streets. We also hand out tracts that have the ministry’s information to those who want them. Part of the intention is to get people off the streets and bring them into a better community (i.e. the foundation).
Over the past few weeks our squad has had the privilege to experience this more intense ministr. Last week was my first time, and here is a little bit about my experience doing Aguapanela.
Throughout most of the day I was showering myself and the rest of the group that would be going in prayer. The people that had went the week before had mentioned how dark the area was and how clear the spiritual warfare was. I prayed for protection, for the power of the 72 in Luke 10, for God‘s light to penetrate the darkness, and I prayed for hearts to be opened to receive the love of Christ. I specifically and earnestly asked that there would be one person who would receive Christ that night.
Later that night, we pulled up to the street and got out of the van. I was immediately taken aback by the what I could see and smell. There were about 150-200 people all along this little street at about 9pm. They were all living amongst trash. As I walked down the street I saw people using every drug imaginable: marijuana, cocaine, heroine… People were rolling their own concoctions, sharing with others, using pipes, injecting with needles, and drinking alcohol. It was a dark place and my heart hurts for those people. But God answered my prayers.
There were many people I talked to that night. I shook a lot of hands I normally wouldn’t have. But during that time I only saw these people as children of God, and I had to ask myself what Jesus would be doing if he were here. I know He wouldn’t hold back any love. I prayed for many people and I certainly felt like walking light in the darkness. But two stories stand out to me from that night.
The second person I talked to, his name was Inimé, wanted to do the “oracion de fe.” In other words, he wanted to pray for the forgiveness of his sins and to accept Jesus into his heart. Though I was with one of the workers from the ministry, he wanted me to lead the prayer in Spanish. Alright, I see your answer almost IMMEDIATELY God. From then on I felt powerful; I truly felt the power of the Holy Spirit flowing in and through me. I turned to Emily and Shelby, the girls I was walking with, and told them that I felt as if I was walking with angels at my side.
A little later we ran into a man who told me he had no name. I had asked him, and while I didn’t fully understand him, I believe he said that his name was either “lost” or ”taken.” Certainly the result of some kind of spiritual warfare. Immediately my mind jumped to the many times God gave His children new names in the Bible. He gives us a new name because He loves us. Through this I was able to share with him about the Love of God and how it transforms us. We ended up calling him Pedro, or Peter, which he seemed happy about. Pedro took a couple tracts from us because he wanted to tell his friends about the foundation.
I believe the night was fruitful, but also intense. We handed out a lot of Aguapanela and bread. In telling people about the line for the food we had a lot of good conversations. We prayed for Christ’s love to fill the street, we prayed over people for healing, we prayed against any spiritual warfare and against and spirits that may have been present. Because of this I think more hearts were open to receive us well, and we were able to have many good conversations. I truly believe that night we walked as light and shone in the darkness and we battled whatever darkness was there.
The ministry leader, Rebecca, likes to call the ministry drops of grace. She says that you never know what drop may land on someone and open their heart, and sometimes it takes many drops. So let this post be an encouragement to go and be light in the darkness. Walk and show love as Jesus did, even if it’s a bit uncomfortable, and let the way you walk bring drops of grace to all those around you.
