Beautiful city in the vally!
I’m back again. I’d like to give y’all one more update before leaving Colombia…wait.. leaving..? Really? Where has the month gone?
I anticipated the time flying by, and boy was I right! That being said, I’m ready to go somewhere with a little less noise. City life, the noise never stops night or day. We leave in 2 days! Tuesday morning 10/29/2019. I’ll miss these people here.
Ministry was all continued since last blog besides VBS, and an elderly/mentally handicaped home ministry was added to the agenda since then. The elderly home also has a few younger people. There’s about 25 people total. Ministry there to brighten their day could have been simply showing up to say hi. As a typical day they sleep, eat,and sit. I’m sure our activities day we hosted for them, starting with dancing together, won’t soon be forgotten.
Continued participation in the mens and women’s programs consisted mostly of spending quality time with them. Whether bible classes, working in the kitchen, making the daily cardboard and food donation run, or playing soccer.
Ministry in Manantiales had us delivering mercados, translation= market. Not sure about the name, but it was a food pack with a roll of toilet paper. We also invested time marking on a map the regular houses that get visited and receive a mercado, with a photo of each to help identify and get to know the families, and observing/marking suspicious behavior. The purpose of all of this is so that people won’t be missed when visiting, and to avoid having mercados going somewhere they shouldn’t.
Wednesday is the day to bring a moment of light honestly, to the truly darkest place I’ve ever experienced! It’s a street in the city barricaded off from normal traffic allowing undisturbed illegal activities such as drug use and prostitution. There are people of all age groups, any sex, and unfortunately childern, doesn’t matter. This place just breaks your heart. Jesus loves these people the same as you and I!
And now for the topic of the blue door. Pastor Douglas designed the building for men and women. Depending on the healing process needed, an effective part of either program is having minimal interaction with the oppsite sex. One of those engineering qualitys is access to and from the building, which is a staircase from the street, with a blue door. This leads to the 3rd floor where the women stay.The men are on the second floor. The blue door stays locked and a key is needed to open from inside or outside. With 18 ladies coming and going and one key then you’ll understand the key stays busy!
Since I started writing this blog post on my phone I’ve gotten 5 messages in the last 30 minutes in a group message to open the blue door. So thats been the ministry this month within the team. Communication concerning opening the the blue door. God opens or closes doors for us but sometimes we need friends to take our hand and walk us through or willing to encourage us to take the step in faith where the door is potentionally open but we may have to lean in a bit and ask a favor of a friend, (opening the door). Or be asked to participate, lead a conversation, or prayer! I believe this has been practiced through the blue door this month by the ladies. With little complaining or short irritated responses.
An example of unity and love amongest the group. Thats important for success in any ministry! Thank you, to all parents and participents for praying for us! Countinue praying as we prepare to start a new month of ministry in another country. Keep a look out for an update sometime after we’re settled there.
Blessings to all who read
