So, one of the cool services we get to do here in Medellín is lead a Kids Program in a town called Manantiales. Manantiales is a squatter town high up one of the nearby mountains filled with thousands of internally displaced families who were forced to leave their homes. And these are the children who we are ministering to.
The first time I went there I was so shocked; it was like something out of a documentary. These kids live in tiny filthy shacks that are built wherever they’ll fit, yet every week they come to the Program wearing their very best clothes, full of life and energy – even though some of them are starving.
Serving in Manatiales is always a highlight of my week however last week I was thrown way outside my comfort zone. Our leader got it into her head that I wanted to help out in the mothers’ group, I still don’t know why. But I agreed to help out anyway. And then to make matters worse she asked if I would give a sharing on the teaching… in Spanish.
Safe to say I was very uncomfortable. I always believed myself to be made for children’s ministry and always prefer to leave the adult ministry to someone else. And at the same time, I’m thinking ‘What could I possibly say that would be of any value to these women?’ These are women who are far older than me who have lived through hardships that I can’t even begin to understand. We are literally worlds apart, how can I speak into their lives in any relevant way?
Yet God had me there for a reason. My sharing was so simple – God loves me the same no matter what I do. I don’t have to feel pressure to always prove myself to him because he loves me simply because I am his daughter. I was almost ashamed of the simplicity of my sharing. But somehow it hit home. The women were so touched by it. One woman, Angela, was even moved to tears. Afterwards she shared that that kind of unconditional love is what she always wanted from her own father. She spent her childhood trying to please him but she could never do enough. She said she was tired of it and wanted instead to seek a Father who would give her the love she always craved, who could help her to show that same love to her own children.
How amazing is that? Imagine I had said no. Imagine I had believed the lie that I have nothing of value to say. Then maybe Angela and the other women wouldn’t have taken that one small step closer to God. And I was once again reminded that I am just a vessel. God does all the work; all I need is a willing spirit and to say yes to Him!
