This week, in our final week a teammate asked us to consider doing ATL in the morning. ATL is a ministry tool we’ve learned through Adventures in Missions. It stands for “Ask the Lord”. Since we haven’t had planned ministry, this was a great opportunity to listen to the Lord’s voice, and also interact with the community. After praying silently as a team, some shared specific words and/or images the Lord gave them during that time. Teresa, who is a nurse like myself, felt let to try to find and assess some a man who had come by the church earlier looking for medicine. Two of our girls heard to word “go”. Some heard “here”. And another had an image of a white hallway. We quickly agreed to split into pairs. After all, Jesus sent his disciples two by two.
I being the curious nurse, told Teresa I would be happy to go with her. The first thing was: we don’t even know the man’s name. And Pastora wasn’t sure where he lived either. This is where the Lord begins to work. Pastor and Pastora stated they would go with us, and could help ask around town. So we pile into Pastor Juan Carlos’ 4-wheel drive, and begin driving around the neighborhood. Within less than 5 minutes, we had a lead.
We stopped on a corner, where there stands a mud house. Here, we encounter William. This sweet man is chair bound, as he is a double amputee due to diabetes. He quickly removes his shirt to show us a large boil on his back. I would say it is about the size of a softball. It’s red, swollen, and looks full of pus. Part of the nurse in me is thinking, “Ouch!” and the other part of me is thinking, “this is going to be so disgusting, it’s awesome.” Pus and blood definitely doesn’t freak me out. We quickly assess and see what supplies he has. We still hadn’t found the man who came by the church yet, and in comes Pastor. “There are 2 men just up the street”. God is so good! Within 10 minutes of our search we found 3 wheel chair bound men within a half a block.
As we entered a pharmacy to purchase medications for the 3 men, we meet Gladis. She became our “I see Jesus” moment, as Teresa would say. As we began piling many medications and supplies. Pretty soon she takes some aside, and simply says, “No charge”. My heart broke. A woman who didn’t know these men, saw the need and wanted to serve in her own way. We found out that she too had been sick. We offered to pray for her. She says, “Yes. But I am Catholic”. We smiled and replied that is okay. And she replied again, “There is only one God.” AMEN!
After some sweet moments, we said our good byes and returned to care for these men. The gratitude and appreciation in their faces and voice was undeniable.
So the next time you’re looking for a ministry opportunity but aren’t sure where to begin, I encourage you to simply “Ask The Lord”. Even when you think, “I thought of that word on my own”, or “that just seems crazy”. Most likely, it is the Holy Spirit prompting you. It’s always better to obey, than to ignore.
