On our very first day in Santiago, Chile, two of my teammates and I hailed an Uber and rode to our new ministry location at Casa Esperanza. Casa Esperanza is a halfway house for girls too old for the orphanage but still in need of a safe place to stay as they complete school or work. I didn’t know much else other than that about our new home so I was eager to arrive. As we rode along, we made conversation in both Spanish and English with our driver, Viktor. Through the conversation we learned about his wife of 19 years and his two sons. He danced along to Uptown Funk with us when it came on the radio and we laughed at our own inability to speak Spanish. Thank the Lord for Google Translate! Finally we arrived at the address and Cheree (one of my teammates) rang the doorbell. Viktor told us that he would wait until we got in safely to drive off. When nobody came to the door, I began to get nervous. Did we have the right address? Viktor looked apprehensive when we told him we could wait outside for our friends to arrive. He said “No, I will wait here with you.”
After 20 minutes with no change in our situation, we started to figure out if we should just wait by the gate with our things and let our poor driver continue his work day. Again Viktor was insistent that it was completely unsafe for us to do that. Viktor mimed out that we would most certainly end up robbed or worse if we didn’t wait inside the car. As Cheree attempted to call every number we had in our little international phone, Viktor told us that his home was close by and we would be safe to wait there for our friends. He drove us all the way there, calling his wife to tell her that he was bringing home visitors. As soon as we arrived, his wife came outside with a smile and a look of deep concern on her face for us. Cheree got out and spoke to her and was welcomed with a kiss on the cheek. As I waited in the backseat of the SUV with Amelia (another teammate of mine) watching this scene unfold, I thought about all the time spent in my childhood learning that strangers are evil. When I said “Muchos gracias!!!” to Viktor’s wife, she only said “Don’t thank us, this is okay!”. Where does this moment fit into the teaching that strangers are out to hurt you? Why are we so quick to imbed distrust into the hearts of children? Obviously there are good intentions within that teaching, but I do believe that it is far too easy to go too far with it. The truth is that the Father loved strangers. He saw into the hearts of men and called out what he witnessed. He dined with tax collectors and taught prostitutes the inner workings of the Gospel. Eventually it was communicated to us that our host was ready for us back at the address we originally drove up to. We thanked Viktor’s wife and rode home all the while whispering prayers of thankfulness. The car ride back was filled with both silent and spoken prayers of gratitude for Viktor’s kindness! Cheree prayed over him with his permission and I said “Dios le bendice!” as we kissed* goodbye. Once we got inside, we ate a wonderful lunch with our new family and got briefed on our new ministry. On day one, God challenged me with a test. Would I see a stranger as He sees them? Or would I hold onto my own prejudices, suspicions and doubts? Would I trust that the Holy Spirit could protect and guide us? All in all, I think I handled the test well! Love was the key factor in all of our interactions that day and I pray for the same spirit of open-heartedness each and every day that we serve.
Our ministry this month is at Casa Esperanza in La Pintana, Santiago, Chile. We’re living in a halfway house for girls between the ages of 16-26. These girls are too old for the orphanage but still in need of a safe place to live. Casa Esperanza provides that! We are also working in a special needs school on the weekdays. The children there are full of so much unbridled joy, love, and humor. Some are from orphanages and have an obvious need to be seen. That can come out in outbursts of anger, and sometimes that anger becomes directed at the very people trying to love them. Please pray that my teammates and I would be safe, effective and patient in our ministry here in Chile! I do not have Wifi other than at the mall (which is where I’m currently posting this from) so please email me as the primary way of getting in touch! I love email because I can download messages and read them in my off time. Email to [email protected]! Please do not hesitate to send prayer requests my way!
Until next time, Chessie
