In all of the ministry happening here in Colombia I heard one phrase that makes it all worth it: “We get to keep one!”
This was what Will said to me after a night of evangelism in a nearby park. About twenty of us went to this park and then broke off into smaller groups. My group ended up being near each other but interacting with several people at once. At one point Will began interacting with a man and we could tell he wanted something. Will brought him over to a gentleman who was with us from City of Refuge and then it was decided that there was room for him in the rehab program and he was going to come back with us! I missed the conversation deciding this so that’s when Will told me, “We get to keep one!” it seems silly but this phrase is such a great mindset. We might be interacting with hundreds of people here but if we just get to welcome one person into our family with Christ then it is worth it!
It makes me think of how God would leave the 99 to go get the 1.
He has sent us out to find the 1.
And He sent us to a city full of the 1’s!
Here in Medellin we have had very diverse days. Our days we have off ministry are back to back so it feels as if a lot of time passes between our official ministry days. On the other hand we can do ministry in every situation. We take our ministry assignments one day at a time and it keeps us on our toes. To me it’s a welcomed thing, we are abandoning having a set schedule and making decisions. I just go where they tell me when they tell me to be there. Honestly to me these off days where I have to make my own decisions are almost more difficult!
The different kinds of ministry I have been assigned are listed below, I have loved being a part of each one!!!
1/9/2019
We prepared bags of school supplies to give away at a town of displaced people. Colombia has the highest number of displaced people in the entire world!
1/10/2019
The next day we went to an apartment to meet our ministry contact for Thursdays. We have a makeshift team that goes to another place to do ministry on Thursdays with another ministry. It’s a Christian school of the arts and the children are held to a high standard of morals at it.
That night we went evangelizing in the park and God allowed communication to happen even when it was not spoken! I interacted with a man for a long time and eventually a translator was able to help me and we were able to pray together. The man had just lost his parents and when asked if he knew that God loved him he broke down crying. I asked God to sober him up as we prayed and He did, he was very calm after we prayed. I hope to see him again and continue to pray that he will find his way into a rehab program.
1/11/2019- 1/12/2019
The next day we went up to the town of displaced people for an over night trip. We handed out the bags of school supplies and met people in the town. A small group of us went out the next day to the same area while the others went somewhere else. We prayed for two women and one of them gave her life to Christ!! The other was the mother of the child I had bonded with so I was very happy to have gotten to meet her!
Since then we have had days off and we are going to have teachings until our ministry starts again.
But on 1/14/2019 we met two men when we attempted to find a laundry mat but had to turn around. One man was told we were from the City of Refuge by someone who recognized us and the other was a man who we just happened to cross paths with. The first man was homeless and wanted to stay in the shelter and it was another one of those, “we get to keep one” moments! The other was a young man who wanted to chat and talked with John about the troubles of his life. John talked with him about Jesus and he did know Him, the conversation was in Spanish so I don’t know all that was said.
Even though we were “off” ministry, ministry doesn’t stop. I am thankful to have been able to be with that small group of people who turned a walk to a laundry mat gone wrong into a time of ministry.
This town has already left such an impact on my life.
God is changing how I view His children. We are all in one family with one all loving Father.
I hope you were able to keep up with all of these posts, we don’t have wifi at City of Refuge so these blogs and vlog added up!
I hope you are all having a great start to your 2019!!
