Guachupita. They call it a barrio. Really, it’s a slum. It’s full of naked children whose families can’t afford clothes, whose playground is the town dump, and who live in houses constructed of tin cans hammered flat.
And I get to spend the next three weeks there. We’ll be pouring into a small house church there.
I visited the slum the other day. We had to walk through another slum and cross a bridge over a river to get to our location. We walked, and it felt like we were walking through the valley of the shadow of death. All of these homes have nothing. This is as extreme poverty as I’ve ever seen…but every kid has an AirSoft gun. Who knew?
We walked through the first barrio and a boy of about 15 yelled to me, “Americano!” he then cocked the gun and held it to his head and pulled the trigger. (it didn’t have any pellets…) He meant to intimidate our team. But we felt no evil because our God went before us.
We prayed before walking into Guachupita that God would bring with us hope and joy. We asked that he would send the Holy Spirit in advance to prepare the barrio for us.
We crossed the bridge into the town, and Jenn and I, and perhaps others, felt the full weight of the town upon our hearts. We stood at the high point of the town, overlooking the slum, and prayed for it. We all wept, not out of sadness, but out of joy. God had already begun to bring joy and hope to this town. What Jenn and I felt was the weight of Glory.
I specifically ask you to pray for a girl I saw there. Her 11 year old sister leads worship at the church, and is named Emerelie. She, however, is ten and has the most piercing eyes I’ve ever seen. She will radically change the world for Christ if we are faithful to the mission God has called us these next three weeks. I don’t know what that means for me, but it means that you pray for her by name, starting right now. Pray for Erica!
After the visit, we prayed with the missionary we’re working with. I also ask you to pray for him. He leaves Sunday to raise support back in the states for a while. His name is Miguel, and rarely have I had the joy of spending time with a man of God as sincere, full of integrity and love, as well as just a plain old good and fun guy. His ministry is producing wonderful fruit. Bathe it in prayer.
We prayed over the slum, and the Lord revealed to us all the truth that God has victory in that slum…but that it would come with great pain and effort. We’re here to battle, not play…but we need prayer!
