We had big plans for yesterday here in San Andrés, Colombia. The church we are working with this month, Centro Familiar de Alabanza, wanted to throw a “Mega Party” for the youth, and invite local youth who are not involved in the church to experience a God who is not dead or boring. Decorations were bought and made, invitations were sent, and we even went out into the streets inviting anyone and everyone we saw (all while offering “abrazos gratis” or “free hugs”). We were ready to meet more people on the island and tell them about the Jesus we know and love. But then the rain came. And came, and came, and came.
My team and I were back up in our room waiting for the storm to pass when two young boys followed us in. They wanted to teach us Spanish because they knew we wanted to learn. How awesome is that?! One of my biggest fears of the race was my lack of knowledge of other languages and the barrier that may become, but now I know all I have to do is ask and there is a teacher, perhaps a 12 year old boy, wanting to step in and help. As they were teaching us Spanish, we were teaching them English. We were running around the room picking up objects and teaching one another what to say. “Water, agua! Floor, piso! Fan, abanico!” My stomach hurt from all the laughter our new friends brought into our life. And just when I thought the night couldn’t be better, more and more youth started flooding our room asking us questions in Spanish and adding us on social media (yay friends!) Then one girl said with excitement “Vamos a la playa!!” (Let’s go to the beach!) So at 9 pm, off to the beach we went.
With 7 World Racers and 12 Colombians travelling in a pack we looked like quite the party but the other thing we noticed was the immense fun we were having. When we got down to the beach (like a 10 minute walk) we expierenced the night life of San Andres. So many people in the street dancing and walking around talking to everyone. That’s what the Kingdom of God is and it’s here an it’s now. It’s strangers becoming friends and simply living their lives with one another and with Christ. And guess what, that didn’t happen in a church. It happened around a kitchen table and out in the streets eating ice cream, and gosh, that’s just beautiful. And we get to live this kind of life every single day, talk about an enormous blessing!!
We had one thing planned so a particular Saturday night, but the Lord had a different, much simpler plan. He just wanted us to be in communion with one another and with Him, and that’s exactly what we did. With ice cream of course 🙂
