(Disclaimer the names in this story has been change for the safety of those individuals)
There I was in a dark, gloomy room filled with nothing but rigid shelves for my clothes, four white walls that had started to chip off, a small opening that only a quarter sized of beam light piercing in, and 2 sets of bunkbeds bolted in the wall. But the fearful part was the 4 addicts that I was surrounded by which would be my roommates. They stood there scanning me up/down as I gripped my luggage firmly and sighting with a deep breathe. After 30 seconds the men embraced me with a warm hug. Quite Frankly, I was standing there startled in fear of being robbed because I didn’t know what to expect. Then I heard the holy spirit saying “these are my children; love them unconditionally”
Later that night I began engaging in conversations with the gentleman, however, the language barrier stood between us. I pulled out my I phone and starting using google translate, then about 10 minutes later the lights went out for bedtime. It was shocking to me that it only was 9:00 p.m. but as I came to my feet off of the cold concrete floors, Jose grabbed my shoulder and I turned starring in his eyes as if he was ready to ask me something. And he did by pointing at me, then clapped his hands together into a prayer formation. All the guys held hands together forming a circle while I led them in prayer.
The next morning around 5:45, Jose called my name saying “levantate” which means get up. With morning eye bug smeared all over my eyes causing me to blink several times before actually getting up; I noticed that the men were already up and showering. Throughout the day I spent majority of my time with Jose as we cleaned, ate breakfast, cleaned even more, and performed various activites throughout the night.
After dinner, the men went on top of the roof to mediate and reflect on the day as we watched the sunset. I looked at Jose as searching for something missing; trying to make up for something lacking in his life. I didn’t know what that was for him, so I pressed in to know him more.
From 8:00 until bedtime, I had learned that Jose had came off the streets into the recovery program to better his life. When he was 17 years old, he had fallen into drugs and met a women which later he had 3 children by her. I asked him “Jose what do you want from life?” He replied back through google translate “I want to see my kids.” Before I could ask him another question, the lights had went out for bedtime and the guys gathered in a circle once again asking me to pray for them.
(Jose turned 34 on August 14,2016)
5:30 a.m. had came early as I raised up from bed to head for the showers. Throughout the day I kept pondering on Jose story. Suddenly around 1:00 p.m. I came around the corner on the 2nd floor to observe Jose and Juan arguing. Juan is the floor overseer. With so much commotion going on and me not being able to understand the language barrier, I felt a heavy weight on my chest as I watched Jose pack up his bags and leave the program. I didn’t understand what was going on and why would he leave after being the program for so long. Over two nights I hand bonded with this gentleman and to see him leave crushed my spirit. Why was this happening I asked God? I locked eyes with my teammate Neal and asked him to join me in prayer for Jose. I couldn’t help but feel my gut – wrenching sobs that tore through my chest and my eyes filled to the brim with tears as I was praying for Jose. Where would he be staying the night at? Would he be back on the streets again? Would he be selling drugs? What about his children that he so passionately talked about? The questions kept coming to my mind.
As I laid in bed that night meditating on what happened, the Lord remind me what he asked me to do on the first night; “love them unconditionally.” I don’t know what will happen to Jose but one thing I know for sure is that God used me in such a way within those 2 days of Jose life. I can’t save him but I know God allowed us to cross paths so that I could understand the struggle of addicts. God has increased my faith by opening my eyes to see that I don’t have much time here in Medellin, Colombia and that living in missions is about living on missions everyday.
I end this by asking you, who has God put in your pathway to love on? Will you step out of comfort to speak life in them?
