Week one in Medellín, Colombia. Oh. My. Goodness. Where do I begin?
I guess I could start with our travel day, ‘cause boy did I have to take up my cross! With two flights, one bus ride, two layovers, and going for over 24 hours with less than three hours of sleep, Maci was not feeling very Christ-like.
I am so thankful to serve a God who knows my needs and gives in to my self-centered wants (sometimes) because when we finally made it to our compound in the heart of Medellín (which I highly recommend checking out on google earth) I was blessed with the gift of uninterrupted sleep for 14 hours. This was the exact amount of sleep I had been telling people I would need in order to recover from travel day and it’s exactly what God gave me so can I get an AMEN?!
Anyways, we got half of the next day (Wednesday) for some R&R and to prepare to hit the ground running for the rest of the week: Wednesday night we had church and prayer walks (street evangelism); Thursday we were split up into several different ministry groups and went straight into ministry; Friday we were again split up but this time into just two different groups- one stayed at the compound for the night and the other traveled and stayed outside the city for the night; Saturday was more evangelism; Sunday was church and some rest; and Mondays and Tuesdays are decidedly our squad days off (praise God for two of them)
On Thursday night I was part of the small group that got to do the prayer walk to a park near our compound and it was a really heavy, eye-opening experience for me. There were homeless people, prostitutes, and people very obviously doing drugs. A couple squad mates and I, along with some leaders from the compound- none of whom spoke ANY English btw- started walking around and just speaking to and praying over people. There was a group of men who were very clearly intoxicated that we began talking to and only one man seemed truly interested in what we were saying. He came aside to speak to us and we prayed over him, both in English and in Spanish. And then he was repeating after one of our leaders to accept Christ and you could see the change in him as the Holy Spirit entered his heart; he was so moved he had to sit down, and he was crying and just saying thank you. We didn’t have a translator but I didn’t need one to know what was happening with this man.
Yesterday was our first day off/adventure day and I used it to go paragliding. I’m not typically a fan of heights or adrenaline-filled activities but I’m living my best life and I wanna do all the things, ya know? So I and 18 others loaded up on a bus and rode 45 minutes to fly off the side of a mountain. Right before we unloaded the bus we were listening to some music and one of Lauren Dagle’s songs came on (not sure what it’s called) but in it she says “breathe oh breath of God”. I didn’t really think anything of it in that moment.
I was one of the first ones to get to go, so I have to climb up around 780 steps to the take-off point (which is killer when you’re at a normal altitude but I really thought I was going to die before I even got to paraglide), strap myself to some random man I’m about to entrust my life with, take a deep breath, and fly. Now, all of this sounds extremely nerve wracking but I wasn’t nervous at all.
My pilot and I took off running and we were swept up in the air and off the side of the mountain in less than ten seconds. We were in the clouds, flying with the birds, anchored only to each other and a parachute. I have no words to try and describe this experience for you so I just suggest that you try it. But, being up there, 9,000 feet above sea level, where only birds can travel on the regular, I felt the breath of God. I felt His power, His majesty, His presence and His overwhelming peace. I felt physically close to Him. I have a new understanding of why the people of the Old Testament worshipped Him on high places.
I have been humbled in so many different ways in just one week and just saying it has been hard would be an understatement. But I wanted my World Race to change me and my heart completely and God has already started (be careful what you ask for, people) and for that I am so very thankful.
Thank you for reading my blog and supporting me! If you haven’t heard, I am now FULLY FUNDED! Thank you so much for being a part of that! If you still feel led to give or you want to be a part of my journey, several of my squad mates are still fundraising and any donation would be more than appreciated.
Maci <3
