*Pictures at the end*
A strange feeling overtook me when I stepped out of the bus station and into our taxi in Medellín, Colombia. What was this? I honestly didn’t know what to think about Colombia and I hadn’t done a lot of research on the country’s history. So I started praying about it. Soon enough, my answer came: a darkness that consisted of intense sexuality and drug abuse plagued this country. Based on some things in my past, I believed this feeling was a warning sign to me. I was headed into the darkest part of my past to shed some light! You see, I struggled with addiction in my past and it’s something that hits really close to home. “I’m definitely here for a reason” I thought to myself, “But, I’m not looking forward to the battle that’s about to incur.” What I didn’t know at the time was that Colombia has the largest population in the world of internally displaced persons. The country’s 50-plus year civil war and ongoing clashes between military, leftist guerrilla groups and right-wing paramilitary groups leave hundreds of thousands annually fleeing their homes and migrating to urban centers in search of shelter and economic opportunity. Few find work, those with the courage to register themselves receive government support, and others fall victim to gang and drug activity on the city streets. And Colombia is number 1 in the world in cocaine production and that leads to broken homes, addiction, violence, hunger, and limited access to education.
As we pulled up to our host building for this month, I had some butterflies in my stomach because of the unknown. But that feeling pushed me forward even more! Their sign read, “Ciudad Refugio.” The City of Refuge; what a fitting name for this amazing place! Located in Medellín, Colombia, it is truly a Beacon of Light; a symbol of Hope, Restoration, and Reconciliation. They offer a home to the homeless and rehabilitation for those caught in drug and alcohol addiction. But most importantly, they offer connection and a sense of belonging through a family.
I had barely gotten a chance to set my bags down, it seemed, before a man named Alejandro told me his story. He held nothing back and it was very vulnerable. His story is one of hope and restoration from rock bottom. It’s told beautifully by my teammate Taylor in his last blog post. Check it out here:
https://taylorflickinger.theworldrace.org/post/children-of-god-series-1-alejandro
Alejandro is an amazing man. We connected on a lot of things and started a friendship that I believe will last the rest of our lives. One of the things we were able to connect on was guitar. When he learned that I knew guitar, he grabbed an old, beaten up, out-of-tune, classical guitar from between two of the lockers in his room. He’s learning how to play acoustic guitar and the excitement he had to show me what he was learning rekindled the love I have for guitar. I got to show him a few things I’ve learned over the years of playing. But even after playing on this guitar for just a few minutes, I was ready to move on. “It must be so hard,” I thought to myself, “to be motivated to learn on a guitar like this one.” So I pulled my Yamaha FX335 (my first guitar which I considered quite basic) out of its case and handed it to him. It’s hard to put into words the light that was gleaming from his face as he played!
That moment reminded me of how instrumental of a tool guitar has been in my recovery (pun intended). I wanted so badly to bless him with a better guitar. But there was a big hurdle with that: men in the program cannot receive any gifts because it might set them back in their recovery. They would be tempted to take that gift and use it to relapse. Understandable. Then the thought popped into my head, “This old, beaten up, out-of-tune, classical guitar doesn’t belong to Alejandro. It belongs to the program to be used as a tool. What if I could buy the program a new guitar that any of the men could use?” That’s it! I asked the staff and they were all for the idea!
There was only one problem. I didn’t have the money to buy him a new guitar. But if this thought was from God, I knew He would provide! Then He reminded me that my guitar, which brought so much happiness to Alejandro, was only around $300. If I could find only 30 people who were willing to give $10 each, we would have enough to buy a decent guitar.
So I’m reaching out to anyone who reads this blog and asking if you’d be willing to give just $10 to help support this cause. If so, you can message me personally and I’ll send you the steps to giving.
