after we landed safely in cartagena, the customs officer skeptically looked at me as he read the address i was headed to. he explained to us that gringas [aka white people] shouldn’t go to the san francisco barrio [neighborhood]. the risk was too high… we were basically asking to get robbed. to sum it up: our safety was in extreme danger and he told us not to go. it wasn’t long before my flesh began wary. i thought “what in the world was aim/the world race thinking sending us to our deaths?” bye.
after we got through customs, we dragged… okay, i drug, our bags through the airport while the rest of the squad was able to actually carry their backpacks [i’m working on downsizing, i promise]. we put our bags in a big pile as we waited for alex rocha, our ministry host for the month. it wasn’t long before we met caroline, one of alex’s daughters, who works for jetblue. we halfway joked about what the customs officer told us. she said it wasn’t the safest area but her family made sure to make special precautions with us since we were perfect targets.
just to give a preface: the government labels neighborhoods in cartagena one [extremely dangerous] through six [safe]. san francisco, the neighborhood that we are living in is a one.
alex arrived, helped coordinate some of the team transportation to medellin and then took us to his home – the slums. we took his car and a taxi followed close behind it. it was a huge culture shock, feeling like you were going to die every second in the car. i thought californians were crazy drivers… so false. come to colombia.
our first day of ministry entailed teaching english classes in the morning and then playing baseball in the afternoon in the next barrio. alex explained that there is a lot of gang violence between his barrio, san francisco, and the barrio east of his home. he wanted to unite his community, so he plays baseball in the next barrio.
they told us not to go. as the six of us (as well as alex and his son [nay nay]) walked to the other side of the slums with a bat in hand and baseball gloves, we were surrounded by six police officers on motorcycles yelling in spanish at us. they told us not to go. six white girls in the slums of the san francisco barrio was dangerous. they told us we were going to get robbed. alex told the police they were fine. we were with him and we were going to be ok. we paraded through the barrio (neighborhood) gathering kids along the way. we definitely were the center of attention.
each day we go to the field, the same police officers drive by while we play with the kids. we are definitely going against cultural norms but for building the kingdom, that needs to happen.
after spending two weeks here in san francisco, i have learned not to fear. i feel God’s presence with us each day and when six gringas walk through the neighborhood with children yelling our names at all times, it feels right.
if you would’ve asked me a year ago that i would be living in the slums of cartagena, Colombia, and enjoying it, i probably would’ve laughed. God knows what we need when we need it. learning how to trust in His plan because His plan is a whole lot better than my own.
peace & blessings.
sj
side note: during the first week, i made a quick film of what life in cartagena was like. it’s been a challenging month not being able to take my camera out but that is life so enjoy my iphone video. cheers.
