I have really struggled trying to put my experience here in Colombia down on paper, so first I want to apologize that I’m just now posting! I have decided to just share a few things that we have been doing here in Colombia and I’m praying that by limiting my experience to words, nothing would be lost in translation.
We are working with an organization called City Of Refuge. Without having any sort of mission work experience, I don’t have much to compare, but so far I have been in a continual state of appreciation for all the ministry opportunities this organization has provided. This organization has provided a place for over 13,000 homeless people to sleep throughout the years, designed a program for those with addictions to find freedom not just from drugs but in Jesus, takes the gospel weekly to parks full of addiction, witchcraft, and prostitution, created a VBS that brings in over a hundred kids a week, focuses on the surrounding community but also expands further out, and is completely self sufficient. The organization doesn’t borrow a dime from the US or reliant on any sort of government assistance.
Since being here I have witnessed multiple people ask the Lord to be the King of their heart for the first time, some that we stumbled upon randomly and others that the Lord specifically told us to seek out. I have witnessed homeless people with no where else to go, crowd to enter the room below the one I’m sleeping in, being given the opportunity to pray prayers over them throughout the night that their life would supernaturally change and they would come to know Jesus. I have walked up hills and down dark streets, praying for revival and restoration to flood the atmosphere. I have attended a Spanish speaking church, watching people with nothing worshipping with everything, and feeling the Holy Spirit so deeply despite not understanding a word being sang or spoken. I have watched kids playing around shattered shards of glass, surrounded by drugs being smoked by people so high they are speaking to the walls, and some how I’m able to still believe in the goodness of the Lord. I have walked up and down streets for hours, some were spent in solid prayer and others were spent knocking door to door inviting anyone that would listen to church. I have been thrown into so many chances to not just share Jesus with people who may have never heard his name before, but also simultaneously get to know the heart of a savior who I’ve spent the past 24 years of my life remaining in a surface level relationship with. There are so many specific moments I would love to put down into words to share with all of you, but out of respect for your time and my inability to remember every detail, ill just share one that is fresh in my mind.
The first week we were here we participated in Agua Panela. This is something the organization does after church service on Wednesday, where they go to an area with around 200 drug addicts within a 1 block radius and pass out water and bread. Since they have some extra hands this month, we continued this at a park on Thursday nights as well. My first night out, we went to a park that is crowded with people too drunk to stand and too high to function. During the walk there, I started praying and couldn’t stop until we arrived. I knew what I was about to see, was a presence of evil I had never encountered before. While in prayer, I just kept saying, “Lord help me see your children. I don’t want to see addiction, darkness, or evil. I just want to see these people as your children.” I couldn’t say anything else. I turned to my friend and said, “all I can pray for, are to see Gods children.” I assumed this was the Lord’s way of taking my earthly view and filtering it through His kingdom lens. His way of helping me see hope in the midst of the darkest night id ever walked through. Helping me see His kids instead of the results of a broken world. Once we got to the park, the leaders asked what group wanted to walk to the street of sin and for some reason my hand shot up. As we were walking down this street, I saw transgender prostitutes lined up all along the sidewalks, homeless people digging through the knee deep trash piles, people huddled up in groups smoking crack, and half dressed girls drinking as they walked in the middle of the road. Never once was I scared, but I was starkly aware of the thick darkness that kept pushing back the further we walked. We prayed over several prostitutes, stopped and talked with the homeless, and got to know a few younger boys that agreed to come to church that following Sunday. I felt this pull to keep walking further though, there was something the Lord still wanted to do. That’s when we turned down a different street and I saw them. Gods children. Five little boys playing on broken glass, with a broken bike, surrounded by broken people. I asked the lady near them if I can pray over her and she refused so I asked if I could at least pray over the children and she agreed. As I started to speak, all five of those heads looked up at me. They stopped playing. I had their undivided attention. Maybe it was just because I was speaking English, but regardless, I was able to speak directly into their eyes. When the prayer was over, we loved and hugged on the kids and then made our way back to our meeting point with the rest of the group. I cried as we turned to walk away, realizing the Lord told me to pray for His children, those children. He saw them, sought them out, and let me join in.
I can’t explain how it felt to walk in the peace of the Lord while witnessing such destruction. I kept questioning why I wasn’t scared. I saw men dressed up as woman, lined up on the streets ready to sell themselves to the next car that pulled up. I saw grown men laying in piles of trash, waking up and not knowing where they were but somehow managed to stay awake long enough to smoke another bowl. I saw women, hardly dressed, stumbling down the street. I saw children, there, in the midst of all that. How was I not scared? How was I not falling apart? That’s when I started to realize the power of the light. When we choose to follow Jesus, we are consumed with a light that the darkness can’t deny. Our small light, lit up the streets that night and I’m choosing to believe it chipped away at the strongholds over those souls. I believe seeds were planted that Jesus will continue to water. I walked away from this night with a better understanding of peace and the courage it will manifest when we throw ourselves into “over our head” situations. I felt the presence of the Lord overcome the resistance of witchcraft. And I let the Lord completely humble me, by showing me how little I can do apart from Him. This world has some dark corners, I’m thankful for the one He has let me shine His brighter light in.
