“The Search For Justine” starring…..

                     

Justine:  A Garifuna women about the age of 32.  She has thick dreads and a malnourished body.  Her left leg was wounded years ago and has never recovered.  She hops on one leg and uses a walker for stability.  This woman is a beggar.  She sits in the busiest street in Livingston making more money than some tour guides.  She makes money, buys drugs, and uses the rest on bread, beans and coffee.  Justine is in need of a savior.

Birdie:  Nickname, “The Devil.”   A tall lanky German with the need for adventure far away from home.   He has tan leather skin and a full bushy beard.  His ankles are home to about 12 different kinds of anklets.  When asking for directions to a church, his response “I don’t know where any churches are, but I could tell you where ever bar is in town.”   Birdie is need of a savior.

Little Old Lady:  She wears the traditional dress of Guatemala.  A very brittle lady with a cane by her side.  Her silver hair gleams her wisdom.  She prefers to sit because her legs get fatigued.  She is very old and knows the need for Jesus. 

“The Community Leader”:  The little old ladies grandson.  He knows everyone in Livingston.  “Mr. Popular.”  He is faithful to his role.  He takes us to our first contact “In the Search For Justine.”

Pastor Marcos and Family:  The main contact.  Pastor Marcos is a faithful man of God who knows Livingston.  He lives with his whole family down a rocky dirt path in front of his church.  Pastor Marcos, with the help of Birdie, lead us to Justine.

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So I emailed Ryan Stewart with the story and then he turned my email into a blog.  So I am taking his blog/my email to tell you about the adventure.  So the story goes like this.

Ryan Stewart’s Blog: 

I received an email from Tara Stephenson (the leader of team J.O.Y.) about their day of looking for Justine. And instead of paraphrasing it all and certainly botching key details, I’m just going to copy & paste most of her email to me about it:

Hey there,

  So ya totally found her.  We documented the whole day and took some video.  I can’t tell you how amazing it was to go on this journey not knowing what God was going to do. So expect a blog soon too.

 The day goes like this:

 So we start off to Livingston.  All we know is what you told me sooooooooo turn left before the big hill and walk down that road to a naz[arene] church.  We went and grabbed a bite to eat before and ran into a German named Birdie.  So then we went back down the hill, prayed for God’s guidance and went. 

 As we were walking down the road, Maithili  [part of team J.O.Y.] asked if we could stop and pray for a woman on the side of the road.  As we were praying, people were starting to gather.  One guy was the woman’s grandson who happened to be a leader in the community.  He knew everyone.  WE asked him if he knew of this naz church.  Of course he did.  He led us down the street to that little rocky path that goes down a hill and there it was.  The CHRUCH.  We were so excited.  I saw a man come out  “Are you Pastor Marcos”  and when he said yes, I about flipped.

 I knew if we could find him the puzzle would come together. 

 So Birdie—— we had ran into him again before we had prayed for that lady.   We were asking him about Justine and Pastor Marcos.  He knew nothing of them but as I started to explain Justine, it clicked.  He started to describe a lady that begs on the street every morning.  I really thought that it was possibly her, but by that time it was the afternoon.  

 So back to Marcos. We met his whole fam and mentioned your name.  The older boy got so excited.  He ran and got this orange piece of paper with your whole team drawn out.                                                                           
    
Pretty cool to see it knowing you guys were there.  So we set off to find Justine which they pronounced Christine.  So here we were walking back down the street with three Guatemalans and the team.  We walked back up the hill and who did we run into again, yep,  Birdie.  I had the pastor and Birdie compare notes and the girl Birdie was talking about was Justine.   Yesss!!! So excited at this point. I knew we were going to find her.  So Birdie hit the road with us.  Birdie was definitely needing Jesus, so Zach was able to minster to him on the way.

 We got to Justines house on the ocean and she looked rough.  Just like your picture.  She was on a mattress and her foot was wrapped.  We told her that God sent us.  We told her that you were the one who wanted us to find her.  She was confused at first but then it all clicked.  Her English was broken but we were still able to ask her questions.  We asked if we could pray over her.  We asked God for healing, for a peace and guidance.  a lot!!  Before we had started to pray, I could hear Birdie and Zach talking outside about her.  Birdie was mentioning her drug addictions and how much money she does make in the streets.  It made me pretty sad to sit there and see this broken child that just desperately needs Jesus and is stuck in this addiction.  Prayer was our only weapon for the battle going on within her.  More needs to come.

 She didn’t have any food for that night, so we went to a local hole and got some beans, bread, and water for her.  We told her it was from the Lord too.  We walked back and said goodbye to Birdie and then to Pastor Marcos.  We got his contact info to for future WR’s!

 Ryan, I have no doubt that God lead us to her.  I also know that he is still doing a work in her there.  I want to thank you for putting that request out there.  I learned so much about the Lord that day.  He showed himself to be quite alive.  He also showed me that He cares sooooo much for His lost sheep, like Justine.  Only he can give her wings to fly.  I believe one day he will.  I think there is still work to be done.  I hope that your faith is not lost but restored for her.  Know that the pastor was with us and hopefully will visit her in the streets.  She knows where to go for help to be healed, to be freed.  It is coming. 

 Thank you again.  I am right in the beginning [of the WR] and see how much I have to learn.  But the cool thing is understanding how big God is.  He took your team and led you to Justine and a year and half later took our small team of 5 and led us to her as well.  Ok God what are you doing?  Here we go!! Can’t wait to see God’s faithfulness come alive through stories like this one.  Be encouraged today.  Would love to hear back.

 Your hermana in Christo,

Tara

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So there it is.  God lead the way!  He always does.  I will leave you with a picture I took right in front of her house.  Esperanza.  It means hope.  I proclaim hope over that place.  God is drawing His people back to Him.  There is hope—there is esperanza for His people.  For Justine.