Today was another glorious day in which I am humbled and blessed to be working with some of God’s choice warriors. The 10 “twenty somethings” we are leading on this trip give me hope for the future of God’s work. I am so honored to be laboring with them in the vineyard.
I don’t have any photos to share today because in the 2 places that we went today the children are in protection as either victims of crimes or in a sort of witness protection because guerrilla hit squads are after them and so for their security we only took photos with some of the children this afternoon.
We headed out this morning to a to a house for teenage mothers ages 12-17. Many of them were raped and so are under the protection of the government. Some of them were trafficked, were street children, were abused by the boy friends of their mothers, and other reasons. All the young mothers and their babies were assembled and we each introduced ourselves and then one by one we shared a testimony. As each of us shared how we came to Jesus and what He means to us the Spirit began to move mightily in that place. Heyli would play the guitar and she and Heidy would sing some beautiful song in Spanish and then someone else would share. As they sang and shared tears ran down the face of some of the girls. I knew God was moving in their hearts. When my friend Hayley Marie shared it was so powerful that she broke down and had to leave. Others shared and then Deidra played the guitar and Amy, Luke, and I sang a worship song. Then it was time for me to share and I told how Jesus had grabbed ahold of my heart as a 16 year old boy and how I had been passionately pursuing Him ever since. I gave a very clear presentation of the gospel and asked the girls to bow their heads and I prayed for them to understand and to open their hearts to Jesus. When I finished praying, I was bombarded with girl after girl asking how she could receive Jesus and what was faith and what did they have to do to follow Jesus. It was amazing. Soon Heidy and Heyli were singing again and I stepped out of the room to make room for others. When I stepped out I said to Pastor Timothy, “That’s a room full of hungry eyes if I ever saw it.” Some of the girls followed me out of the room and Pastor Timothy, our awesome translator Oscar Useche, and I shared more with them and prayed with them. Some made decisions for Christ but not before grilling us with some very serious questions about sin, and the fear of God, and grace, and love. It was stunning. I saw before my eyes today God rescue some girls from shame, fear, and despair and usher them into His loving arms. Praise Him for being that kind of good God.
After sharing some gifts that we had brought for them we headed out to lunch. At lunch we met up with our friend Jair Montiel of the band Viraje and he spent the afternoon with us.
We headed over to Hogar De Paz (house of peace) where our friend Rafael Afanador takes in street children and clothes, feeds, and disciples them in the Lord. These children have seen and experienced horrible atrocities and they are getting the love and the message of Jesus here every day. While the team sang songs, played games, puzzles, drew, and colored with the children, Pastor Timothy and I and Oscar Useche spent a few hours with the director of the house brainstorming about future ministry ideas and opportunities. It was a blessed meeting.
We enjoyed hanging out at the hotel and then went to a nice dinner. When we came back we gathered around the breakfast table and began to share as a team what God was doing in our lives this week. It was a sweet and holy time with the Lord. As we went around the table we came to Heidy, our Colombian daughter, who has thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend this time with her Daddy and Big Brother, Luke. I hadn’t looked her way as the testimonies were being shared around the table until it came to her and then I realized that she was softly crying. As she started to share it wasn’t long before Luke and I were crying too. Heidy shared that she had been one of those orphans that we saw yesterday living in the shack on the side of the hill when she was 10 years old and even though she was living in those dire conditions she was always hoping and always dreaming. And then she said she came to the orphanage and there she met me and eventually our whole family and she learned what love is and she was so loved that she now has extra love to give to others and she told how she was able to share about the love of God with several children the last two days and that she loves this ministry and wants to always work in it with us. Words can’t express how beautiful it was what she said and her sweet little face all wet with tears. Oscar was crying just trying to translate.
Then we had a sweet time of prayer together and are now heading off to bed. God has been so good and we are just getting started. Thank you all for your prayers and support. God is doing a mighty work here.
