Colombia 9-2013 Day 4
Today was simply WOW as they all have been. We headed back to Soacha to minister to 200 orphans, street children, and otherwise vulnerable children at a Christian hot lunch room down in the city of Soacha with our friends from God in the Streets, a Christian hip hop and street evangelism ministry in which our dear brother Orlando and our new friend Pastor Jordan partner together. We are very excited about partnering together with them in the future to make an impact for Christ on the city of Soacha. The neighborhood we visited today is so bad that we had to have a police escort to get in there. It is controlled by drug gangs and poverty is rampant.
First, we visited some of the families that are served by the hot lunch room. As we walked into Johanna’s very small house where she, her husband, and four small children live she began to cry as she told us how difficult their life is there. I asked her if we could pray for her and she quickly stepped toward us and said, “yes please.” The team gathered around her holding hands and I prayed for God to protect them, give them wisdom and guidance, but most of all to be near them and give them His presence. I asked Him to minister to their needs but primarily the need of their souls. They thanked us and thanked us. After I prayed her 6 year old little boy Miguel asked if he could pray. We said, “PLEASE.” Miguel folded his little hands and thanked God for the day, for us, for our visit, for his family, and asked for God’s blessings. It was the cutest, sweetest prayer I think I ever heard. Then his 11 year old big sister, Luisa, asked if she could pray and she too pray a sweet prayer of gratitude to God and asked Him to bless us for visiting her.
We visited some other families and then headed back to the lunch room to greet and minister to the 200 children that come there every day for what is for many their only hot meal of the day. I was blessed to get the chance to visit with Marleny, the founder of this amazing ministry. She told me all about her dreams and goals and the history of her work there. She was so proud to tell me that when she started there the malnutrition of children under age five was 80% in that neighborhood and now after a few years it is down to 10%. But the excitement among her donors has waned and her funding is continually shrinking. It costs $1.50 per day to feed a child and she is only receiving enough support to feed 120 children but over 200 come every day so she finds ways to fee two children for $1.50.
Soon the children began to pour in and the girls on the team broke out the crayons, chalk, paper, and coloring books and it was on. Luke and Deidra took frisbees and soccer balls out to the field in front of the lunch room and the fun ensued there as well. After everyone had eaten, the God in the Streets band started up and sang and shared the gospel with the children and adults from the neighborhood who had filled the place up completely. After several songs, Pastor Timothy got up and shared his testimony. It was very powerful. It was a beautiful day all around with a ton of fun and hope in Jesus shared with all.
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