It’s Only Day 1!

January 14th was my team’s first full day of ministry in Medellin, Colombia. It has taken me a few days to write about it because there was so much to process from that day! It truly was the most amazing, yet heartbreaking, day I have ever experienced in my life up to this point.

Our day began at a radio station in Medellin. Monica, one of the members of the church we are staying at, is the host of Medellin Autentico, a Christian station, and asked us to stop by. My team and I were to read our testimonies and provide some insight into why we chose to be a follower of Christ. I just assumed we would be taping this, since we would have to have it translated, and that I would get multiple takes to get it right. Upon arriving in the studio, I learned that we were going to do it live. Giving our testimonies in English (one of my team members translated) on live radio broadcast across a Spanish speaking country was an amazing test of our ability to wing it. But by the power of the Holy Spirit, all 6 of us were able to speak wonderfully about our past experiences and why we decided to follow Jesus. I honestly couldn’t believe how well each one us did! After that, we got on a bus back to our ministry site. While on the bus, Monica wanted to make the bus an open forum for us to share our testimonies and sing worship songs. It was definitely not something I was comfortable with, but after seeing multiple people on the bus ask to pray with us about things they were going through, I got over myself and my own discomfort.

In the afternoon, the pastor we are staying with took us to one of his partner churches in a different neighborhood. Upon arriving there, my team met the sweetest little girl named Wendy. We learned that Wendy was 4 years old and that most of her days were spent wandering on the streets with her slightly older brother. Wendy’s mother left the family and her father is rarely home due to work, and so Wendy and her brother wander the streets since they are not old enough for school. Wendy loved playing with us and it was very clear that the attention and love that we were showing her was enough to make her day. However, when we left, Wendy ran off on her own again through the neighborhood.

After meeting with about 10 members of the partner church, my team and the church members began a prayer walk into a neighborhood that is the Colombian version of our American “projects”. In Colombia, there are defined “classes” of people 1-6 with 1 being the poorest areas and 6 being the wealthiest. The place we were was a 1 according to our pastor. As we rounded the corner into the area, I could see close to 30 kids or so playing at a playground and in the street without a single adult around. Our pastor said that the vast majority of the kids are from single parent homes and so they are left alone all day since they are on summer break and their parents are working. The moment we walked into sight the kids flocked to the “gringos” entering their neighborhood. We shared our testimonies and advice with them and they seemed to love every second of it. They had so many questions for us and it was really funny how curious they were about the Americans in their neighborhood! The 6 members of my team, 10 members of the church, and 30 or so children then joined hands, formed a circle, and prayed. There have been moments so far that have been too surreal for me, and holding hands with Colombian children and praying that they find their way out of the circumstances they were born into was definitely one. Just trying to help them see that there is hope, they are not defined by the situation they are in, they are loved, and they have worth was an important experience for me and I really hope it was for them too.

After we left the playground, we continued walking through the neighborhood. As we walked, I was able to see the exact size of some of the rooms in the projects. Most of the rooms looked like a big closet, which would be crowded if you lived by yourself let alone with a family. After we had walked through the neighborhood, we came to a park on a hill overlooking the projects. At first glance and with me being naive, it looked like a park where a bunch of teenagers and young adults hung out, but when I paid closer attention I could see that people were dealing and using drugs. All of the church members and my team went into the middle of the park and it wasn’t long before everyone at the park, 30 or so drug addicts, came over to see why we were in their park because, I found out later, not even Colombians dared to venture into the park usually. Our pastor had my team each gave our testimony on our past and how we had gotten to where we were, as more and more people from the park came into our circle. After we said our piece, each drug addict told us their name, when they first started using drugs, how long they had been using drugs, and what kind of drugs they had done. The vast majority started using drugs as teenagers and had been using for 6-10 years or so. However, there were 2 that told us they had begun using at the age of 9! 9 years old and they had started doing drugs! I don’t think I even knew what drugs were at that age, but it definitely made me appreciate how sheltered I was and have been! After each one of them had said their piece, the Colombian church members and the Colombian drug addicts all held hands, formed a circle, and prayed. In the mean time, my team stood in the middle and then we each went around the circle and put our hands on the shoulder of each drug addict as we prayed for each one individually. As I looked into the eyes of each user, I couldn’t help but notice how lifeless most of them looked. Also, when I prayed for each one individually, it was much harder to just classify them as drug addicts as I began look at them as a person and not just a problem. During our prayers, many of the users began crying and said how much they appreciated us coming to speak to them because they know they need help but nobody is willing to provide it. When we were done praying, we stuck around to answer any questions that they had. I can only hope that some of them will take what we said to heart and turn away from their current lives, but I can’t even imagine how hard that journey will be for them. I will never ever forget this experience in particular because the Holy Spirit was moving in that moment! The fact that 6 Americans could walk into a Colombian drug park without any fear whatsoever (granted I didn’t know what it was at first), and share the love of Jesus with 30-40 drug addicts is incredible and can only be attributed to the power of the Holy Spirit!

Overall, the first day of ministry truly had more of an impact on me than any other day in my life. Everything I could possibly write about the day will never do it justice, but people need to hear about the amazing things that can happen when God is in the middle of it! Even a few days after the fact it is still a struggle to wrap my head around some of the events that took place that day. I can only hope that the rest of the trip is as amazing and challenging as Day 1!