Medellin was the happiest month of the race for me. Straight up was living my best life at Ciudad Refugio and loved the way the presence of God was so evident throughout the month. I haven’t written as much as I would like about my time in Colombia because I have such large emotions surrounding it that it feels overwhelming. I just really really love Colombia, love Medellin, love Ciudad Refugio, love all the people I got to meet there.
I could list all the things I love about it, but it still wouldn’t convey all I want to convey because to truly grasp how special it is, you have to be there. Still, I do want to share how this month impacted my life, so I will do so through the story of a boy I met in the Bronx and how God works all things together for good.
The Bronx is the nickname given to the worst street for drug activity around Medellin. Every week Ciudad Refugio gives out sugar water, bread, and hope there as people walk around and pray with the homeless, the addicted, the prostituted, the abused, and all the other people that are often overlooked or given up on. The street took me aback when we first arrived, but there is a peace that is settled so strongly over that place. God has already won against addiction, God has already won against hopelessness, and He DEEPLY loves every person on that street. That love is tangible as you go down the street and get to talk with people. The foundation starts their Wednesday nights in worship as a church, then invites the whole church to go down to the Bronx and be the hands and feet of Christ. They know the names and the stories of those in the Bronx. They follow up, they care, and they are constantly reminding them that the foundation exists to support them whenever they should choose that they want freedom and a community to lean on. I love everything about the way this ministry cares for those in the Bronx. It’s honestly a great privilege to come alongside them and have the opportunity to talk with these people that God is pursuing.
Our first morning in the Bronx, we were walking down the street, handing fliers to those who wanted information about the Foundation and searching for who God would want us to talk to. I saw a boy a ways off from the main hub of activity. He was sitting on the sidewalk, coming down from a high, with no one around him. We went up to talk to him, and he did not want to talk. Our group moved on to a man that was right next to him, and I asked the boy if I could sit with him. He was fine with that and started to talk to me about his day and what he thought about us being there. Unfortunately, my spanish is good enough to get into conversations, but not good enough to actually understand everything someone is saying. I told him we’d be around and that God loved him, and tried to piece together what He had said as we walked back to the truck.
We went to a different church for a week, and the following week returned to serve with the foundation. I was so excited to see the boy. We had made little cards to give to the people in the Bronx because they rarely ever receive something that has no strings attached, or is just for their enjoyment and to make them smile. I was praying over who I was supposed to give the one I had to, and I heard the Lord say to the boy. When I saw him, he was in the same spot as usual. I approached him slowly telling him that I had something for him. He was incredibly high and not at all happy to have someone coming up to him. I put the letter by his feet as he started getting aggressive and continued on with my group. Then I started tearing up.
The foundation is a place where several teenagers who come from dangerous neighborhoods or bad family situations live. These teenagers are incredible and each have such unique giftings that they all use to serve the Lord every day as they work in the foundation. One of the teenagers became my friend pretty early on and is truly like my Colombian little brother. He worked with us, evangelized with us, and him and another boy who lives there are living testaments to the goodness of God and felt like family. Being in the Bronx with them was incredibly sweet. Seeing the boy in the Bronx compared to them was incredibly heartbreaking. They’re all close to the same age, but he is living a very different life from them.
I started tearing up and one of those boys from the foundation immediately was there looking out for me and being so kind. I was teary because this boy from the Bronx had no one that even resembles a family around him. Whenever I went to talk to him the people near him always looked at me like I was crazy to approach him. The loneliness of the life he was living got to me and all the sudden it really bothered me that I didn’t know his name and no one from the foundation knew his name.
……….continued in pt 2.
Impactful, Addie. For them and for YOU!
waiting to hear the rest of the story in part 2 …… 🙂
okay but those photossssssss 🙂 love that place
I see how much love you have for these people who are unaware of all God has for them. I love your tender heart for that boy, that ONE person. God’s compassion for that boy was manifested through you. Whether you planted a seed for him or watered his spirit, God used you to be the witness of His love. God’s word never returns empty. It will bear fruit, even if you don’t see it this side of entering the kingdom fully.