Hey everyone!
This past week has been such an amazing time here in Colombia! A lot of the work that I’ve been doing this week has been mundane tasks. The ministry “Ciudad Refugio” (or “City of Refuge” for us gringos) is all about drug and alcohol rehabilitation. Companies hire out simple jobs to them, like packing boxes of Cumin, for the people in the rehabilitation program to do to teach responsibility and have a greater sense of what it’s like to support themselves when they start their new life. I’ve had the opportunity to do these simple tasks with the men in the program and with other people on the team. It’s been great to see the transformation that some of these men have gone through. Michael (the only other boy on the team) and I live on the same floor as them, so we get to spend time with them. We go play soccer with them a few days out of the week- and they kick our butts. We teach some of their daily Bible studies- which we aren’t told about until just a few hours before. We try to speak Spanglish with them- and they laugh. But overall, we get to build a relationship with them- and they grow. All of the guys here are serious about leaving their past behind them. This program here is one of the hardest to get into because they want people that are actually desiring to change their old life.
A week ago, I mentioned street 56 with all the homeless people. When we go out there, we had them flyers for the church and homeless shelter that’s run out of the ministry’s building. Some of the guys in the rehabilitation program have come out of the homeless shelter program that’s here. It’s so cool to watch the changes go down. Another thing that Michael and I do is work the homeless shelter at night. They have to get their bodies and bags searched for drugs and weapons before they come in (for obvious reasons)- and guess who gets to do that?! That’s right! Every night you can find me patting down homeless people and Michael going through all of their stuff!! It’s a great time.
This last week has been pretty mundane, but there’s beauty in that. Jesus lived in the mundane for 30 years of His life before He started His ministry. Wherever God has you, He wants to teach you something there. And don’t take the mundane for granted either. There’s lessons that He’s given you in your everyday life for you to take with you and teach other people. God brings life out of the everyday schedule. He wants to give you something new everyday. Keep your ears open to hear what He has to say. I have a similar schedule for most of my days here, but everyday something new happens. I can start my day thinking it’s a regular Saturday, but end my day sleeping in a small supply closet on homeless shelter mats being the chaperone for inner city kids wanting to go to church the next morning. Or even be at lunch and be told that I’m teaching a Bible study on a chapter in Proverbs in less than an hour! You truly never know what the Lord wants to give you until you listen to what He’s telling you. And you can find life when you start to obey that.
Lamentations 3:22-23 (NASB)
The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
