Hopefully you caught yesterday’s blog and can keep a mental
picture of the Los Pinos community in your head – it will help you understand
many of the stories I’ll be presenting today. Today I want to share the first
main focus God has placed on my heart, which is both the most vague sounding
and the hardest to publicize, but the most basic in my role as missionary. I’ll
do my best to explain, while changing some names to protect the privacy and
dignity of those I love. ((Poverty does
not give me permission to share someone’s hardest and darkest moments with the
world, that’s for sure. ))
This aspect of ministry I’m calling Spiritual and Emotional
Support.
If you still have that image in your head of Los Pinos that
I painted yesterday, you can imagine that hopelessness, desperation, and
depression are prevalent. Almost all of the families I visit have absolutely
heartbreaking stories, hardship that I could not even imagine and certainly
have not had to endure. The scars are not erasable, the problems are not
“fixable” by any human means, but God has sent me in to not only offer love and
compassion, but to speak God’s truth into the situations. To remind and
encourage those who do know His promises, and to introduce God to those who do
not yet have a relationship with Him. Below are three examples.
*Sarah is a single mom of seven who lost her oldest to gang
violence right around the time she also lost her father and uncle – her entire
support system. She never received an
education, so she works odd jobs when she can to keep her six children all
under 14 years old fed, clothed, and in school. However, when there is no work,
or most recently when she was unable to get out of bed for three days straight
because of the disastrous chikungunya virus affecting so many here, there is no
food. Saying she is a strong woman would
be a gross understatement. She knows the Lord, but sometimes her faith wavers
and she feels like she is being crushed by her circumstances. The opportunity
to pray with and for her is an honor, to encourage her and remind her of God’s
promises and his faithfulness, and then being open to the Lord opening doors and opportunities for her to better provide for her family.
Another young woman, *Claire, had her life on track. She was
one year away from graduating high school when an unexpected pregnancy changed
all of that. She dropped out, had her baby, and has had to accustom herself to
living with her drug addicted, occasionally abusive boyfriend who doesn’t allow
her the chance to continue her studies or even leave the house much. Although
it’s certainly not what I had dreamed for her, supporting Claire means
providing her transportation as she has to go downtown to file abuse charges
against her boyfriend, get custody of her daughter, provide her a safe place to
sleep if she ever feels physically threatened, and pray with her, even if she
doesn’t believe much in the power behind it. Interestingly enough, one of the
most recent times I saw her, a very difficult day for her, she asked me for
prayer for the first time, instead of me asking the chance to pray over her.
She knows I will stick by her and love her regardless, and I continue to pray
that she believes that there is One who loves her infinitely more than I can
and who can truly change, redeem and transform her life.
Lastly, there’s *Martha. Doctors say it is a miracle she is
still alive due to her heart valve problem.
She is unable to do any strenuous work, and even leaving her home and
scaling the mountain that is Los Pinos is almost impossible. She is unable to
work, but still must support her two children at home. She knows the Lord, but
she doesn’t understand why He hasn’t healed her yet. She struggles almost daily
with a panic that death is right around the corner, a panic that she expresses
to her children, who then are also expected to carry this worry that is not theirs
to carry. There is a lot of family strife with her many sisters all due to
infidelities from many years ago, causing a huge lack of support a struggling
woman needs. Then she must also try to support her children in their education,
currently sponsored in 2nd grade and the first year of the university,
even though she herself never even learned to read. She struggles, but the
truth is that God has stood by her family, He has kept her alive, and He has
provided for her children. Although some
of her family has abandoned her, she is not alone. There is a God that loves
her, knows her pain, and has a plan for her and her family. I believe with full
confidence that God is in control of her body, and I will not stop “knocking on
the door” (Luke 11:8-9) and praying for complete and total healing.
These are just three of many stories. There are lots more
stories of sickness and disease, domestic abuse situations, burntout moms and
neglected children, a view of God as a Divine Rule-Maker and Punisher, children
lost to violence or drugs, etc.
I put this first because as a missionary, I am most
effective when I have the truth of the Word of God and prayer. Period. Further
than this, God can and many times does call me to intervene at a physical
level. However, the battle that really matters is a spiritual one. God’s power
is what makes changes. Prayer is the most powerful thing I have. Speaking truth
and Jesus’ name makes the demons flee – it changes the atmosphere.
So this is my ministry, first and foremost. Everything else
I do stems from meeting families in their homes and ministering in ways that go
way deeper than the physical. Once I get to know a family, God then may call me
to intervene and be His hands and feet to bring into their lives blessings He
has for them.
Tomorrow, I’ll share the first major way He has called me to
do that – through education.
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