Photo by Ellie Vaudt
Ministry in Medellin was truly a blessing that I will not take for granted. God worked in so many ways, in my life and those around me. I vividly remember first arriving at the Ciudad Refugio Foundation, exited to do ministry and eager to spread the word of God to others. We pulled up from the airport at about 11:30 pm on October 4th(a Saturday). We all pilled in to the garage with all of our bags, waiting for instruction on where to go. When we made it to our rooms it finally felt real, this is where we’d be staying for the next six weeks. The next day we went to church where we were introduced to everyone by the pastor, and on monday we got a tour of the foundation by Gracia, who runs the foundation. Tuesday we started ministry, which for me was recycling. Over the next six weeks, ministry would rotate between all of us, kitchen, homeless, English classes, and once a week on every Saturday would be youth and kids ministry. My very last day of ministry was kids and youth ministry, and it could not of worked out better, as kids ministry was something I was looking forward too since day one.
Over those six weeks, we would also grow closer with one another, having squad worship every Monday night, sabbath days and adventure days, selah days which were every Sunday and they were used to spend genuine time with each other and bond. We would also have lots of free time at night, which would provide more opportunity’s for us to hang out and stay up until 3 am, yes it happened a lot. Free time would include watching movies, playing a lot of card games, cooking and talking, and most recently, swing dancing.
During my time in Medellin, God showed up to me in a lot of ways. What I saw the most was Gods love, the agape love of Christ. Although ministry wasn’t what I expected it to be, it was important to remember that we were showing Gods love just by being there. Showing his love by doing exactly what is needed of us, even if that is six hours of recycling a day. We are showing love to the homeless, to the foundation and youth and kids, and the amount of love we received back is amazing, getting three meals a day prepared by a very sweet and loving kitchen crew. God showed me that showing his love doesn’t have to just be telling people about his love, but being there for people, growing and building relationships with people, whether with four year old kids, or the homeless who are struggling to get off the streets.
We are headed into debrief week now, an I am currently in Guatape, a very pretty, colorful, touristy town. Debrief is a week to reflect and rest and spend time with each other. A few weeks ago, we got the news that this was going to be our only all squad country, so having so much free time during ministry was actually such a blessing. Ministry being over doesn’t feel real. The time flew by so quickly and saying goodbye wasn’t easy for most of us. As hard as it was to leave, it is a good reminder that this is only the beginning of this mission. Three more country’s, six more months, and countless more people to love on are ahead. I am very exited for what God has in store for everyone on the squad, and those whom we will be ministering too.
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