As Sam alluded to, I was asked to share the most memorable moment of the trip for me, which comes in the form of an uplifting and powerful story of the work of Christ. So the second night into our trip, I was down checking my email when I realized that someone was watching me over my shoulder. When I saw that it was the night watchman, his son, and his son's friend, I smiled and explained what I was doing. They were really nice guys, and we began talking about all different things like soccer, the US, our team, etc. They thought it was neat how I understood spanish and could communicate with them and answer all their questions. We did this nearly every night and it was really neat for all of us. One night, I was wearing a pair of Messiah shorts and they saw our crest. They saw the name of our school, but they did not undrstand what "as iron sharpens iron" meant. I explained that it was a bible verse in Proverbs and is the foundatuon for what we build our team relationships on. Luckily, there was a Spanish Bible there and I was able to point it out to them. To my surprise, the two younger boys said they were familiar with the verse and said they were believers when I asked. I then asked the older man if he was a believer in Christ as well. When he responded no, it caught me a but off-guard to see a CDUC employee who was not a proclaimed Christian. I asked him why not, with such a successful Christian organization right here at his disposal, why did he not believe? He replied with this..."take a look at the city. Look how dark and crime-ridden it is and look at how little we have. There is no God here watching over us or else things would be different."
This really struck me and God kind of took over at this point. I said to him that I think you are missing the whole point of Christianity and what Christ is calling us for. Our identity is not found in what we have or our surroundings, but rather through Christ and the promise he offers through it all. He is the light in this present darkness and can give you a sense of purpose and all the hope you ever need in this world.
This seemed to really move him and he was able to realize that there might be some truth to this. This simple retelling of the story definitely does not do God's impact in this situation justice, but it was so powerful to see God work at his heart. Throughout the remaining part of the week, I continued to have nightly conversations with them, sharing our favorite verses and speaking about the struggles of being a Christian in a place like Medellin and how to overcome them. It was so uplifting to see the man join in the conversations and even read verses and pray with us.
Through this, what was really shown to me was that although the people of Colombia do not have much, they are desperate for something to believe in to give them hope despite current conditions. It felt great to know that we were able to bring them joy, even if it was in the form of a simple 2 hour practice, our shared joy and testimonies are something they were able to really feel and hold onto, giving them hope where it is often unable to be found.
