Only His Favour

She is 14 and seems like a normal teenager. We said hi to her and she was nice and friendly, but then as the conversation unfolded, we realized who the lady with the nursing baby sitting next to her was. 


Ciudad de Dios is our turf. God has given it to us and we take it with every step and each one of us feels it. We feel a deep peace when we are there and there is no fear, but the absence of fear does not mean that we are ignorant of what goes on around us. Each time we go there, we step deeper into a world that is so dark and twisted, it makes the world we know seem so unreal. Each one of us knows that we are there only because we have been called and that the favour of God goes before us. This was definitely evident tonight. As we entered Ciudad, while we were still on the bus, we saw a young couple being robbed by three guys. They basically tossed the girl aside and knocked the guy down and got away with probably his cell phone and wallet. The girl landing down onto the sidewalk was what tipped me off that something was up. The couple were fine, shaken up, but fine. 


It seemed a usual night but we could not find any of the guys. We went to all the usual spots but not a one was anywhere to be seen. So we pulled out the big guns; huddled ourselves in a circle and prayed for God to bring them to us. Voila! we turned the corner and saw one and as two of us went over to talk to him, it seemed as if a veil was lifted and the others we had come to know suddenly appeared literally out of nowhere. Carlos was there, so was Oscar although he didn't seem to care to see us too much.  There were several newbies, like Daniel and Adrian and Luis. It was good to see Carlos and even though he was high on terokal, he was pleased to see us and wanted to know again when he could get himself interned in the house. Daniel is a 24 year old, trying to pass off as a 14 year old. I am still trying to figure out the reason for his lie. Adrian is a sweetie, having only been on the streets for 4 months. He smokes pasta and said he left home because he was bored. However, the Lord gave me words of knowledge about his past and it seemed that he has been carrying a huge guilt on his shoulders believing that something that happened with his younger brothers had been his fault. Some people had also accused him of being at fault for what had happened and believing that he was not wanted anymore at home, he left. But, his family still cares for him and loves him. I shared that with him as the Lord revealed that to me and he started tearing up. And when I asked him if that was true, he nodded.  We shared with him that God is the healer and that He can heal the pain in his heart and he does not have to smoke pasta to get rid of the pain and over and over again, even though I do not know what happened in his past, I just kept sensing to tell him that it was not his fault, that which happened. All I know is that God touched him on some level tonight and we just have to continue to pray for Adrian to be healed and set free. 


While we were talking to Adrian, a group of three older guys came up to us, kinda stoned, and one introduced himself as Abram, shook all of our hands, offered apologies for the conduct of the other guys, admonished the younger ones to behave and respect us, shook our hands again and said goodbye, crossed over the street and beat up and robbed a guy right in front of us without missing a beat. We just stared open mouthed. Nothing could explain the weirdness of what had just happened except that we have God's favour upon us and He has obviously gone before us and paved the way so that all those guys can see in us is Him. How do you explain any of that otherwise?


Tonight we realized that we are now really starting to see the really seamy side of things. So, who is that woman with the nursing baby? Well, she's  only just one the many "mamas" for the prostitutes and yes, that 14 year old girl, Andrea, is a prostitute. Every place that our feet step on is ours. And as we talk to and reach out to touch the "unloved" ones, we are declaring that they belong to God. With each step, each gesture, each word and prayer spoken in His love, each hug and each sandwich handed out, we are taking Ciudad for the King of Kings.