Oh, How He Loves Us!

God, you are beyond amazing. I had thought that my last post was the last post for 2011 but I can't not blog about what God did today. Today, Luchin and I had stuff to do and we were on our way to catch the bus when my cell rang. In the depths of my cavernous purse. The first miracle was that I heard it ring and answered on time. I ususally never hear my cell phone ring in my purse. Jose Luis, one of the youth from the streets was on the other end in a panic. He had just been kicked out of his girlfriend's family's home and now had nowhere to go. Luchin and I delayed our plans and went to meet him in Ciudad. He told us parts of why he was kicked out but it was no surprise really, as his breath reeked of alcohol from the night before and he regularly smoked pasta and snorted coke. We fed him, made him drink jasmine tea to sober him up a bit and just listened to him and counselled him. He wanted to change, he said. We counselled him, spoke to him at length about real change and not just temporary change just to get a bed for a night. We sat there wondering where we could have him stay. 


Luchin had to go get something checked at the hospital so we decided we were just going to take Jose Luis with us until we could figure out where he could stay and he seemed to like the idea as his face lit up when I said, "well, you're coming with us and hanging out with us until we find a place for you". Enroute, he mentioned that his wrist hurt a bit as he had fallen about 3 days ago. Since we were headed to the hospital anyways, we figured he might as well get it looked at. We spent the entire day at 2 hospitals. The first one to get xrays done and to have the doctor do a diagnosis. Jose Luis had been drunk when he fell because he couldn't remember and had been high and drunk for most of the time so it hadn't hurt too much. However, as the day wore on and he being with us, and having had no access to drink and drugs started to feel the pain on his wrist  as the effects of the drugs and alcohol from the night before wore off. It became evident why the pain was unbearable when the xray showed that his wrist was broken in 2 areas. We then got sent to a state hospital where they set his wrist. I was just in awe at the fact that we were going to the hospital anyway and he mentioned that his wrist was hurting and so we got it  checked. I shudder to think that if he never called today, that the probability of his wrist getting set would be zero and the chances of him getting it infected and not being able to use his wrist properly would have been really great. God was definitely taking care of him. That took till about 6:30pm.


 Our next problem was finding him a place to stay. Luchin had called several rehab centres but they cost more than an arm and a leg per month and we could not register him as we are not family. The only one we know of that is Christian and does not charge was not answering our calls. Since Jose Luis does not have a DNI (ID), we could not get him a hotel room either and since he was fresh off the streets, we did not feel at peace to have him stay with us at our home. I kept praying that God would give us a solution, that He who takes care of sparrows would find a place for one that He loves to have a place to stay. At that moment, we were close to the church of a friend of ours, Pastor Juan and I knew that every Tuesday night his church has a prayer meeting. Luchin and I figured that at the very least we could take Jose Luis there and have others pray for him and a solution and maybe Pastor Juan would have a connection somewhere. We went in and after the meeting ended and we had talked to Ps Juan about the dilemma, he mentioned that his mother-in-law would most likely be able to help as she is very much in the know regarding rehab centres as she has had to deal with them personally. Another miracle? She was there at the meeting when she normally does not go and she told us later that she wasn't planning on going tonight but felt to go. We followed her home and she gave us some phone numbers and connected us to several people on the way, all of whom laid hands and prayed for Jose Luis. We kept telling him that God was showing him how much He loves him to create all  those connections so that he could go where God wants him to go and be safe. We finally got to Victory Centre, the Christian rehab centre that does not charge, but only asks for a minimal donation, at 10:45pm and finally registered Jose Luis at 11pm and left him in the capable hands of the people in charge. It is a centre that does not believe in capturing people against their wills to be rehabilitated and totally uses only the Word of God as their primary and only method of therapy. 


Luchin and I felt at peace and promised to come back for Jose Luis on the 3rd to take him in for the check up on his wrist. He was scared we were going to leave him there and never see him again. I told him no, we would be checking up on him and making sure he was all right and we would visit him once a month according to the rules of the centre. At 11:30pm tonight, Luchin and I headed for home, totally in awe of how God had put everything in place to bring about this miracle in the life of one he loves so much. Please pray for Jose Luis Arcos Tito that he will perservere and allow God to work a real change in his way of thinking and in his heart. 

Looking Back To Look Forward

Ahhhh yes, the close of a year and the beginning of another. 2011 has been a year of many miracles in my own personal life and also in the life of Siembra S.O.W., the ministry the Lord has called me to start up here in Lima. This blog was started with the intention of it becoming a personal blog but, because my life is so intertwined with that of the ministry as well as the fact that I'm not Shakira or Kim Kardashian  whose lives are so full and interesting, it ended up becoming a ministry blog with splatters of my personal life sprinkled into it. 


Siembra started out the year thinking it was headed in one direction, and even though I felt uncomfortable with some of the projects we were going to embark on, I kept going instead of stopping to take stock and see if that was what the Lord truly wanted because it was already on the agenda. And despite all that I was doing, the Lord kept shutting doors. I had moved to Jose Galvez, this area on the southern outskirts of Lima which to me might as well have been the ends of the earth, to live in a house that was seemingly perfect for the ministry and myself. It was, at the beginning and God brought the first Siembra team together during this time. I was starting to feel that perhaps the area was not the best area for the type of ministry we were doing when we couldn't find any homeless drugged out youth. I believe I was the only person in all of Lima at this time constantly begging people if they knew where the street youth lived and hung out. Most people ran the other way, I wanted to run to them. People thought I was nuts. Helpful neighbours introduced us to drug addicted gang members but they had homes and jobs. Not the ones we were looking for. The Home Refuge part of the ministry never flourished despite the fact that the Lord kept downloading ideas on how to sustain a Home as well as to teach the youth practical ways on how to manage small businesses. Yet, everything except the street ministry was a flop. Later, as I prayed into it and surrendered the idea over to the Lord, I realized that He never asked me to do the Home Refuge. He asked me, however, to do a Drop In Centre. The idea of the Home Refuge was originally that of a friend and I had taken on that idea believing it to be the logical way to do things as things are done here. At this point, things started to close drastically in terms of having a home refuge for street youth. The house became a hazard when water started pouring in through electrical outlets and the main box during the rainy season. The landlords started becoming odder. I made the decision to leave the house and felt like a total failure. The saving grace for me was that the street ministry was going well. 


I learned many things, however, when I lived in Jose Galvez. I learned how to use praise as a weapon against stuff that made the hair rose on the back of my neck at nights in the house. I learned how to not be afraid because the Word was in me and it came out through me as a promise for me and a weapon against the enemy. I learned that if God is for me, no one can come against me. I also made good friends with the people around me and saw what community was all about. The day I left for good, the lady across from the house who runs the little store received Jesus into her heart. My being in Jose Galvez was not in vain. God had used me to sow the Word there even though my original intention of being there never materialized. I knew in my spirit that the Lord wanted a drop in centre in Ciudad itself but with the failure of the Home Refuge fresh in my mind, I was reluctant to jump into it. That was 6 months ago. 


Today, I know the Drop In Centre is an idea from God. Confirmations come when I see the need for discipling and a quiet place to sit with the guys or women to listen to them; when they ask me where there is a place that they can come to talk to us; when I watch a movie that I know will touch their hearts and I have no place to be able to play it or to have a place to hold events or workshops for them. I have submitted my plans to my lawyer so he can draft up a good write up to present to the mayor of the district so that the Municipality will know what we are about. Yet, there is a voice in me that goes, "What if, you rent a place, put in money and time and no one comes? Isn't that a waste of money?" And then I also hear, "Obey me and you will see what I will do. Your job is just to obey me." So, I push on and up because I know whose voice I will listen to and obey. I have made mistakes but I will not let those mistakes keep me oppressed to the ground. I will push on and push up and keep going and rise up so that I can keep running the race that is set before me. I will trust that the Lord will lead me and keep shutting doors and opening doors that need to be opened and shut. It has been 6 months and I keep checking to see if He truly wants a Drop In Centre and the sense I get is that it is needed and so step by step I will take with the Lord holding my hand. He leads and I follow. 

So as one door shuts, I look forward to other open doors and windows for the year to come. We've seen guys come to the Lord, kick their habits because they want to, heard women say they need to change their lives when they thought we weren't listening, guys out of the blue telling us they want to change and accept the Lord. Sometimes, we take one step forward in victory and it seems like two steps back after. But all I know is that we are just to obey the Lord and follow His plans and designs for these diamonds in the rough. The Lord will touch the hearts of those He came to die for. I can't wait for the day when I will see them rise above their addictions to finish school, have a job and serve the Lord with all their hearts, minds and strength.