Today has been a very eventful day. A few weeks ago Siembra S.O.W. was blessed with some money and I have felt to get furniture for the refuge house with it like bunkbeds, mattresses, tables, stove/oven and possibly couches to begin with. I priced the bunkbeds first and they were a decent price but I hummed and hawed, not sure if I should get them. Then this week, I was introduced to Mercado Libre which is Peru's answer to Craigslist and I found 2 sets of bunk beds listed for about 60 soles less for each of them than what I had seen and they were of better quality wood and a larger size. After asking the vendor a few questions, I bought them unable to believe that they were still available. He came today with his wife, set up the bunkbeds in the dark (there isn't a light fixture to screw in a lightbulb in that particular room yet) while I used my cell phone as a flashlight. Then it turned out that the bed slats were a separate price altogether but they had failed to mention that in their listing so when he found out I didn't know about that, he waived it. I ended up paying an incredibly good price for beds of high quality wood with free installation and slats. The guy actually lost money on this transaction but he wanted to do it even though I asked him 3x if he was sure. God sure is blessing His ministry.
This is the picture of one of the bunkbed listing in Mercado Libre. This is not how the actual room is for the guys, it's not even the house. :-but it's the bed for sure!!!
Milagros and I went to Ciudad today with a friend of hers, Erika. The guys were in full workload. As we got off the bus, three guys beat up a guy to steal from him on the street. No one lifted a finger to help the victim and we didn't know the three guys who were doing the stealing. Oscar was there, but Oscar ignores us and only comes near us when he is hungry. he wasn't hungry tonight and wouldn't even look at Milagros when she talked to him. Carlos was there and we spoke to him and every time I tell him how much we care about him, he tears up, even though he was half high today. I told him that we'll keep trying to be in touch with him because as soon as the refuge house is ready, and he wants to get off the streets, he definitely has a place all ready for him. He teared up. Then gave us big hugs. Milagros and I will meet up with him on Thursday to take him out for lunch and to be able to speak with him personally and away from the streets. I can't wait.
The girls were non responsive today, staying and talking only within their tight circle. Aside from Carlos, there were no other guys out tonight, probably all working in some form or other. We saw a guy drive by in his car and about four girls selling themselves got into his car. The look he gave them was so lecherous, it made my skin crawl. Erika was wide eyed to everything that she was seeing and learning about and I wonder what she thought about it all. I didn't have the time to ask her tonight as we left Ciudad late and I had to catch my bus to get home.
Even though most of the time it seems like nothing's happening, God is working on the inside of people and even if all we rescue is Carlos, it's worth it all. Please keep praying for Carlos, Oscar, Luis Enrique and all of them. They need you to care, more than they know it.
Sometimes I am at odds at what I should do and what I do. Especially out on the streets. An older man got robbed last Saturday but did not get hurt in the process and while I did not see all of it, I caught the tail end of it. It is a fine line I walk, negotiating between doing what is right and keeping my mouth shut to gain the confidence of those I am called to serve. I could not say a thing to the police because that would completely annul every shred of trust I have built with the street youth. Yet, someone got robbed. It's such a strange world out there on the streets of Ciudad, codes of ethics and behaviours that are compassionate on one hand and yet, cruel on the other. For someone like me who sees in black and white, it is a world most difficult to manouever.
The man gets robbed, the thief grabbed his wallet from his pant pocket and takes off; the victim runs a few feet after him and his keys fall out from his pocket onto the street. The girls I was sitting with all yelled at another guy to pick up the keys to return them to the victim. While the guy goes to pick up the keys, the victim decided to chase after the thief and thus, did not realize that his keys had fallen out of his pocket. I watched, listened and mulled over it. Those girls are all with guys who steal and consume drugs. They all know what is right and wrong, they hate what their partners do but they choose to stay with them still, many of them spending days and hours out on the sidewalks with their babies, waiting for their boyfriends to be done with their "jobs". They watch as innocent people get robbed, saying nothing, like me, yet, they feel compassion to call for another person to return the victim's keys to him. I wonder, would the feelings of compassion and right and wrong die within them as they get accustomed to seeing delinquent behaviours happen regularly? Would their children grow up thinking it is normal?
I guess this is how hearts get hardened, how compassion and love and value of life dies eventually. I sit there, I watch and try to make sense of what I see around me. I don't understand on a heart level although I do in a psychological and pathological manner. I don't understand why there are older women with suckling babies sitting on the sidewalks selling candy when they say they have husbands who work but that they are there selling candy because they are bored staying at home. I watch as their teenage daughters hang out with people of questionable characters. Does ignorance override common sense? Or is common sense a learned trait?
I sat with teenage girls that night, all with babies in their arms and some with babies in their wombs, all waiting out there for their guys to finish "working". By 18, most of the girls already have 2 children. I asked some of the guys if they ever think about what they want to do for their futures and most of them figure that what they have is pretty good. I asked if the thought ever crossed their minds that they might get caught and be sent to prison some day. They looked at me as if I was crazy. They're invincible and cannot fathom the possibility of that or anything else happening to them. To someone else but not to them. It's a pretty good life that they have going. But the girls who live with them? The babies who are their children? Their thoughts only go as far as themselves.
I sat with the girls that night and wanted to shake some sense into them. They know they have no futures with the guys that they're with. They know that one day they might never see the father of their children again. Yet, the heart, the ever irrational heart rules over them and they will stay with the guys and make no demands whatsoever. They will stay and accept the lifestyle that they lead. Why? Because they know no better? No. It's because they would rather live this lifestyle than face the fear of living a life alone.
I pray that God will give me the opportunity to share Him with them more, on a one on one basis rather than in a group setting, and that he will provide the people needed for the home/refuge to get started so some of them can get off the streets. I fear for the babies, for the next generation, I fear that they will grow up believing that delinquency is normal, that a life on the street is normal and that there is nothing better for them out there. I fear that they will grow up not knowing how to dream, to see beyond and to learn that nothing is impossible. God showed Abram the stars in the night sky so he could grasp the vision and dream that God had in His heart for Abram and his descendants. I pray that for these ones on the street, they too will be shown the vision and dream that God has in His heart for them so that they could grasp and reach for the potential and future that is theirs.
I had fun tonight with the youth in Ciudad. And also almost got into trouble with the cops because they thought I was trying to incite something the night before the Presidential Elections. I went alone tonight because both Carolina and Milagros were unable to go and I went earlier than we usually do and it was actually a better time as almost all of them were there. The first person I saw was Andrea and she looked haggard for all of her 14 or 15 years. She had told me a few weeks back that she was smoking terokal again and wanted to be rehabilitated. I asked her about that today and she denied it and yet while we were talking she kept asking me when we were going to start the refuge and I asked her why and she said, "no reason". I wish her mother would take the responsibility and get her into a rehab centre. I walked around after talking to her and when I came back to the corner, almost all the guys and some girls were there and Luis Enrique waved me over.
I crossed the street and went to greet them and they me and Marco Antonio actually laid a cardboard sheet on the sidewalk for me to sit on and aside from that it was on a dirty street corner and it was a sidewalk that they were inviting me to sit on, and they're all street youth, it might as well have been us all in someone's house and they were inviting me to sit on the couch. Carla was there today with the baby and it was good to see her again and we hugged. So while we were all chatting, there was about 12 or so of them around me and I was handing out sandwiches, cops suddenly showed up with their batons and encircled us. Everyone tensed up and I was going, "uh oh" in my head. The cops asked what we were doing there and that we had to disperse because people on the street didn't like seeing the guys together like that, thinking that they were going to steal from people. One of the guys explained that they were there to talk with me and also because I was handing out food. So then I explained that I was there to converse with them and to share food and that we weren't doing anything illegal. The same cop then said he thought we were up to something as well because tonight is the eve of the Presidential Elections. And one of the street vendors vouched for me and the guys to the cops and they left us alone but maintained vigil across the street and for good reason as that corner is the worst corner for robbery. Every week, except for the last week and today, every time we have been there, a robbery occured at least every 10 minutes. So, it was good the cops heightened their presence there.
It was difficult talking to the guys personally today as there were so many of them around and every one wanted to say something, but I got to pray with Carla and tell her that God accepts her the way she is and loves her no matter what she has done. Roberth, her boyfriend and father of her children was working in the buses tonight, playing for tips. It's good to know he is completely healed from the gunshot wounds in his abdomen. Carla was closed off today, she was happy to see me, wanted to sit by me but as soon as I said God accepts her as she is, she closed up. Oh well, He will pursue her for Himself. He has up till now and He won't stop. It was good to see Luis Enrique too. I hate what they do, in his case, rob people, but I don't want to see them go to jail and I am always afraid that when I go there, I would find out that one of them had been taken to jail. Luis Erique had a fat lip because he was with his girlfriend and 4 guys whistled at her and he went after them to beat them up and he got beaten up. I was like, "Couldn't you have just walked away?" and he was like, "They disrespected my woman, I could not let that go". Ok. Funny how if he had whistled at some girl, it would have been alright and would not have been disrespectful. Just as it is ok that guys cheat on their wives and girlfriends but heaven forbid if their girlfriends did that to them. There are at least 2 jealous-rage-murder stories that make it to the news everyday in this city alone, all perpetrated by men against their girlfriends or wives or ex-girlfriends because she was talking to some guy. Go figure.
I then asked if I could take photos of them some day and they all basically laughed in my face. None of them want to be recognized and I guess I have to figure out a way to get some pictures so I can do up a website. Sigh. On my way to the bus stop, I went to let the cop who had asked me all those questions know who I am and how many of us there are who go down to Ciudad and why we go there. And he was like, "So you're a missionary then." I nodded and he asked where I go to church and I told him. And then he was like, "Oh, I'd like to go to your church, what's the address?" Yeesh. Whatever his motive, he will hear the Word of God and that will never return void. So it's all good.
As I got into the bus to go home, a guy in the back yelled, "Chorro!" and every one in the bus sprang into action and pulled shut the windows. A thief had tried to steal that guy's MP3 through the open window but he managed to pull it back. My heart sank because I knew there was a good chance I would know who the thief was. I craned my neck to look and sure enough I did know who it was; Oscar. And there he was, after his failed attempt, scouting for other opportunities through other open windows. Yet in all of this, there is hope. It won't happen over night but we need to keep sowing God's Word and we need to love them but also in a tough way and change will happen. Also, God needs to bring more men and women to do this work because the 3 of us is not enough to reach out to so many of them. And there is a definite need out there in Ciudad de Dios.
By the way, just as a side note: They all like my Chicken Salad sandwiches. They think it's good and also "elegant". That warms the cockles of my heart (whatever that means) as I love making sandwiches for them. :-)
Saturday night on the street was an eyeopener. I realized, well, Milagros and I both realized how sheltered we are. We went down later than usual to Ciudad, and there were a lot of police there and because of that, none of the guys were at their usual hang out. Milagros and I took the opportunity to walk around and check things out, to just stand and watch while at the same time search for the guys we know. We learned many things that night. There are gangs, independent thieves and the piranas, who are the guys we are reaching out to. We had already known that there are various groups but didn't know how they each worked. The gangs control and boss around the piranas, getting them to do their dirty work and rob people and in turn, they give them their pasta and money for terokal. The independent thieves like Luis Enrique work for themselves and generally in groups.
We stood at the bus stop and, wow. We watched Oscar and two other guys scout out the mini buses, running in between each one, checking to see if any windows are rolled down so they can reach in and snatch whatever it is that is available to snatch off a person's lap or off their ears like MP3s, cell phones, etc. Nothing for those three that night. So they ended up washing the mini buses' tires on the fly to earn some change. The "cobradors" or the people who work in the mini buses collecting money off the passengers are in on this too, as they are the ones indicating to the thieves what is worth stealing on board. Then we watched as three older guys (early to mid 20's) climbed into each and every bus that came close to the stop, each walking the length of the buses inside, checking out every passenger to see if any had their cell phones or purses easily available for the picking. One thief stood behind a man who was using his cell phone in a bus, actually almost banging heads with the man trying to see the brand and make of the cell phone before deciding that it was not worth stealing. Milagros and I watched with our mouths hitting the pavement. The brashness, the boldness of what they were doing astounded us. Then the cops came and those three took off. Oscar and his friends left too but I called one of them back, a newbie named Carlos. The cop swung his baton, trying to make him leave but I called him back and Carlos walked towards us slowly while I asked the cop if I could speak to Carlos. The cop looked at me in disdain and rudely said, "What do you want to talk to them for? They're all thieves and nothing more!" and Carlos indignantly opened his mouth to start mouthing off to the cop and I just spoke directly to him and said, "No. Don't be rude." and Carlos shut his mouth. Milagros and I were amazed at the favour God had given us with them because we had never met this Carlos before and he actually listened to us and obeyed. When the cop realized he couldn't find fault with Carlos, he walked away and we started talking with Carlos to find out why he was there on the streets. He didn't want to tell us what he had been smoking but the smell of terokal was so evident that he couldn't deny it when I started telling him that terokal burns the brain cells and he agreed that he was having a hard time remembering facts every time he tried to study. He is 17 and in the last year of secondary school. He has a family and they are good to him and he goes home at nights. I think that while we were talking to him that night, he realized that what he thought was "fun" being out there might end up killing him one day and I think what got him the most was when I asked him outrightly if he wanted to be a slave to the gang members or other guys who had seniority on the streets for the rest of his life. He looked at me with horror and said he was going to return home. When we asked to pray with him, he asked if we could also pray for Anderson who had appeared on the scene. We prayed for the both of them.
Anderson has grown up in appearance in the months we have been there. He is the 13 year old who has been on the streets since he was 6 years old. He looks more mature but still is as tough and trying to take advantage of every one that he can. He started to mouth off to me and I just gave him a warning look and said, "Hey, be respectful" and he too closed his mouth. An older man who was an alcoholic came up to us after we had prayed for the younger two and right away Anderson said to him, "Don't do anything to hurt them. They're "hermanitas". Hermana means sister and hermanita means little sister in an endearing way. They have taken it upon themselves to respect us with that form likening us to nuns which in this particularly perverse world of Ciudad is good, for our own protection. It was really interesting to see that they respected us and watched our backs.
Today I went to price out furniture like bunk beds and tables and mattresses. I sense that this is the next step that I need to take and even though I can't see further than my nose especially in the area of who will come to stay with them 24/7 once we start the home, I sense that the Lord wants me to prepare the soil for when He brings the rain. So, there I was, pricing furniture. I am praying for a mature couple or 2 guys who are Godly and mature and who won't be easily manipulated by the street youth but who can and will treat them with respect and love and discipline when needed and who will also adhere to the routine set out for them. So to all who read this blog, please pray along those lines for this ministry. Until next time, be blessed.
So, I thought I came to Cusco to get my resident visa renewed. Apparently, God has other plans. Where do I even begin? I guess the beginning would help.
I got in to Cusco on Sunday and had a great time hanging out with Carrie and at the Meeting Place church. I also realized that Carrie's apartment is next door to another friend, D's apartment. I had lost my contacts and their numbers along with my cell phone in my purse when it got robbed. And I had no other way of contacting D except through her cell phone, so I thought that this time around and probably for ever, I will never see D again. And whaddaya know? God plunks me right next door to her. I wasn't even sure if she lived there still, if she had moved to another location or out of Peru all together. But heck, if I don't try, I will never know, so on Monday night, I walked to her apartment and stood outside calling out her name. There is no doorbell for her apartment. I saw a dog inside and I was like, she has cats, what is a dog doing there? Does she still live here? Then I saw her fridge and it was in the same position as before. I kept calling her name. As I was about to give up and walk back to Carrie's, D opened her window. All I will say is that night, D shared stuff with me that was way out of this world. I have known her for 3 or more years when we both taught English at Excel here in Cusco. And that night, she was different, and scared. What she shared with me blew me away and scared me for her sake. I shared God with her. I had tried so many times before but she would never want to listen. This time, she did. She even let me pray for her before I left her house. And she said she felt a lot calmer after we prayed. I left her apartment truly fearful for her and prayed for her that night. We set an appointment to meet up on Wednesday for lunch.
This morning, I felt to send her a text message to see how she was doing even though I knew I would meet her tomorrow. She called me to say she felt a lot better after we prayed and to thank me for thinking of her. I asked if I could drop by her house on my way back to Carrie's this evening. She said I could come by and walk the dog with her. I did and we walked to the park. She shared her heart like she never did before and God gave me wisdom to share Him with her. The Lord then asked me to ask her if she wanted to accept Him into her life and when I did, she said yes. This evening, March 22, 2011, D received the Lord into her heart and because I know her, you have no idea what a miracle this is. I am so amazed at how God works. Because you see, that was not the only miracle today.
I went out for lunch with another long time Cusco friend. He too, had never wanted to receive the Lord as he was never ready to give up things in his life. And for the past 3 years he has been seeing this girl and throughout the time I've been in Lima, he's been asking advice about his relationship with her amidst other conversation topics. So at lunch, it was normal to just ask how things were going for them. He shared and then I shared what God's design for marriage and relationships are. And then I told him about John and Stasi Eldredge's books on understanding the hearts of men and women and that maybe they both should read them to understand each other a little more. He was ready to run to the Christian bookstore to get the books right then and there. So we did and he bought 3 books including a Joyce Meyer book on how to control what words we release from our mouths and then asked me to recommend more books for later. In all of those books, the perspective is biblical and there are biblical references and verses and we all know that the Word of God never returns void. So all I could do was just watch how my God worked through the love this guy has for his girl to reach his heart and share His love for both of them. My friend said this to me later, "My mom told me that God had another purpose for you to meet me other than to just have lunch. She was right,". His mom is a Christian.
I have known these two friends for at least 4 years. It seemed that they would never yield to God. They were so into their own lives and were convinced they did not need God in their lives. It took this long for them to come to a point of readiness to receive Him and His word. I never thought I would see this day. I hoped it would happen but never thought I would see the fruit with my eyes. God can change a nation in one day, He can also work miracles in the hearts of people in a day. Never give up on the people who seem hardened against Him. Keep loving them, keep sharing the Word in love and in actions because you never know if today is the day you will see the miracle you have been praying for.
So we decided to go to Ciudad for street ministry twice weekly now instead of once a week. I went today with Milagros and met up with Luis Enrique and his friends. I would like for you all to pray for him hard. He knows he needs to stop being a thief, needs to change his life around but the easy money traps him. And that is definitely no excuse for him not to change. He knew Jesus once and I know that Jesus is still pursuing him and I don't want him to go to prison. He almost went two times this past week. To one of the worst prisons in Peru, in San Juan de Lurigancho. I was like, "will you please quit what you're doing cos I don't want to come here and find out that you're in jail?" He gave me that look that said, "yeah, yeah, yeah".
I wanted him to know what it feels like to be a victim of robbery so I told him about my purse being stolen and how it felt after that. He was like, " I didn't do that, it wasn't me cos I don't still whole purses, just cell phones. Purses bog you down and are too hard on the elbows." I replied, "It wasn't you but I did think of you then and if it had been you, I would have... but I was in Rimac" to which he said,"What were you doing there? You shouldn't have been there anyways. It's dangerous!!" I had to try not to laugh at the irony of it.
They see as on equal footing as nuns and other volunteer workers, in that we're there to help them and to want better things for them. So they respect us and refer to us as "hermanitas" or "little sisters". Well, if they are lucid, that is. When they are high, it doesn't matter, you're just a blob standing in front of them. I learned today that it costs only 1 sole (about 30 cents) for 1 square (1 queso) of pasta which is cocaine sludge. There was a white guy buying weed (marijuana) out there today and he got super ripped off cos he didn't know the actual price. I was scared for him because he stood out, every one knew he's a foreigner and he was sweating profusely cos he was probably high already and he was putting himself in so much danger buying drugs out in the open and being high.
Met 2 new guys today. Luis and Jerson. Luis smokes pasta and Jerson is a thief who already spent 6 years in the jail in Lurigancho. He has a 11 year old daughter and Luis who is 21, has a 1.5 year old daughter. Jerson works with Luis Enrique and doesn't do drugs. Both said they want to change but then we'll see if they're serious or not. We asked about Roberth, Carla's husband, the 16 year old who was shot twice in the abdomen. He is fine and out of the hospital. Thank you Jesus. I made an appointment to start working with Luis and Jerson for counselling and teaching the Word for Saturday when we go out there next. Let's see if they are serious about changing their lives around.
So while we were talking to them, another robbery took place around the corner from us. I want to take pictures of them, of what goes around there but I can't. It would be just asking for it if I tried to take photos. Our guys might not steal from me, but there are others who do not know us and we would be fair game. Oscar and 2 other younger ones showed up for a short while, looking really bad, smelling of terokal fumes and just plain high. I saw Oscar last Friday when I was waiting for a bus and he was fine and normal, that was because he was not high at that time. I hate what these drugs do to them.
They think they're in control of the drugs and can quit any time they want to. I told Luis straight up that he is not in control of the drugs but that he is being controlled by them and if he was in control, then just walk away and leave it and see if he can do it for one day. He looked at me and the truth hit him. At the end of our time there he said we had brainwashed him and made him think. We told him it was the drugs that brainwash him, not us. We're just presenting the truth and that the only person who can really transform lives and ways of thinking is Jesus. I prayed for him at the end and he was like, "man,that was heavy".
Generally, they don't like me praying for them. I tell it like it is and ask God to make the drugs taste absolutely disgusting to them so that they can't even get anywhere near it. Please if you read this, pray for them, pray that they will encounter God supernaturally and get to know Him as Saviour and Lord and be set free from the addictions. And please pray that we will get more labourers and funding.
March 11, 2011. The earthquake of Sendai, Japan, the horror of everything as I watched on CNN, watched the water from the tsunami waves sweep everything in its path into the city. It looked so innocuous, like covering a piece of meat on your plate with a sauce but when one realizes that it was an entire city being covered completely by water and that the highways posed no barrier for the water to flow, it made me realize the immensity of the power of nature. It was hard to fathom, hard to imagine what people were going through there. Here in Peru, as I sat glued all morning to CNN English it was to find out selfishly, how the earthquake that killed so many across the Pacific would affect us here.
There were warnings of tsunamis, we were told not to go to the beach until further notice. CNN spoke of evacuations in Hawaii, California. My girl friends and I sat watching, each in her own home wanting to know what decision to make. You see, we had booked a bungalow two months ago on the grounds of the Scripture Union property at the beach. It was going to be a fun, relaxing time to get away from the busyness of our daily lives. And it was the exact weekend of the earthquake in Japan, and we were being warned to stay away from the beach. CNN had footage of the waves hitting Hawaii and they were 1and a half meters high and later, in California, about 1 meter or half a meter high. We made the decision to go as planned as we figured that by the time the waves hit the Peruvian coastline, it would be about 15 cm. We were the only crazy people going to the beach and when we got to the property, the guard at the gate asked if we knew about the warnings. Everyone had left, and others had cancelled their reservations. We, on the other hand were there, live and in person, waiting to enjoy ourselves at the pool and on the beach. In a nutshell, they thought we were absolutely nuts.
But then, they don't know us, people who fear only the One who can kill both our bodies and souls. We all felt a peace about being there and we were not letting anything stop us from being there. That first day, we hit the empty beach and took pictures. The beaches south of Lima during the summer are normally packed full of people, and here we were, the first 3 of 6 all by ourselves along with the birds on the beach. Later we had a time of worship in the bungalow and as we finished sharing about what God was and is doing in our lives, the lights went off. It was about the time the tsunami was to hit. The guards came and told us that the blackout was to get people out of their homes and close to the highway in case the tsunami hit and we needed to leave the bungalow. So, grabbing our essentials; Stella her laptop and flashlight, Carolina her cell phone and camera, me my huge purse and its entire contents we sauntered out to the gate. The greatest danger we faced that night was that one of the guards asked if we wanted to spend the night at his house in case the blackout went on all night long. We politely declined and said that we would be fine with out cell phones and the flashlight for light. We took pictures and laughed. Stella got eaten alive by mosquitos. The guards listened to the football game and Carolina put on her tunes from her cell phone to counteract the noise from the game, my mom called and laughed when she realized I was at the beach. That's when I realized that my mom loves my nephews more than I because she has stopped worrying about me. But then, I guess she knows me too well by now. If there ever is danger, there I will be, smack in the middle of it. And so we hung out waiting for the elusive tsunami until 9:30pm when Stella decided she had fed the mosquitos an entire meal of her blood and she was not going to put up with it anymore. Back at the bungalow we watched Mamma Mia on Stella's laptop. Then went to bed by cellphone light. Soooo romantic. LOL.
The next day we hung out at the beach until the other 3 girls showed up and then we stayed on at the beach and the pool. 1 private pool, 1 lap pool and an entire beach all to ourselves. How good can it get? It was fun. The waves were strong and high but who needed to go in the water when there were pools to go swimming in? We went into the town of Mala for lunch later and got some groceries for the dinner that night and breakfast and lunch the next day. There was going to be a wedding at the chapel on the grounds that night and we wanted to go and peep in on it and somewhere in the early evening we realized that the bridal party had rented the bungalow next to ours to get ready in. About 45 minutes before the wedding started, a key guest, one of the bride's attendants, was found standing in the middle of our living room asking if she could use our shower as their shower was occupied. We said yes and then later on, ended up helping her with her makeup and hair as well. That earned us invites to the wedding. So all 6 of us later on traipsed into the wedding, watched the vows, got to throw rice at the bride and groom. They invited us for the reception as well but we decided to decline and instead decided to have a bonfire and worship on the beach.
God spoke to all of us that night on the beach. Touching us, speaking to our hearts. It was a good time. Somewhere during those three days we made friends with a goat we named Edward as well. I fell off every piece of equipment at the Jungle Gym playground for kids. Swam laps after who knows how many years. It was a great time. It felt like a gift that God gave us, just us. Cleared out the place and gave us the time with each other, our own selves and Him.
I guess I do tend to run toward danger. I guess that is my life and more so now with the ministry I do as well. And only because my God is with me, He has gone before me and all I do is follow. I know if I had not felt a peace about it, I would not have gone. Safety is being in the center of His will for me, not in a place deemed as safe.
