Victory in the Midst of Challenge

Hi Friends,

This morning's blog is one of interest and victory.

Earlier in the week Team Uvas (Pravaas, Ellie, Spencer, Kate, Erin, Sharon, Jane, and John) were held up by force when heading to the Outreach Center. No one was harmed but the experience was very un-nerving. We called the parents of the students involved, spent lots of time as a team debriefing, and adjusted our plans. The disappointment involved was that we could now not serve the children at the center because of safety concerns.

The local Christian workers and missionaries were dumbfounded and felt horrible for this event. Never in 15 years had this ever happened here. To send a message to those involved, the pastor closed the center until the stolen goods were returned. The pastor also pursued one on one visits seeking to reach out to the perpetrators. To many, the idea of the return of stolen goods was outright laughable and they figured the center was closed forever. This was not our goal. How would we reach this part of the city without being able to do ministry to the kids? We could not begin to imagine that yesterday, Friday would be one of THE best ministry days on a trip that I have ever experienced.

Beginning on Tuesday evening, we got word that the local pastor was doing visitation to the neighborhood to look into the theft. We then got word that the perpetrators felt horrible. They had broken the unwritten rule that they never hit anyone associated with the outreach center. They felt terrible to the point where they pursued getting back our stuff at peril to their own lives and reputations. God was obviously at work.

IN brief... we arranged a meeting this morning with Me, the pastor, Beth, Sharon Christensen, Jane, and Fletch. One of the leaders of the incident showed up and checked out the scene. He proceeded to apologize profusely (unheard of in the Colombian culture... plus it discredits his street credibility).

He went back with the pastor and rounded up everyone involved and we sat at the table. I spoke forgiveness in Espanol to them all regardless of what happened. We used the stolen wedding ring as a redemptive analogy. It had already been pawned and they could not get it back or repay its value to us. They wanted to repay us and get it back but were now unable. Our team shared that we all stand in this position before God. We owe a deubt of sin that only Jesus can pay on our behalf. This is the message of the gospel.

Fletch shared his story and Sharon offered the forgiveness of the students on our team. Jane prayed for them and extended God's love. We told them that the money they took was for the center. The impact was profound and forceful. They had never seen this radical kind of love before. 

7 of these tough young men pleaded with the pastor to keep the center open and not let their bad behavior bring an end to it. They gave back all they money that they could, some of the books/bibles, and some Colombian pesos and got the gospel full force in return.

We then had a powerful team meeting. We are all blown away. Beth said that some missionaries live an entire lifetime and never see anything like this. The pastor and all the workers were in tears as were many of those who held us up.

I would like to go public with this to give glory to God for what he has done. The parents of the students involved need to know that God has used this ugly incident for good. The crucifixion was ugly as well and it is THE premier event in the  history of the world. 

Back to work for now, we still have more people to serve.

For the Entire Team,

Pastor John Foster