Day 78: I Am the Change

Today. Today was incredible. Really incredible.

This morning we were able to link with the Hills campus for 2 of the Colour sessions; the first was with Holly Wagner, who co-pastors a church in Hollywood. She gave a great message on running the race of life, talking about how we need determination, strength, and courage to keep on going. The quote she gave that got me most was "rest is a Who." That means in life when we need a break, we should rely on the One who is rest, not on a what or where. Man, that's so good! After a small break, we came back to hear on the partnerships that Hillsong has and to see it's progress in a year. That whole session made me teary-eyed, because it made such a reality check on everyone. They spoke on human trafficking, HIV/AIDS support groups in Africa, Compassion's efforts to bring hope and a future for the next generation, and a small look on what we do with Citycare. Every testimony was just so inspiring, and that brought back the memories of the love and appreciation I have for the mission field. It was great to be able to get in on some of the Colour action. The best part came with Be the Change; we got to return to the Towers!! I felt so separated from that place since the conferences, and it was so good to be back to bless our neighbor community. It was a bittersweet time; the bitter side being that I got the unfortunate news that Bob, one of the residents that we were developing a friendship with, passed away the day of our last visit with him. I was absolutely heart-broken; he was just starting to open up to us more, and now... he's gone. We never even got to know if he was a believer or not; makes me worried.. but the sweet side was so uplifting. So Sarah, our group leader, decided to first visit a woman named Maria who according to our sheet was having some stomach problems. We arrived at her door and knocked; what came next became one of the greatest examples of God-ordained opportunities. She told us of all these problems that were happening over the past couple weeks: how her sister was arrested back in Colombia for some supposed affiliations with a rebel gang several years ago, the stomach problems, and also a situation of financial need for a scan report on her neck and shoulder. She poured her heart out to us, and it made us all just so connected at that moment. We prayed for her and her sister (they are a family of believers, which made it okay for us to pray over her), and Maria couldn't stop saying things like "Thank you so much for coming." and "I still can't believe you came at such an important time." The thing is we almost never do Street Teams on Fridays, so for us to come at her door on an unlikely day made it more than apparent that she could have been the sole reason for God to have our leadership try out Justice projects today. It was so worth it. The best thing she said to us was this: "You are like God visiting me." How wonderful that we got to represent His love and caring of Maria by visiting her at such a crucial time; just goes to show He is amazing beyond our own comprehension. Here's where it gets awesome: since she is Colombian, she speaks Spanish; so I got to bless her with having a small talk in her native tongue, which was just awesome. God keeps sending me to Spanish-speaking people!!!!! Why, I wonder....? So mom and dad, if you're reading this, just know that God is answering your prayers and making me use more of my Spanish out here; I'm sure I said some things wrong, but I'm doing my best haha. I feel so blessed after that, and I can't wait to go at it again tomorrow!

God bless,
Steven