It didn’t go as planned: Homeless ministry pt. 1

Here in Ciudad Refugio, Colombia,there is a homeless ministry in which homeless men in the community are invited to receive food and a beverage, and to stay to sleep for the night. If men stay for a certain amount of days a week, they are in an agreement to attend Saturday night service from 6:30PM-7:00PM.

On Saturday, May 15th, some of us from squad were given the opportunity to plan the service for the homeless ministry. 5 of us, Annie, Stephanie, Paiton, Kristin, and I planned by having a time of listening-prayer to ask the Lord what He wanted us to do. Paiton and I would be leading worship, and Kristin would be sharing part of her testimony, while Annie and Stephanie would be in prayer for us and the men.

  But things didn’t go as planned…

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 Paiton wasn’t feeling well, and so, we determined it would be best that she took the rest of the day to rest/recover.

Paiton and I are worship coordinators, and as we’ve grown in our gifts and love for worship, we have also grown very close in which we love leading worship together. When I found out she wasn’t feeling well and wouldn’t be leading worship with me at homeless ministry, I was like… “ok, now what?” My mind went straight to… “I guess I wont go either.”

When I texted Stephanie (my friend and team leader) about everything, she encouraged me to still lead worship even though Paiton wasn’t going to be able to be with me. I said, “Ok…. I’ll do it.” We talked about having speaker worship (recorded songs to have for worship time), and so, I prayed for a playlist of songs that would be encouraging for the men. The last thing I would have wanted was to worship/sing in a cappella.

  But things still didn’t go as planned…

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 Minutes before starting at 6:30PM, I met with Rebecca (Director of Missionaries) and told her how nervous I was, and she said, “that’s good.” I chuckled and said, “mhmm…” and after that, Annie, Stephanie, Kristin, Rebecca and I prayed.

We prayed many things, including that this day may be the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2) for the men who didn’t know Jesus, and that those that did know Jesus, would be encouraged and filled. Kristin was planning on sharing John 3:17, where it says that Jesus didnt come to condemn the world, but to save it. Instantly, I was like “yessssssss Kristin,” thanked Holy Spirit because I could feel and perceive His presence. I was nervous but so excited for what God was going to do through us.

But even so, things still, most definitely didn’t go as planned…

Until next time, find out what happened that Saturday night,

J <3