Before we got on the plane to Bogota in Atlanta, I saw a lady with a suitcase, she was crying, being escorted by a police officer. She was on our flight and I went up to her and asked if she was alright. She spoke no English and had come to the US to help her pregnant daughter who was supposed to have gotten all her mother's papers in order. But they didn't let her in the country and she was being sent back. Mimi and I were able to encourage her, lend her my phone to call her daughter who was waiting to pick her up, etc...She kept saying through her tears, "I have my God, He will take care of me." And we were able to affirm that to her as well! It was a joy to see her smile when I went back to the bathroom half way through the flight.
There are lots of details that you don't need to know, but I can tell you that we felt God's presence every step of the way, from missing our connecting flight to Cartagena and having to stay overnight in Bogota, to finding our own way to the hotel in Cartagena, being on our own for nearly all our meals, etc....Everywhere we turned, people wanted to know what we were doing there and were especially interested when I talked with them about our purpose - to help people better understand who God is and how He can make a difference in their every day lives. From taxi drivers to hotel people, waitresses, even the man that styled Mimi's hair, we had amazing opportunities to speak to them about where they stand with God. I had more chances to share in those 5 days with strangers about God, than in the entire 5 years we have lived here in Colorado Springs! We were ecstatic!
The conference was amazing. The women were so attentive and eager to learn. The Lord gave me enough language to communicate my messages clearly and translating for Mimi went smoothly-there were times when she would say a word and consciously I didn't have it on the tip of my tongue in Spanish, but it would come out! God gave me language because you prayed! At the peak of attendance there were 100 women and most all of them were in some kind of spiritual leadership. When we ended the conference, the ladies literally danced in the aisles over the goodness of God! It went on for almost a half an hour. Their response of unrestrained joy to what they had learned was amazing.
During the day, I had the chance to personally counsel a couple who are leading couples groups, a mother worried about suicidal tendencies in her child, several women who were having fertility issues, pastor's wives, etc...
On Sunday the Pastor gave up his pulpit to us and the Lord gave me a message to share. The pastor had only done it 2 times before in the 10 years he has had the church. I didn't feel particularly powerful but the Lord provided language and a message. The pastor asked me to give an altar call, which I did with closed eyes. When I finished praying and opened my eyes, I was amazed to see that the front of the church was lined with people-men and women-crying before the Lord, waiting to be prayed for! I'd never had anything quite like it before. It took nearly 40 minutes for 5 of us to take different ones and pray for them individually - that was the only time during our trip that Mimi was given total liberty with her Spanish! We felt that was a special gift from the Lord! Even after the service, people who didn't go forward for prayer stopped us outside and asked us to pray for them! It was a sacred time.
Our last night there, we were invited to attend a Bible study of foreigners who live there, a small group. We were able to encourage nearly every one of them one-on-one that night and it was significant!
Shelly
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