First THANK YOU SO MUCH for pryng for me during the past week as I walked the streets of this little village. HE opened up the door for both D and I to head out to Palenque last Thursday. After visiting with some local clubs to tell them about this opportunity and invite them to come along with us in pryr or with a visit, we backed our bags and arrived that afternoon.
As soon as we arrived, we unpack our bags, pry and head out with two local family members to do some evangelism and house visits. First thing I notice while in the village is how hot it is...I mean, for those of you who have visited me and think Cartagena is hot, let me tell you Cartagena doesn't come close in the heat department. Also I notice the countless men sitting outside their houses, some drinking and some just sitting. I began pryng for HIM to rise up a man in this village to speak HIS Truths to these men! We visited with several different women, watching as the two local family members pryd over these women and share HIS Truths with them. It was beautiful to watch how these women allowed the HS to move them through HIS Words as we were with each woman that afternoon. At about 4:00 we started back to the house because the women began to prepare dinner and were no longer able to sit and listen to us.
Back at the house, I sit on the front porch just to observe this little village. A man comes up to the gate to start a conversation with us, asking all kinds of questions, and my spirit was very uneasy as he talked to us. At one point in the conversation, I began to choke on what I was eating and was thankful as I was not able to answer anymore of his questions. Afterwards, E (who lived in the house we were staying in) told us that he is one of the "ones who know.. aka witch" and she was surprised that he tried to converse with us. I began to pry for his salvation and more opportunities to meet and talk with "quien lo sabe". D and I went out walking/pryng that night to see how the village is at night and met several interesting people and learned quite a bit. The youth from the local club came over to meet us and we taught them how to play uno...yes, they had never played this game before. It was neat to get to know some more of the people from the local club. That evening, we did not sleep at all. It was so hot and there were so many noises and things happening outside of our house that night...we were robbed of our sleep. We spent the time in pryr and reading HIS Words. D believed that everything outside was a result of our conversation with R "quien lo sabe" because she told me that she had a horrible headache as he was speaking to us and that it went away when he left...and she was convinced that I was choking because of him as well. I was not as convinced but it was a great time of teaching her about spiritual warfare and what we can expect and how to defeat it through HIS Words.
The next morning, we wake up and try to cook our breakfast over the fire outside and head out pryr walking. HE leads us to different areas of the village and to speak with different people...still just learning and observing. That afternoon one of the ladies whom we went to visit on Thursday who had lost her cedula (license/social security card) and E and K had pryd for her to find it (after she has already gone to the "one who knows") praising HIS Name for having given her back her cedula. Another lady came to also tell us that her legs were healed after E and K had pryd over them on Thursday. K and E took us around again to visit some other women to pry for and share HIS Truths with. It was during this time that I noticed that these women were not paying much attention when K or E would read HIS Words but were captivated when E or K told the story from The Word. This observation sparked conversation amongst them about if they had ever storied the Word with these women, especially those who cannot read. They said no and asked me to teach them how to do it. That evening they gathered a small group from the local club, and we taught them how to story HIS Words and use questions to ensure that the people understand and can apply HIS Words to their lives. It was beautiful to watch the HS connect this form of evangelizing to these people and they were empowered to go and share in a new way. They were so excited to share this new form with their neighbors who cannot read.
That evening we went with two of the women from this club to visit a woman (who goes to the club) because her husband had passed away. While there, I ask a lot of questions as to what exactly was going on. Apparently, this man had passed away a year before but his soul had remained with the family for the past year. This was the year anniversary of his death and this celebration was to release his soul back into the air. It was definitely a cultural learning experience. After about 30 minutes, I ask if we can leave as I was not in agreement with being there nor of some of the things that they were doing. We head back home, eat dinner, and try to go to sleep. Once again, we were robbed of our sleep and spent the night in pryr and reading of HIS Words.
Saturday, we get up early to begin our pryr walking trying to walk around when it was a little less hot and to see the village early in the AM. What we had already learned already was that this village wakes up early to go to buy the food for the day and at about 7:00AM the majority of the food is gone and you have to settle for whatever is left over. It was interesting for both of us as it was the first time we had really heard them speaking openly in their language about daily things and what had happened the day before. Generally, the Palenqueros had spoken in their language when we asked or when they did not want us to understand them. As we pryd and followed the HS, HE lead us to a club on the other end of the village in barrio arriba. We met up with a couple of the local members, asked them lots of questions, and listened to their stories about Palenque. It was a true blessing and I praise HIM as HE was daily showing us new things about this village that were new to both of us. That afternoon, we head out again to see where the HS took us and we wanted to make sure we had walked through and pryd over every part of that village.
HE took us to a corner where we stood talking to a group of young girls and learning a lot about their lives and beliefs. Most of them were 13-16 years old and all of them had at least one child and had been with more than 1 man. Most of them were aspiring witches but did not "make the cut" after spending several months to a year with one of the 7 head "quien lo sabe". As we sat and just talked with them, HE brought another women up to join us and she ended up being another member of the club in barrio arriba. We followed her up to the club again and sat with her and another gentleman for well over 2 hours just listening to them and offering our observations. It was an excellent afternoon of eye opening information and more specifics to pry over...and that is just what we did.
That evening we met with the youth again and spent the evening listening to them and teaching them from HIS Word. It was neat to watch two of them light up as HE connected things for them through HIS Word. HIS Words are so powerful!! I do not know why we try to use anything else! After spending the second night with these youth, we were shown that none of them had given their lives to HIM. Our first day they said that they had but after questions and listening to their conversion experiences, HE revealed to us that there had been no change and that they really did not understand the gospel message. Yet another request for us to take to HIM in pryr and that is exactly what we did that night. We actually slept really well this night and praised HIM for giving us a night's rest as we were both passed exhaustion. Every moment and every breath in this village, you have to be on your guard spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Add to that sleepless nights in extreme heat, and you have a little idea of where we were and so I thank you once again for your pryrs that got us through that night!
Sunday we went to visit the club on the top of barrio arriba because the week before we had gone to the club in barrio abajo and needed to see first hand what their service looked like. We were able to meet with the leader, who also lives in Cartagena. Not sure if I had told you this, but both leaders of both clubs (that seem to have sound doctrine) live in Cartagena and travel once a week to Palenque to lead their clubs. We were once again given time to meet with the entire group and ask questions. It was beautiful the way that HE opened up their hearts to share with us. Although their stories change day in and day out, I praise HIM for giving us HIS eyes and ears through this entire experience. We later went to the other club to sit in on a premarital class that the leaders from the club in barrio abajo were leading. We also took advantage of the time to alert the club members about a surprise birthday part we were having for E (the lady that we were staying with.)
We headed back to the house to prepare the party and when she arrived, she was definitely surprised and touched. We put her in the "hot seat" (for those in the youth group years ago will remember this but for those who don't know...we each take turns writing or saying things that edify and show our love for the person in the hot seat.) I really don't think she stopped crying the entire time and was even more surprised when she saw that we had a cake. These people are very poor and had told us that they did not have money to make or buy a cake for birthdays. It was truly a special time for E and HE used this gesture to open up her heart to talk with us honestly and helped connect lots of questions that we still had because of conflicting information. I praise HIM for the money to buy the cake and using this party to give us clarity.
Sunday evening, D and I did what we do best. We took the youth of the club and started to play soccer with them in the plaza. We had educated them a little on our strategy and they saw first hand how it brought the youth of the village to us. We played, got to know new youth, and told them stories from HIS Word. When it became dark, we brought the youth back to debrief them. They were so excited about what they had seen and how easy it was to teach their peers HIS Words without condemning them. We are excited for the day when HE opens up the door to teach them to use this strategy to reach their peers.
J and M came to the house that night to spend time with us. J (25 year old Palenquero) has been working with my coworker for the past year and a half and was the first open door into Palenque. I have never felt a peace about entering into the village with him nor using him as a leader. This time together revealed more about why I do not have a peace but also gave us opportunities to speak and question M, the 15 year old mother of his baby Natalie). It was very interesting to hear her answer questions and opened our eyes up even more to the fact that she was not a believer (as we were told) and just how slow these people are in understanding basic concepts. A fact that had been shown to us through the various conversations with each of the Palenqueros.
Monday morning, I woke up with this what is next Dad attitude and HE answered in a great way. LF, a local club planter who lives on the farm with Eric and is the leader of the club that they have planted in Turbana, their town, was at the door. I had asked him before to come and see what we were dealing with in Palenque and I assumed he was too busy to come. It was a surprise and a huge blessing. As we walked the streets, I saw such a huge difference in the men that are alway out. LF greeted each of them and their response was incredible! They actually desired to talk to him and I saw in this moment the desperate need for a strong male leader amongst these people. We had a great morning and afternoon. HE opened up doors for LF to speak to a lot of the club members and locals in the village. He waited until he had the opportunity to meet J himself and give me his opinion of everything. We went to the cultural house and were able to speak to some local government leaders who were meeting in Palenque to discuss a project they were going to start. It was just another take on this people group and I appreciate HIM showing us this village from all angles. After LF returned back to his home, D and I had some time to sit and process out loud what we had seen and heard over the past 5 days.
That evening, we were invited to a local members of the club's house to talk and eat. It was a delicious meal and the conversation was incredible. HE continues to connect pieces of this confusing little puzzle of a village. We heard more the history of Palenque in regards to local clubs and the gospel message. It was confirmed in me that there are probably 5 solid family members in this entire village of over 3 thousand people and 2 of them are actually Palenqueros. After this meeting, I realized that we needed to meet up with a YWAMer who had spent 4 months living there and was planning on coming back at the end of the week. I felt that we needed to meet up with her outside of the village in order to understand truly what her opinion is about this village.
Tuesday afternoon, R comes to pick us up and I did not think that I would be going through culture shock to come back to Cartagena but it was incredible. Just after 6 days in this village, I was a little overwhelmed as we came back and entered into a small tienda...but this small tienda in Cartagena was like a Wal-mart supercenter in Palenque. The village is a tough place to live but HE has a huge plan for this place.
On Wednesday, I met up with S the local YWAMer and we sat for about 5 hours just talking and pryng. It was a beautiful time for me to hear her heart and all that she knows about Palenque. I shared observations I made with her from my time there and she was surprised that I saw and understood so much about these people in just 6 days. I give all the praise to the HS and to your pryrs! I seriously could not have made it those 6 days without each of your pryrs.
And now, after days of processing and pryng over everything I witnessed and heard, I ask you to continue to pry. HE is giving me a peace about things but a firm plan and direction has not been given to me. I refuse to move until HE moves and so I wait patiently for HIM to reveal HIS Will for Palenque. I feel that if I stay, HE will be glorified and I feel that if I leave, HE will be glorfied! For those of you who are still reading, thanks...it means so mu
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