It was a warm, Sunday afternoon when our Mission Caleb team
visited La Camila neighborhood. Our
group of missionaries-in-training had come to put on a “show” for the children of
this impoverished community in the mountainous outskirts of Medellin. Boys and
girls gathered while the “missionary clowns” danced and sang songs. Soon, the
once-empty dirt field was teeming with joy and laughter.
A local church serving La
Camila invited our team to share about the love of Jesus through a
children’s event. However, children were not the only audience present that
afternoon. As the sounds of celebration grew louder, parents and other family
members began to peek through their windows.
Luz Elena - a woman in her sixties debilitated by pulmonary disease and scoliosis - was one of them. Before she knew
it, she was sitting on her porch enjoying the spectacle. She had a convenient,
front-row seat; her house was on the edge of the field where all the action was
taking place. In all the games and the puppet skit, the laughing and the singing,
the mimes and the clowns, a message was shared of Jesus’s unconditional love for
every soul in La Camila.
Toward the end of the event, several Mission Caleb members
approached Luz Elena. What happened next was the reason we were in La Camila. Luz
Elena’s Creator had a message for his pequeñita.
After hearing the Gospel, she and her young grandson came to understand Jesus’s
love for them and gratefully embraced the gift of salvation. Since her frail
health would scarcely allow her to leave the house, that afternoon Luz Elena’s loving
Father had come to meet her at her front door!
Today, Luz Elena can seldom go to church. She currently
awaits spinal surgery to treat her scoliosis, which greatly limits her
mobility. And, though she cannot read, she enjoys regular visits from her
Christian neighbor Lucía, who shares the Word with her. She also enjoys
listening to Christian radio and Cd´s given to her by friends from church. Luz
is grateful for the spiritual healing her Father has given her, and she
patiently awaits physical healing He will provide – whether it be when He comes
to her front door or when she reaches His!
“Here I am! I
stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the
door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with
me.” Revelation
3:20 (NIV)
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Mission Caleb is a
missionary-training ministry based in Medellin, Colombia. The program includes
weekly missions training, urban outreaches, and short-term mission trips. If
you would like to receive updates on Mission Caleb’s work, or if you would like
to make a financial contribution to this ministry, please contact Mission Caleb
director Adam Cabeen at adampcabeen@gmail.com. Adam has been a CFCI missionary in Colombia for 13 years.
After teaching English at the Medellin base for nearly a decade, in 2011 he started
leading Mission Caleb, which involves heading up evangelistic outreaches,
mission trips, and weekly training meetings.
To give to support Christ For the City International, please click the link below. And be generous. God asks you to, and we could really use it.
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