Thursday

 

Today was our “Sabbath Day” so we got to sleep in a little (7:45 a.m.)  After a breakfast of pancakes and fruit, we headed to the monastery, La Popa, to pray over Cartagena and to do our devotions.  La Popa is located on one of the highest points in Cartagena so you can see the entire city below.  On our way up, we passed through Stratus 1, the poorest division of the city.  There was trash everywhere, graffiti on the walls, and the houses were run-down and very small.  When we arrived, we were able to look out and see the unfortunate juxtaposition of the rich and poor areas of Cartagena.

 

 

 

 

Inside, there were many rooms full of different Catholic artifacts explaining the history of Colombia’s dominant religion.  After exploring the monastery for a little while, we split up into groups of three or four and prayed over Cartagena, specific to the different areas of the city.  We prayed for the protection of the poor people of the city, who live in fear of their homes flooding due to the near-by river.  We also prayed for the richest people of the city that they would realize the extreme need of their neighbors in stratus 1, and that they would be compassionate towards them.

When we finished praying in groups, we had alone time in La Popa to do our daily devotion.  It was great to do devotions in a quiet place where we could really focus on God.  Our Sabbath day proved to be a much needed rest for all of us.  When our group gathered to discuss our devotions together, we also prayed for Aubrey, who had not been feeling well.   

Our team then traveled back to our apartment to have lunch.  We made sandwiches! Nothing was planned for our afternoon so we could choose what we wanted to do.  Justin, Tyler, and Bob went to develop some photos.  Many of the leaders took a nap, and most of us girls went to the pool.  Let’s just say we should have put more sunscreen on.  It was nice to a day of relaxing after two days of painting.  At around 3:00 p.m., us students split into equal groups to rehearse the skits we would be giving at El Refugio tomorrow.  The skits depict how you can be courageous and stand up against sin with Jesus.

We had a quick dinner and then at 7:00 p.m. we all left to meet Erin and her friends to serve food to the homeless in the middle of town.  Erin calls them “the homies.” Some of us served food and drinks, others walked around with trash bags, and others yet just mingled and conversed with the people.  We gave out candy to the children, and passed out hats to all.  Before the meal, a brief message about God was given and everyone there circled up and prayed.  It was a very powerful experience to assist these people in such a crucial way.  The homies of Cartagena count on this meal every Thursday.  After food was given, many members of the team were able to get to know the people a little bit and got to pray for them and their specific needs.  We visited with them late into the evening, but we still managed to stop by Burger King afterwards for ice cream!  

When we got back to the apartment, we met to share our highs and lows, give testimonies, and to worship.  Mackenzie and Corrie shared their testimonies tonight.  From our peaceful alone time at La Popa, to the feeding of the homeless, our Sabbath day proved to be an overall great day.  We were brought closer to Him at La Popa and He made us even more aware of the need in Cartagena through our time spent with the homies.

 

 

-Brooklyn and Corrie