Darkness and Light

We spent Friday touring around Cartagena. We walked to the local beach with Daniel, Helen and their boys Juan and Mattias. The water was so shallow and warm! It was a special feeling to feel the sand under our feet, waves moving us around, and (strong!) sun on our backs.

Going to the beach here is so convenient, because if you ever forget something, there are many people who will come by on foot selling whatever you need! Green mangoes with salt and lime, buckets and shovels for sand, sunglasses, souvenirs, massages, maracas. It can be a bit surprising and uncomfortable the first time, but it’s really impressive to see people working hard, enterprising, and being outgoing and creative. Ana on our team is always friendly and chatting with everyone. That morning at the beach, she spent a good, long time sitting with one young guy selling magnets and things. After a long conversation and selecting many souvenirs, she prayed together with him. May the Lord sustain these vendors on their long hard days and may they know the dignity and love of being known by the Lord and appreciated by people who see them as their own and not a nuisance.

We’ve been doing a surprising amount of shopping on our trip. It’s very hard not to, because we have met so many people whose very hands and have stitched, carved, woven, harvested, and made the beautiful and delicious goods. It’s a privilege support the talents of this culture and gifts of this environment. Shopping has been a precious opportunity to support not just small but microbusinesses, like 1 cocada (crunchy shredded coconut cookie) or 1 bag of cactus fruits for 3 mil pesos (~$1 CAD), or an intricate, handwoven, sturdy satchel for 180mil pesos (~$60 CAD). It’s a privilege to meet, talk to, support, and shake the hands of these men, women, and even kids.

Cartagena is beautiful walled, port city. The city was a seat of Spanish power and trade during colonial times, played a decisive role in Colombia’s independence, and has become a major tourist destination today. The old town is incredibly beautiful, with it’s multicoloured walls, flowering trees that grow up the side of the front façade and create an awning along the roof. It was also sobering knowing that much of this was built on the Transatlantic slave trade and destruction and taking advantage of Colombia’s indigenous populations. When we pray about truth, reconciliation, learning and making right relationships with indigenous people of Canada, we can be praying for Latin America too.

We’ve had one realization about taking time and resources on our trip to sit on the beach, smell the flowers, drink the coconuts, and eat the arepas. We’ve learned that when visiting a country with a desire to serve, it doesn’t mean seeking suffering for the sake of it. Rather, it is so important to see that this is a place, culture and people not to be pitied, but to be enjoyed, valued, treasured, desired - a jewel in the crown of our Lord. It’s good to see the differences between our cultures and places, and to see the value that each add to the fabric of God’s kingdom. Interestingly enough…when some kids asked us about the culture and food of Canada, we found ourselves scratching our heads a little bit!

After our long and fun day in Cartagena, we got back on our bus around 6pm for the one hour drive back to Barranquilla. But not too long after, we hit a complete stop in traffic in the middle of the dark, remote area. Turns out, further ahead many people had assembled a blockade to protest the ridiculously high utility prices, yet ongoing power outages. Rosa confirmed that the prices are terribly and unbelievably high and she’s trying to look into solar power. It makes sense why everything feels so dimly lit when you walk/drive around after dark. Ana who is originally from Venezuela said she remembers when such blockades would happen in her home country before it really collapsed economically, and she was feeling sad for Colombia which she also loves. Dani and Helen also started to explain a bit more about Colombia’s history, particularly the civil war. Helen’s dad was a shoemaker in their small town, and paramilitary guys would come to him for boot repair. If the guerilla found out, their family would be at great risk, so her dad had their family pack up their essential belongings in a few hours and escaped to Barranquilla.

Despite being on this dark road, dark night, and acknowledging dark powers, the Light of the World was present with us.

As we talked, someone noticed that outside our bus, there was an incredible light show with an approaching thunderstorm lighting up the clouds with zig zags. We were in awe and came out of the bus to see better. There was a guy standing nearby having a smoke, and after a few moments, he surprisingly and gently said to us in English, “I would recommend you guys put your phones away and head back inside your bus.” We took him seriously and thanked him and our Lord greatly for looking after us in that moment.

Thankfully, nothing bad happened. But what did happen, was for the next 3-ish hours, our little bus became holy ground! We had plenty of water and snacks, and we asked Rosa to share some stories of God’s faithfulness.

She shared an incredible story of a time when there was a community in the mountains was dying after some kind of natural disaster. They worked with their church to bring a medical team to help take care of people. When they arrived to this remote community, the local people came to them and served them some food they had prepared. Because they really did need to eat, and in order to be gracious and thankful guests, they truly and genuinely prayed to the Lord to bless the food, and ate it hesitantly but in faith. One hour later, Rosa and Hernan immediately felt very sick and had to run to the washroom repeatedly. The village people laughed at them as they had to run back and forth. Even when they left for their hotel at the end of the day, the people made fun of their weak stomachs. That night at the hotel, Hernan and Rosa didn’t get much sleep at all as they got completely wrung out from the inside! But they prayed fervently prayed to the Lord to heal and sustain them. And in the morning, they were perfectly fine! So they got in the car and decided to go back to the community so they could treat more people. As they were pulling up to the community, people started to follow the car and many people were coming from everywhere towards them. When they got out of the car, the people were completely in shock and awe that they had come back and that they were alive. The reason was that because the community the day before had basically tried to kill them by using five of the village’s most powerful witchcraft practioners to cast their most powerful spells on them. When Hernan and Rosa showed up the next morning, they said they realized their God Father, Spirit and Son was stronger than any of their gods. After that people from all around came in droves and lined up for hours to come receive healing physically and spiritually from Jehovah.

You can imagine our team of eight were completely in awe too of God’s faithfulness, especially having our own tummy troubles not too long ago! So for the next three hours, we sat in that little bus on that dark road behind the blockade, taking turns sharing our testimonies and affirming the many miracles God has been doing in our lifetimes too. We shed many thankful tears, prayed for this most precious and glorious country that was hosting us, and just gave honor to God for his power made perfect in each of our weaknesses and weakest times.

We pray that it won’t take a road blockade for us to boast in the Lord in this way. May we always have the Lord’s praise on our lips and declare the name of Jesus with power and thanks!