Being involved with both the North American and International Alliances department of Latin America Mission gives me a great view of many of the things that God is doing, but would never come out in the evening news or the Sunday paper. When I’m able I like to pass along the good news.
Alexis & Nicole Pineda serve as LAM missionaries in Medellin Colombia. They work with our partner ministry Open Arms Foundation reaching street kids with the truth and healing of the Gospel. In their most recent news letter they shared the following testimony:
Alexis and Daniela at the Girls’ Home
Daniela is now 17 years old. When she was just a baby, her father died. Since her mother was living in the streets at the time, she was then raised by her grandparents (her father’s parents). She had always thought that her grandparents were her parents, but when she was 11 years old, her grandmother told her the truth about her mother living in the streets and her father dying many years ago.
Daniela’s grandparents are Christians, and they always took her to church. Once Daniela found out the truth about her parents, she asked God to let her meet her mother (she had only seen her in photos). Daniela ran away from home several times in search of her mother. One day, a few days after she returned back home from the streets, her grandmother took her to church to be baptized. A month later, she ran away to the streets again. She was then 13 years old and already knew how to get around much of the city. That same day, she found her mother. She hugged her mother tightly and didn’t want to let go. Her mother then took her to where she lived in a motel room. A couple of hours later, some men arrived and raped Daniela. Her mother had sold her for just a small amount of Colombian pesos because she needed money to buy drugs. Her mother then gave her marijuana so that she would forget about what happened, and so that she would do it again. If she wanted to live with her mother, she had to prostitute herself to pay for food and her mother’s drugs.
After a period of time, Daniela decided to leave her mother, but she was already trapped by the life of the streets. She began to live in a little cave along the dirty, brown Medellin River. She worked at night and rested during the day. She took in some little street boys and took care of them and they took care of her. They called her “mom”.
She then went and lived in a motel for a while, and was found and sent to the Open Arms Foundation. She has been living at our Casa Helena Girls’ Home since February 2011. It has not been easy for her and she has wanted to run away and return to the streets several times, but she has persevered. During the early morning devotions, she started to ask for prayer for herself because she had such a strong desire to change but it was so difficult.
She then began to be more active in the Foundation church and to participate in the devotions. She wants to have a good future, and she says that Jesus has given her hope. She knows, however, that she needs to be reconciled to God, and she has asked for help in this. In August, Alexis began to lead Daniela in a process of forgiveness and reconciliation. The Foundation’s Robledo Church (located at the Casa Helena Girls’ Home) will hold a special reconciliation ceremony for her when she is ready. She is very nervous, but very excited, too.
This is just one example of what God is doing. Thank you so much for your prayers and support because you are helping give hope to many kids like Daniela.
Please keep the Pineda’s, those they serve and the many other ministries served by LAM missionaries in your prayers. Likewise, I covet your prayers for the work we do at LAM’s Miami Service Office in order to forge new partnerships, maintain the network we already have and support missionaries to, within and from Latin America.
In His Hands / En Sus manos;
Kevin S. Abegg
No comments:
Post a Comment