The Depths

Wow. That is all that I can say about Day 2 and Day 3 of my project visits last week.

Day 2 was the most I have been out of my comfort zone since moving to La Paz. Day 2 was dirty and smelly. Day 2 was down in the depths. Day 2 was the closest I have felt to Christ while serving another person here in La Paz. Day 2 reminded me of a lyric from a Misty Edwards song “In the depths I will find You, serving my brother.” I got a little taste of “the depths” this past Thursday.

We made a few visits with a project called Soforthilfe which means “Immediate Help”. It is a German word and a German-backed ministry. The parent organization has five projects and this is one of those projects. The goal of these visits on Thursday was to visit people who live on the street, take them bread, give them something to drink, share the Word with them and pray with them. This project visits twenty different groups on the street every week. They know them. We visited three groups that day. And these visits were visits that we could have not made alone.

Visit # 1 – Under the Bridge
We stopped on the side of the road to visit a group of people who live near and under a bridge. They basically had a house setup under this bridge. I had not ever seen anything like it. The thing that really got me during this visit is that they had a two month old baby living with them under the bridge.

Visit # 2 – Up the Hill
We rode to another neighborhood in town. I knew that we were going to a sketchy area because when we got near our destination we passed a park and there was a guy sitting on a bench shooting up drugs into his arm. We arrived and climbed up a large hill to reach our destination. Our destination was a small shack where I promise fifteen people were living. It was tiny. You could not stand up in the shack. About five were able to get out and talk to us. Ten stayed in the shack. Most were drunk and high and could not get out. One guy by the door was very ill. I watched him get sick into a small bowl. No one had shoes. There were empty rubbing alcohol bottles everywhere because they drink it. It smelled like a zoo. And Jesus was right there in the midst of it.

Visit # 3 – Into the Woods
We rode up the hill towards El Alto and headed into an area in the woods. The place that we went to is actually a Bolivian police training area. We were told that the police bring people here to beat them up. Well there is a group of fifteen people living in the woods in the area. They have a small shack and there were really bad mattresses on the ground outside the shack where they sleep. Ten of the fifteen had gone down into town to look for food for the group. Most of the five that we visited were drunk.

We gave all of these groups bread, something to drink, shared the Word with them and prayed with them. It was surreal. It was a message of love to them. It was a message that no one has forgotten them. It was a message that Jesus loves them. But it was also a message telling them that they can decide to change the course of their life. With the help of Christ they can change the trajectory of their life and change their situation.

On Day 3 (Friday) we visited two more projects. Both in El Alto. One was an after school program where they give the kids lunch, help them with their school work and help them improve in various subjects in school. After that we visited a daycare program for younger kids. They sang to us when we arrived and it was super cute. Some of the kids here want to stay at the daycare and they don’t want to go home. They don’t want to go home because many times they are left at home alone. Sometimes for days at a time. These are like four year olds that I am talking about.

It was a very powerful two days. Visits will continue this week. We are evaluating the needs of all of these projects and assisting them in developing projects that will help them improve in the areas that they need to improve in. We would like to help them secure grants for these needs as well.

The work continues. The longer I am here the more chances I have to get far out of my comfort zone. I pray that all of us have the opportunity to leave our comfort zones. I am convinced that it is possible no matter where you live. There are parts of every city that people do not want to visit and these are usually the parts of the city that need to be visited the most.

But I know that we experience Christ in amazingly powerful new ways when we step out and meet the dirty/smelly/drunk/high people where they are. In God’s eyes we are equal. God loves me just as much as He loves the guy who couldn’t even get out of the shack to accept our bread because he was too drunk and high.

Try it and see if you don’t find Christ in “the depths.”