Chile – Truth to the Youth
As we arrived in Chile on the 6th of June, our team was ready to pour out. We’d all felt God ask us to “come prepared to give” in this new space, and though much was uncertain in terms of what lay ahead, we were certain Jesus had a very specific plan for us there, one that involved surprises, joy in the trials, and an invitation to step into our gifts. Needless to say, all came true.
Our group was quickly split up so that we would stay with different hosts – all locals from the church we were partnering with. While this proved a challenge in terms of the team often being separate, it was one of the biggest blessings. To be able to be taken into a home and love and be loved by a family was one of our greatest treasures. While most of our hosts spoke next to no English, God taught us that language is not always needed to communicate. Often all that’s needed is His love.
Many of our hosts deeply impacted us and I believe God used us to impact them too. Our leader, Stiaan, remarked that, “Later, my host told me that before we arrived, he hadn’t been going to church for over half a year, but the morning before we arrived, he felt like going to church for some unknown reason. There, the pastor told the congregation that a group of missionaries would be arriving and needed hosts. He said he’d host a man and that person was me. A few days later, on Wednesday, we all had a church event so he came with. At that worship evening, the song “graves into gardens” played and one of our teammates, Jana, saw him crying. She had a word of knowledge for him and shared it. I saw back home that he was emotional. Through google translate, he told me that he could not believe how accurate the word was and it made a huge impact on him. The best part is that a few days later, he went to a birthday party and started sharing Jesus with all his friends and that Sunday, one of his friends came to church too!” What a incredible testimony of God calling his church back to him and finding new life.
When not in the homes having meals and good conversations with the families, our team was in the schools. It was our first time time doing school ministry and though we were quite out of comfort zones that first day in the classrooms, we soon settled into the new long work hours (9am-5pm) of talking and being on our feet and we began to find His rhythms of grace.
The pastor of our ministering church organised for us to go into 2 local schools for outreach. There, the teachers welcomed us as we could help the students practice speaking in their English classes, but more importantly, we could share purpose and truth with the students. At a first glance, anyone could see that the children of this next generation are lost. With self-esteems at an all time low because of social media, and gender confusion sweeping through the schools, many children seemed to be uncomfortable in their own skin. But even so, many were curious of us, and many were open to an honest conversation about life.
We’d enter their classrooms and introduce ourselves. One can only imagine how big their eyes became when they found out that some of us are only a year or two older than them. It made for some good reactions. After this, we’d tell them a brief explanation of why we travel – that is, to talk about Jesus – but we’d often leave room for them to ask questions, because soon, they were rolling in.
“How do you define success?”
“How do you know God is real?”
“What do you think about gay people?”
“Why are you a missionary?”
“Why do people hurt themselves and others?”
“What is your story?”
As the kids became more comfortable with us, the questions deepened. Sure, some classes remained awkward and silent, but many were intrigued and spoke their mind. So for the next hour, we got to talk to them about how each of our lives have been changed by God. Saved from drugs, alcohol, sex, pornography, addictions, shame, self-image and so on – in our group, we’ve all had different battles. But we’ve all been healed by Jesus and so we were able to be real with the kids and talk about these topics that many others shy away from. Through it, we were able to speak truth and life over them. At one stage, one of our group members shared how they struggled with pornography from a young age and after this, an 11 year old boy in one class raised his hand and admitted he struggled with it too. What a powerful moment of freedom!
During the last week there, we were at a school fair and two girls starting talking with one of our team members, Emily. She recounts that, “Two 13 year olds began chatting with me. They seemed really curious about what it means to the a missionary and they said they were taken back by the love they saw between us. They later asked me for life advice and I started talking about Jesus. I told them that He cares about them, but if they are to have a real relationship with Him, they need to be real with Him. If you’re mad or hurt or angry, He knows and He can handle it. I told them to talk to Him honestly, and then let Him talk back. He surprises me every time with the love in His words. And He’s the only way I found my life and my identity.
“Surprisingly, one of the girls began to get emotional, yet the bell rang and they had to get to the next class. But then a few hours later, at the end of school, I heard someone running and shouting my name. I turned around and saw that it was her.
“The girl told me that she doesn’t know why, but she has this inexpressible joy for having met me and she was thankful for the words of advice I gave her. It’s hard to explain, the joy she radiated, but I believe she found a key to God’s heart that day. Sometimes we plant seeds, sometimes we water, and sometimes we harvest. But regardless of the phase, it’s all beautiful and I thank Jesus for these little moments.”
As we stepped into more forms of ministry over the two weeks in Chile, each member began to find their roles. Some bloomed when talking with the youths, others while worshipping. Some preached with enthusiasm at church events, while others prayed and interceded for healing for cancer and inner wounds. Some members thrived while talking with high schools kids, and some came alive when interacting with the little ones. We witnessed to Buddhists in hairdressers, atheists in guitar shops, and even Europeans at bus terminals. Sometimes we got rejected, sometimes we were accepted, but in it all, Jesus was there and his touch lingered like gold dust wherever we went.
Chile required us to give in abundance. It was difficult in the ways of how we had to often push ourselves when tired or sick. But when you know the One who fills our cup so much so that it overflows, any love we give is simply a product of that overflow, and it’s a natural bubbling over of life and joy that comes from within. There, we saw the power of truth – how it makes people uncomfortable, how it challenges and confronts hidden things, and how it holds the power to unlock a life of freedom. May we all experience that power, and may we never lose the boldness of sharing the gospel, because the world is in need of a Saviour, and as his followers we know the truth and we know the way.