The Road to Relationship & Redemption (Part 1)

   New Song is truly a bubble of the Kingdom within Candelaria. It is a place teeming with life, joy, redemption, and love. It is a place where individuals are being healed and families are being restored. People are finding the Lord and learning how to have healthier relationships.
   While the church has symbolized all that the Lord desires for Candelaria, the house situated on both sides of our entrance has always seemed to me like the epitome of the brokenness that needs to be transformed. I know that’s a harsh generalization, but honestly it’s what I’ve thought.
   When my “home” was broken into in 2008, the boys were from this family. Much of the property stolen in Candelaria is sold from this home. It’s a normal occurence to see one or more of the adults completely plastered by noon. It is a house full of drug use, teenage pregnancy, and unmarried couples. Most of the kids are referred to by nicknames such as “the fat one” or “the black one” rather than their names. (This happens to the extent that I asked for one of the little boys by name and it took a full minute for his own family to know who I was talking about because I refused to call him El Negro).
   Everyone who enters or leaves our property passes by their home yet I have seen very minimal interaction between the church and this family. Somehow I have always had a connection to this family. Whether it be the 9 year old boy, Elvin, who would run out of the house every time I passed by to hug me, or Marlon the 13 year old gang member who robbed me and my team, but later became our friend and we were able to share the gospel with him, or if it’s the mom who stumbles out into the road trying to share her 1/2 empty bottle of rum with me. The Lord has always been lining up my path alongside this family, but just this month the doors to relationship swung wide open…

   A couple of months ago I was walking by and just greeted the women sitting in the front yard. They invited me to come and play cards with them. I sat all afternoon chatting, laughing, and playing Nicaraguan card games. We had a great time, but nothing really changed in the relationship until six weeks later (about 2 weeks ago) Jasmina (pictured left) asking as I passed by “Lisa when are we going to play cards again?” “I’ll come by tomorrow afternoon,” I responded.
   Little did I know this afternoon would open doors to a whole new ministry for me…