Breaking the Silence

Well as we are ending our time in Colombia, I wanted to share with you one of the biggest things God did on this trip. I believe that more than just sharing Jesus with the people of Colombia, we taught them how to have a voice. You see in Colombian society it is not okay to talk about things like sex, pornography, sexual abuse, etc. These things are kept secret. Also, in the Colombian church, struggles with sin are not talked about. Grace is not evident in most churches. If you mess up, they might kick you out, take you off any leadership and treat you as an outcast. This BREAKS my heart. The painted smiles on faces try to mask the real pain that is inside of these people. No one will talk, no one will care, and no one will give them grace and forgiveness. If this is how they are treated, how are they supposed to believe that God will forgive them and give them grace? Most don't. Most think that God could never forgive them and that God will condemn them like the churches do. But in the few short weeks we were here, I think the number one thing we taught was grace.

EVERYONE on our team shared stories of how messed up and jacked up we are, and how GOD forgives us and loves us, AND how we love and accept others through it. Also, we shared how we still struggle even though we are Christians, and how God still gives us grace every day and how the church gives us grace. Most of the time, when we were sharing, we felt like our words were falling on deaf ears, but then after we were done, people would come up and confess things they would have NEVER confessed to anyone, simply because we were being honest and open to them. Yesterday, for example, a girl came up to us after a purity seminar and confessed that when she was little she was molested by her uncle. This secret has been tearing her apart. She told her mom, but all her mom said was to forgive him. No one cared about how she felt. Her uncle would still come over sometimes, and her mom just told her to stay away from him. She felt like she had no voice. Her mom basically ignored it. But I could see God working on her heart as she shared. She was learning to break the chains satan has over her. We just loved her and told her she was not at fault, and prayed for her. This is just one story but their were hundreds of people breaking the chains of silence that satan had over them, but simply because someone was honest and transparent, she opened up to us. I think that is the greatest thing that I have had the privilege of being apart of, breaking the chains that silence & fear have over these people. Not only that, but we shared the grace, love and forgiveness that ONLY Jesus can give them. Nothing has been more powerful.

Today was our last night and we did an event at a church, with Unite. People were worshiping and going crazy and just declaring how great God is, but really what I saw were chains being broken, walls falling down, and a great roar of noise coming from the inside of the people. Freedom, and it was loud.

It's time to open up and break the chains of silence.

-Megan Kallenbach