Day 7: Last Day

Today was really good. I feel like I've said that every day. I guess that's not a bad thing.

We spent the morning at the campus, but only went to one class and just hung out with the students the rest of the time. I got to walk through the gospel in a really natural way with a student named Umberto. He asked questions and broached topics that made it really easy for everything to come together into a solid gospel presentation. At the end I asked where he thought he stood with God and he said he didn't know, but wanted to go home and think about it. He seemed shook. Be praying! 

After campus we went into the city, but this time to Carol's house. Carol is the lady who facilitated our conversation with the women from the streets yesterday. She, along with a lady named Gretel, shared information and stories with us about how difficult and dangerous life is on the street for women. The stories they told were heart-rending. I really can't express just how intense it was. And even while they were sharing, someone who was listening chimed in to tell her that the reason there are no shelters for the women here is that the women always bring problems. Carol was really gentle in her response, but you could see that what was said had hurt her. (Gretel was less gentle. They are a good team). 

The plan that our church here has is to create a women-only shelter that provides a safe place and sense of community where women can sleep in a bed without turning to prostitution. Gretel (a former sex worker) shared that sleeping in a bed instead of the street is a strong motivating factor for turning to prostitution earlier. There are so many things that need to be taken into consideration, but the church here is doing such a good job of working to see things done well. 

After the meeting, we went to see a small men-only dormitorio that is really well run and has successfully created a good sense of community that is helping men find the strength to go through rehab and seek employment. We talked with the lady that runs it and helped them serve the men who were staying the night. Afterwards, Carol shared her testimony and some good encouragement for the men. One of the things she said that really impacted them was, "as women, we bring a different set of problems than you, but we also bring solutions that you cannot." She encouraged the men to speak truth to the daughters they had abandoned for drugs and alcohol, that daughters needed to hear that it was not their fault and that it was because of the dad's fears and choices. It really powerfully affected the men and many came up to thank her afterwards.

We didn't end up doing a brainstorm time tonight, but we did have dinner with the Ohio team and got a group picture. We came back, did worship and then stayed up late talking.

We're heading home tomorrow. I'll post a quick travel summary and then a few days later I will post a much longer summary of what I learned on this trip.

keep praying!