On Saturday, September 17th, we went to share with Pastor Jose and his church Renacer en Cristo “Rebirth in Christ” as they hand delivered meals to one of the poorest communities in Maracaibo. Every Saturday, church members gather to cook and package lunches for 70 -80 people. They have a time of prayer and worship before going out into the community of Monte Claro. They travel by foot from their church to a wall that separates Monte Claro from a nice, city neighborhood. Church members yell across the wall and a friend of the church, a resident of Monte Claro, sends down a ladder for the team to make it over to the other side. I was amazed to see how we went from one extreme to another in a matter of seconds. The nice community beside Monte Claro looks like an above average neighborhood in Maracaibo there’s paved streets, large houses with elaborate gates, kids wearing clothes even name-brand clothing. However, just a short trip over a ladder in Monte Claro you’re met with dirt roads, houses made from scrap metal, makeshift gates made from whatever happens to be around, children playing around in the dirt naked or just in their underwear. What breaks my heart is that it’s so obvious that these kids are not eating well. Their hair has lost its pigment, its luster. The color of their eyes are different, their bellies are bloated.
By delivering a simple meal the church is given an opportunity to provide for a physical need while opening a door to provide for their spiritual need as well. At the second house we visited, a young mother asked the church to pray over her son who was ill. At the third house, we met Maria, who gave birth at her house a week before with no doctors or hospital and she even cut her own umbilical cord. The Guajiro Indians are known for their high threshold of pain. Maria had us pray over her and her children. Her new daughter is named Angelica, after Pastor Jose’s wife.
As we continued to deliver meals I saw the famous “hole” in the backyard of one of the houses. The community’s nickname is “the hole” because there’s a pond in the middle of the community filled with stagnant rain water which has now turned neon green from pollution and the mounds of trash found in and around it. Pastor Jose told us that a lot of the trash comes from outside of the community. Businesses from the city come with their trash trucks to dump their waste into the hole. To compensate for their pollution they pay off residents, so they won’t complain. The community is gradually turning into a landfill.
Many of the meals we deliver are for the people who live on the other side of the pond. To get to the other side we have to cross over a bridge made from garbage and other scraps. Once we made it across, we were greeted by over 20 children and their families who were smiling and receiving us with such joy and warmth. I was shocked, because the Guajiro Indians who live here do not show emotion in this way, especially towards outsiders. I could really see God working in this community and breaking down those cultural barriers. Pastor Jose met with the chief of the community and he invited the church to have a thanksgiving service at his house.
The kids were previously digging through the trash to find scraps for their animals such as chickens, goats, and pigs. They were ashamed at first to shake our hands, but we assured them that it was okay. These are the children that walk miles to come to church every Sunday.
At the end of the morning, we delivered 70 meals throughout the community.
God is doing wonderful things in Monte Claro several families are inviting the church to come to their houses to have prayer services and even some are offering their houses to have a weekly service for the community. Doors are being opened for a church to be planted in this community.
Thank you for your prayers, thank you for your support. Your contribution is impacting Maracaibo in huge ways.
Please be in prayer for the church “Renacer en Cristo” Rebirth in Christ:
- Please pray that God will continue to break down the cultural barriers in Monte Claro.
- Pray that God will provide the church with a missionary team who speaks Wayuu the language of the Guajiro Indians. Many of the Guajiro Indians do not speak Spanish.
- Pray that God will continue to guide and strengthen the leaders of the church. Pray for its provision.
