A broken city with hope for more

Every day I am completely amazed at how much our world needs hope.  I walk around the streets and see people. People hurting, people dying, people starving, people who appear to have it all together.  People walk around worshiping "Santa Muerte" (the saint of death).  It truly breaks my heart to see people who have no hope, no life, nothing.  Even though there is so much darkness in DF, there is also a lot of hope and followers of Christ amidst everything going on.  I have hope for this city.  The second largest city in the world, I have hope for because Christ is here.  God is in this city.  He is here at work in people's hearts.  He is here.  

Dios eterno, tu luz por siempre vivirá.

So it is officially two weeks in the city.  I am so excited to finally start getting into a schedule with my ministry.  Generally my weeks are going to involve going onto campus to start movements two days a week/one day service at Recobro or another place/one day at Tepito with prostitutes/service projects, etc.  I cannot wait for all of these amazing opportunities that God has given me.

Tomorrow I am going to have a staff meeting and then afterwards I get to go to Recobro.  Recobro is a home where women and children with mental disabilities live.  They are unable to communicate and have so many difficulties living daily life that the government of Mexico has completely thrown them aside.  They receive no help, nothing.  This Christ centered home for them allows people to go in an show love to them.  I am so excited.  I have heard stories about how hard it is to go, because the women and children just break your hearts.  I think that it is about time that my heart has been broken.  This past semester I have been so selfish and focused on myself and all of the difficulties that I have run into that I completely dismiss the struggles of others.  I am ready to love others.  I am ready to actually live like God has called me to live: loving others.

I am so excited for Wednesdays.  This Wednesday I am going to Tepito, the most dangerous town of all of Latin America.  This is where the gangs, the violence, the homeless, the drug cartel, the mafia, the prostitutes, the sex slave trade are all born.  This is where it all starts.  I feel like God is calling me to go there.  I want to work with the prostitutes.  I want to show them hope, love, acceptance, Jesus.  They have nothing to live for.  They sell themselves.  They know no other life.  I want to see God work in their lives, in their hearts.  I can't even really explain it, but my heart hurts for them.  I want to go there and be there with them.  I don't know what God is going to do, but I want to be there and experience the amazing ways that He is going to work.

There are just so many opportunities to serve.  I am so excited.  I am also going to hopefully get involved in a rehab-home for 11-12 year old girls and their children.  Yes that's right, 11-12 year old girls and their babies.  It just breaks my heart to even think of what their lives must be like.  These are girls who are still children and yet they have grown up in such an oppressive environment that has caused them to have children of their own.  I don't even really know what to say or to think, but I do know one thing. I know that I want to love them. I don't really know what that looks like, but I know that God is calling me to do it.

Gosh, these two weeks have been so wonderful.  I really feel like God has been clearing some things up for me.  I have no doubt in my mind that God  has me here for a reason.  I am so excited to do Stint (1 year internship) starting in August down here.  It is just so right.  I cannot wait.  I know that God has huge plans.

Please join me in praying against all of the spiritual warfare that we are experiencing down here.  God is doing huge things down here.