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Summer Missions Intensive Team prepares for ministry in the Bronx -
Our team after ministry in The Bronx -
Juan Gregorio receives Jesus -
Celebrating a great time of ministry -
Winter Missions Intensive Team prepares for ministry in the Bronx -
Praying for God to bless the ministry
There are some ministries that are just not as “easy” as others. Alcance Victoria´s outreach to men, women, and children in heavy, habitual drug abuse is one of these types of ministries. Located in a short alley that feels much like Hell on Earth, Medellin´s Bronx is a place where addicts of all types are doing drugs of all types at all hours of the day and night.
Alcance Victoria´s outreach is staffed by several courageous and dedicated men and women, most of whom have come from of this very type of life themselves. This gives them an additional advantage as we go to the streets, talking to these precious lost souls, and trying to convince those who are desperate enough to leave and willing to try to break free from addiction.
Jhonny Villa, Alcance Victoria´s leader of Evangelism, is one of these men. As we approach a group of dirty, disheveled, distracted, and demonized men, he squats down in the pile of trash next to them, smiling lovingly while explaining how the Power and Love of Jesus had allowed him to break free from a life of drug abuse, and how that same Power and Love can set them free, too.
After an hour or so walking slowly through the alley, squatting in piles of trash and doing our best to share the Gospel of Christ and the love of Jesus with these poor, lost, addicted souls, our team meets up on the other side. I see that there are three men sitting in a car, waiting to be driven to the rehabilitation center which we will visit the following week.
There, we will see these men shaven and in clean clothes, have received the offer of Salvation that Christ has given them…they will now have a second chance at life. Not all of them will be there in the following weeks or months when we visit, but many will remain and persist. Those who do will eventually leave and be reunited with loved ones who are praying daily for their restoration. Others will stay on with the ministry, helping others leave the life of drugs that they have miraculously escaped.
When 911 Life´s international teams visits the Rehab House on Sunday evenings, we are all consistently overwhelmed by the sheer energy and gratitude in their praise. Inside no church we have ever visited does one hear such fervent and heartfelt praise as on the back patio of this crowded home, where our 50 new friends sing, dance, and shout praises to the Lord!