— Midweek Meditations:
thoughts, inspiration and encouragement
from ACF community members —
My last meditation was called “Pausing for Presence” … you may remember that last year I took an unpaid leave from my job for nine months to recover – physically and mentally- and to have a rest from many demands and deadlines which had taken my peace away.
Last December, I went to Colombia for three months, to support my 85 years old mother. She lives in Cucuta, the city where I was born which is on the border with Venezuela.
You may have heard about the critical situation in Venezuela… where around 10 million people left the country due to the unstable political situation. Cucuta is receiving most Venezuelans creating a burden for the city particularly in terms of security… everyday there are many robberies… assaults… crimes. Cucuta now is one of the 50 most violent cities in the world. The homicide rate last year was around 40 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, with 500 homicides in absolute number. For comparison, Baden Württemberg has an annual homicide rate of four murders per 100,000 inhabitants.
Monday, 15th of January 2024 will be forever in my mind.
My Abitur friends organized a dinner for me… we went to a nice restaurant and spent a pleasant time together… 25 female friends attended.
Around 8 pm, one of my closest friends offered me/us a lift to bring me to my mum’s home…
When we arrived, and I left the car 2 young men in 2 motorcycles with 2 big black guns attacked us and asked for money, mobiles, jewelry putting the guns on our bodies… my friend in a panic attack drove off leaving me alone with the two young criminals. I was paralyzed, could not breathe and the only thing I did was to close my eyes and pray to God that I do not want to die in front of the house of my 85 years old mother…
After a few seconds, the two men left in their motorcycles and did not do anything to me… There is no rational explanation as I was wearing a red top, yellow bag and bright yellow shoes… until now the only explanation my mum, my friends and I have is that God sent his angels and I was invisible to those young men.
I would like to refer to the promise of God in Psalm 91 verses 11-12: “For He will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won´t even hurt your foot on a stone.” God has commanded angels to guard you.
I presented this painful experience at the meeting of the Wise Ones (I love those meetings organized by Linda!) and we discussed how the Lord sends us angels not only when we scream. In my case, I cried out to God to protect me that night… he sent me his angels for protection. We read from the Old Testament 2 Kings: 6 where Elisha was telling his disciples to open his eyes and see the invisible army of the Lord that keeps protecting.
I am very grateful to our God… I will keep sharing this testimony as my small contribution to praise his name.
The ACF Midweek Meditations
are written by a diverse group of our church members with the intention to seek God’s fingerprints in our lives. They range from somber to humorous and are inspired by all facets of live and faith. Written by ordinary people from all walks of life, they reflect a wide range of Christian backgrounds and spiritualities.
Each week’s text portrays the individual viewpoint of its author. They might not always resonate with everyone, and are not meant to be understood as representing the Anglican Church Freiburg as a whole. Yet, as a church that is aiming to ‘Build a Community of Grace’ we seek to practice learning from and listening to one another.
We pray that these humble ponderings add a small spark of blessing to your week.
Freiburg Anglican Church 