standing in the gap
This month our ministry has been emotionally, spiritually and physically challenging and stretching in more ways than I could count. Team Fiercely Loved is serving a ministry called Dunamis. Dunamis is nestled high in the mountains outside of Quito at an elevation of 11,000ft. The views are breathtaking and the majesty of our Creator is expressed differently every day. The ministry exists to be a refuge for young girls who have just been pulled out of sex trafficking. The courts send these girls to Dunamis while their case is being settled in court and Dunamis provides them with a place to get away to, basic life skills, opportunities for work, food in their tummies, and of course, the love and hope of Jesus Christ. Dunamis is a relatively new foundation so there are lots of different building projects being done around the large amount of property that Dunamis owns.
We knew going into this month that we would be doing manual labor for this organization in the form of building a wall. During our first week, our ministry host Diego explained the heart behind the work we are doing and the wall we are helping to build. He told us that this wall is more than a wall; its a picture of the fathers arms being wrapped around each girl who enters. When they see this wall, they will be comforted in knowing that they are safe and they are protected. No bit of danger that once surrounded them can enter their lives when they step into this safe place. They have been rescued and their souls can now rest.
At the beginning of the month, God took me to this passage.
“I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap.” Ezekiel 22:30
When I read this, I got PUMPED UP. Yes God, pick me, pick me. I will build that wall. It got me so jazzed about all this manual labor. I felt like I could go Rambo on those bricks after reading it. Then I studied the word ‘gap’ and it became so much deeper than just building a wall. The word ‘gap’ is translated in Hebrew to ‘perets’ meaning a break or a breach in a wall. It is used 25 times in the Bible mainly as a metaphor for committed intercession. There is a gap between God and man that an intercessor tries to repair.
As I read that I was undone. We are not just building a wall; we are standing in the gap. These girls have reached the farthest depths. In their pain and suffering they might not be able to comprehend that hope exists and God loves them. Its a real possibility that there is a huge distance [a gap] between them and God and that is what we are called to stand in between. God is asking us to pray and intercede that each day the gap would be lessened and lessened so that these girls can begin to open their hearts to receiving the love that God wants to pour out over them.
That perspective has driven all of the work we have been doing. Every time I mix cement, lift a brick, dig a hole, move a wheel barrel, climb up and down the mountain, get a bruise, feel my muscles ache, or look the girls in the eyes, I am reminded. I am reminded that the Father wants these girls to be protected. He wants them safe in His arms. He wants to be close to them. He wants to gap to be filled and I am just a small piece in making that happen for these girls.
We’ve had the pleasure of spending small amounts of time with the girls at the foundation over the course of this month. Every time we get the chance to see them and interact with them, they get more and more comfortable with us. You can see the trust and the comfort growing. The last time we were able to be with them, they were hugging and kissing us, sharing their stories with us and embracing all the love we wanted to show them. Some even asked if we could adopt them. My hope is that the love, peace and comfort they experienced when they were in our presence could be recognized to them as the Fathers and that somehow, the gap is on its way to being closed.
If you would like to read more about Dunamis to pray and support them in their mission, please check out the link here! https://dunamisfoundation.com/
