Transformation

Well, I should really get writing about more of my Colombian adventures, so today I wanted to start with Julien's story. We met Julien in Medellin. He is a Pastor that has started up a church (pictured above in the first picture is the church 'sanctuary') in the neighbourhood he grew up in. He is a man with an amazing testimony of how God changed his life. Don't get me wrong, anyone who has become a Christian has an equally amazing story of Grace changing their life around, but this man has a testimony that will really speak to people about just how amazing that transformation can be.

Julien grew up in a rough neighbourhood and got into trouble in his life. Without going into too many details, I'll just say that he became a part of the most dangerous group in Medellin. Everyone that knew him, knew that he was a force to be wreckened with and was a very dangerous man. His life changed when he found out that someone had been hired to kill him, so he beat the man to it and ended his life. Someone saw him do this and he was arrested and taken to Bellavista prison with a 25 year sentence for homicide. Now Bellavista is a well-known prison. (The following information was taken from the book Captivating, where the authors talked about knowing the woman who now ministers there). More than 6000 inmates are crammed into this prison that was built to hold only 1500 people. Up until 14 years ago, it was known for it's violence, with an average of two murders A DAY within the prison walls. 14 years ago, people began Bible studies in this prison and started to teach these hardened criminals about the love of Jesus and lives (like Julien's) are being absolutely TRANSFORMED. Between 1990-1997 only 7 inmates were murdered (an incredible decline from the years before).

Julien heard about Christ's love for him and turned his life around. He met Ilyanna while in prison (she was involved in the Bible studies I believe). By a miracle of God, Julien was released from prison after serving 8 years of his sentence and now goes into the prison (I believe weekly) to continue spreading God's word to these men that are lost. In the last three years since being released from prison, Julien and Ilyanna were married, and have a beautiful son named Mateo. As I said before, he started up a church in the neighbourhood that he grew up in, a neighbourhood where his reputation is very well known. What an incredible witness of the power of God to change lives!!

Julien and Ilyanna are a beautiful couple. They were the ones who hosted us during our 4 days at the seminary in Medellin. Their love for people and for spreading the love of Christ absolutely shines through them. It's a beautiful sight.

Pastor Phil videotaped an interview with Julien while in Colombia. I've only seen parts of the video, but I can tell you it's really incredible to watch. It will be shown at our church in the near future if anyone is interested I will let you know when.

Mel