The door to the Reyes family's house is open. Open for a reason - it is not unusual that people come here to talk with Nelly - ask her for counsel, help or prayer.
Nelly is in her fifties, with a warm smile and deep, dark, loving eyes. Her simplicity and bubbling laughter disarms. When she talks it seems like peace and love become more tangible, more present. Mother of nine children, wife and grandmother, Nelly is loved in her community, she spends her days not only looking after her own flock, but also pouring out herself for others: embracing the abandoned, praying for sick and the brokenhearted, feeding the poor, helping in a children's home and at the hospital. She is there for Zapala and it’s people. But it hasn't always been like that. The Woman who now brings hope and restoration to others was once very broken herself.
Nelly is in her fifties, with a warm smile and deep, dark, loving eyes. Her simplicity and bubbling laughter disarms. When she talks it seems like peace and love become more tangible, more present. Mother of nine children, wife and grandmother, Nelly is loved in her community, she spends her days not only looking after her own flock, but also pouring out herself for others: embracing the abandoned, praying for sick and the brokenhearted, feeding the poor, helping in a children's home and at the hospital. She is there for Zapala and it’s people. But it hasn't always been like that. The Woman who now brings hope and restoration to others was once very broken herself.
Nelly shares the excitement about the November afternoon that turned her life upside downBrought up in a family of 13 kids, where her mom only cared about the oldest and the youngest, she didn't experience love and affection. Her parents were from two different Mapuche Indigenous tribes and they got married against the traditions. As the young mapuche Romeo and Juliet broke the customs, a curse was cast over the family and generations to come - to never prosper. They didn't have much and as soon as prosperity would come knocking on the door, quickly it would be gone. Like a vicious circle that would not stop even when Nelly started her own family. As she recalls, the early years of her marrige and bringing up the children the tears start streaming down her face. "I didn't know how to love my family. My selfhatred, depression, loneliness and childhood wounds kept me from showing care and affection to them."she shares. "One day my husband told me that if I didn't change he would leave me. That was when I hit the bottom. How could I possibly bring up the kids by myself? I was desperate, nothing and no one could help me." At the brink of giving up, the unexpected happened...
Childlike excitement spreads in the air as she starts telling this part of her story. A story about God meeting a broken woman. "I still remember it very clearly. It was a sunny november afternoon 13 years ago. A neighbor had been bringing me to a christian prayer group. Several times the people there had been praying for me but nothing happened and I was getting upset. That day I left the meeting and came home angry with people and God. Throwing away the New Testament they had given me, I bursted out- "God, if you really exist show it to me! After a few seconds I suddenly started to feel an undescribable, comforting warmth, love and peace. Love that I had never known in my life was there. At that moment God became so real to me…" She sighs peacefully.
That November afternoon has changed Nelly’s life upside down. Her broken life and relationships are being healed and restored, the curses that were spoken over the family have lost their grip - the vicious circle of never prospering has ended. She is filled with hopes and dreams for the future. One of her dreams is to open a feeding program for people in need. Her days now have a sense of purpose. A Purpose to bring hope and restoration to others. To Zapala.
Childlike excitement spreads in the air as she starts telling this part of her story. A story about God meeting a broken woman. "I still remember it very clearly. It was a sunny november afternoon 13 years ago. A neighbor had been bringing me to a christian prayer group. Several times the people there had been praying for me but nothing happened and I was getting upset. That day I left the meeting and came home angry with people and God. Throwing away the New Testament they had given me, I bursted out- "God, if you really exist show it to me! After a few seconds I suddenly started to feel an undescribable, comforting warmth, love and peace. Love that I had never known in my life was there. At that moment God became so real to me…" She sighs peacefully.
That November afternoon has changed Nelly’s life upside down. Her broken life and relationships are being healed and restored, the curses that were spoken over the family have lost their grip - the vicious circle of never prospering has ended. She is filled with hopes and dreams for the future. One of her dreams is to open a feeding program for people in need. Her days now have a sense of purpose. A Purpose to bring hope and restoration to others. To Zapala.
Nav komentāru:
Ierakstīt komentāru