How Can We Reach the Underground Rap Scene in Bogotá?
Nazareth and Mari encountered our team on the streets of Bogotá back in November. They were both a bit raw because just recently, one of their friends had committed suicide. So when our teams invited them to write out what their message to the world would be, they wrote a message of love.
Our team prayed with this couple, right then and there, asking for God’s peace to fill them, and for them to experience the true, saving love of Jesus. They invited them to a follow-up event they were holding later in the week.
Allison Pinzón, our Minneapolis (USA) City Team leader, was in town with a group from the states so our North American missionaries could learn from our Latin American teams. She remembers that follow-up event being a turning point for Nazareth and Mari.
“When they arrived at the event,” she shared, “Filipe (our North America Regional Director) was on the stage playing some songs, so he invited Nazareth, who is a freestyle rapper, to improvise with him. Nazareth really enjoyed it and felt welcomed. It was a powerful night as Filipe and other team members shared the Gospel from the stage and invited people to respond in prayer receiving Jesus. Nazareth, Mari, and Falco (a friend they brought that night) prayed to receive Jesus. After the event, Falco shared on his social media ‘Today I met God face to face… It was like being born again.’”
Nazareth, Mari, and Falco all returned the following week for the Bogotá City Team’s Bible Study for the Non-Religious, and have been growing in discipleship ever since. The team even invited Nazareth to open the second NLM show of the Colombia tour.
“I have never felt so many emotions at one time,” Mari shared after the show, “God is telling me that this is what I’ve always needed.”
Nazareth said, “I think it’s necessary to forgive and be forgiven, and to accept Christ in your heart. That’s why I accepted Him, because it’s real.”