Hello from Colombia!
Our squad has been in Medellin, Colombia for a week now, working with the Ciudad Refugio (City of Refuge) Foundation! Medellin is a beautiful metropolitan that runs through an Andes mountain valley. At a population of over 2.5 million people, it is comparable with the size of Chicago. Medellin sits at an elevation of about 4,900ft and the weather is wonderful. They are close to the equator so the temperature is pretty consistent year round; mid to upper 70s during the day and down to the lower 60s at night. They have earned the nickname, “the land of eternal spring.” At night, the lights of the streets and houses light up the sides of the mountains. Down in the valley, there are many nice buildings, stores and houses. As elevation gains up the side of the mountain, income levels drop pretty dramatically and the lifestyle becomes more impoverished. Within Medellin lies a lot of drug usage, as well as a number of homeless and displaced people. Beautiful landscapes and city streets can be found here, but there is also darkness within.
It is all squad month here at Ciudad Refugio, meaning that all 20 of us racers are together at this foundation along with our team leaders. Next month we will be split into our 3 separate teams, but for now, there is so much going on here and there are so many opportunities to connect with local people that we’ve all been able to plug in and help out in many ways.
So what happens at Ciudad Refugio? One of the main ministries here is a men’s drug rehab program. Men ranging from 20-50 in age come to seek help overcoming their drug addictions. There are about 20 men in the program. They stay on the 2nd floor of the foundation with a separate stairway to their floor. They have a devotion together every morning as well as a bible class every day. The first full day we were here, my teammate Ike and myself were asked to lead the class. They are going through the book of proverbs right now, so we unpacked what king Solomon wrote in chapter 9. They each picked their favorite verse and shared what it meant to them in relation to their life. All with the help of Gustavo, one of the translators, of course! The men shared great things and it reminded me much of the bible studies with the men back home at fox lake correctional.
It’s important to keep the men’s minds occupied while overcoming addiction. They have a café/ bakery storefront on the first floor here and many of the men take shifts working down in the bakery. It provides income for the foundation and gives the men good work. However, it is a bit dangerous for me having fresh made breads, donuts, and cookies available just a few flights of stairs away! Ike and I have been able to hang out and get to know many of them over the week. We were able to play soccer with them on a dirt/sand field in the neighborhood. We played a 90 minute game with no subs. I was dead afterwards, but it was so much fun playing with them. They are good. It was fun hearing, “muy bien gringo!” every time I did something good. We also hung out during some free time one afternoon and played some games of uno. The language barrier can be a struggle, but when a few draw 4’s get stacked together, we’re all on the same page laughing and having fun! They really seem to enjoy having us here.
The kids have also been off of school on break here this week due to the Colombian independence holiday. We split the squad up and held two different vbs/ kids camps from Thursday through Saturday. Some of the squad went up into a mountain neighborhood to hold a camp at another campus. They themed their camp on forgiveness and came back lots of positive stories. I stayed back at the foundation to bounce back and forth between the men’s program and vbs. We had a lot of fun with the kids here. We had a younger group and had a lot of fun doing the daily activities that were planned. We did a paper glueing world map craft, face paintings, made slime to play with, balloon sword fights, some drawing activities and water balloons for the last day! The theme here was creation and I think the kids really enjoyed themselves.
Last night, Saturday night, we lead the youth group evening here. Some of the squad lead us in some Spanish/English worship songs, I was able to give a message to them about motivation for service in Gods kingdom, and then we played a couple of games. The telephone game is a new level of difficult when you need to pass a phrase through several Spanish/English minds! It was a bunch of fun though.
Ciudad Refugio also ministers to the homeless in the neighborhood on a nightly basis. About 40 or so homeless and displaced people come to the first floor of the foundation each night for a mat to sleep on and a safe place to stay under a roof. They are each given a registration ticket to enter with and are not allowed to stay at the foundation unless they come to the weekly church service held for them. We haven’t plugged into the homeless ministry at all yet, but its another way the foundation is impacting the community around them.
This morning we got to join in with the praise and worship portion of the Sunday church service and then split up to help out with the Sunday school classes. Most of us weren’t much help with the bible lesson in Spanish, but we had fun with the classes for game time! There is also a Wednesday night service at the foundation. One of our squad leaders, Madison, was able to give the message on identity in the Lord at this service. The praise at worship time at this place is like God has released something wild! There are hands clapping, raised in the air, and joyful noises from all around. Even from us racers trying to read Spanish lyrics. It seems like we definitely hit the ground running this week. There is so much opportunity to serve here.
I am doing well. I’m very glad to be a part of what’s going on here and we have a lot of fun throughout our days, but I can’t say that I haven’t gone without missing home just a little bit here and there. It really is a blessing in itself to have such great friends and family to miss back at home though. So if you’re wondering how you can pray for me this week, please pray that I stay present in the ministry and pursuit for God’s kingdom here on earth!
If you pray for my squad, these are the faces you’re praying for!
