At launch, 4 weeks ago now, we were told to find out our host’s vision for their ministry within 24 hours of arriving at a new ministry site. Well, when my team arrived at Santa Cecilia’s our official hosts were on vacation. Those who were running things in their absence made us feel very welcome, fed us well, and told us we would be painting our first week and then the kids would come the second. So, we settled right in and started painting. And painting. And painting. On our 4th day we met our hosts at lunch, introductions were made, we said “hola”, then we went back to painting. Although we knew we were blessing our hosts by painting, all that painting got a little discouraging. Since hearing the story of how the ministry came to be, however, I am very thankful we were able to work with this ministry this month, and I can’t help but think all that painting might have been easier to do if we’d asked questions and found out the vision of the ministry earlier, like we were told to do.
One evening after supper, about half way through our second week, our hosts Lucy and Ricardo sat down with us and told us their story. The story of how Santa Cecilia’s and Formavida, the foundation all their ministries are under, began.
It began 12 years ago. God told Lucy she needed to help the people on this mountain at the edge of Bogota, Colombia, and she said no. The mountain didn’t, and still doesn’t have the best reputation and Lucy wanted nothing to do with it, but God persisted and threw an opportunity in her path. One day, a friend invited Lucy to come up the mountain with her to visit some friends. Knowing the poverty of the mountain Lucy didn’t want to arrive empty handed. So she brought some food to give to the family. On the mountain she saw kids playing in the street and teenagers doing drugs. She saw why God had called her here.
After that Lucy often visited her friend on the mountain. She sought out the kids and teens and spent time teaching them about Jesus and helping them however she could. Every time she came up the mountain she stopped on one specific plot of land to pray that God would show her how to help the people around her. She knew that there needed to be a church on that plot of land, but how could she do something about it?
By talking with one of her pastor friends she found out the government wanted to start a feeding program on the mountain and someone needed to run it. She knew she could do it, but where? She didn’t own any land on the mountain, and she would need a place for the people to come get food. The plot of land where she had been praying was for sale, but she didn’t have any money to buy it. So, she prayed. God provided the money for her to buy the land. A kitchen was built and the program began. For three years Lucy fed 500 people a day, 5 days a week. As she gave them food she told them about Jesus.
The gangs on the mountain weren’t fans of this. Several times she was chased off the mountain. Her life was threatened. Her presence wasn’t welcomed. She began to pray that she would be able to stay on the mountain without fear. Then she came up with a plan. She would befriend the gang members. She began to visit their homes, bring them food, and tell them about Jesus. God answered her prayers and she was welcomed. Some of the gang members began to follow Jesus. More and more people came to believe, it was time for a church to begin. Around this time the government told Lucy she couldn’t tell people about Jesus anymore at their feeding program, so Lucy began to pray for a way to start a feeding program separate from the government and a church. To do these things her building needed to be built on to.
Now, for 6 years Lucy had been coming up the mountain and her husband, Ricardo refused to come with her. He had grown up on the mountain, knew how bad things were there, and never wanted to return, but God had been working on him. He was on vacation from work when Lucy was ready to build on to her building. One day he decided to come up the mountain to start that project and help Lucy figure out what materials she would need to finish it. God touched his heart that day and he came up the mountain with Lucy every day of his vacation.
One of those days they went and priced out the materials they would need to complete the addition, despite the fact they knew they didn’t have the money. Once they’d figured out how much everything cost, they went outside and prayed that God would provide the materials they needed. Then they returned up the mountain and Ricardo worked on what he could without all the materials. By the end of the day he was getting pretty discouraged about how much time and money it would take him to finish the addition. Then he got a phone call from Lucy.
A mission team had arrived in town. They were a work crew and they wanted to donate the materials and the labor to complete the addition. What an answer to prayer! A week later, the addition was done! It was Christmas Eve and Lucy and Ricardo wanted to celebrate by inviting all their neighbours on the mountain to the newly completed church for a meal. There was just one problem, they didn’t have enough money to buy that much food. Once more God provided. A local business called them offering to donate 100 boxed meals! They had their celebration and Formavida has been growing and serving God and the Community ever since. Ricardo and Lucy co-pastor the church.
Lucy and Ricardo both work full time at Formavida now, and have hired several people to help them reach the community. They have a few different ministries going on now, specifically targeted to help children, teens, and women on the mountain. One teaches women to sew and crochet so that they can make money to support their families. (Sadly most of the women are single mothers.) Ricardo and other men from the church have built new homes for a few families living nearby in truly deplorable conditions. Then for the kid and teens there is Oasis.It’s a great ministry that has really turned things around for some of the former “bad” kids on the mountain. I enjoyed getting to help with it over the past 2 weeks.
So, what’s next for Lucy, Ricardo, and Formavida? Well they bought a plot of land to turn into a soccer field. Currently the mountain kids play soccer in the street, so this is a very needed addition to the community. With the soccer field Lucy and Ricardo will be able to start a sports ministry, and they can’t wait for that to begin!
