My time in Colombia has now come and gone and so much took place! We had a debrief for a few days, and then followed that with an all squad time of ATL (ask the Lord). We are located in the HUGE city of Medellin, where a large amount of Colombia’s population resides. Along with the native population, it is also home to many Venezuelan refugees that have come in search of a better life. Needless to say, it’s a pretty big city filled with a lot of people. Sadly too, Colombia has the largest population in the world of internally displaced people (around 7 million), and they are also the world’s number one cocaine producing country. As you walk down the streets and travel from one part of the city to the next, you come into contact with so many different lifestyles. You see the homeless, the drug addicted, the displaced, the one percent, and the average small town business owners. We’ve now lived in three different parts of the city, which has shown us a glimpse into all these styles of life.
This month, two of our teams lived together and partnered with an organization called City of Refuge. It is an amazing program where every aspect of what they do is so intentional and thought out.
Every night, over 60 homeless men come to sleep on the bottom floor of the building. They provide them with a mattress and a secure place to store what belongings they have. Every Saturday night, they also hold a service just for homeless men and the people with the center to attend. This takes the pressure off many of the men who may feel uncomfortable attending the other services available.
At least once a week, we go to a street near where we stay called the Bronx. This street is just one block long and is PACKED with at least 500 people. As you walk along the street, every single person is doing sort of drug. You start conversations as they light up their pipes and sniff their crack. You see people sniffing bags of glue and rocking in corners. Here, I guess it is legal to own a personal possession of drugs, but it is illegal to sell it. However, on this street, all rules are gone. There are police that literally drive through on their motorbikes, who see the stands set up to sell drugs, and just keep on driving because giving them free reign on one strip of street is one of the best ways to control it I guess.
Most of you probably already know, but Colombia has a deep history with drugs. Pablo Escobar was a drug lord in this city 27 years ago which is where this identity made deep its roots. So City of Refuge also has two teen & adult challenge programs here; one for men and one for women. When they go to places like the Bronx, hold services for the homeless to come, and get to know the men that sleep on the first floor every night, they can see the ones with a different spirit. Everyone is invited to come and talk to leadership about the possibility of being enrolled into the program!
I don’t know all the details about the program, but it gets the men and women involved in services, bible studies, and work projects so that when they graduate from the program, they will have work experience and will be able to get a job!
We have been helping the women in the kitchen in the mornings and holding a bible study for them in the afternoons each day. On Friday, we got to take them on an outing in the city so we went to the botanical gardens and treated them to ice cream!
(This is where we had lunch and dinner every day, and where we would work with the women in the mornings!)
The men also hold a bible study with the guys in the program and spend the mornings doing a work project with them. For the work project, the ministry receives boxes of individual spice packages that the men then repack into the cardboard packages they are to be sold in. This project has been a huge blessing for the ministry. One, by doing this work for the company, the ministry is able to be pretty self sufficient for the most part. Secondly, the work itself is not very difficult. Many of the people who go through the program come in with very diminished motor skills. So this work offers them something that everyone who first comes in will be able to do as well as help them refine their fine motor skills. And three, it also creates good relationships with the company. A lot of times, men can be hired from the program to one of the company’s other work sites.
(a little glimpse into the spice packaging. Every large cardboard box held about 50 spice boxes needing to be packed. One day the men had a fun out of town adventure day so we helped them to not fall behind on their packaging)
The ministry also operates a bakery that the men in the program work at as well! Through that, they learn the skills of what it takes to run a business, and cooking skills (which also helps to overcome the mindset that many come in with that men shouldn’t do the cooking). Since this bakery doesn’t hire employees, they are able to sell their products for much cheaper than other bakeries nearby. This attracts customers who wouldn’t normally go to the building and introduces them to their church, the program, and feel accepted by the community!
Other ministry opportunities throughout the week include an English class everyday at a nearby school, attending/speaking at services three times a week! Our last Friday there, we also held a women’s conference. It lasted about 7 hours and we spent our time talking about who God is, our identity in Christ, and our worth in Christ. We made and fed them dinner which was a super special treat for them because they always have to make dinner for themselves and everyone else in the building. (We also gave them snacks earlier in the day and they fell in love with puppy chow..The Midwest should be proud) After dinner, we had a bit of worship, we washed their feet, and then had some fun. We made a face mask, painted nails, and just goofed around. It ended up being such a fun and powerful night for the woman!
(we held the women’s conference on the roof of the City of Refuge center – to the back left is the door to our small two bedroom apartment 11 of us girls ended up sharing the majority of the month)
Some days, we also go to an area called Manatieles. This is one location where many displaced families reside. Originally, no one was intended to make their homes upon the mountain. But as drugs and gangs filled the city, people were pushed farther and farther up. And now even though that activity has quieted down so much since the 90’s, certain gangs still control those areas up the mountain. Every week, they will go to the family houses and make them pay 5,000 Colombian pesos for water. Even though that is only $1.56 USD, many families can’t even afford it.
Last Saturday, I attended their kids program they do once a month. We literally ran around the streets, gathering the kids and bringing them to the school. While there, we gave them a snack, did some dancing, put on a bible skit, then broke up into age groups to do lessons. While the lessons were going on, we prepared 270 Colombian hot dogs to feed the kids and the parents that came for the morning. It was such a sweet time just laughing and playing and seeing so much joy in these kids despite their circumstances.
(Our last day, we went back to hold another kids program. I helped out with the 3-6 year olds and we had 65 kids show up in that age group alone! Here they putting on a bible story skit)
The following Thursday, we carried bags of food packages around the mountain. We were able to sit with families, hear their stories, pray over their family, and leave them with one of the care packages.
One Sunday, we hosted the Venezuelan Refugee dinner and it was amazing. We spent the afternoon prepping the food and then inviting our guests. Around 150 people came! A Venezuelan band kicked off the night in worship, and then a speaker went up and spoke. I don’t know much of what was said, but from the vibe of the room, you could tell it was very powerful. As soon as he finished his prayer, we started serving the food. The very first man I handed a plate to had tears down his face, looked at me so intently, and just said “gracias” over and over again.
(This is the first floor of the ministries building. It is also where they hold the many church services throughout the week and where the homeless men sleep each night.)
Again, this ministry we have been a part of this month has been absolutely amazing. They have such a heart for the people of their community, their country, and the Lord. If you want to see more about what they are all about, here is a link to their website! http://ciudadrefugio.org/en/
Thanks for once again sticking through another long blog of all the things that took place last month! On Sunday, we took a 30 hour bus ride and landed in Quito Ecuador! There are some BIG changes that took place for this last month that I’m excited to share with you all (hopefully super soon!)
Please be in prayer for my squad as we kick off our final month before heading back home. I pray that we will be bold, intentional, and soak up everything that the Lord has for us this month!
Here’s some extra photos that didn’t quite fit anywhere in the blog:)
