Two days ago my team and I arrived in our final destination in Guayaquil, Ecuador after a 40 hour bus ride from Medellin. As I was simply reflecting on everything that happened while I was in Colombia, I compiled a list of 7 things I will miss about Colombia. Here they are:
1. All Squad Month
A huge part of me was super excited for month two here in Ecuador because I really wanted to spend time getting to know my team. However, this is truly one of the most special group of 44 individuals I have ever met. The truth that each person on our squad walks in is just inspiring. I really loved getting to know each person here and I am sad I didn’t get to know some as well as others, however I am excited about keeping up with everyone’s stories as God continues to move through us and our individual teams in the various scattered locations we currently find ourselves in.
2. The Beauty
I literally can’t explain in words how beautiful Colombia is. All I have is a handful of pictures I took on my I-phone. The pictures do not do justice to the beauty I witnessed as I explored Colombia on my off ministry days. God truly is amazing and creative. All you have to do is look around.
3. The People
I didn’t really take any pictures with many of the people at the refuge, but I had the privilege of interviewing the guy in the middle on the last day before we left. His story truly is incredible. The way God completely transformed his life left me in pure awe. He is one of many people I got to interview and see interact with our squad. I regret not taking more pictures with them, however, I will always remember them in my heart.
4. The Ministry
Ministry at the City of Refuge looked different everyday. Some days we helped the men in the program take in food truck donations. Others we were involved in kids and youth ministry. Yet others we went and handed out bread and sugar water to the homeless out on the streets and just told people how much God loves them. It didn’t matter what we were doing, I saw the presence of God move. It was so obvious that the Spirit of God was with every person on staff there from the pastor to the woman in charge of our ministry opportunities, to the workers at the bakery, God was at work.
5. The Kids
Part of our ministry involved working with kids. We had VBS for the kids every Thursday and Saturday. Also on Saturdays, a group of us would go to Manantiales one of the poorest neighborhoods in Medellin and play with the kids. Not only did we have the opportunity to play with the kids, but we also got to walk around the neighborhood distributing school supplies and food. The kids here just have so much joy that it is just contagious and you can’t help but laugh and smile. It is no wonder Jesus says “Let the little ones come to me”. He desires for us all to have the heart of a child. If you want more pictures of what we did in Manantiales check out my teammates Colby’s blog . Not only did we serve in Manantiales, but a group of us served in a town called Buenos Aires. At Buenos Aires, we had the privilege of playing with the kids and sharing the gospel with them through skits, games, teaching, testimonies and much more. It was so beautiful seeing the joy and love in these kids faces. It made me not want to leave. Here is just a short video from my teammate Michael’s blog.
6. The Food
I won’t sit here and say every meal we had was my favorite. However, on some occasions I had some amazing food. Where were staying, there was a bakery that baked all sorts of fresh food every morning. Delicious croissants, empanadas, churros and much more were served to us. One night, after a long series of really difficult calls, I ordered pizza at a place called Pizza Americana for the guys and it was probably some of the worst pizza any of us had ever had. However, no one seemed to care because of the funny experience associated with it and we were all really hungry. Whether the food was good or bad, it united us and brought us together in Joy to break bread together. In the infamous words of our squad meme, “Let’s get this bread”.
7. The Love
One of the most impactful things from the entire experience was the concentration of Love I saw all around me. Starting with the intentionality of our host in serving us, to the intentionality of my squad mates to make sure no one felt left out or missed out on being loved. I saw them clean up after each other, giving hugs, giving massages, words of affirmation, encouraging each other, speaking the truth in Love, sharing the gospel, spending intentional time with the people at the foundation, and even exchanging of gifts. I literally saw the body of Christ at work in amazing ways through not only our squad but the people we were serving with and it is truly an amazing thing to see. Jesus said his followers would be marked by acts of love and here we are… a community that loves each other radically.
I will truly miss Colombia. I am not sure if it is the last time I will be called there but one thing I will never forget is all the beautiful lessons I learned here and all the beautiful people I encountered. As always feel free to subscribe if you haven’t subscribed and if you would love to hear a more complete story of what is happening in Ecuador, subscribe to my teammates blogs as well. (the links are below)
