This past Thursday we got to get an in-depth tour of the ministry we are working at this month. The Ciudad de Refugio is a wonderful ministry that is reaching so many different outlets of their community. Harry led our tour and I am so thankful he did! He has been with the ministry for ten years now. It was evident how passionate he is for what they are doing in the in Refuge, through every detail he shared with us. Walking away from this tour, I gained a greater appreciation for the ministry we were working with, as we got to see the brilliance of intentionality.
Ciudad de Refugio is a homeless shelter at night. It has an in-house men and women restoration program. It is a church with three different church services to meet the needs of the community. It has a bakery/cafe attached to the compound that gets to reach people in the community. It has multiple outreach programs where they feed the homeless two times a week. They are partnered with Manatiales, a city for displaced families, to hold children’s programs and food distribution. If that wasn’t enough, they have some incredible opportunities coming up this following year to reach the community even further!
Pastor Douglas moved to Colombia in 1993, and quickly grew a desire to help the homeless community. Many churches wouldn’t allow him to bring the homeless into their services, so he began his own church and shelter where everyone and anyone is welcome. Harry began to break down the details of the building and how each part of it was created with intentionality. Every detail was thought with such a forethought in how each part of the building can be used for the best of it’s ability. I am going to do my best to describe the tour to you.
First floor- The size of the building requires a parking lot, so during the daytime many of the vans and buses are parked inside. At 7:00pm the room is cleared out and prepared to welcome in anyone who needs a place to spend the night. They have built a relationship with many of them, where they feel comfortable enough to store their belongings there during the day (which is HUGE deal! Many homeless people don’t trust others with their stuff). He specifically put two different bathrooms on the first floor so that there is space for the homeless to get ready each day, but also a space for others to use the restroom. There is sad perception and stigma that the homeless are dirty here so he wanted each person to feel loved and accepted.
They hold three church services a week. Wednesdays are typically designed for the men and women in the programs. Saturday nights are specifically designed for homeless men and women to feel comfortable to come as they are and be loved on. Then, Sundays they have a full service with worship and kid’s services. Pastor Douglas knew that in order for this to be a welcoming idea in the community, he needed to be able to reach the community in some way. That’s how the bakery came about! Men and women in the program get to learn job training in many different areas of the compound, and working in the bakery is one of them. The bakery faces the busiest part of the street, which invites people to come in to see all the neat things God is doing in this place.
Second floor- This is the floor where the men in the program sleep. The space from the first floor to the second floor was intentionally built only 5 feet high. This was done so that if one of the men can’t physically attend the services, he can still hear it from the room. The men in the program while they are there have daily Bible studies, work at compound, learn how to do everyday household chores, and also have group soccer games. They get to be discipled by former men who have come through the program and now serve there. Something that is really neat is the work the men do in the compound is for other local companies, so that once they graduate from the program they have automatic job opportunities.
Third floor- This floor is where the women in the program live (and also all of us ladies too)! With intentionality in mind, they built the walls 8 ft tall as a way to help keep the men and women at a greater distance (temptation is real y’all). They also have their own separate entrance just again to help with accountability for each person in the program. The women’s dorms are on the back side of the building where we get to sleep on the side facing the sun. This was done intentionally to keep electricity usage down. The women are out of their rooms for the majority of the day with different Bible studies, cooking and prepping meals in the kitchen, and having community time. Since we are facing the sun, we use the natural light as much as possible!
Fourth floor- This floor has a lot going on! There are the rooms where the men package spices for other companies. There are children’s rooms for: Bible studies, kids church on Sundays, and also a private school. The private school is taught by teachers, as well as German exchange students. The children get the best education by learning in a smaller environment. They also get to learn English and German! The kitchen is also on this floor. Meals are prepared here with the windows facing outward to the best views of Medellin.
Fifth floor- This floor is mostly housing for the people who work on staff. There is a studio, 1 room, and two room apartments. There is also a terrace (my favorite place) where there is plenty of room for kids to have a soccer game, hold our VBS, and also to just enjoy the beauty of the city. They also just installed solar panels to help conserve energy even greater for the compound!
Fifth and a half floor- They intentionally only built half a floor to create the open availability of the terrace. It is mostly more staff housing. They used to be the tallest building in the area, so the phone company asked if they could install the cellular tower on their roof AND pay them rent to do so!
It is hard work to have a ministry that has so many different outlets, and not to be reliant on others. Their ministry as a whole is 100% self sufficient! Through the outsourced jobs, cellular tower, the German government paying them to host interns, and so many other things, they can keep doing amazing things for the Kingdom.
Other fun facts:
-They have a water drainage system that takes the rain water and transfers it into the toilets to again save resources
-Pastor Douglas specifically designed the building to have all the columns in a line to help keep the foundation in tact in case of an earthquake
-They have future plans to build a garden on the rooftop of the building next door through hydroponics
I walked away from this tour completely amazed and blown away! I have never heard vision casted so wonderfully and full of detailed intentionality in my life. Pastor Douglas has such a visionary spirit and deeply wants to impact his community. It made me love this ministry so much more, and I am humbled to be invited into this place.
