“And a voice came from heaven and said, ‘You are my son, in whom I am well pleased.’”
– Matthew 3:17
Reflections from Colombia coming at ya! I’ve since moved on from my time in Bello, Colombia, but I can say with great confidence that God was and is at work in powerful ways. I’ve learned so much about this culture, this country, these people and with each passing day the Lord has grown my heart for this place. Here’s a few things I’ve learned.
Colombia is known as a futbol nation.
(Futbol would be soccer, for my non-Spanish speakers. There is your Spanish vocab for the day.)
Colombia is known as a coffee nation.
(Or, the thing second only to Jesus that sustains my life.)
Colombia is known as a drug trafficking nation.
(Thankfully, I do NOT know this from personal experience.)
Colombia is known as a mountainous nation.
(Oh, and I paraglided off of one of them. No big deal.)
Colombia is known as Pablo Escobar’s nation.
(If you haven’t heard the tales, well… maybe that’s better.)
But here is the thing that has wrecked my heart.
Colombia is known as a fatherless nation.
We were sitting with Mark, our ministry host, on our first day in Bello. We had just arrived at our soccer ministry for the month named Cosdecol, and Mark was explaining what our work would entail. He explained that our ministry would consist of working with soccer teams of all ages, visiting different sectors – or neighborhoods – where the soccer teams practice and play, helping with upkeep and new projects around the ministry grounds (consisting of a large soccer stadium with three fields and dorm rooms in which we lived for the month), building relationships with the coaches and staff at the ministry, and praying for the work being done there.
As we sat and listened to Mark give us our introduction he began to explain the ministry’s roots and how God called him to begin building Cosdecol. Mark started with something along the lines of, “Well, you know, Colombia is a fatherless nation and I felt the need to do something about it.” My eyes widened. A fatherless nation? What does that even mean?
He proceeded to shed some light on the culture into which we were stepping. Colombia is a nation, a culture, of absent fathers. Broken families are the norm, and even more common than that are families which never formed to begin with. Teen pregnancy abounds, divorce rates are staggering, children born to single mothers represent the majority, and few and far between are the fathers who have a steady role in their families. Colombia, a nation without fathers.
Because of this fact, Colombia has become a maternal nation. Women are most often the ones to raise children, run the home, and earn a living to support their kids. This leaves children on their own most of the time. These kids end up raising themselves due to a father who left or was never around and a mother who has to spend all her time working to make ends meet.
And while this isn’t a new concept, plenty of families live this reality in the States as well, to experience a culture where this is the overwhelming norm tore at my heart.
Enter the amazing ministry of Cosdecol.
Cosdecol exists to provide kids and teens with a place to belong, a system of support and encouragement, a network of coaches to speak into their lives, and an opportunity to do what nearly all Colombians love; play futbol. And Cosdecol does it so well. This ministry is reaching hundreds and hundreds of kids and their families in the Bello/Medellin area and surrounding sectors and giving them the opportunity to play futbol, to be part of a team, to have coaches who love and care for them, and to hear the good news of Jesus Christ with every practice, game, and tournament. The men and women who serve at Cosdecol are more than futbol coaches. They are the tangible representation of a father’s love in the lives of these kids, most of whom will never know that from an earthly father. No matter what coach I talked with during the month, the compassion of the Lord radiated from them powerfully and I could see without a doubt the love they have for their players.
As I sat and watched a practice one day, I reflected on this. I looked at the faces of the kids on the field imagining their story, wondering if they would repeat the cycle of brokenness from which they came, and praying it would be different when they had kids. In that moment, the Lord reminded me of his words about Jesus in Matthew 3.
“This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
The Lord said, “This is how I see each one of them.”
When God looks at his children, his sees Jesus Christ and the perfect love he has as a Father for his Son is the love he has for each of us.
I always knew in my head what it means that God is a father to the fatherless, but it hit my heart in a deeper way than I have ever experienced. Having an awesome earthly dad myself, I guess I hadn’t spent much time wondering about the reality if I hadn’t. Yet, here I was, looking out into a sea of fatherless faces, my heart breaking for them, and in that moment I really understood the way God wants to be a Father to us. He wants to fill every brokenness in us, to comfort and care for us unlike any human could do. He wants to encourage us, uplift us, spur us on and grow us, and shower us with unending mercy and grace. He is the perfect Father who will never leave, never be absent, never keep us questioning his love or our worth, never tire of being with us, never demand that we be anything other than who he has already made us to be – his chosen sons and daughters. God is the perfect Father and regardless of the fact that these kids may never experience an earthly father, our God is a good, good Father who loves them deeply.
It was a blessing to spend the month walking this out with the coaches at Cosdecol and sharing our Father’s love with the kids. I pray that as they encounter the Father’s love through their soccer coaches and this ministry that each one would be forever changed. Because when you know the love of our Father, you can’t help but be forever changed. I know I am. Praise be to God.
