Saturday morning, several families, all newcomers to our church plant in Colombia, decided to skip their regular Saturday morning sleep-in and show up early to our church in the city for training and prayer.

Then, about 8:30 AM eleven of us (8 adults) loaded up and traveled the swirling road to the northern district — said to be one of the most dangerous and poorest areas around. 

We unloaded our supplies at a local park and immediately, young people were coming out from everywhere carrying chairs and siblings. They knew why we were there… to share with them Bible stories and songs! The community president had been coming to our church for the past few weeks and had been announcing all week long that we would be coming.

And boy, did they show up! The best count was over 90 children, 10-20 adults (moms), plus the 11 from our church. This all when we were only expecting 20-50!  We had just begun to plan this outreach one week ago. It’s amazing to see how, when God is in something, it comes together in a way only He can make happen. 

Preaching from Genesis 1

What did we do? We sang songs about Jesus, I shared the Bible story about God’s creation being “very good” and that each of them had value and was precious to God, the children colored a sheet corresponding with our lesson, and then snacked on some cake that one of our ladies made. It was a great time, but perhaps the greatest thing was to see how our church folks, jumped in and helped with every little detail. God is growing them, and their heart to see others come to know the sweet salvation we have through Jesus is astounding. What an encouragement. 

“Dios hizo todo buenísimo, ¡y Dios me hizo a mí!”
(God made everything very good, and God made me!!)

Please be praying as we will be continuing this ministry, Lord willing, every two weeks. This is a great time to get the children to focus on God and open their lives to him. Most of these kids will end up just like their family members and friends within a few years…

…Boys will be hooked on drugs before their 14th birthday. They will get involved in violent gang activity and either end up in jail or dead before they are 25.

…Girls will be pressured into thinking that they must give their body away while they are still children. We were told this morning that the girl’s mindset in this community is that if they do not have a “spouse” by the time they are 12 that they will never have one. We met mothers who were not yet in high school and children who did not know their parents at all.

The need is incredible. Yes they are poor, but the true need these kids have is knowing that they are loved, that there’s a God that offers new life to them, and to believe on Jesus! They need to know they don’t have to follow the footsteps of others who have destroyed their present life and forsaken all hope for the next life. They need somebody to believe in them. 

Will you come help us start churches, train the Colombian people & see others like these reached before it’s too late? 

Here is a video we put together with pictures of the day’s event. I trust it is a blessing to you!