I had the opportunity to travel to Medellin, Colombia at the beginning of August to partake in a church planting/evangelism/discipleship team from the US. The object of this type of trip is quite simple, to help an established church begin a new work in an area of the city that desperately needs followers of Christ. First off, this city is unlike any that I have ever been to in Colombia. It sits in a valley with beautiful views in every direction. And from what I saw, it's one of the most advanced cities in Colombia. At times I thought that I was in another country. You have to love a city that has several Dunkin Doughnuts.
The hope during these trips is to equip Colombians to share their faith and to learn how to disciple a fellow believer. We taught them how to use an evangelistic tool called the evangecube (http://www.e3resources.org/) and taught them how to use a series of discipleship materials that will help the new believer come to a much deeper understanding of who God is and what His purpose is for us. We really tried to communicate the importance of discipleship, because many people here will do just about anything to help secure their salvation. Medellin is an extremely Catholic city, and from what I saw, many of them would pray or do just about anything if they thought it would help them have access to God. We had the opportunity to tell them that it was only through Jesus that we have access to God. Discipleship is really the process where God's word can really start to strip away the lies and deception that we can earn our salvation by just trying to do our best.
You know when you're doing something or saying something, and you can tell that the person that you're sharing with is just being polite, but they really couldn't care less about what you were saying; well this was the total opposite of that. Every single one of the 9 family members was intently listening as I shared about our problem (sin) and God's amazing solution to that problem (Jesus). It was one of the those experiences that I will hold in my heart for a very long time because I could clearly see the penetration of God's word as one of the young mom's began to cry. At the end, I asked if they would like to express their faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the entire household prayed with us to confess Jesus as Lord!! The power of God's truth to change lives is truly amazing, and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to witness God's power working in so many lives.
Since this time, I have had the opportunity to take what I learned in Medellin and share it with the many people here in Santa Marta. I know that my Spanish isn't perfect yet, but I'm really trusting that God is going to communicate the truth of His word to the hearts of those who hear His word, even if all my words aren't perfect. I'm so thankful for that.
This was my first team that I worked with. The lady on the left helped me with my Spanish which was a huge blessing. I was so impressed with the young lady on the right though. She was only 17 and had only been a Christian for a month. She watched me share the gospel many times the first day, and on the second day, she was leading our team. She had no fear at all. So great!! But the thing that brought such joy to me was that on her way home that night, her mom and her took out a cube, and led two guys on the bus to Jesus. That's a disciple of Jesus. She took what she knew about Jesus, and she shared it with others. What a great testimony to all of us. What a blessing to work alongside of Colombians to reach other Colombians!!
This was the other team that I had the privilege to work with. All three were under the age of 22. They had such great energy and they were so willing to learn and to use what they had learned to spread the gospel.
Some young girls checking out an evengecard
A group of young ladies at our end of the week celebration
We just want to thank all the families and the churches that are taking part in what God is doing here. We are so thankful for each and everyone of you. We pray that God will continue to use us here to see many more Colombians become disciples of Jesus.
Praises and Prayer Requests:
1. Amanda continues to meet with a group of 10th graders at the school for a discipleship time. Pray that the girls would become more excited and interested in allowing God to work in their lives. Even though they are young, God can use them in mighty ways.
2. We recently started small group bible studies with our youth at church. We will be taking them through a program that, prayfully, will streghten their faith and help encourage both new and more mature believers.
3. Jon continues to meet on Wednesdays in one of the neighboring barrios. This area is in need of an evangelical church. Pray that Jon and our Pastor Julio would have an effective ministry shepherding and teaching a group of young believers.
