Encouragement in the Lord by John Otten
It is a privilege to be able to see how Christians confront the various pressures and joys of life in the developing world. In May 2010, I traveled to Colombia with Rick Postma, Colin Postma and Derek Naves, visiting projects supported by Word & Deed. While talking with our various project partners at CDA (Corporacion Dios es Amor, Corporation God is Love), we found that in discussing the operation and management of various projects we were also given a rare picture of life as a Christian in Colombia. It was good to encourage one another in the ways of the Lord.
CDA knows how important it is to provide youth with a Christian education. A grade 11 student, Carlos, has been attending CDA’s Altos de Cazuca School for three years, and says that it has radically changed him. He grew up going to a public school, and had become very rebellious. Carlos was thinking of joining a gang. Thanks to the grace of God working in him through his teachers at CDA, Carlos now looks at life through the lens of God’s Word. Other students at the school have similar stories to tell. They speak highly of how the school has shaped them, and they aren’t at all shy to emphasize how the biblical worldview impacts them. This is very encouraging.
A sponsor child at home with her parents and brother.
Elisa is a student of the School of Practical Ministries developed by CDA. This program is designed to strengthen the witness of believers in vulnerable communities by training various leaders in the work of evangelism. As a youth leader in her church, she sees the struggles that her peers have, and is concerned about the many numbers of youth that are lost to drugs, alcohol and prostitution in her community. Elisa challenges the youth in her church to “gird up their loins” and to reach out to those around them.
At one of the schools we asked the high school students whether attending church is important, and everyone raised their hands. When we asked how many attend church, only half responded. Why? Some say there aren’t any good churches around – they don’t follow God’s Word or just ask for money. At times children may believe but the parents do not, so they have no way of getting to church.
In another area of education, CDA was very excited about the Jonkmans’ training seminars this past year and the Old and New Testament teacher commentaries. In our discussion they expressed concern for the North American churches where they always see the same people year after year, and no new outsiders. Why do our North American churches keep such rich teachings to themselves?
Missy Christie with two girls from girls home.
According to Beatrix, the director of CDA Cartagena projects, there is no religious or political persecution in Colombia. There is, however, guerilla activity, which the army cannot control. Many people have no choice but to flee from the guerillas, including Ingrid, a grade 11 student at Altos de Cazuca. She and her seven sisters used to live on a prosperous farm and go to a private school. They were forced to flee their farm because of guerilla activity, and have settled in Altos de Cazuca, which is a town originally developed as an IDP (internally displaced people) Zone. Because the majority of its people are IDPs, this community is very poor and unstable. It is still a struggle for Ingrid’s family to be there, but they are glad to be alive. I didn’t sense any resentment in the telling of her story, and she expressed a wonderfully confident trust that God would provide for her and her family. Christian education has proven to be a very successful tool in encouraging Colombian youth and leading them towards Christ-centered lifestyles.
Many adults are living in poverty, unable to provide a sufficient income to care for their families. We often want quick fixes to the poverty in the developing world and think that the best solution is to hand out money. Usually, this type of aid does more harm than good. In response to the poverty in Colombia, CDA has developed a microcredit (also known as microloans) program to establish and/or strengthen business ideas among the unemployed or underemployed.
One town benefiting from the microcredit program is La Boquilla, a town with a very poor and transient population. It was a fishing community where the men would leave early in the morning, fish for a few hours, and then lay in their hammocks for the rest of the day. A decrease in fishing, however, has made it necessary for people to find other income sources. Because the people there do not trust each other, it is very difficult to set up cooperatives (a group pooling resources and working together). The first response to a microloans project was excitement at the prospect of getting free money; many entered the program with no intention of ever repaying the loan. CDA spent a lot of time in the initial phase of the project training participants in business principles and Christian values. Only after these sessions did CDA award very small loans. CDA knows and even expects that people will use their initial loan to purchase things they didn’t budget for. But people learn very quickly that if they don’t repay their initial loan, they won’t receive another. Is CDA being too tough? Cesar, the program’s organizer, says that if CDA becomes known for being lenient on loan repayment, they will get a reputation for providing “easy money” that will negatively affect all of their projects. Cesar notes that people are becoming more businesslike. Initially they thought everything was free, because they were used to this from other organizations. They are starting to realize that repaying loans leads to greater opportunity, and are learning to appreciate the system.
A successful micro-loan project
CDA itself has been affected by the recent economic downturn in North America and Europe. They are trying to raise more funds in Colombia, but have had some challenges. Large local companies have their own projects to support and don’t tend to give to other organizations. Also, the mostly Roman Catholic population feels uncomfortable giving to evangelical causes like CDA. Even among the Protestants, there is not a culture of giving in Central America. Jimmy, our guard, noted that it has been good for CDA to try to take care of some of their own financial needs. It creates unity among the staff and shows which employees are truly dedicated to CDA’s ministry. Staff members must give more of themselves. Finances have also challenged the organization to find local solutions and seek ways to be even more efficient. Seeing these internal challenges makes the staff pray more sincerely for their work and thank God for how He has blessed it so far.
John Otten is the Director of Administration for Word & Deed Ministries.
