Fear of the unknown is often the biggest obstacle while contemplating a mission trip. It was no different for us when the call came to go to Colombia. Where will we stay? What will we eat? Will we have to get shots? Will we get sick? Is it safe? Our partners in Colombia answered these questions willingly, yet approaching the unknown would still have to be an act of faith.
Six team members came from Hamilton’s URC, five from the St. Thomas FRC, and one from the FRC in British Columbia. Our journey began on the cold morning of Saturday, February 10, 2007. We met in Mount Hope at 8:00 am. (except Gary from B.C., who met us in Colombia) and started for the Buffalo airport. After a long day of travel and security check points, we arrived in Bogotá, Colombia, at 11:00 pm. We saw God’s hand at work as we went through customs. We had so much luggage (about 120 lbs. each) that we anticipated being detained and searched. When we met with the customs officials, none of them spoke English and none of us understood Spanish. After a brief time, both sides were at a loss of what to do. Finally, out of sheer frustration and impatience with our helpless “No comprende”, they told us to “GO!” What a relief! We were able to take our precious cargo to the Girls Home in Tenjo, our workplace for the next two weeks.
When we arrived at the hostel where we would be living, we were treated to a very nice (five-star Colombian) home. So that was fear number one gone. They made us some sandwiches and coffee as we settled in. Fear number two, gone. We soon went to bed for a good night’s sleep. But at 4:00 am, horns started blaring, roosters began crowing, and dogs could be heard fighting and carrying on. Not everything can be perfect!
We spent the next few days getting used to the 8600 foot elevation. For most of us, it just caused shortness of breath. We spent time seeing some of the Corporacion Dios es Amor (CDA) facilities and the sites around Bogotá. I was amazed at the sight of so much wealth and so much poverty only a few blocks apart. It was very obvious that the rich have little love for the poor, and without a social safety net, the poor are left on their own to do the best they can. As we visited some of the girls’ families, we witnessed this reality first-hand. The living conditions of these mothers and the rest of the children (often the fathers are absent) were heartbreaking and left us with a sense of despair. This experience allowed us to see a little bit of what the girls at the home have gone through and to see the much needed work of CDA in bringing the light of the gospel to this dark land.
Our initial welcome had been on Sunday, when we were met with smiles and a program of song, all to the glory of God. What a contrast from the homes these girls came from. So on our third day, we were ready to work! Our mission was to build a medical center for the girls in order to help stop the spread of sickness and disease, and to spend time with the 46 girls living in the home. (Although there is room for 60 girls, some have returned to their families.) These girls are the first-fruits of this successful project run by CDA.
We asked where the tools were, and they said “right here.” We saw only five four-foot shovels and a few pick axes. By early afternoon it was apparent the we would have to go to Bogotá to get some power tools. But after a bit of confusion about how to build “Colombian-style”, we got going. In Colombia, labor is cheap and productivity is not most important. So we combined Colombian style with some Canadian “let’s get it done” and the work went fairly smoothly. The team members began to work together and we were all able to find a task we were well suited for. While the ten men of the team did construction, the two women spent their time reading Bible stories and making crafts with the girls. It was a pleasure spending time with the girls; they always wanted to be with us and would sometimes play hooky from their studies to spend time on the job site. We would have lunch with them, and many days we cut work short to make crafts and play games together. During soccer, Canada often had to bow to the skill of the much stronger Colombian team.
As time progressed, we were able to get most of the work done as well as some unplanned extras. We got to know the girls and staff quite well and were able to see the impact God is having in this country through our support through Word and Deed and the hard work of CDA. We were also able to see first-hand the effect child sponsorship is having on the children (and meet two sponsored children of team members). They are being trained to be bright lights in a dark land. To be able to write of our experience in Columbia in so few words would not do justice to all the work being done there – please learn more through the attached links.
Saying goodbye proved very difficult. It is also hard to believe that after only two weeks we could have such strong feelings for children who are not our own. Although goodbyes were sad, we were able to see God’s care for these children and that they are the future of this country.
The team did well, the work was done, and no one got sick or hurt. We let our light shine. All of our initial fears were laid to rest and replaced by the love of God through these children of Colombia. It is difficult to think that we served them when we came back feeling that we had been given so much.
Thanks be to God, and to him be all the glory.
John Langendoen is a Word & Deed Ambassador from Rehoboth URC in Ancaster and was one of the two team leaders for the Canadian Mission Team to Colombia
