Colombian Christian Mission

In a missionary ministry, some things are really fun. There are jobs that I enjoy very much, such as visiting different churches and watching them grow and progress. It is a time to revel in close relationships with the local Christians and church leaders, built up over the years of working together. It is exciting to teach eager students the great truths revealed in God’s word; to see them light up with understanding as the remnants of cultural Christianity give way to the shining light of simply and pure New Testament Christianity.

For the past seven weeks I have been in the States to spend some time with my family and get some much needed work done around the house up there. It was really fun to have some “grandpa time” and enjoy the grandchildren as much as I could. I also spoke at three churches and then did a week of VBS. During all that time I needed a few weeks to recover from a broken collar bone, which certainly set me back a bit.

With my teaching in the Bible College here in Bogotá, we are always look for ways to expand the outreach and the scope of this ministry. Until now, my teaching has been limited to the classroom. I do teach and preach each and every Sunday somewhere and often teach in classes and conferences in between. But my work with the college has enabled me to form the next generation of Christian leaders here in Colombia, both for our own churches and for other Christian groups as well.

Last week, I again traveled back to Villavicencio to work with the school and the church there. Normally, I spend about one week each month working in our old home town. I enjoy working with the children at the school and trying to help the ones who are having some difficulty in school. I work as the school counselor and I help train our teachers in dealing with learning difficulties and behavioral problems.

For the past two and a half weeks, we have been involved in an intensive leadership training program with churches in three geographical regions of Colombia. Dr. Mike Householder and John Leech traveled to Colombia in early March for a scheduled series of training seminars. I organized the event and traveled with them for most of the conferences to serve as translator.

This past week I again made a trip up to the Colombian Caribbean coast visit the new church in Cartagena. I traveled with Mike Householder and John Leech to visit the church there and translate and teach the leaders there. As is typical, the entire five day trip was a hectic whirlwind of activity. We were busy from the time we arrived till the moment we boarded the plane for our return trip.

For you and me, to hear the Word of God is a simple task. We can easily read the Bible for ourselves as well. But for a person who has been born deaf, these are two nearly impossible tasks. To be born deaf means being isolated from much of society; even from one’s own family. That isolation from the rest of society has made something so simple such as hearing the Word of God or reading the Bible to be monumental tasks. The tragic nature of life for a deaf child born to a poor family is heart breaking.

Some fourteen years ago, I made my final trip out of Villavicencio and into the jungle/prairie region of Southeastern Colombia. I had been traveling most weekends into the area for some twenty years, but as the insecurity and guerrilla incursions increased in the area, I began to limit my travels. For a while, I traveled out and made visits during the daytime and would return to the relative safety of the city by evening. But then, even the daytime visits became too dangerous as the guerrillas largely controlled the entire area of the country.

The first couple of weeks back in Colombia involve getting settled in and fixing things that are broken and paying bills. Yet at the same time, I try to make certain I get back to work quickly, as that is what I am here to do. So even though I have been busy with many more mundane things, such as getting our photocopier repaired and working, I have already begun teaching as well.

On Thursday of last week, I made my return flight to Colombia. Susy and Brian spent the night at our house and then we were up early and headed for the airport. In what has become a tradition, we left early with the intention of stopping at a Bob Evans for breakfast or having time to fix a flat or sit in a traffic jam. But with no problems, we made our pleasant family breakfast at a restaurant at the airport exit.