This past week I was in the Colombian Coastal city of Cartagena. I went there in an answer to our many prayers over many years. Those of you who have read this newsletter over the years will remember that when it became necessary to leave Villavicencio for security reasons, we seriously considered relocating to Cartagena to plant a new church and begin the work in that region of Colombia. We reluctantly relocated to Bogotá at the insistence of the leaders of the Colombian church so that we could be available to work in the new Christian college and to teach and train leaders in all of the churches all over Colombia.
That was a wise decision, but we have continued to pray for the coastal region and for the city of Cartagena. I was specifically praying that God open His church and His work there on the coast. God has answered that prayer through the family member of a Colombian immigrant to the States who studied at Johnson Bible College and married a young lady up there. He visited his family in Colombia and shared with them the vision of a New Testament church. They were already Christians and were inspired by that dream and ideal. Soon they launched out on faith and began a new church there in the city of Cartagena modeled after the New Testament pattern.
A Christian brother in the States who has developed an evangelism and discipleship training program made a trip down to see how things were going and to help them out. Dr. Mike Householder was impressed with what he saw and decided to help and encourage them in their efforts. It was on his return trip to the States that I met him at the airport in Bogotá and soon we both began to make plans to return for a longer and more detailed training seminar.
This last week, Dr. Householder flew back into Colombia with John Leech for that meeting. We spent two days here in Bogotá meeting and working with the church leaders here. Then we flew up to Cartagena to spend five days working there. From within minutes of our arrival we were involved in planning and teaching sessions with the leaders of that new church plant. Their interest and enthusiasm was immense.
So every day was fully occupied in the work. We would start early and the entire day was packed with meetings and training sessions. We would be up and going before six A.M. each morning and our days were seldom over before midnight. While the meetings would end at nine each evening, there was always so much interest that we would be discussing things with them until close till midnight. Then it was off to the apartment where we were staying to crash for a short night.
We ended on Tuesday morning with meetings before rushing off to the airport to catch our plane back to Bogotá. I was so exhausted by the frenetic pace I could hardly function. But I was excited and thrilled as God continues to do great things here in Colombia. We had prayed for a work on the coast and God had answered that prayer. Keep this new church in your prayers and pray that God provide the funds so I can travel and visit them as often as they need counsel and guidance.