Colombia! We are here! For the past 2 week s we have been here and we have been having a great time! We arrived in Colombia safe and sound. While we’re here, we partnered up with New Tribe Missions.
This is a ministry that goes into unreached tribes in Colombia and they learn the language, transcribe it and then over time they translate the Bible into the tribes’ tongue. The first day we were able to split into different missionaries’ homes. I had the privilege of getting to stay in Joyce and Mark’s home.
Mark and Joyce are a couple that have been working in Colombia for 38 years. They had such an amazing story of their journey. Mark was telling us that His dream was to be a missionary pilot that transported supplies between the missionaries in the tribes. While in school, He met Joyce. Eventually they were married and when they arrived in Colombia, there was no longer a need for missionary pilots. He and Joyce then found their place in the mission as Spanish translators and eventually got involved in the tribe work themselves.
For me, it was amazing to hear the story of how God used their passions to bring them together and bring them to Colombia, but when they arrived He had a greater story written for them. If you were to meet these people, you would see the joy of the Lord all over them. You can easily see that they are excited about the work they are doing and the things that God is using them to accomplish. These are the people that we get to serve with in Colombia. These are the people I get to hear the stories and gain wisdom from.
During our time here in Colombia we served New Tribe Missions (NTM) by working at their training facility in a town called Fusacasuga. It is a town nestled in the mountains, with a panoramic view of the jungles surrounding us. It was absolutely beautiful! But, due to the surroundings, this facility has been evacuated due to guerrilla attacks in
the past. Now, NTM is trying to revive the facility to be used as a church camp. Unfortunately, NTM is faced with the decision of whether to sell the camp or to renovate the facilities to house more campers. Our mission there was to complete a couple of maintenance projects for the camp. The projects included: building a retaining wall for the eroding soil around some of the buildings, completing a security fence, creating a drainage system for a soccer field, and rerouting an already existing sewage system. My team, the “Blue team,” worked on the task of the sewage system. It has been a big task, but was a task that has been very fruitful. Not only have we been able to complete the project, but we have grown together as a team. We have learned more about each other, laughed at each other’s jokes, and even experienced a mud fight during one of the daily rain storms. Because it is rainy season, we have had to work fast in the mornings and in the afternoons, work is touch and go. Even with
the circumstances at hand, God has been so faithful. We were able to complete all the projects!
During our time here, I have learned so much. Not only was I blessed by being able to serve NTM at their camp in Fusagasuga, but I was able to spend time with a lot of missionaries one on one and gain from their knowledge from being on the field. My heart has been encouraged by these heroes. From their stories I have seen that there is hope even when everything around us says that there can’t be. From their stories, I have seen the importance of knowing your calling and walking in it despite all the circumstances.
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