Outreach and Adventure

Dear Friends,

Here we are at years end and once again we are running with several programs. As I write this letter we are preparing our second major Medical Outreach this year.

We are returning to Bolivar city to water the seeds planted in May and this time we are expanding the work to include a third neighbourhood in southern Bogota called Usme.

By the time this letter reaches you we will have finished the Medical Outreach (report next time) and as a family we will be travelling to a closed access country to minister and teach in the persecuted church. For those people whom we have e-mail addresses, we have spoken about this outreach.

For those who don’t know what we are referring to, drop us an e-mail and we will give you a report when we return the first week of December.

Patty cooking Chicken with Rice over an open fire.

However, dedication has its rewards and she is seeing the progress in these young people as they have become more focussed in their studies. Beyond what she teaches the students she also has her lessons in life. The big city girl this time learned how to cook chicken & rice over an open fire in the middle of the street!

As part of our consulting work, I (Darren) visited the Children’s Ministry of YWAM Medellin in October to help them with some fundraising initiatives and also with their year end newsletter. While there I was privileged to head out with their street team to minister one evening. The following is my account of the first part of that evening as it appeared in their November newsletter.

Bath time at the Hotel

I can’t say that I am new to the street, having worked in Bogota for many years, but visiting with Rosita and her street work in Medellin left an impact almost beyond words.

The night is an event of contrasting images. We started out at 6 pm preparing gallons of hot chocolate and sandwiches, but here I started to notice the challenges of ministering to so many children. The sandwiches this week were bread and butter - no meat, no cheese, no lettuce; not from choice, but from necessity.

We then started the twenty minute walk to the "Hotel." The name might bring many pictures to mind, but it is in no way luxurious. Picture a long ago painted hallway with 40 doors, full of half dressed children running around and various unidentified and some all too obvious, odours floating through the air. Now stack that hallway various levels high and you have the "Hotel."

Our arrival brings a fresh spurt of activity as the children realize that the team has arrived. More than the food, they are interested in the games and the hugs we bring.

What follows is more than two hours of games and activities, with the occasional fight breaking out, followed by the "evening meal." The latter is also the cause of contention with the kids fighting for position in a long line of empty stomachs. For some this is their only meal of the day.

It is hard to understand the violent way that these children relate to each other without understanding the environment where they live. When a child sees his role models relating to each other savagely, then he also learns to be savage.

If was difficult to leave the "Hotel" and continue on into the street, knowing that the light we brought to their lives would soon diminish, but having sown the seeds of love into their lives we can only pray for the harvest. There are many children here that are ready to leave the streets and begin a new life, but there is no where to place them. We pray for that home, the one that we wish to establish and the loving people to care for His children.

For more information visit: www.geocities.com/ywammedellincolombia

- In February we and our leaders have been invited to a Mission’s Convention in San Antonio, TX. In this time we will also be visiting churches in Dallas and Atlanta, GA.

- Please be praying for us as we plan 2009's activities.

- Please pray for our health. Darren is dealing with high blood pressure and Patty with hyperthyroidism.