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| Street preaching in Cucuta |
Hi from Cucuta - Colombia's border city with the fragile country of Venezuela.
After travelling back and forth from Bogota to this frontier city for about a year now, and trying anything I can think of to plant a church, I finally feel like I’m pretty close.
...While there were previously always glimmers of hope, for various reasons, the multiple initial church groups that would sporadically spring to life, in just a matter of months, would always end up dissolving... The gospel is being preached, and people are responding favorably, but the main challenge has always been that many of my immigrant friends are super transitory, and very unstable both economically and emotionally. That, and how my time in Cucuta is so limited, has made it tough to get a real church off the ground...
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| Cucuta ministry throughout this past year |
Meal sharing, food and clothing distribution, sporting events, informal job accompaniment, as well as evangelistic gatherings and Bible studies are attractive (and more effective here than what I've seen in other places), but having that continuity of the same people coming to the same meetings day in and day out has been what’s lacking.
Therefore, a while back I invited 3 immigrant friends from Cucuta to stay in my apartment in Bogota, hoping that one day they could go back and help lead the group we were trying to form in Cucuta... The idea was sound, and since I was going to be traveling to Scotland and the Faroes a bit later, I was happy to have my friends stay in my apartment in the meantime and get acquainted with our church in Bogota.
| My 3 friends I invited to stay in my apartment in Bogota |
The idea backfired on me, and instead of growing in maturity and love, the 3 fellows didn’t want to work or relate well with our church, and much less go back to serve the group in Cucuta... 2 of them got baptized, which was great, but sadly it was the very one who had the strongest Christian background who ended up being the most divisive.
...I got back from an incredible trip in Scotland and the Faroe Islands, and I was back to the drawing board to see what else I could do.
While in Cucuta again I saw some good qualities in another Venezuelan street musician (Gabriel), and I took the risk of inviting him and his wife and baby daughter back to Bogota with me to give it another shot, knowing that it’s indispensable to have at least one go-to guy to help in leading the potential church.
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| My girlfriend Alejandra with Gabriel, Yurbey, Gabrielita, and I |
For about a month before Holy Week, Gabriel and his family got involved in our church community while absorbing everything I was teaching them. Gabriel was thankful and had a good attitude, while taking advantage of his time in Bogota to save some money and start to envision what a church back in Cucuta could look like. After a good 4 weeks of holistic discipleship, we then returned to Cucuta along with my girlfriend Alejandra and a team of about 20 students and teachers from the Christian school I attended when I was a kid. When we arrived, the missions team and I stayed in a hotel where approximately 80 Venezuelan military or police dissidents were staying, whom we got to share life and the gospel with... It was so awesome!
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| El Camino Academy Cucuta Missions Team |
After an intense week of ministry (click here to watch a video recap), Alejandra and my street musician friend Gabriel and his family stayed in Cucuta while I returned to Bogota again with the high school missions team... Preaching in my own stomping grounds of Parkway Church and having the privilege of speaking in a few other churches and gatherings elsewhere in Bogota was great - but I couldn't wait to get back to Cucuta to see my lovely girlfriend, as well as reunite with some of the defector Venezuelan military friends I got to meet while in Cucuta previously.
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| Half of the Wednesday night Bible study group |
Alejandra did a great job for 3 weeks keeping the group alive, and here I am again with her and another friend from Bogota (Alex), as well as Gabriel and his family and a handful of other Venezuelan immigrants (among them about 5 military dissident families) and I feel like we're on the right track... On Sundays we have a 2-hour church service with around 30 in attendance, and on Wednesdays we have an interactive Bible study with about 15... The difference with this group as opposed to others is that it's a bit more stable, even though that word "stable" I use very loosely, because even if my present friends are somewhat more situated than other immigrants - they're still in a very delicate position when you consider everything they're going through.
I know homesickness and cabin fever aren't real sicknesses, but they're definitely super real symptoms of my Venezuelan military dissident friends who are confined to living inside a crowded hotel with the perpetual uncertainty of not knowing what Juan Guaido's de facto administration will do with them.
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| At the illegal Venezuelan-Colombia crossing with awesome friends Robbie and Paul |
Meanwhile, I can't think of anything better for someone in a situation like this, than to have their eyes opened to the wonderful truths of the Word where they can know that they're loved by a good God who gave them his only Son to free them of all sin... I know of no better place where frightened and frustrated people can be valued and dignified than within a vibrant Christ-centered community of loving people who care about others even above themselves... I believe that instead of living in fear and despair, God can provide anyone who dares to believe, a real hope and peace and purpose through faith in Jesus, irrespective of all the calamities taking place around... I also believe that the way that others can know this salvation is through the proclamation of the gospel, from the lips of broken but emboldened believers like you and I.
So that's what I'm going for.
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| ECA teacher Paul Kwon with hodgepodge group of military dissidents, Venezuelan immigrants, and I |
Missionary Profile: www.cmml.us/node/817
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