In the words of Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible 4, "Mission Accomplished." That is super cheesy and the mission really just started, but I just wanted to use that quote:). Wow what a week in Colombia! First off I just want to thank you all so much for your prayers and support it was such a special eight days in my life. The Lord poured out his Spirit in such a way that I have not seen before. One thing that was so evident to me on this mission was how ripe the people of Colombia were towards the gospel.
To give a quick synopsis of what we did and a basic overview of our mission we worked in three different cities with three different churches. These cities were Choco, Tunja, and Sogamoso. Choco is a very hot city in the middle of the huge jungle. Tunja and Sogamoso are both surrounded by beautiful mountains and have a much cooler climate. The goal of this mission was to partner with the local church and pastor of each city and see which one God would like VA Tech Chi Alpha to partner with for the next 5 years to build a college ministry. In each city we worked with the local college students at each church, trained them on evangelism, and then went to their campus to practice:). We had such a positive and fruitful experience at each campus that my brother in law, (Chi Alpha Pastor at Va Tech) Anthony would love to work at all three for the next five years, but knows that may be impossible. He is actually still praying about which city and church the Lord would have Chi Alpha partner with.
In each city after training the students for several hours for two days straight we took them to their local campus. We paired them off two by two and told them to introduce themselves to other students and and then ask them two specific questions. The first question was "do you think you will go to heaven when you die" and the second question was "why." This is known by many as the two question test. We trained the students on the many different responses they would receive and taught them how to respond with different truths of the Bible and with their own personal testimonies. After each conversation we told the students to make sure they asked if they could pray for anything specific with who they were talking to and to get their contact info so they could follow up with each one.
I just wanted to give a few personal stories as examples of what I meant by ripe in the first paragraph. The first three students that we approached at first were very hesitant and tried to debate us on several issues. I could see one of the students was very interested in what we had to say so we continued to answer their questions with different truths. After a while our translator felt like she had a word for the students and gave it to them. After that they were all done with their debating and seemed very open. I then asked them if they wanted to receive Christ into their lives and they all said yes! After they asked Jesus to come into their lives and they confessed Him as their Saviour I asked them how they felt and their was a literal change in their face. One of the young men was filled with joy and excited he stated how he felt different even in that moment. Later that night we invited the three young men to ice cream, but only two of them came. We asked them how they felt about what happened that day and one of the young men said after we left he saw two people he did not know and told them about Jesus, and then later that night told his friend about Jesus and she said she wanted to be saved! The other young man said that he was angry at God in his life and when he saw us the last thing he thought was that we were talking about God. He said that he realized as we were talking to him that God loved him and desired him. He then said that he did not actually think we would call him and the fact that we did call him and invited him to ice cream showed him how real God is and how real God's love was. Both of these young men were tearing up as they shared about their encounter with the gospel. It was so special to us because these young men had such a genuine conversion with Jesus, and after they accepted the Lord the college students we had trained got their numbers and continued to disciple and build relationships with these new believers.
I was so grateful that the Lord would allow me to witness this and to see that these young men would not just be left alone after they received the Lord, but that they would be pursued by the students we had trained. Each of the students had similar experiences with those that they talked to on campus as well which was so encouraging. After we had left we received a text from these students the next day. The text said that they went out as a team and got 40 more contacts! It was very encouraging to hear their excitement for what God was beginning to do on the campus of Choco.
The next story was in Sogamoso. This time Anthony and I with our translator Lili went out together after training the students. We talked to several people and had many different responses some not as positive as others, but the last group of young people we talked to we saw the Lord move powerfully. There were four young people and all of them had different views of what would happen when they die, one even believed in Taoism and practiced it. Anthony and I shared out testimonies and answered many questions that these young people had. We were running out of time so we asked them to come to the meeting that Anthony was speaking at that night. They agreed and were excited about it. One of the young men that was there had a removable cast on his left hand and we told him before we left that Jesus could heal his wrist and we asked him if we could pray for him. He was nervous but allowed us to pray anyways so we prayed for healing in Jesus name and then left. That night three of the four young people came and the young man with his cast came, but he did not have his cast on:). He said that it was healed and he moved it around and was excited. That night all three of them made a decision for Christ! They were all in tears as the accepted the Lord into their lives it was so precious. The sweetest part of it all was that one of the leaders of the college ministry we were working with got their contact information and reached out to them right away. It was a beautiful picture of the body of Christ working together to advance God's Kingdom! All the students had similar experiences that day and some accepted Christ on the spot and others just gave them their numbers and said they were interested in what they were saying.
The last story I wanted to share is just to show how much favor the Lord gave us. While we were on one of the campuses several of the professors were so excited to see Americans that they invited us into their classrooms to speak about anything we wanted. We knew it was the favor of the Lord so Anthony gave his testimony on how Jesus saved him and delivered him from alcohol, drugs and sex. Then we offered an invitation for the classroom to receive Christ and almost every hand (over 40 students in the classroom) was raised to receive the Lord. It was such a beautiful sight to see.
These are just three of the many stories we had heard and experienced ourselves over these eight days. Some students even replied to the gospel as "He (Jesus) did that for me?" Most Christians do not even realize that after being saved for many years! Almost every student we talked to about Jesus this week were in tears by the end of the conversation, and it was just so powerful to see the Holy Spirit move like that in almost every encounter. Colombia is ripe and ready to receive the Lord. I had never seen a people so desperate and so excited. There is such a heaviness in the country it just seems that people are desperately looking for a way out of their situation in need for a Savior. I really feel that the country is going to explode soon in a good way. It is very exciting.
This week was so special to me and so powerful. I am so thankful the Lord would allow me to be apart of it. Thank you for those that supported me and prayed for me. It would not have happened without your prayers and support! The Lord's kingdom advanced in a powerful way and many souls were added to our Father's family:). Please continue to pray for the students in Colombia to continue in their passion for evangelism on their campus. Please also pray for wisdom for Anthony and Michelle to choose which city the Lord would have them sow in for the next five years. I am excited about what the Lord is doing in Colombia and I believe this is just the first of many trips for me to this country! Thanks for reading and sowing into God's kingdom through me. God bless yas!
Here are some pics from the week
One of the churches we worked with. Special thanks to our translator Lili who put up with us all week and did an amazing job!
The waters of Choco with the Pastors wife and the leaders of the College ministry
An amazing cafe with amazing Colombian coffee that we enjoyed on a daily basis:)
College Students of Tunja
The College Students of Sogamoso
One of the Pastors we worked with at Tunja
City Streets of Choco
My fellow comrads Brett and John and the new college leader of Choco!
City Streets of Choco
Our dear friend Diego and youth leader in Tunja
Yeah lets just say my stomach is still paying for eating this one
A random man in Choco
Best Coffee of my life in Colombia
Our fearless leader Angela! Thanks for all the help!
An actual banana boat
One of the amazing cafes we went to in Tunja
City Streets of Tunja
To give a quick synopsis of what we did and a basic overview of our mission we worked in three different cities with three different churches. These cities were Choco, Tunja, and Sogamoso. Choco is a very hot city in the middle of the huge jungle. Tunja and Sogamoso are both surrounded by beautiful mountains and have a much cooler climate. The goal of this mission was to partner with the local church and pastor of each city and see which one God would like VA Tech Chi Alpha to partner with for the next 5 years to build a college ministry. In each city we worked with the local college students at each church, trained them on evangelism, and then went to their campus to practice:). We had such a positive and fruitful experience at each campus that my brother in law, (Chi Alpha Pastor at Va Tech) Anthony would love to work at all three for the next five years, but knows that may be impossible. He is actually still praying about which city and church the Lord would have Chi Alpha partner with.
In each city after training the students for several hours for two days straight we took them to their local campus. We paired them off two by two and told them to introduce themselves to other students and and then ask them two specific questions. The first question was "do you think you will go to heaven when you die" and the second question was "why." This is known by many as the two question test. We trained the students on the many different responses they would receive and taught them how to respond with different truths of the Bible and with their own personal testimonies. After each conversation we told the students to make sure they asked if they could pray for anything specific with who they were talking to and to get their contact info so they could follow up with each one.
I just wanted to give a few personal stories as examples of what I meant by ripe in the first paragraph. The first three students that we approached at first were very hesitant and tried to debate us on several issues. I could see one of the students was very interested in what we had to say so we continued to answer their questions with different truths. After a while our translator felt like she had a word for the students and gave it to them. After that they were all done with their debating and seemed very open. I then asked them if they wanted to receive Christ into their lives and they all said yes! After they asked Jesus to come into their lives and they confessed Him as their Saviour I asked them how they felt and their was a literal change in their face. One of the young men was filled with joy and excited he stated how he felt different even in that moment. Later that night we invited the three young men to ice cream, but only two of them came. We asked them how they felt about what happened that day and one of the young men said after we left he saw two people he did not know and told them about Jesus, and then later that night told his friend about Jesus and she said she wanted to be saved! The other young man said that he was angry at God in his life and when he saw us the last thing he thought was that we were talking about God. He said that he realized as we were talking to him that God loved him and desired him. He then said that he did not actually think we would call him and the fact that we did call him and invited him to ice cream showed him how real God is and how real God's love was. Both of these young men were tearing up as they shared about their encounter with the gospel. It was so special to us because these young men had such a genuine conversion with Jesus, and after they accepted the Lord the college students we had trained got their numbers and continued to disciple and build relationships with these new believers.
I was so grateful that the Lord would allow me to witness this and to see that these young men would not just be left alone after they received the Lord, but that they would be pursued by the students we had trained. Each of the students had similar experiences with those that they talked to on campus as well which was so encouraging. After we had left we received a text from these students the next day. The text said that they went out as a team and got 40 more contacts! It was very encouraging to hear their excitement for what God was beginning to do on the campus of Choco.
The next story was in Sogamoso. This time Anthony and I with our translator Lili went out together after training the students. We talked to several people and had many different responses some not as positive as others, but the last group of young people we talked to we saw the Lord move powerfully. There were four young people and all of them had different views of what would happen when they die, one even believed in Taoism and practiced it. Anthony and I shared out testimonies and answered many questions that these young people had. We were running out of time so we asked them to come to the meeting that Anthony was speaking at that night. They agreed and were excited about it. One of the young men that was there had a removable cast on his left hand and we told him before we left that Jesus could heal his wrist and we asked him if we could pray for him. He was nervous but allowed us to pray anyways so we prayed for healing in Jesus name and then left. That night three of the four young people came and the young man with his cast came, but he did not have his cast on:). He said that it was healed and he moved it around and was excited. That night all three of them made a decision for Christ! They were all in tears as the accepted the Lord into their lives it was so precious. The sweetest part of it all was that one of the leaders of the college ministry we were working with got their contact information and reached out to them right away. It was a beautiful picture of the body of Christ working together to advance God's Kingdom! All the students had similar experiences that day and some accepted Christ on the spot and others just gave them their numbers and said they were interested in what they were saying.
The last story I wanted to share is just to show how much favor the Lord gave us. While we were on one of the campuses several of the professors were so excited to see Americans that they invited us into their classrooms to speak about anything we wanted. We knew it was the favor of the Lord so Anthony gave his testimony on how Jesus saved him and delivered him from alcohol, drugs and sex. Then we offered an invitation for the classroom to receive Christ and almost every hand (over 40 students in the classroom) was raised to receive the Lord. It was such a beautiful sight to see.
These are just three of the many stories we had heard and experienced ourselves over these eight days. Some students even replied to the gospel as "He (Jesus) did that for me?" Most Christians do not even realize that after being saved for many years! Almost every student we talked to about Jesus this week were in tears by the end of the conversation, and it was just so powerful to see the Holy Spirit move like that in almost every encounter. Colombia is ripe and ready to receive the Lord. I had never seen a people so desperate and so excited. There is such a heaviness in the country it just seems that people are desperately looking for a way out of their situation in need for a Savior. I really feel that the country is going to explode soon in a good way. It is very exciting.
This week was so special to me and so powerful. I am so thankful the Lord would allow me to be apart of it. Thank you for those that supported me and prayed for me. It would not have happened without your prayers and support! The Lord's kingdom advanced in a powerful way and many souls were added to our Father's family:). Please continue to pray for the students in Colombia to continue in their passion for evangelism on their campus. Please also pray for wisdom for Anthony and Michelle to choose which city the Lord would have them sow in for the next five years. I am excited about what the Lord is doing in Colombia and I believe this is just the first of many trips for me to this country! Thanks for reading and sowing into God's kingdom through me. God bless yas!
Here are some pics from the week
