Before we came to Colombia, my prayer was that I wouldn't put a limit on God. When we arrived I did, on the other hand, expect to only share my testimony once or eighty times, but God had other plans. He was able to use me as well as the rest the team as instruments to lead people to Christ. I was also given an opportunity to talk more personally with dozens of girls who have experienced similar trials. This trip has forever changed me. -Devon C

All I can say is that God moves. We are weak and we doubt, but He will do what He wants. He is just and wise. Love, trust, and serve Him because He is the creator of all, He knows all, and loves you with a reckless, jealous, and dangerous love. I pray that you know the peace and joy of God that I know at this moment. I love you all so very much. -Shane N

This was the most amazing trip of my life. I feel very blessed to have been able to serve God on this missions trip. Doing dramas, construction, worship and prayer, and evangalism. Giving our testimonies was awesome. The lives that we have impacted during our trip and finding a purpose in God giving us stories to tell other people is a blessing. I have learned to serve God in a much greater capacity and pray that it continues for the rest of my life. -Tom M

When I got here I was worried we wouldnt be accepted, but when I watched so many people get saved in two weeks, my worries faded into hope for the people here :) -Colin S

This trip was so amazing! Its a little different than I thought it was going to be but God has moved in huge ways in the Colombians lives and in our lives! One thing that I saw is that no matter how I felt or how any of us felt, God still moved. Its great to see their hearts respond to God. -Susan M

God has made me realize and acknowledge the need around the world, in food, clothes, shelter, and Christ. He showed me the meaning of "his sheep will know His voice". And most of all, He showed me alot about myself: socially, spiritually, and just how far true repentance extends, (and how far away I am from it).

sorry for being so vague, yea, word. -Alex P

Coming to Colombia I was everything but confident. After being here one month, I have learned so many things about the culture but the most important is the need for Jesus. And the best part is all you have to do is tell them about His love and they will except Him as their personal Savior!! Its that simple. I have eaten wierd food, met amazing people, and slept in ten different places, but I gained so much love for these people! -Sarah S

God showed me how to truley have faith in Him through prayer. One of the leaders prayed for me and because of her faith, I was instantly healed from my cold. He also brought an amazing child named Sebastian into my life who really touched me. And I plan to continue to support him. God is so merciful and is constantly showing me ways to impact others. -Savanna

Coming here to Colombia I was super excited to see what i could get accomplished. I had been to other countries before and i had some similar expectations for here. When i got here it was the biggest slap in the face i could have recived! I had the opportunity to work with some amazing people; Colombian and North Americans. I truly belive that coming down here saved my life as much as the the people we talked to. God put a few special people on my heart and i plan to do all i can to support them and give them a life worth living! -Tom B

My experience in Colombia has made the biggest impact in my life thanks to God. Each host home and missionary has taught me more love and compassion than I could have ever imagined. But most of all I know this trip has brought me and hundreds of kids closer to God. The main thing I think God has taught me in these 2 weeks is that I can be selfish when there are people hurting around the world and that have not even heard about our God. -Eric S

Hello everyone,

Sorry it has been a few days since we updated the blog :/ So Yesterday we traveled here to Chia where we are working with different schools and churches. The building team and evangelism team is working together now doing ministry. But yesterday we split up to do two different schools. Evangelism team went with the elementary and the building team went with the preschoolers. Both programs were successful :) Then we all went together to a local restaurant where we did a service for the church and friends and family of the church members. Savannah shared her testimony. Afterwards many recieved prayer and we all worshipped God all night long.
Today we started with a leadership seminar at the church we are working with. Chris and Miguel spoke and Ray gave his testimony. Afterwards we went to an orphanage and put on a kids program and later we went to another elementary and put on yet another kids program. We are helping to build community and relationships for the churches we are working with. Tomorrow we are leading service at two different churches in Chia. One for both teams :)
God is working through us and we are experiencing His unfailing love in a whole new way.

...If I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 1 corinthians 13:2,3

hello world,

Today we were at an all girls school. We got to share the gospel and tell these girls how beautiful they are and share with them the value of their purity and the importance of being a women. Susan and Devon shared their testimonies and Chris and Traci shared about how God's love is important in their marriage and the importance of purity until marriage. Many girls came up afterwards and recieved prayer form our Evangelism team. For the past few days we havnt had a drum set so we werent able to have a band so instead we just play the ipod and all the students dance with us.
Yesterday we went to La Cumbre School and were able to share with students of all ages.

Currently both teams are staying in host homes in Bogata. Unfortunately I havn't heard anything from the Building team. But we get to see them on Thursday and we will update their progress then. And this weekenf we will be working with a team in Chia.

We love you all and we thank you for your prayers.
Sarah

UNITE TEAM :D

hola!

Unite is in Colombia!! and for the past few days the Unite Evangelism team have been serving at Filedelfia church :) We also went to a high school in Chia and a elementary in Bella Flor. In Chia we were able to present the gosple to many students who didnt know Jesus and in the girls purity seminar, after Susan, Devon, Chris, and Me (Sarah) shared our testimonies we had a girl stand up and thank us for coming because it was confirmation from Jesus that He answered her prayers and that she had been trying to share with her friends(that were sitting there) the same thing we just shared. It was awesome. All of her friends gave their life to Christ on Friday!! And we told her that they were going to look to her as an example. The guys also put on a purity seminar. Chia was a fantastic first school for the Evangelism Team.
The Unite building team is in another city and includes Tom B, Tom M, Savannah, Alex, Rey, Colin, Endel, and Eric. There first mission was to minister to an entertainment business and it was awesome! They are currently staying at a missionaries home in Bogata.

Breaking the Silence

Well as we are ending our time in Colombia, I wanted to share with you one of the biggest things God did on this trip. I believe that more than just sharing Jesus with the people of Colombia, we taught them how to have a voice. You see in Colombian society it is not okay to talk about things like sex, pornography, sexual abuse, etc. These things are kept secret. Also, in the Colombian church, struggles with sin are not talked about. Grace is not evident in most churches. If you mess up, they might kick you out, take you off any leadership and treat you as an outcast. This BREAKS my heart. The painted smiles on faces try to mask the real pain that is inside of these people. No one will talk, no one will care, and no one will give them grace and forgiveness. If this is how they are treated, how are they supposed to believe that God will forgive them and give them grace? Most don't. Most think that God could never forgive them and that God will condemn them like the churches do. But in the few short weeks we were here, I think the number one thing we taught was grace.

EVERYONE on our team shared stories of how messed up and jacked up we are, and how GOD forgives us and loves us, AND how we love and accept others through it. Also, we shared how we still struggle even though we are Christians, and how God still gives us grace every day and how the church gives us grace. Most of the time, when we were sharing, we felt like our words were falling on deaf ears, but then after we were done, people would come up and confess things they would have NEVER confessed to anyone, simply because we were being honest and open to them. Yesterday, for example, a girl came up to us after a purity seminar and confessed that when she was little she was molested by her uncle. This secret has been tearing her apart. She told her mom, but all her mom said was to forgive him. No one cared about how she felt. Her uncle would still come over sometimes, and her mom just told her to stay away from him. She felt like she had no voice. Her mom basically ignored it. But I could see God working on her heart as she shared. She was learning to break the chains satan has over her. We just loved her and told her she was not at fault, and prayed for her. This is just one story but their were hundreds of people breaking the chains of silence that satan had over them, but simply because someone was honest and transparent, she opened up to us. I think that is the greatest thing that I have had the privilege of being apart of, breaking the chains that silence & fear have over these people. Not only that, but we shared the grace, love and forgiveness that ONLY Jesus can give them. Nothing has been more powerful.

Today was our last night and we did an event at a church, with Unite. People were worshiping and going crazy and just declaring how great God is, but really what I saw were chains being broken, walls falling down, and a great roar of noise coming from the inside of the people. Freedom, and it was loud.

It's time to open up and break the chains of silence.

-Megan Kallenbach

Wednesday #2

Wednesday

July 28, 2010
Today we did a purity seminar for girls at a public school in Bogotá. A couple of us shared our hearts in front of 60 girls about areas in which we struggled and needed God’s help. It was an awesome experience for each of us to share (sharing is really helpful for us and helps us work through the pain as well.)

After we gave an option to come and share if they were struggling with an issue or problem and wanted to talk. We were so surprised; we made a prayer circle for each girl and took time to hear her stories. We couldn’t believe what we heard. We heard stories of pain and abuse whether it was from a family member or a boyfriend. All of our hearts were broken for these girls. They simply asked, “What should I do?” Although it was difficult God gave us wisdom to answer each girl.

One girl in particular really pushed us to meet and talk with her. We ended up hearing a story of great pain and sadness. She was raped when she was 7 and again when she was 9, had witnessed her boyfriend (who was a gang member) kill at least 8 people in front of her. Her story brought many of us to tears and encouraged us to deepen our faith.

Darren, our missionary leader, led the girl in the salvation prayer. She experienced the grace of God even in her pain. Our hearts were praying along with her and encouraging her as she was accepted into our family. It was a beautiful moment on Earth and in Heaven and we were so happy to be apart of it.

With red puffy eyes we went downstairs to eat and then come back for another purity seminar later. Stephanie led two girls to Christ.

We are so thankful for our second to last day of ministry. God is finishing this race in us and we are so happy to be a part of it.

prayer

pretty much every day we pray for tons of colombians, its just a small part of our ministry, but also a huge part of what we are doing here!

I HAVE NEW SISTERS!

Wow!
That is literally all that I can say! So this morning we prepared to go to a high school but last minute we found out our team would be smaller than we expected. We had three dramas but nobody to play Jesus and we were missing the main girl in one of our dramas. On the bus ride to the school, we had to improvise and our flexibility was put to the test! Kristin was awesome and learned a drama role that she had never done before and Jason stepped up and played the role of Jesus. At the females purity seminar, God moved mountains. I did my talk on self-image and after the seminar about twenty girls came up to me all wanting to talk. They told me that they were each struggling with either an eating disorder or some sort of self destruction. Sixteen of the girls had never spoken of their struggles before today but they let their walls fall down and a healing process has started in their lives. ALSO, I got to pray with six of the girls after their decision to dedicate their lives to Christ. Pray that God will continue watering the seeds that were planted today and that these girls will have a heart after his. This trip has been so incredible and I cannot believe that it is coming to a end so soon. We are coming home with new friendships, crazy faith, and so many stories!!