Colombia is a changing country. Not too many years ago, Colombia was a very dangerous place but over the last 10 years, it has become much safer. We walked the streets of Bogotá without fear and everyone we met was friendly and helpful.
This time, we had the opportunity to provide training to pastors and church leaders in two different locations. The first training sessions took place in Tocancipa, a short drive north from Bogotá. We were surprised to have four churches represented and over 80 people. During the training, it was amazing to see people's eyes opened to new concepts and ideas. Over and over, people said they now understand why certain things happen in their ministry, business or personal lives and now have a way to make things better. At the end of the training, several people stood to share how their new knowledge is already impacting their lives. We were invited back and plan to return in the future to provide level 2 leadership training.
Our next training sessions took us to a very poor area of Bogotá. A few years ago, this area was wrought with gang violence and drug usage. The pastor we worked with went to this area at the height of the problems. While the people in the area are very poor, the violence has subsided in large part.
The church hosting us feeds over 300 children each day. We heard several accounts of how God has provided the food and funds to feed these beautiful children. The church also provides after school programs to help children with their homework.
Three churches were represented at the training sessions in Bogotá and we had 35 people at the training. Because of the unique nature of the church, some of the leaders in the training were between the ages of 9 and 12. These young people serve as mentors for younger children and perform other kinds of work around the church. It was amazing to see how much these younger people learned during the training. They understood most if not all of the concepts and took good notes. We look forward to seeing how these young people will move forward as leaders by having learned important leadership principles at such a young age.
We will return to the church in Bogotá for additional training. Also, we have been invited to take the leadership training into other cities throughout Colombia in the future. Thank you for your prayers and support to make this training possible. We provided over $20,000 worth of training to these people at no cost because of your help.
