Bogota, Colombia is called home by over 12 million people and fills a massive valley in the Andes Mountains. We had the opportunity to work with missionaries Bruce Ridpath and Jack Simon in the country and a national youth ministries leader, Jimmy Gordita in November 2006. The purpose of this trip revolved around training youth leaders to effectively help teenagers in their areas. We trained leaders on setting priorities, living and working by priorities, effective delegation and setting up a youth oriented service.
We visited three different states and were able to work with almost 200 youth leaders. Some of the people attending the training took a 3 or 4 hour bus ride from their residence to the meeting place (one way). The participants enjoyed working together in small groups and learning some new and practical ways to be more effective in their work with teenagers.
We enjoyed spending time with our host missionaries and encouraging them in the work they do. We even snuck in some time playing basketball with the Ridpath’s son and a late night movie with Jack before heading home.
I recently received this message from Bruce via email: “I've heard from many that they were really blessed by your ministry here, and they want to know when you are coming back!” Hopefully we can go back to Colombia in the near future to provide training in some of the areas we did not make it to on this trip.
