BOGOTA, Colombia – For months I had been looking forward to visiting Bogota, Colombia. I had been there many years ago and was anxious to see how things might have changed. 

A beautiful city surrounded by mountains, Bogota is a place of many contrasts. Majestic mountaintops look down on unbelievable poverty. Cosmopolitan shopping areas shine brightly in the midst of those who have nothing. Such beauty, such despair!

The purpose of our visit was two-fold: one, to get stories and updates on current Orphan’s Promise projects and secondly, to find out about a trade school developed by an existing ministry called CDA (Corporation Dios es Amor). Supported by Operation Blessing in its early stages, this ministry has continued to grow through the years. A young woman named Missy Christie heads up the CDA work, and along with the trade school, has developed a microenterprise loan business that helps the students from the trade school embark on a future filled with hope and opportunity. We hope this visit will allow us to see whether or not the concept is transferrable to other areas of need where OP has ongoing work.

We were able to tour several of the programs the CDA has operating and were most impressed.  OP was able to help the girls home by supplying clothes and a dryer (an expensive luxury in this part of the world), and we hope to drill a well that will provide year-round irrigation and allow the girls to grow produce to help sustain the food needs of the home and prepare them for the future. 

Seeing what the Lord was doing through CDA in Bogota was inspiring. We also were able to see the needs of many of the children up close as we met a family of seven who all live in a plywood shack about 9x9 in dimension. 

Propped up on a hillside with only mud flooring, you can imagine what happens as they now enter into the rainy season. Tumbling down the hill next to their little makeshift house was a stream of raw sewage. The toilet facility was a blanketed off hole in the ground that was inside the 9x9 house.

With an alcoholic husband, the mom struggles to keep her little family together. All seven of them sleep in one bed! In the midst of this overwhelming scenario, each day the children put on clean uniforms and head up the mountain to the CDA school where they are taught, fed and learn about the unconditional love of God for them. I wish you could have seen the light in the mother's eyes as she talked about what this opportunity for her children means to her. OP looks forward to being able to continue to partner with CDA to touch the lives of these children and their families.

Leaving the city, we headed out to a girls home in the country about an hour away. It is serenely beautiful and is home to about 60 young girls who have been abused and/or abandoned.  The stories we hear break our hearts – these are such beautiful children. It is hard to imagine they have been so forgotten and mistreated. Poverty, alcohol, and drugs cause so much pain. It is a comfort to know they are receiving healing for their hearts and spirits as well as being cared for physically. 

Three sisters in particular grabbed our attention. There is no father in their past memory and their mother is an alcoholic and drug addict. She would leave the girls under a highway overpass to fend for themselves until she returned, sometimes days later. The oldest learned to beg for food to help them survive. It is a wonder they are alive.

I had an opportunity to interview the oldest girl who is incredibly beautiful and openly thankful for the safe haven she and her sisters now have. The resiliency of the human spirit to endure such deprivation and still flourish never ceases to astound me. I am constantly reminded Jesus redeems what was lost and makes all things new. We read these things in our quiet time and hear it from speakers and teachers, but when you see it up close and personal the power of it hits you full force. What a mighty God we serve!

We will keep you updated on what OP does in Bogota in the months to come. I love the way the Lord knits us all together to accomplish His kingdom purposes. Thank you for your prayers and support for Orphan's Promise. Your compassion and caring allow us to move forward and touch the lives of these precious children as the need is made known. We couldn't do it without you.