Colombia 2018

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.” Isaiah 61:1

“and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8

Last week I had the privilege to spend an amazing week with a mission team from Gano Baptist Church, located in Georgetown Kentucky, in Colombia sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. We held 4 days of medical and dental clinics.

Monday and Tuesday, we were in Palmira, a fishing village outside of Santa Marta.

Monday – 378 people visited clinic and 44 people accepted Christ as their savior

Tuesday – 416 people visited clinic and 80 people accepted Christ as their savior.

I met an amazing couple from Colombia that helped in Pharmacy: Yeraldint Yomayuza, Marco Rincon Gomez and their daughter Jenna. Marco is a pharmacist in Colombia and both have helped with this team in the past. With the assistance of Google Translate, we were able to communicate. Working with Marco was a good learning experience for me. Interestingly, drugs such as codeine, tramadol, and meloxicam are readily available in Colombia with no prescription. However, Benadryl is illegal. Marco explained because a compound is extracted from it to make another drug.

On Wednesday, we were in Timayui where there are many refugees from Venezuela. Many of the people we treated were Venezuelan, fleeing the persecution of the government.

Wednesday – 265 people visited the clinic and 11 people accepted Jesus as savior.

On this day, I had the opportunity to talk one on one with some ladies (through an interpreter) about their relationship with Jesus. This is the first time I have attempted one on one evangelism and am glad I overcame the fear. Fillipe was encouraging and told me in Colombia you will find two types of people: those that know accepting Christ is a commitment and are not ready to make it and those that will say they accept Him every time you ask. We spoke with an older lady that did pray to accept Jesus, a young lady who asked for prayer but was not ready to make a commitment, and a young lady who already has a relationship with Jesus.

Thursday, we set up clinic in a school in La Quinina. 434 people visited clinic and 8 people accepted Jesus as Savior.

Many seeds were planted and many were watered.

Please continue to pray for these people. For encouragement and boldness for those that know Jesus, for people to continue to spread the good news to those that are not ready to commit as well as to those who have yet to hear.

“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matt. 9:37-38

As part of this trip, I had the opportunity to reunite with my good friend Paz, the dentist from Honduras who has a ministry and is a full time missionary. I have not seen her in 5 years. I was excited to share with her the journey the Lord has me on. I had several opportunities to talk with her about my fears, anxiety, as well as my excitement. She expressed excitement for me and offered encouragement.