Day Three - A day in Egypt (Barrio Egipto)

Ethan - Today was an amazing and inspirational day.  

To start the day we went to a church plant in Barrio Egipto which is one of the oldest and most dangerous parts of the city.  The ministry there was started by an extraordinary man names Elias who started ministering to the kids there about 20 years ago and has recently expanded to influencing the lives of the adults as well.  The Barrio consists of mostly gang members that are encouraged to live a life of crime to earn their money.  This puts into perspective the miracle of Elias' role in this neighborhood.  

As we saw today the lives of these Colombians have been immensely and positively affected by the life of Elias.  Whenever we would meet a man on the street his face would completely transform from someone who is very guarded to someone who has been extremely blessed and has a wealth of joy.  This ministry is the only good thing in the neighborhood and today we could be a part of the start of a church plant there. 

 Years ago Barrio Egipto was a slum that was mixed with a huge garbage dump, and, today, in place of that garbage, there is a wood workshop to help give the men the tools to find work.  There is also a workshop with a few looms to increase the productivity of the women's lives as well, a garden to teach the kids how to grow plants, and building for the kids to play and do crafts.  The success of Elias and his ministry was a gift to experience making today the first day that had no lows. 

Maegan - Hi!! It's felt like we have been here for weeks already, but it's only the third day! Up until this point, each day has been pretty hard emotionally, but today was different. Like Ethan said, it was pretty surreal to be in this environment and kind of heart wrenching, but the "lows" always led to a "high". The evidence of God's sovereignty in this community was astounding! 

Elias started by sharing some of the history behind Barrio Egipto and said the 40% of men there end up in prison, 40% are killed, and only 20% make a living for themselves. But God's work through Elias and his faithfulness has given hope to these people. They even started a church plant this year right in Barrio Egipto! 

It's been so cool for all of my "lows" to be countered by God's faithfulness and the joy of the men and women surrounding me. I even had the privilege of sharing my testimony and the gospel with the adults in the service this morning. I was reading in Lamentations 3 this morning and God's word was so applicable in that place, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." What a joy it is to be able to share in this hope with the people of Colombia! Praise the Lord that he has been able to work through my failures and has being using these people to encourage me way more than I could encourage them. 

Darryl - Today was definitely a day of forced flexibility.  Some scheduling factors meant we headed to Barrio Egipto today instead of Wednesday, which meant some very quick planning.  Our team got to be a part of a church service at a church plant in this very poor part of Bogota (one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the city).  It was neat to see people filter into this outdoor service throughout.  After the team drama presentation and Maegan's testimony, we headed up the hill to do crafts and games with the kids.  It was exciting and humbling all at the same time to see the passion that Elias and his team have for the people of this Barrio, and what has been done to stem the tide of violence and hopelessness.  

In the afternoon, we headed to the downtown Mercado for some shopping.  We had a great time, especially watching one of our local friends barter for us, but again, it was saddening to see the poverty and homelessness that is so prevalent in this (and many other) parts of the city.  What we spent on souvenirs was probably more than many of these people make in a month.  It was a stark reminder again of just how blessed we are in Canada and how much we take it for granted.  

Tomorrow, we head to El Camino Academy (the school where Denise teaches) for Canada Day - a whole day teaching rapid-fire lessons about different aspects of Canadian culture and society.