|
Staff Reports
Reports of recent Trips and Work by Godspeed Missionary Care
|
|
|
Staff Missionary Reports
Reports and Experiences of the Godspeed Staff
"...He blesses the home of the righteous..."
Proverbs 3:33
Milk and Honey
I visited a sanctuary Tuesday evening, in a community on the
fringes of Bogota, Colombia. Paved roads had long since given way
to pot-holed dirt streets, and winding through a maze of them
which even the driver (a native of Bogota) at times finds
daunting, we finally arrive at a three story building,
nondescript and with no external beauty. One family (the owner of
the house) occupies the second floor, but the family we are
visiting has access to limited kitchen and bathroom facilities on
the first floor, and bedrooms on the roof, which now constitutes
the "third floor". We go up a dark concrete stairwell through the
second floor and exit onto the roof, where we are invited to
enter a small structure, the bedroom of Ramiro and his wife Olga.
A bed, a dresser, a bookcase filled with Christian texts, a
refrigerator and three chairs all occupy space in this room made
of rough brick blocks, with a corrugated roof resting on
irregular crossbeams from which a single light bulb hangs. It is
difficult to decorate brick and roughly finished mortar, but
there are two calendars (one from the year 2000), a large poster
of a countryside scene with a Psalm (in Spanish) superimposed,
and two rather incongruous plaster decorations which appear to be
little Dutch girls in wooden shoes tending gardens. On the
refrigerator door is a plaque: "Dios bendiga este hogar".
Outside this room, an adjacent similar structure houses his three
children; Ramiro has built all of this himself. The rest of the
rooftop serves as space for clotheslines, and ducking under to go
to the edge of the roof offers a view of the mountain range that
defines one side of Bogota; looking the other direction reveals
only undeveloped land. We are truly on the very edge of the city.
Back in the bedroom, Ramiro and the missionary I am visiting
discuss problem situations that Ramiro is encountering in his
position as the deacon in the new church the missionary is
leading. Ramiro is small in stature, Indian in features, soft
spoken and gentle, originally from the country, not the city.
Before, he worked as a night watchman, and tells of riding his
bike an hour to his job of watching over a herd of horses all
night without shelter. While his children are in the process of
completing their high school degrees (one of his daughters
welcomes me in excellent English), he is diligently working to do
the same. He is also witnessing to many in the surrounding
neighborhood, bringing them to Bible studies several nights each
week, and studying to enhance his knowledge of Scripture and
doctrine; Ramiro wants to be a pastor. He and his family ride a
bus for more than an hour each way to get to church on Sunday
mornings, Sunday evenings, Wednesday evenings, and for all other
special occasions. I can understand only the occasional Spanish
word as he and his pastor converse. The missionary tells me later
that Ramiro related a time when he and another man went to a
country village to preach to a group of residents. An armed
guerilla group interrupted the meeting, ordering them to disperse
or be shot. They refused to stop, and kept on preaching. At the
end of the sermon, the leader of the guerilla group handed his
machine gun to his companions, told them to return to their
hideout without him, and then made a profession of faith. Ramiro
reported how this man was able to witness to many before the
guerilla group eventually found and murdered him for his
"treason".
While we are meeting, Ramiro's wife brings cups of hot
frothed milk with honey, and a single pancake, the latter not a
traditional Colombian food, but one she has learned that
norteamericanos such as myself will recognize and enjoy. The food
and drink are delicious, and buffer the coolness of the
approaching evening in this unheated room. We pray together, and
then travel a short distance to another home where a Bible study
is to be held. As the study begins, Ramiro, his wife, both
daughters, and his son each recite sections of the catechism they
are memorizing to better understand and explain their faith to
others.
Once again I am awed by the simple, courageous faith and
complete dedication of another member of the family of God.
Ramiro, this small man who graciously received me in his small
room, is rich in ways that are eternal. "Dios bendiga este
hogar" -- "God bless this home". I was there, and it was evident
that He has. I thank you for the prayers and support that helped
make it possible for me to visit that sanctuary, where milk, and
honey, and God, were present.
Godspeed,
Barney (returned from Bogota 10/25/01)
|
|
