Somos Uno, We Are One

Wow - thank you, thank you, thank you for your prayers. In our distress we cried out to the Lord for help; from his temple he heard our voice and our cries reached his ears.

Shortly after I (Fiona) posted the prayer request on Thursday morning, I went downstairs for breakfast. Some other ladies were recovered and recovering, feeling much better from their tummy troubles! I was mostly feeling fine, but after a few sips of soup, I suddenly felt very nauseous and faint. I put my head down and couldn’t hear anything, but I could feel them moving me to lie down. As I started to come to, I looked up and saw this lady in blue scrubs checking my blood pressure and giving me something strong to smell. Another man in plain clothes was a doctor helping too. Thankfully after resting a bit more, I could think straight and move around again. I asked how come the hotel had a nurse. Turns out – a pharmaceutical company was holding a medical conference at the hotel that morning, so we were surrounded by dozens of doctors and nurses that morning at breakfast!!! Even Juvy who wasn’t well got a little check up too. How amazing is our God!

Another glorious thing yesterday was the closing ceremony of the ReUnited program. It was incredible; thank you for praying!

Somos Uno / “We Are One” / ReUnited is the name of the program where Fundación Doulos has come alongside many churches in the area to respond to the Venezuelan refugee crisis. Children and youth are especially vulnerable at this time. Many families have been separated where one parent is in another city trying to find work. Then the single parent may be trying to juggle making or asking for money somehow, sometimes with the kids in tow on the street. The youth are also vulnerable to being recruited by gangs or being trafficked.

What Fundación Doulos does is to come alongside the churches to resource and support them as they create a program for kids and youth. Each program is unique, depending on the gifts of the church, but often using similar tools like sports, art, and music, things that can provide healing after experiencing the trauma of leaving your home, often carrying your possessions on foot.

Last night was the year-end presentation and closing ceremony, bringing together all of the kids, youth, foundation leaders, teachers, and parents. Each fundacion gave a presentation and some testimonials from the kids, to the loud cheering of all the parents and community.

Some special things stood out to us:

The glow of the children with pride and joy. Just the day before in Riohacha, there were kids roaming around in the tourist areas, selling cactus fruits, bracelets, cocada desserts (as one kiddo said, made by his mom). Tough kids, and tough surroundings. We’re sure there are children in even more terrible situations that we can’t even see. But this evening, every single child was at their best, glowing with joy, glowing with the pride and support of their parents, teachers, and community.

Peacebuilding & unity. One thing we admired so much is how the programs honor each other’s cultures and have Venezuelan kids playing and learning alongside Colombian kids. They aren’t trying to assimilate the Venezuelan kids, but they learn and celebrate each others’ dances, music and art. This region of Colombia also has many people originally from Africa because of the slave trade, so those cultures were celebrated too. In the face of xenophobia (dislike/prejudice towards people from another country) of some Colombians to incoming Venezuelans, we pray that these kids would be the trailblazers for unity in their generation.

Boys and girls, different ages. It was so fantastic to see the progressive approach the programs had to open up all the activities for both boys and girls and kids of all ages. There were boys in dance, girls in soccer, a little boy playing the shaker next to the teenager playing the big drum.

This dad!

The tenderness of the adults. When Rosa first briefed us on Colombian culture, she told us to prepare ourselves for lots of hugging. We have certainly enjoyed how much we can use touch to communicate love (especially for those of us who don’t speak much Spanish!). But on ceremony night, we could see that while the adults were putting medals on each of the students, they would often tenderly touch the tops of their heads, or give them big hugs after their performance. Sitting on the floor from the front row was one dad who really moved us. His little 5-year old daughter was performing a dance, but watching his face while watching and filming her, with his hand on his heart and a teary face…we don’t know who was more expressive. She ran to him as soon as she was done, and he scooped her up and just enveloped her with kisses. He was taking a video of another boy in the next performance, and we asked him whether that was his son. He said no, but simply that this other child is such a blessing to him. These are the kind of chosen families and supportive adults we want to be!

The people behind our giving. As Maria said, it is so amazing to see where our giving goes. Fundación Doulos invited The Peoples Church to come alongside the ReUnited program for the last two years, so the funds have gone to printing taekwondo uniforms with each student’s name, handmade dresses and hair accessories for the dancers, soccer jerseys and cleats. Even more than sending funds, it was a privilege to love with our presence, time, and travel to be present for such an occasion, to come from Canada to cheer, give high five and hugs, take photos and videos like proud aunties.

About taekwondo. We were asking Daniel why one foundation chose to teach taekwondo. Firstly, Daniel said it was an excellent way for the kids to learn self control, discipline, and healthy ways to deal with their frustrations. But secondly, and very strategically, Daniel found that it was better for the kids to teach them a more unique, niche sport, than a popular sport like football. Doing so allowed the kids to stand out from others and be able to compete at a higher level and even represent their region.

By the way, if you have any connections to taekwondo or martial arts, the foundation would love to receive donations of the belted, white taekwondo uniforms, and also the hand-help target pads for training. Whereas some items are better to buy in Colombia (like soccer items), these taekwondo items are very expensive. If you know someone who could be interested in donating such items, please contact fionaf@thepeopleschurch.ca

We are learning so much. It’s hard to sum it all up and even keep up to date with posting! There is incredible beauty here, but also dominions of darkness. We have two more full days here. Please pray for:

• Our time with the kids from the Los Angeles church. We’ll be sharing some songs, a Bible lesson, and a meal with them. Pray that we can communicate and play together well to the glory of God and with the love of

• A gathering with some women entrepreneurs. Pray for good connections and helpful resources to be shared, especially for the entrepreneurial ladies on our team. For inspiration and encouragement.

• Joining Comunindad Pas’ worship service on Sunday. To really appreciate the different expressions of worship and the body of Christ working together.

• For our team to process all we have seen, heard, and felt, and how God wants us to live differently and share when we return.