Break Point Testimony

The following testimony recounts the transformative experience of a team member from our partner church in Columbus, Georgia:

“Hola!” from your brothers and sisters in Bogotá, Colombia.  And they also send a blessing: “Diós te bendiga” − God bless you.

Last Sunday, I returned from a week-long mission to Bogotá.  I was one of a team of twelve whom you sent to provide physical aid and encouragement to both our sister church in Bogotá and to an affiliated girls’ home called The Beehive.  It was the best thing that I have ever done, and I want to thank you for sending and supporting us with your gifts and your prayers.

Derrick asked me to share with you some of my own experiences in Bogotá.  He asked me not to provide a complete report on the team’s activities and experiences, but rather a more personal testimony of how God worked in and through me during this time.  However, since I was part of a team of twelve, to get a proper idea of the trip, you will have to take my story and multiply it by at least twelve.

Indeed, a big part of my story is that all of us came together and worked hard and worked well, and with God’s help we accomplished a great deal and blessed our brothers and sisters in Bogotá.  The Pastor of the church there told us, not only once but three times, that it was a joy to be with us, and others expressed similar feelings toward us.  I mention this not to lift up ourselves, but to testify to what God did in our hearts.  The team is a very diverse group of people with very different backgrounds, experiences, ways of thinking, and ways of doing, but over the last few months as we prepared for our trip and during our week in Bogotá, he molded us together into a team that could work together effectively to accomplish what he had for us to do in Colombia.  All of the team members are now my friends forever, and my own experience would not have been as rich without each of them.

God had a lot of work to do in me so that I could do my part effectively.  Looking back, I realize that my story is one of victory of God’s Spirit in me, overcoming my very nature, what Paul would call my flesh.  My nature is to be shy, and what comes out of that nature is reservation.  Most people who know me would describe me as being reserved.  It’s not a debilitating condition and in many situations it serves me well and keeps me out of trouble.  But, really, what it means is that I hold things back from other people.  I don’t do it so much out of selfishness, but rather from a sense that some of what I have is not good enough to share with others.  It limits the number of people that I connect with, and it means that my friendships are not forged quickly and easily.  Throw in some pride, skepticism, cynicism, and fear, and you have a pretty good idea of who I am on the inside, and of the work that God needed to do in me so that he could work through me.

That work began about a year ago when a mission team returned from Bogotá and reported their activities to the church.  Scott Davis, in particular, gushed about how wonderful The Beehive is and how much love the girls there have for those around them and what a blessing he received from them.  I didn’t know Scott then, and I honestly didn’t believe that it could have been as good as what he said, but it sounded at least pretty good, and I wondered if I could receive a similar blessing if I were to go there.

In the spring I committed myself to joining the team and going to Bogotá.  Our team leader, Lori, met with us regularly to prepare us for our work.  She warned us about cultural differences and physical discomforts that we might experience and helped us with the language and other practical matters.  Mostly she emphasized the need to be patient and flexible and open to following God’s lead and the lead of the Colombians under whom we would be working.

At our last meeting less than a week before we left, Lori reminded us that we would be in Bogotá for only seven days, and there would no time for sitting on the sideline or watching from the outside.  We would have to jump right in and do the work and try to connect with the girls of The Beehive and the people of the church.  Watching from the sideline had always been my number one social strategy, so this was a big challenge for me, but I knew that she was right and that I would have to take some risks and offer myself to people in ways that I was not used to doing.  But I wondered, Would I be accepted?

I was also worried about the construction work.  What would we be doing?  As far as I knew, we would be working on a ceiling and a floor at the church.  I heard a rumor that the ceiling was very high and there wasn’t a mechanical lift.  That was pretty scary.  Perhaps I could work on the floor, but I didn’t have any experience with that and my knees are bad.  Would I be physically up to the work?  Would I make a mess of it?  I really wished that I could paint something.  I had some experience with painting and I enjoy it, but as far as I knew there was nothing there to paint.  I said a quick prayer and asked the Lord to give me something to paint.

Our first day in Colombia was Sunday.  We met the girls and had breakfast at The Beehive.  I greeted the girls with my stand-by “Hola! Cómo estás?”  The girls were friendly and offered hugs and greeting kisses, which I accepted gladly.  We went next door and participated in the worship service at church.  After church, I connected with a young man who was delighted that I am trying to learn Spanish.  He is learning English, and we agreed to help each other with learning our languages.  I had made my first friend in Bogotá.

After lunch we decided to take the girls to a park that was within what Colombians consider to be “walking distance” (4-5 miles, I think).  On the way there, I connected with a woman who also is learning English, and she was happy to chat with me on our walk and help me with my Spanish and explain Colombian culture to me.  I had made a second friend after only a few hours in Bogotá.

We had a nice time in the park with the girls, but it was getting cold and threatening rain, so we decided to walk the girls back to The Beehive.  It began to rain a little, but all we could do was keep walking.  We came to a busy road, and we needed to get the girls across safely.  One little girl named Karen put her hand in mine and we crossed.  After we crossed, she didn’t remove her hand from mine.  We walked that way for the remaining miles and chatted as best we could with my limited Spanish.  I learned that she is ten years old and that she likes school, especially science class.  She thinks it’s cool that I’m a scientist and that I teach biology to college students.  She learned that I am not married and do not have any children.  I learned that she likes to sing and dance.  Apparently, one of her favorite songs is the 1974 Pilot hit “Magic,”  which was one of my favorite songs when I was around her age.  All of the girls of The Beehive love the song, and they sang it for us on Tuesday night.  By the end of the walk, I had made my third and, as it would turn out, my best friend in Colombia.

After breakfast on Monday morning, our construction leader, James, divided us into two teams.  One team would work on the ceiling and floor in the church.  The other one, which I was on, would paint the girls’ beds and rooms.  Not only had God answered my prayer and given me something to paint, but he allowed us to serve the girls directly.  It was a special treat to see their faces light up when they came home from school each day and saw the work that we had done.  By the end of the week, we had transformed their entire upstairs sleeping and living area, and they were delighted.

On Monday night, a seven-year-old girl named Tatiana asked me through Lori if she could call me “Papi,” which is like “Daddy.”  Karen uses the slightly more formal “Papa,” but I gladly answer to both now.  They were happy for me to call them my “hijas,” or “daughters.”

All of the girls came to The Beehive after becoming wards of the state due to neglect and abuse in their original homes, but you would never know that from the way they interact with each other, with the house mothers and teachers, and even with strange missionaries from Columbus, Georgia.  God has poured so much love into them that it overflows to those around them.  Each day, all of the girls brought us fruit or desserts that they saved for us from their lunches and arts and crafts that they had made for us.  We often got notes with “Te amo” (“I love you”) written on them.

Karen, especially, was constantly attentive to my needs, getting me a chair if I was sitting on the floor or standing, making sure I knew when it was time to eat, offering me water in the middle of a crazy dance that she dragged me into, and regularly offering hugs and kisses on the cheek.  But the most touching moment for me was on Friday night.  At one point I noticed how attentive she was being to Tatiana.  I asked her if Tatiana is her sister.  Without hesitation, she responded simply, “Yes.”  I accepted her response at face value, but one of the other girls overheard our conversation and told me that Tatiana is Karen’s “hermana in Cristo” or “sister in Christ.”  But to Karen there is no such distinction.

I could say much more about Karen and the other girls.  I hope that you will take any opportunity you have to go there and receive a blessing from them like I did.  I will warn you, though, that they will steal your heart and they won’t give it back.

I mentioned early on that God’s spirit in me won a victory over my shy and reserved nature.  Perhaps you can already see in this story the extent of the victory.   The most amazing thing to me is that everything I did seemed at the time to be completely natural. It was as if my very nature had been transformed, at least for this time and for this work in Bogotá.

2011, here we come!

Shine Bright New Year’s

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What’s Buzzing in the Beehive

The Latest News

• Leidy, the eldest of the house, just joined the dance team at the church. Every Sunday she dresses in white and dances along with the worship music in front of the church. It’s a great way for her to connect with other Christian girls her age.

• After much prayer and careful consideration over the past few months, we have made a change in leadership.  Keila, our missionary from Mexico, has now taken on sole responsibility as the house mom .  The previous house mom Ruth has shifted her role to administrator. This changes play to the strengths of both Keila and Ruth, which of course is best for the girls.

• Yulitza, one of the new comers, has been a very fun and energetic addition to the house. However, her mother now earns a better income and wants to be with her daughter so we had to say goodbye.  Even though it is hard to see her go, we believe that it is usually best for a mother and a daughter to be together. But we will miss her!

Praises

• The girls continue to grow more and more as a family and there is a constant feeling of unity in the house.

• With the recent changes in leadership, there has been a surge in volunteers, many of them new to working in the orphanage.

• Daniela’s mom, who used to avoid visits, has now begun working part time in the orphanage.  She has comes twice a week and helps with laundry and cleaning, and goes to the women’s ministry meetings at the church on Saturdays. It’s been wonderful for Daniela to have regular contact with her mom. Even more, it’s powerful to see the church reaching out to parents as well as their children.

Prayer requests

• Please pray for energy and wisdom for Keila as she takes on more responsibility. She is such a blessing to this ministry, but her work is very exhausting.

• Catherine and I have been really busy lately and we need additional support to help with fund raising and communication between the girls and all of you!

• Pray for protection and maturity for the girls, especially the older ones as they grow into young women.  Many of the girls’ mothers and other family members have gotten pregnant around 13 and 14 years old. We don’t want them to make the same mistake!

Back from Bogotá

The metal door creaks open and, after an exchange of greetings and hugs with the host moms, we walk into the living room of the orphanage.  One by one the call goes out: “Tia Catherine, Tio Jacob!”.  As more girls race down the stairs into the living room we are overwhelmed with hugs and kisses.  Soon it becomes apparent to the girls that there were some new foreign faces and the girls begin to introduce themselves to the group from our home church, River West.  The phase of acting timid and shy lasts about 10 seconds with these girls, and soon they are grabbing the hands of each adult and giving them a tour of the house.  Natalie shows Becky and Marcie where her bed is and then Yulitza interrupts and shows them where she sleeps.  Meanwhile, Chris (our assistant pastor) meets Daniela in person for the first time and shakes her newly healed hand that he and his family made possible.  For months Chris and his family have prayed for Daniela.  A few days later, Daniela in turn pulls Chris aside and prays for him, his wife, his two boys, and even his dogs, all by name.

Catherine and I were accompanied by a team of 5 people from our church.  Becky and Marcie are good friends who teach together and have an uncanny knack for understanding kids, even in other cultures and in other languages.  Emily, the introvert of our group, bonded really well with Jessica and Ana Maria who have similar personalities.  Katie, the youngest of our group, had the most energy as well as an infinite amount of crafts and supplies.  Imagine the art store Michael’s sponsoring the superhero of crafts – I swear Katie wore a craft utility belt!

Over the span of 7 days we spent most of our time with the girls in the Beehive.  Every night we returned to our beds, exhausted yet encouraged.  It is apparent once you walk into the home that this is no ordinary orphanage.  The way the girls talk and play with one another seems more like a big family (albeit heavy on the feminine side).  Our last night there, Jamie turned 10 years old.  During the birthday party, each girl had the opportunity to share something they love about her.  Each of them emphasized how Jamie doesn’t exclude others, how she is always ready to laugh, and how she has shown compassion to housemates when they’ve been sick.  The Beehive girls know each other well and, more importantly, are growing in love for one another.

More than any other previous visit, I started to feel what it must be like to have children: it brought me so much joy to be there playing with them, or simply talking with them about school, or in the case of Leidy (now 13) discussing boys.  I felt God saying through me, “I love these girls”.

What a Blessing…

A Message from Scott Davis, member of Christ Community Church in Columbus, Georgia

Our church returned last Sunday (June 20) from Bogotá for a week’s worth of painting and electrical work at the church.  We had the priviledge of seeing the girls each night, and my hearts still mourns not seeing them each day.  I know that God is taking care of them.  …If these girls could be adopted, I would have submitted the paperwork already.

I’ve already set up my monthly donation to the beehive, and praying for other ways to help support them. …My heart is overflowing from the love that those girls shared with me.  I went to be a blessing, but received one instead.  God is so cool!  Looking foward to our next trip down next year and a chance to see my girls (especially Jamie).  Thanks again for your ministry and know that prayers are coming from Georgia for this work of God in Bogotá!

To see pictures of the team from Georgia working in the church and playing at the orphanage, click here: Mission Trip Slideshow

The 3rd and 4th floors of the church have been under construction for about 2 years.  In order to begin using the new facilities, they needed to complete electrical wiring and painting.  This is costly because it requires specialized technicians who can do the job well.  The Church from Georgia put together a skilled team to supply the labor and the materials for free!  We are so grateful to them!!

Our Videographer

Keila & Ashley

Almost out of the blue, Ashley Howe, a college student whose parents go to our church in Portland, approached Jacob and me about volunteering at the orphanage in Bogotá. At first we were thinking she’d want to visit for a week or two, but instead she flew down on a 3 month ticket! God does not cease to surprise us with random blessings. HE knew that we needed Ashley’s help, even though WE didn’t know it.

Ashley is taking off a semester from the college of art she attends in Vancouver BC so that she can ponder God’s calling for her life, and in the meantime, serve the girls in the Beehive. She has experience with filmmaking, which is exactly what we’ve been praying for. An informative video on our website will be so helpful for people who’ve never been to the Beehive to understand what it’s all about and actually see the lovely little faces of the girls. She’ll spend some of her time capturing footage and interviews for this video, and the rest helping out in the orphanage and brushing up on spanish!

Please PRAY for Ashley, as she adjusts to the culture and builds relationships. We are so grateful to her for venturing into the unknown taking initiative with this project!  Meanwhile, you can also view a photo slideshow that Keila made – as it’s mostly comprised of pictures and music, you will enjoy it even if you don’t read Spanish.  To see the YouTube video, click here.

Miracle on 53rd Street

Daniela's liberated finger!

All the Beehive girls were tremendously blessed by Christmas gifts and celebrations, thanks to donors’ generosity, but Daniela received an extra gift that she’d been wanting for a long time.  When she was a little girl, a stove accident left burns on various parts of her body, most noticeably melding her pinky finger to the palm of her hand.  This handicap was not only an inconvenience; she has been constantly teased by peers all her life.  At school, some refused to play with ”the burned girl”.  As one can imagine, this considerably lowered her already fragile self-esteem.

This past fall, Jacob & I introduced the Beehive Orphanage and the vision of Children’s Outreach Ministries to our church here in Portland, called River West.  The pastor of missions and outreach, Chris Coffman, immediately rallied to the cause and felt called to help Daniela in particular.  He was drawn to her spunky personality and sympathized with her sad story of an injury, and later abandonment by her mother.  He began discussing with his wife and 2 young sons of foregoing Christmas presents and instead donating money towards Daniela’s surgery.

The Coffman Family

Completely by their own initiative, they wired $500 to Bogota by Christmas.  Soon after, Daniela went into surgery and came out with a liberated finger, able to extend and use it for the first time in almost 5 years!  We extend our gratitude to the Coffmans for their generosity towards a child they’ve never met, and we also thank Chris in particular for inviting us into the circle of ministry at River West.  Most of all, we praise God for the countless blessings he has given to this ministry and everyone involved.  He has turned Daniela’s pain and heartache into an overflowing joy!

A Beehive Christmas

Thanks so much to those of you who made possible the Beehive Christmas celebration!  The girls had a great time.  In total, you contributed $1,495 which was matched for a total of $2,990!!*  Their living room was transformed into a fancy restaurant where they dined on a meal their house-moms spent all day preparing for them.  Then they opened gifts together, squealing with glee that they each received their own pair of boots!  (To view more photos, click on Christmas Photos.)

*Donations that exceeded the amount needed for the Christmas Party will go towards meeting the daily needs of the orphanage, such as food, rent, caregiving, and school supplies.  Thank you for blessing these little girls!

In addition to the regular costs of living, we’re raising funds to purchase the house the girls are currently living in. This way, we won’t only avoid paying rent, but we’ll actually generate income from the two small businesses that rent out store-fronts on the property. Please pray that this goal soon becomes a reality!

Colombia & Cake

Jacob and I recently hosted a dessert night for a group of people from our church, Riverwest, in Portland, OR.  We took this opportunity to share our love for the girls in the Beehive, our future plans for Children’s Outreach Ministries, and the chance to visit Bogota this coming summer.

A Short Visit

When I hugged and kissed the girls goodbye on the morning of our departure, I couldn’t help but laugh at their faces.  Dry skin peeling off their noses revealed a pink layer underneath.  I told them that if the kids at school gave them a hard time, they should just ask: “Have you been to Chinauta lately?”  They were the more or less fortunate victims of a day spent in the sun, playing in a pool on a private ranch in la tierra caliente – the hot earth (though as one of the girls, Daniela, pointed out after further inspection: “I touched the ground, and it isn’t hot at all!”)

Pastora Natalia, the director of The Beehive, and I decided a few months ago that the girls deserved a little vacation.  The first group of girls we welcomed into the home have only been with us just over a year (since April 2008) and already they are earning high grades and awards in school, and they are treating each other more like sisters than rivals competing for attention.  The home’s environment is playful and loving, albeit noisy

We scheduled departure time for 6:00 a.m. which really meant 7:30 or 8:00 Colombian-time.  The girls barely slept the previous night, too riled up with excitement.  The majority had never swum in a pool before, and they were thrilled by the prospect of enjoying such a luxury.  With new (or borrowed) swimming suits underneath their shorts and t-shirts (nevermind it’s only about 50º on Bogota mornings), we set off in our rented van.  Shrieks of cow-spottings sprinkled the bellowed choruses of praise songs.  (By now, almost all of them know the church’s worship music by heart.)  I was already spent by the time we arrived at the ranch, but 12 pairs of little legs trembled with the anticipation of touching the crystal-chlorinated waters for the first time.

It’s fascinating how a new experience brings out someone’s personality.  Normally spunky and up for adventure, Jamie never ventured beyond 3 feet from the pool’s edge.  One dip below the surface pushed her towards emotion breakdown.  Karen, who is easy-going and rather spacey, squealed with delight when Jacob launched her into the air for a splash landing, even if she got water up her nose.  Little Sarita, the most comical 4-year-old I’ve ever met, went from fearful sobs to reckless dive-bombs down the slide within a few hours – urged by the cheers she received from us.  She’s quite the crowd-pleaser.

The one item we neglected to bring: sunscreen.  For some reason, no one considered the risk of the sun’s rays reflecting off water, intensified at an elevation of 7,000 feet.  So we all rode home that evening a bit toastier than before.  I have a theory that every child should get a sunburn as least once – right?  The other female volunteers were less nonchalant and slathered the girls with remedies of milk lotion and aloe vera.  Aida, our “Colombian mom” with whom we stayed, went so far as to cover her own ruddy wounds  with a mixture of aloe and shredded potatoes.  A few days later, we began to molt our skin like snakes.

The day at the pool was only one of the many highlights.  We also hosted a birthday party for Majerly (12) – one of the Beehive originals – and Ana Maria (9) – who arrived with her sister Lady a few weeks ago.  After arguing over who would wear what of my grandma’s gaudy antique jewelry, they proceeded to devour popcorn and cake, pull the balloons from the walls, and tackle Jacob, their living jungle-gym.  All children have an instinct for how to play with abandon, even more so girls who have never before attended a birthday party just for them.

As for the church body, our greatest cause for celebration was the size of the youth group.  It’s huge!  The group takes over the balcony space every Sunday.  When we left last January, Jacob and Oscar (worship pastor) were struggling to retain committed youth, although neither had the time to be actively recruiting kids or creating a program that would engage and challenge them.  Jacob suggested that Willington, a young father of three, take over as the official youth pastor.  He aspires to plant his own church someday, and what better training than building a ministry for teenagers?  Turns out he’s the perfect guy for the job.  His broad white smile and contagious joy have drawn many new faces into the church body, especially guys.  In a culture where men are often to machismo or too noncommittal to be faithful in their homes and church, this turnout is impressive.  However, we suspect that part of the attraction could be traced to a handful of pretty young ladies who also happen to attend the youth group.  That’s Natalia’s theory anyhow.  The important thing is that they are coming and learning to love Jesus passionately, in community.  They, along with the girls in the Beehive, are the future of the church.