Today, we said heartfelt goodbyes to the amazing community we were welcomed into in Duitama. We have all been impacted by a vision of the church that extends so far beyond Sunday mornings. Iglesia Duitama was a family as the body of Christ is meant to be, dropping personal agendas to help one another, showing up at random times just to live life together, and taking initiative to invite new people into the family as a united team. We are praying that we can take this experience of the universal church home with us in the communities that we have influence in.
We drove to one student’s finca in Paipa to have our final Bible study and reflection time where we wrote down the times we were most impacted by what God had done in, around, and through us: Sharing testimonies with the members of the drug rehabilitation program, celebrating Gerardo’s baptism, growing deeper in relationship as a team, organizing and implementing a plan to come alongside the Venezuelan family we’d met, and so much more.
Our final activity was to take the time to speak the truth in love over each individual member of our team, calling out the gifts we saw in them and how we’d seen God grow them this week, as well as challenging them to continue taking steps forward. This was an incredibly special team to be a part of. In place of complaining or drama, there was a humble joy in serving and an intentional striving for unity. As Mr. Becker said, it’s amazing how well a team can love each other when everyone is more focused on serving than they are on themselves.
Please continue to pray for missionaries Sam and Ale as they continue God’s work in Duitama. Pray for our Venezuelan family and our friends in the rehab program that they would come to know the eternal deliverance and satisfaction of a life lived fully for Christ alongside the physical help they are receiving. We have all been changed by this trip, and I for one am excited to see how God continues to use the seeds He has planted. He is doing awesome things and He invites us to be a part of them!
Verse for reflection: Mark 12:29-31
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this:
‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
There is no commandment greater than these.”
Bethany Litteral
