Greetings from Cúcuta! We’ve gotten to see so many more examples of the beauty of Christian community in the last 24 hours. We spent last evening on a hilltop overlooking the mountains of Venezuela where a congregation meets together on days without rain. The pastor formed the church going door to door in one of the poorest areas of Cúcuta and inviting anyone willing to come. On days it rains, they meet in a one-room building with a tarp partitioning off a small area for the children to meet. Despite how many of the Venezuelan refugees from among their members have been forced to live somewhere that does not feel like home, I have rarely felt more welcomed into a space. They came from many places and they had very little but they were joyful and committed to their church community. My Spanish leaves much to be desired but they made me feel like family.
Our students stepped up to plan a children’s program and purchase food to be shared by the congregation after the service. You could see the delight in the faces of our students and the children they were serving as they interacted. Gaby, one of our 11th graders, shared how much fun it was to get to use the gifts God had given her in a ministry context:
“Being with kids has always been something I enjoy doing. It has always been a passion of mine. I love kids, I love their personalities, I love their way of acting, I love it all. Being with the kids at the church was a great experience and one that I will forever carry with me in my heart.”
As our new friend, Samuel, preached to a crowd under the open air, I got shivers realizing how similar it must have felt to listen to the teachings of Jesus during His ministry. We sometimes forget that church isn’t a fancy production but a gathering of believers seeking to be strengthened in their faith. Church can happen with anyone, anywhere.
Our students got the chance to step into this reality once again this morning when we returned to the restaurant church for the first of three morning meetings we will be leading. We enjoyed worship and fellowship together but the highlights were the messages that our students Silvana and Nico preached from the gospels. They broke down the story of the man born blind in John 9 and the Canaanite woman from Matthew 15 and connected these encounters with Jesus to their own testimonies. Silvana had this to say about her experience:
“I had a great time sharing about the Canaanite woman and how Jesus interacted with her. It was beautiful to talk into people’s lives and to compare how this passage can apply to our walk with the Lord. It was nerve wracking to be sharing in front of everyone but it was a very helpful learning experience for me.”
I loved hearing our brothers and sisters murmuring “Amen” around us as these young ambassadors proclaimed the truth of God’s good news with passion and intentionality. Many members of this church are Venezuelans who came to Colombia out of necessity. Some are men who spend their days selling whatever they can at spotlights to make ends meet. Lots of our new friends left loved ones behind to come to Cúcuta, including a young woman who came seeking medical care for her toddler and a man in a wheelchair who is still trying to raise the funds to bring his family over from Venezuela. Despite the hardships and the loss they have experienced, they were excited to worship God with us and quick to give Him glory. We are continuously reminded that Christ is rarely found in the comfortable, but that He can be intimately encountered even in the hardest of circumstances.
Please pray that our numbers would continue to grow at morning meetings each day as more and more people we have interacted with across the city come to check out this Jesus who we are so excited about. Pray that we would have discernment to know in what ways we can help support our brothers and sisters here with the resources we have. Finally, pray that the churches in the city and on the hilltop would be increasingly powerful lights of hope in the communities they serve. We look forward to sharing more of the exciting things God is doing tomorrow!
God is good!
– Bethany Litteral
