YWAM Pittsburgh in Colombia -Update 2

Visiting the Orphanage in Subachoque, Colombia

One subject seems to be a reoccurring theme with our team here in Colombia.  That is building the kingdom of God!  So what does this look like? What does it mean? And how can we be more affective with it!?

Our team in Downtown Bogotá

As our team reads through the book of Acts every day, we get a greater look at how the early church operated by the Kingdom of God!  To define “the kingdom of God” easily, it is this: the domain of God’s heart. These early church leaders were obedient to their call, for example, baptizing, boldly preaching the word, and following the lead of the Holy Spirit in their lives!
 
Our team here Colombia has been regularly discussing this subject, and even moving in ways, to build up the kingdom of God.  I think back to a couple nights ago, when Diego and I got to talk to two male prostitutes in a park near downtown Bogotá.  They were ashamed of what they chose to do to support their family, but by following the lead of the Holy Spirit; we had the chance to speak life, and encouragement, even while they were trapped in their sin, and hurting and broken!  It was so amazing just to have the chance to pray with and for them!

Mari with Nicole at the Orphanage ¨Planeta Amor¨

God has been giving us some extremely awesome opportunities to work in building His kingdom while we have been here!  We visited an orphanage with thirty children, who were all AIDS positive.  The way the children run around, play, and just generally love, you would never believe that they had AIDS.  These kids were lively and just wanted to be around the visitors!  I forgot to mention that it was the first time that it was not Paola, Mari, Diego, and I by ourselves.  We actually acquired a team of about 12 to 15 volunteers in total!  The kids had so many people to play with, so many games to play, and plenty of food to eat!  Paola and the group at “Rocka Aventura” (Rock Adventure) youth group invented games to play, and even had dramas for kids that they performed!  It was a time of fun, but also a time where many kids came to Christ!



Today, we got to work with a camp called “Kings Kids,” a kid’s ministry affiliated with YWAM here in Bogotá, and we visited a community named “Ciudad Bolivar” (City of Bolivar).  Kings Kids is running a camp for kids age 8 to 18 that would like to share their faith through the arts, and through testimony!  Many from the neighborhood came out, and there were so many kids!  We as a team, got to share the love of Christ, and many kids came to know Jesus today!
 
To sum up the trip so far there have been 109 decisions for Christ, and we have seen the kingdom of God being impacted every day!  We have been having so many opportunities to strengthen the Body of Christ here in Bogotá, as well as reach out to many who don’t know His love!

-Christian Cole