Colombia, October, 2011 Day 4

This is my 10th trip to Bogota, Colombia in 2 1/2 years and just when you think you have seen some things you are exposed to a whole new side of what is going on here. The CDA (Corporacion de Dios es Amor… Corporation of God is Love) van picked us up this morning at 7:00 a.m. and we took a 2 hour ride to a place in the foothills of Bogota called Altos de Cazuca. It started out as a squatters village for people fleeing the violence in other parts of the country and slowly developed into a town.

Lindsay Christie, a man living in New Zealand, was walking down the streets of Auckland one day in the 1960’s and a man handed him a leaflet about the violence in Colombia and when that leaflet touched his hand, CDA was born in the spirit realm. Mr. Christie was so moved by what he read that in 1966 he loaded up his wife and 4 girls and sailed to Colombia as a missionary. They had an amazing ministry and then he passed away in 1994 but not before passing the reigns on to his 24 year old daughter, Missy. Since then, CDA has grown into one of the most successful and respected organizations in Colombia and is now having an impact in several other Latin American countries. Mr. Christie started a medical aid station in Altos de Cazuca and then a school and that is where we visited this morning. It was mind blowing what they are doing to help the people in this very poor area.

We saw the medical station which was packed with people waiting to get help.

Then we went over to the school and WOW! What an amazing work they are doing there. We saw classes from preschool up to high school and heard many stories of the wonderful impact this place is having on the children of Cazuca.

We saw a presentation by the little ones and then met and spoke with the high school kids and then Shoby, Don, and I were interviewed on their radio station that they operate there at the school. We were so impressed by everything we saw and heard. Every child of whom we asked a question spoke with such confidence and clarity and they all spoke of how CDA had taught them to love God and love others and how much they loved CDA.

Later we went down into the village to visit some of the parents of the children who are taught at the school. It was real to life poverty unlike anything I had ever seen. We visited with two different families at their homes. It put such a burden on our hearts to help in some way some day. We will see what the Lord has for us. Tomorrow we continue with CDA and tomorrow night we fly to Cartegena to see what God is doing there and how we can help. Thank you for your prayers.