Colombia, October, 2011 Day 6

Cartagena was an extreme eye opener. I have never seen anything like the poverty we saw today and yet in the same place a gleaming oasis in the midst, the CDA school that we visited today. In the photo above Joner and I are standing in front of his home of 11 years that was destroyed by a flood last week. He lives in a neighborhood of shacks with dirt floors and on this day and many like it because of the rain the floors are mud and we walked through ankle deep sewage in some places to visit the families in their homes. Joner attends the CDA school and recently had the highest score of anyone in the school on a government test. Last week the whole neighborhood was under water waste deep and many lost their homes. Most of these families have been displaced from the homes by violence and have found “refuge” in this neighborhood of squatters. And right in the middle is this wonderful CDA school where they are teaching these children about Christ and about becoming productive members of society. They are also helping the families in the neighborhood to come and get vocational training at the school, helping them with micro loans to start businesses, and teaching them about Christ. So in the midst of abject poverty we saw hope, love, and joy. We were greatly touched to see what CDA is doing in Colombia and have many thoughts about how to help them. We flew back to Bogota and Jose Vicente from Mundo Nuevo had a birthday surprise for me. My sweet Goddaughter, Heidy, gets to spend the weekend with us. God is doing many things here. Praise the Lord!