Links and Arun Church in Colombia

We stood as a team around approximately 80 young people who had flooded forward in response to a message inviting full surrender to Jesus and to a belief that no matter what we may be facing He is able to bring freedom. The young people, who were between the ages of 13-18 stood with tears streaming down their faces as the Holy Spirit moved powerfully. I stood there with a deep sense of pride swelling within my heart as I watched the young team from Arun Church, which included my son Luca, reaching out their hands in prayer, many feeling equally impacted themselves by the sense of God’s presence.‍

The team from Arun Church were supporting our partners Comunidad Mosaic, (the church that Carolina and I had the privilege of helping to start in Bogota Colombia many years ago) who have been working for a number of years into Tierra Grata in the northern coastal region of Colombia. For three days we had the privilege of carrying out a youth retreat, with games, activities, music and teaching in a very needy area where there aren’t any churches. The Senior Pastors at Mosaic are exploring the possibility of planting a congregation here and are seeing incredible fruitfulness as they engage predominantly with the young people in the area. It was so amazing to see these lives deeply impacted over the course of the retreat. Following our time with the young people we were also able to visit families in the communities where once again we saw God bring healing.

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This was just the beginning of the adventure in many ways, which went on to see us connecting with partners working into communities in the coastal areas of Palenque De San Basilio, famously known as the first free African community in the Americas, then with needy communities in Cartagena de Las Indias, before finally connecting with partners in and around Bogota.

On the final weekend of our time in Colombia we held an evangelistic outreach event in the park adjacent to the Comunidad Mosaic base. Throughout the day we had activities such as five-a-side football tournaments, stalls supporting various charities, live music and worship and the opportunity of sharing a gospel message. Once again it was deeply moving to see God touch people’s lives, bringing healing and freedom.

For all of us on the team it was great to be challenged and impacted once again by the incredible generosity and love of the communities that we engaged with and to be reminded of how very blessed we are in so many ways. The whole team has returned with a love for Colombia and the amazing partners that we have in the nation.
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If your church or business would be interested in Links facilitating a team trip opportunity to engage with the inspiring work of amazing organisations around the world, please contact us at hello@links.charity

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