Debrief and First Week in Colombia!

Another one! It seems that I’ve fallen a bit behind on blogging just cause it’s been so busy, so I’m writing another one to catch you all up!

Debrief…

So post domestic ministry, we had eight days left before leaving the country, which was absolutely wild! Back at training camp, we had debrief time, which will happen after every country we do ministry in. During this time, we got to process with our leaders, coaches, and mentors, get plenty of one on one time and input, and just get time to recover and transition, spending intentional time with God.

This time was so sweet and I had so much fun just unwinding and resting, while also getting ready to leave America for the next 8 months!! I had to do a lot of sorting out of my stuff but I managed to fit it all in!

Travel Day!

Travel day started early Saturday morning as we gathered all of our massive packs and got ready for the long journey ahead. We bussed to the airport, flew two hours to Houston, and then had a layover there for several hours. After that, we flew five hours to Medellin! The first plane ride and layover  was so fun just being around friends, and the second plane ride I actually got the opportunity to sit next to a missionary couple working with unreached people groups in Medellin, which was so cool and encouraging! I loved hearing their stories and about what they were doing, and it was so cool to see how God is working. We landed in Medellin and bussed to the place we’re staying, Casa de Refugio. We took a while to settle in, so late nights for everybody!

First week in Colombia!!

I cannot believe a week here has already passed! It’s been a crazy one!

So, as far as where we’re staying, it’s a ministry called Casa de Refugio, where it houses several families, men and women, and is an absolute blessing in outreach to the community here. It does things like recycling for money, cooking, homeless ministry, children and youth ministry, women’s ministry, runs a men’s shelter, and more! So for us, that means that each one of our teams gets assigned a different thing that we do that week. We were assigned youth ministry, however, that only actually occurs once a week, so alongside planning for that, we helped out the other teams and did a lot of recycling and sorting! We spent hours ripping up bags and boxes and sorting them out. Then, this last Saturday we ran the youth group, where I was actually one of four speakers. It was really cool to be able to do that and connect with the youth here.

As far as free time, we spend it in our apartments (we have two little floors at the casa) hanging out, on the roof, exploring Medellin, and doing whatever else! It’s been a lot of fun to be in another country finally, and it’s so so beautiful. It’s amazing being surrounded by mountains and a city, and the people here are so full of life as they bustle around day to day life! On our adventure day, I spent it exploring more of the city and seeing buildings and stuff, which was fun! It’s also been super fun living all together and our evenings are filled with games, cooking, singing, and laughing!

Prayers…

I think collectively, my squad could use some prayers that we can be a light here. This city is very broken, which is something super present in homeless ministry as we try and minister to people heavily addicted to drugs and deep into the world. We’re all working in very different areas, but all so important, and it can be hard to connect with everyone and be bold. Also, that our Spanish learning is quick so that we can communicate much easier than it’s going now!

It has been a blessing though to be in such an amazing place, and to have so much rest time. I think our next three countries won’t have that nearly as much, so it’s something we’re all definitely leaning in to.

Thank you!!

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone supporting me! I so appreciate how much you all do for me, in terms of prayers, checking in, support, and everything else. And guess what! I’m 75% fundraised! I never thought I’d get here, and I’m truly in awe of you all! I feel so blessed to have such an amazing family around the world! Thank you all! I wouldn’t be here without you.

That’s all for now! I’ll post another update soon!

Much love,
Kezia ❤️