One Footprint at a Time: A 2022 Colombian Reflection

We must choose one of two options when we are called to action: to ignore or defy what we are being asked to do, or, to rise to the occasion and step boldly forward, conquer our own insecurities, do the hard work, and answer the call being presented to us. The first time I joined a team to travel to Colombia, it was a last-minute push to fill a spot. In 2018, I rang in the new year in the streets of Nicaragua. We were spending time learning the local work that was being done through the farming programs within the cities, feeding programs for children at the dump, and getting shoes for children and farmers. I had just returned and had caught the mission’s bug! I was eager to serve where the need called, I would answer. I was quickly approached by a team leader and was told about the need in Colombia.

What a great way to get introduced to Colombia, join a team the month before they leave [not once, but twice]!

High above the Caribbean Sea, I got the low down about what we were doing, the history of the location we were going to, and the briefest show-and-tell of the country. The lovely long wait in immigration was a great time for me to ask questions and to learn more. How long has this partnership been established in Las Brisas? What is the primary focus in the village? What are the demographics? Why are the demographics this way? [I am a master at 20 questions]. Spending the week in the village and with the people of Las Brisas, changed my heartbeat forever.

Las Brisas del Mar

"Breeze by the Sea", is a village up the hillside from the Caribbean that is building a bright future from its horrific past. 

What a mission, what a country, what a community. As the bus pulled up to the Cardona-Rabb Clinic, the community's children greeted us with signs of welcome and blessings! They were eager to greet their American friends and to catch the score of the futbol game coming through the bus speakers. Welcoming smiles from loving people warmed and changed my perspective of humanity.

How does one person, one team, one organization meet the needs of a school, a whole village, an entire country?

Simple

One step at a time!

This is what Footprints with Hope is actively doing throughout Colombia. Taking one step at a time into communities, villages, and lives of the people of Colombia. This was my 3^rd trip to Colombia but my first time experiencing the focused need of the women and children of Colombia. On previous trips, the focus was on the physical needs of the Church building, maintaining and stocking the clinic, and bringing fun, engaging Bible stories to the children. I needed to engage on this level to springboard me into this more profound and hyper-focused work with the women of Colombia in the villages and the city. Our 2022 team went into the villages of Pueblocito, Palmito, Bajo Grande, Las Brisas del Mar, and Alto de Julio. Then, we focused our efforts on the Luchadora de Accion program in the city of Cartagena.

That was a lot of miles traveled and many women we met!

Each community touched us in different ways. Our agenda was often changed, and we remained flexible in delivering different messages to various women and allowing those messages to impact that community in a way that was not expected at the time. In reflecting on these moments of change each night, we were amazed at how it really seemed like that was the exact message that needed to be shared in that community. The women of Pueblocito and Bajo Grande were welcoming, loving, strong women. Full of compassion, hopes, and dreams. As we heard about the many prayers and time they spent waiting for someone to notice their village and their needs, the weight of that sank in deep for me. As the second team that had entered this village, the weight was that we were the answer to prayers that they had been waiting for. 

                             

The women in Alto de Julio took time to release the things they believed or were told about who they were and then accept the truth being spoken over them about who and whose they were. As balloons popped, popped, and laughter filled the room, women sat, squeezed, and poked their balloons, filled with insecurities, worries, and lies. The room felt lighter. The activity was small, but the impact was lasting. Our final days were spent with the new women in the Luchadora program. They started the program in late February, and we were there in early March. These women were new to one another, but their stories were a tale as old as time. This is the foundation on which Footprints with Hope was established, to meet these women's needs and help rewrite their future stories. As we got to meet these incredible women, we worked with them on establishing their own boundaries and what it means and looks like to come together as a community supporting one another in their needs and successes. These women empower one another and are dedicated to making a difference in their families and communities.

Each time I can step into Colombia, my life is changed for the better. I become a more patient, a more compassionate, and a more aware individual. Partnering with the Foundation and stepping into their world of work and missions has impacted my heartbeat, it seems incomplete when I have come home—like there is a small part of me that is left with the women, the children, the programs, and the work being done in Colombia.

 [First published on Footprints With Hope Blog and published here with permissions]