Werling & Samy are home!

Jorge drove to Isla Fuerte yesterday to pick-up Samy and Werling and bring them home to Bocachica for the Holidays! It´s great to have them home!

Samy and Werling say goodbye to some of the new friends in Isla Fuerte.

A view from the shore.

Trip to San Juan de Urabá

This past weekend Jorge, Marley and I made a whirlwind 36 hour trip, touching 4 states along the northwestern coast of Colombia. On Saturday morning we left at 6 am and drove to Paso Nuevo which is the spot where you take the boat to Isla Fuerte. There we dropped off two guys from YWAM´s university student ministry who were helping to lead an outreach group to Isla Fuerte. While there we got to see Samy who took the boat over to meet up with the university guys. From there we continued on our journey to Montería where we dropped off Marley so that she could visit her family. Then Jorge and I drove on a few more hours to San Juan de Urabá, which is in the state of Antioquia. There we visited with our dear friends, Julio and Dominga, who are pastors. Actually they were the pastors in Bocachica when we first arrived over 11 years ago. They have since transferred to another location but we still keep in touch. On Saturday we drove 9 hours. While in San Juan, Jorge preached twice and the next day at 9 am we headed back home. We stopped back in Montería to pick-up Marley and visit her family, The Reyes Family, who were pastors in Bocachica for 6 years after Julio and Dominga were transferred out. We got home at close to 6 pm Sunday evening. We were happy but exhausted and are still recuperating!

Jorge and I in San Juan de Urabá with Pastor Julio, Dominga and their 9 year old daughter, Esther Cristina.

Visiting with the Reyes Family in Montería.

Marley with her dad, Pastor Florencio Reyes.

CLICK ON THE ENTRY TITLE ABOVE TO SEE THE REST OF THE PHOTOS AND READ A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT OUR TRIP!

Bakery...a new endeavor

A couple of months ago we (Proyecto Libertad) had the opportunity to buy the equipment needed to start a bakery. We have been considering different options of how to use this as a small business opportunity as well as a ministry opportunity. This past week we hired a local baker, who happens to be one of Samy´s older brothers, to help us do maintenance to all the machinery and test it out to make sure it was working. For three days in a row, we had yummy bread and doughnuts. Since we were just testing the machinery for now, each day we bagged up lots of bread and gave it to friends and neighbors in Bocahica and we of course kept some for the mission as well! What we think we would like to do is take it to Isla Fuerte and start a Bakery/Coffee Shop. There is no bakery on the island there so there is a great demand for fresh baked bread! Plus there isn´t really anything social for the people to do their either so it might be a good way to create a meeting place for folks and use that to reach out to the community in a variety of ways. This would also be a great way for us to fund this new operating location in Isla Fuerte as well because so far it has been a strain on the ministry finances. For now though, there is no electricity on Isla Fuerte so we would have to buy a generator which is quite expensive here. So for now, we are thinking of setting it up in Bocachica, maybe in a place far away from the bakeries that are currently operating in the community and using it there for the next few months until the electricity gets installed in Isla Fuerte.

Eduardo, Samy´s brother, is a baker and he was a huge help and blessing!

Making caramel bread.

One of the machines that flattens out the dough.

This machine cuts the dough into equal portions.

New Photos from Isla Fuerte

The last couple of weeks we have had 4 of our staff in Isla Fuerte. Samy and Werling along with new additions, Josefina and Jennifer. At this point things are kind of slow out there and our main goal is to make relationships and find out what the needs are in the community and investigate ways that we can work together in the future to help meet those needs. Jorge is going to visit again tomorrow and he will be there for 2 nights and then he will bring Josefina and Jennifer back to Bocachica.

This is the house that we rented. We have a year contract here.

Staff in the living room.

Josefina and Jennifer organizing things in the kitchen.

The view from the front porch.

The beach.

Staff at the beach.

Making Proyecto Libertad History

Today Marley and I sent Samy and Werling off on their way to Isla Fuerte where we are starting our new operating location. For some time now Jorge has been planning this. The idea is to multiply the work that we are doing in Bocachica, to mobilize Bocachica natives into missions, and also to establish a mission station at a half-way point between Bocachica and the mouth of the Atrato River, where we one day hope to minister with the boat. Jorge has been visiting Isla Fuerte (translated: Strong Island) over the last few months and making connections with the local pastors. His last trip was about a week ago and he was able to find a house to rent. It is about a 6 hour trip from Cartagena that involves two buses, a motorcylce and a boat! There is no electricity, running water or indoor plumbing. Samy and Werling have accepted the challenge to initiate this pioneering effort and today they set off with their backpacks, a guitar, a stove and a suitcase full of kitchen supplies. They will be establishing relationships in the community, getting involved with the local church and helping to prepare for a special event we are planning for June. It will be a 2 week Mini-DTS... a short disciplehsip course geared for the youth of the local region. We will be hosting and running this course and have already recieved confirmation from the pastors and it looks like we will have a full house. This is a history-making moment for us as a ministry and we are excited about what is to come! Please keep this new effort in your prayers and we will keep you posted!