COLOMBIA REPORT
February 2014 newsletter of Mark and Barbara Stringer, missionaries to Colombia, South America
Dear Prayer Partners,
The Medellín church started off 2014 on the right foot with good attendance even though many were on vacation. I shared the Word January 4 and really got excited as I felt the enthusiasm of the congregation reflected back to me while in the pulpit. This year we are talking about the character traits of our invisible God that should be seen reflected in the lives of true Christians.
We are leading the small group in the clothing store in Itaguí again this year. We are discipling the girls I baptized last year, along with several new attenders.
The pro-life rallies continue. Gamaliel led one here in Medellín in January, and I plan to help lead one in Bogotá on February 6 and another in Ibagué in March.
In jail
Our son, Andrew, has been working with a Colombian leader named Wilson, and they are evangelizing in a special prison for soldiers who have broken the law. Since Andrew is leaving in March for a year furlough in the U.S., I am accompanying him and plan to take his place during his absence.
In this first visit I rejoiced as several gave testimony to the power of the gospel that is transforming their lives. More than twenty men met with us. Several want to be baptized. Andrew and I are going to teach Wilson to baptize and loan him the portable baptistry that Joe Garman and the American Rehabilitation Ministries gave us.
Wilson had gotten someone to donate some literature for pre-school children. School is starting now in Colombia, and we took these boxes of materials to the prison to be distributed to the families of prisoners with small children. There are now 320 prisoners here, but another prison is being closed and so the population will soon go up to 600. I felt guilty when the commander who received the literature looked right at me as he thanked us profusely on behalf of the families of the prisoners. I actually hadn’t had anything to do with this other than carrying a box. Anyway, it was very nice to be appreciated.
There is a deep concern in government circles about the surge in the number of teenage pregnancies and abortions in high school girls. Wilson has friends in the department of education and they are actually considering using our pro-life videos in the public schools even though not approved by the Catholic Church. Pray with us that he will have success.
Barbara and I are just getting to know Wilson well. We invited him, his wife, Veronica, and their son, Daniel, to a two day treat at the lake, along with Andrew’s family and us. It was a blessing as we shared ideas about the church in the Bible and methods of evangelism. We are sharing restoration ideals and teachings with him, and he really seems to be in favor of them. We are also backing his ministry through our church’s legal papers with the government, but we are being careful to not give him the idea that he might get some money from us. Money sometimes clouds honesty.
Things that make our job harder
One thing that is definitely home grown is reported in the January 17, 2014 issue of the AND newspaper. It tells about a fast growing church sect called MIRA with churches all over Colombia and 15 other Latin American countries. Outsiders see it as a family run affair, and Mrs. Piraquive, the founder, as the matriarch in charge. Recently she enraged all Colombia when she used Leviticus 21:17–24 and prohibited anyone with a physical defect to speak from the pulpits of her churches. It is reported that the family has been getting rich and hiding money so as to not pay much income tax. This group has a unique way of gaining members. When people attend the first time a prophet whispers prophesies in their ear. Many prophesies are whispered, and the listener usually just remembers a few which are very vague and general. Something usually comes true, and the gullible are convinced. Groups like this make our job harder to do.
This reminds me of Jesus’ words, “Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:11-14. It looks like His return is getting pretty close, doesn’t it.
Mark & Barbara