Dear co-laborers in Christ’s harvest field,
Greetings from Pereira, Colombia’s Coffee Capitol!
February 2014 was a busy month for us here. It started out with a special meal on the first Sunday. I (Paul) didn’t get in on the festivities much as one of our members, Marco Hernandez, was in the hospital. Immediately after the church meeting I went to the ICU to get in on the doctor’s report to the family. The doctor told me that it was best if his mother, Maria Solliday, were to come back as they did not expect him to last much longer. In fact, Marco lived to spend a week in a private room where his mother and family and friends could visit him. He passed into the presence of his Savior on February 16, 2014. His funeral was the first for our small congregation and a time of witness to those of his extended family who do not yet have a personal relationship with Jesus the Christ as their Lord and Savior.
The first week of February brought with it the annual gathering of the leaders of the churches with which we work here in Colombia. I call it “The Colombian Christian Convention”. 🙂 The trip over went well, I left dark and early to cross the central range of the Andes and picked up Gerson and Rafael and Vilma in Ibagué (they work with the churches in Ibagué and Bucaramanga) then we continued on to the convention together. It was a great time of fellowship and teaching in which our national leaders brought some excellent messages on diverse topics of interest to us all. Part of this annual gathering is dedicated to “business” that concerns us all. We work together as “independent” and “autonomous” churches, but with a common umbrella organization that is recognized by the Colombian government. This also gives protection to the property that has often been purchased at great sacrifice by donations from many places. The mechanisms in place make it very difficult for shysters to take over a congregation and then sell off the property, but they allow each church a lot of leeway in other matters. Anyway, this year I was elected as the president of our national organization. This position is NOT one that I have sought, rather I’ve run from it in the past. But it is an opportunity to serve and that is what I will do, to the best of my ability.
Over the years we’ve been in Colombia (almost 20 now!) we have observed the way things are done and have often lamented the lack of vision on the part of some of the leaders. Now is our opportunity to reach out and encourage the leaders around the country to draw near to our Good Shepherd and allow Him to be the true leader of each congregation. The responsibilities that go with this position include a lot of travel. Historically we have paid our way and we hope to be able to continue doing so. We do not wish to give opportunity for people to say “Look at how the foreigner is living off of us.” and we also hope that a greater part of the national organization’s income may be directed to new church plants rather than the costs of travel and so on. This means that there will be greater demands made on our personal and mission finances and time, demands which we know that the Lord will provide for although at this time we do not see from whence they will be met. The next two to four years promise to be “interesting” (it’s a two year term with a possibility of re-election for an additional term) as we’ll be more involved with the church on a national level.
We currently work with 18 congregations. They are located in a rough triangle that extends from Cartagena on the Caribbean coast on the north end to Puerto López on the southeast end to Pereira on the west. Most of the congregations are in the metropolitan area of Bogotá and the eastern plains. We hope to be able to visit them all at least once in the coming year, but are also doing our best to improve virtual means of communication such as email, Facebook and telephone (cellphone). Cartagena is the hardest to reach as it is too far to reach by motorcycle (my preferred mode of transportation) and must needs be visited by air. Most of the rest of the churches are within a day or two of travel (one way) and can be combined into an opportunity to visit various congregations during one trip. For example, to visit the small churches in the eastern plains involves one day of travel to Villavicencio and then another trip on out. We hope to combine such a trip into a chance to visit and encourage the leaders from diverse churches at one time – but plans are still being prayed about at this time.
Sheri began her teaching activities at the end of January and has been quite busy since then. She is teaching two separate classes of teachers from the Technological University of Pereira, an opportunity to reach into academia that we pray will be an opportunity to sow Gospel seeds in what can be difficult soil. The English Conversation Club started up again in February as well and has been well attended by a variety of people, old acquaintances and new.
As mentioned last month, David and Maria Solliday went to the U.S. for a few months to work with a church in the Denver area as interim ministers. Marco’s illness brought them back to Colombia but they returned to Denver at the end of February to take up the work once more. Please keep them in your prayers, especially Maria as the loss of her eldest son has been difficult for her, as you can imagine.
Thank you for your prayers and support. Thank you for being a part of our ministry here. Thank you for lifting these needs, challenges and opportunities before our Lord and Savior in prayer. You are a vital part of our ministry here, and more so as the demands on our time and resources increase.
May this year be full of blessings for you as you continue to serve the Lord in your own corner of His great Harvest Field.
In Christ,
Paul and Sheri Moreland
—
South American Christian Mission
“… to prepare the saints…”
Ephesians 4:12
www.sacm.net
www.paulmoreland.com
