“It was more than we could imagine!” The Women Together team – Heidi McLaughlin, Jan Mutter and Margaret Gibb, caught an Air Canada flight to Bogota on Thursday Feb 13, excited to be back in Colombia.
What awaited this Canadian team were 3 CALLED COLOMBIA Women’s Conferences, in Bogota, Chiquinquira and Bucarmanga. “This was a dream come true” said Margaret Gibb. “What we started in Canada in October 2018 is now in Colombia. We want women to take hold of the truth – they are CALLED!”
The passion to know God among the women is remarkable. Those who work with women are encouraged by what they see. Developing and empowering women to fulfill their calling is on the rise in Colombia. We had small CALLED blocks made to give out in Chiquinquira and the response was electrifying! Joy filled the auditorium. Some women wept, others danced, still others gave out a shout!
Working with key leaders such as Alexandra Beltran from Puente Largo Church in Bogota, Maria Isabel Castaneda Arevalo from Chiquinquira and the ever-smiling Celia Rosa de Ezenarro from Bucaramanga gave us insight into the great possibilities of equipping and empowering Colombian women. The time is now!
Our schedule also took us to an amazing school in Bucaramanga and we had 2 hours with 160 girls, smartly dressed in their school uniforms and super attentive! They took notes of our presentations – eager to learn! The hugs were many! What potential among these young students!
An added amazing experience was speaking at the YWAM base in Burcaramanga. We travelled up a beautiful mountain surrounded by lush vegetation, to arrive at the YWAM base. Seeing Venezuelan refugees on the side of the roads, resting, after a long and dangerous trek from their border and getting help from Colombians was both heart-wrenching and heart-warming! Colombians, like YWAM are reaching out to them with help and hope! Amazing stories are being written because of the outpouring of love to these refugees.
The nine students we taught at the YWAM base from 16 years to age to 52 was exciting! They took notes, asked questions and welcomed prayer! It seemed strategic to have as a backdrop a huge map of the world! Yes, they too are called! The picture we took with them holding a CALLED block was very meaningful to all of us.
Heidi McLaughlin expressed her experience.
“The only thing that surpasses the raw and magnificent landscape of Colombia, is watching people wholeheartedly worship God. Not only do they embrace the music and invite the Holy Spirit, but they also warmly embraced 3 gringos from Canada trying to navigate their language. Engaging with these loving people at our CALLED conferences, school, YWAM base and teaching in their churches was beyond anything I could ever have dreamed or imagined.”
We are going back in February 2021! Our calling calls us back!
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