Sojourn Campus Church

Ashok January 28th, 2009

I went to Columbia to visit Esneyder. I ended up meeting God. I knew that this trip was going to be different than any other vacation that I’ve been on. What I didn’t realize was that the trip would change my life.

Going to Bogota was, to be honest, a little bit scary. Especially reading the US Sate Department warnings about getting robbed or kidnapped or worse. The more sane people I talked with (several either lived in Bogota or had been there) assured me that it was mostly hype and I’d be just fine. Still, my “little faith” led me to talk with just one more person from Ecolab (the company I work for) who had flown into Bogota to get some advice and reassurance from him. He didn’t call back until I was already in Atlanta waiting to get on the flight to Columbia. As he talked about the fact the he never, ever took a taxi from the Bogota airport but always (emphasis on always) had someone he knew and trusted pick him up (due to safety concerns — and yes, I was going to take a taxi from the aiport) — and as he further talked about someone he knew getting kidnapped and dragged around by robbers and thieves for half a day until they stole all the money they could get from him — I really was not re-assured at all. I guess this was God’s way of letting me know that He is the only one I can really trust.

On my first day there (and no, I did not get robbed or kidnapped or threatened by anyone on the entire trip), I took a day trip to the highest point in Bogota — Monserrate. You ride an inclined train/tram up to the top of a huge hill, where the entire city of 7 million people is stretch ed out before your eyes. So many people crammed together 8800 feet above the ocean in what the people there call “the ice box of Columbia”. OK, so it is only about 60 F vs. 90 F in other parts of the country.

As the next day dawned, I prepared for the real reason for my trip — visiting the Compassion International project 1 hour south of Bogota to visit Esneyder, the child we have been sponsoring for the last 4 years. Actually, Janell was the one who started sponsoring him while she was still in high school. We took over when she lost all of her income attending college. Janell is therefore the one that God used to pick Esneyder from the thousands of children waiting to be sponsored back in 2003. As I kneeled beside my bed in the hotel prior to heading down south, I asked the Lord to be with me on my trip. What happened next was unbelievable. I felt God’s presence so strong in my room. It was as if his hand was literally touching me, holding me, pouring his heart into me. I was so overwhelmed that all I could do was weep uncontrollably. I felt so unworthy. I did not think that I deserved his attention. I’m not one to say that I “hear things from God” much, and I did not hear any voices. But I got the distinct and strong impression that God was telling me this: “You are my instrument today to show my presence and my love. You are exactly in the place that I want you to be — right now — today.” I’ve talked about God’s grace and his mercy, but at that moment, when in my mind I thought of all the times that I’ve let God down, and how ashamed I was for that, at this moment, God was literally placing his hand on me and wiping away the shame and tears and replacing them with power and purpose. I will never forget that moment in that Bogota hotel room for as long as I live.

So, after wiping the tears from my eyes and picking up my backpack, I headed down to the lobby to meet Edwin, the Compassion Rep who was to be my guide and interpreter for the day. Edwin told me stories as we travelled south in the taxi towards the project. Compassion has 300 projects in Columbia, with over 50,000 children. “There are really two Columbias,” Edwin revealed. “The first Columbia is the one you’ve seen so far. The city of Bogota and other cities like it, where people live in relative safety in spite of the poverty and high degree of crime. The second Columbia is that of the jungle, of FARC, the rebels, and the drug lords. That Columbia is the one you hear about on the news, where people are kidnapped and people are killed.” Edwin has travelled to both Columbia’s, since Compassion has projects all over the country. He is the one that we should honor and thank, since he literally risks his life when traveling in this dangerous “second Columbia.” I asked Edwin what happened to children in the slums of Bogota who don’t get the chance to join a Compassion Project. His answer sobered me: “They get lost in the drug underworld of this country — using and dealing drugs to survive.”

We finally reached the project, and I was a little nervous as I walked up the stairs to meet Esneyder. What should I say? How would he respond? Well….as I walked into the office to meet the director of the project, there Esneyder was, waiting for me. He immediately grabbed me and hugged me for what seemed like 5 minutes. He would not let me go. The three ladies in the room all started crying, and I was so glad that this moment finally had finally come. I told him that I loved him so very much — that I was so happy to finally see him. The Compassion staff showed me the binder that they are using to document Esneyder’s progress. Very detailed information about his physical, social, academic, and spiritual development. I was impressed. They even had records of doctor appointments, charts of his weight and height vs. national norms, and a detailed accounting of every gift and special gift and letter that I sent him. It was obvious to me that they cared very much about all of the children in their project. Esneyder was doing very well in all areas. I told him I was proud of him. He really has a soft and tender heart, and he loves art and “mathematica”, as he told me. Esneyder is very small and light for his age, however. He is only in the 1st percentile. I wondered aloud as to why this might be, and the answer saddened me as they explained that in his early years he did not get enough food to eat.

From there we went to meet the other children in the project, over 100 in all. They had a time of singing and a devotional. It was so neat seeing children 5 to 10 years old playing piano, drums, and guitar as a little “worship band” for the others. They were actually quite good! After that ended they introduced me, and we had a question and answer time. “Where is Minnesota? What are the dogs like in the USA? Tell us about your family. Do you have a car? Why did you pick Esneyder to sponsor?” were some of the questions they asked. Next came a little miracle. I had brought candy to share, but after seeing that I had grossly underestimated how many children would be there, I sheepishly explained to Edwin that “I have candy, but I don’t think it is nearly enough. What should I do?” Hand it out! He said without hesitation. So the children starting filing by, and I started handing out the lollipops. I kept looking at the long, long line of children and my dwindling supply of candy. So I prayed a quick prayer. “God, you multiplied the fishes and loaves, would you please multiply this candy so that no child misses out.” The candy kept coming, and coming. The kids kept coming. And in the end, I had exactly to the last piece what we needed. Now I can’t prove that a miracle actually occurred, since I didn’t count the candy beforehand, but I am 99% sure that there was now way I had over a hundred pieces in the small little bag.

After “feeding the 100”, we moved on to their lunch time. Kind of backwards, but hey, it worked. The kids had a great lunch with beans, rice, soup. Edwin and I then talked with the pastor, his wife, the teachers, and the administrators of the project. I found out that I was the first sponsor to ever visit that project since it began seven years ago. I guess they all were so excited about my visit. It meant the world to them that someone from the USA had finally come. They mattered. Someone actually cared about what they were doing. They proudly shared with me the details of what happened in their midst. And that’s when I realized that I was in the company of saints. These tireless souls spend night and day caring for these children whom the world would easily discard as trash. Tears filled my eyes as I told them that they were the true heros in this story written by God. They had nothing according to the world’s opinion of success. Yet in God’s eyes they outshone my feeble attempts at service by a thousand fold.

After that we took a short break so that Esneyder could show me his soccer skills on the playground. And then we went to visit his family. I knew that he had a mom and dad, two sisters and a brother. But his uncle and aunt and his niece (sister’s child) were also there. His mother took both of my hands and looked straight into my eyes. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she thanked me and blessed me over and over and over again. I could hardly contain my emotions as she showed me a small picture album of Esneyder and their family. And in that album they had every letter that I had sent — guarded as precious as their few family pictures. We then had a short devotional out of Jeremiah 29, where God states that he “has plans for us, plans for good and not for evil, to give us a future and hope.” We prayed together. I told them that God had chosen their family down in Bogota — to bless, to give hope, to redeem. At that point everyone was crying — even Esneyder’s father, who is not yet a Christian. His mother then said that she had a word of God for me from Psalm 112. I sobbed as she read the Psalm and again blessed me and my family, and prayed for Alane.

We then handed out gifts. A soccer ball and pump for Esneyder, a cap for his brother, towels for his older sister, sheets for his parents, and a handmaid bracelet and toy house for me. Another gift for me was a cake that his “mama” made. We enjoyed that cake, some good old fashioned american Coco Cola, took lots of pictures, and then headed to a shopping mall with Esneyder, his mom, Edwin, and Elizabeth (the project director). Saying goodbye to the family was hard, and Esneyder’s little four year old niece “Ana Maria” literally stole my heart. She was so cute and precious (see her picture in my album). She actually knew the most english of all of his family (about 8 words).

At the mall, we talked about our adventures, and I asked the project director, Elizabeth, how I could pray for her. It was there that I saw more of her deep heart of love for the children. She shared how some of them had left the project when they reached their teen years, she shared how deeply this discouraged her and pained her soul. I tried to encourage her that part of sharing God’s heart was sharing the pain that he felt for his children who rejected his love. We all join in the pain and passion of our Lord, when we decide to love those who might very well reject us. She is far more of an example of this than I will ever be. I talked with Esneyder’s Mom, who asked me to stay for another week, who again took my hands and wept and poured out her heart of gratitude and blessing. I talked with Esneyder again about how precious he was to me, and I challenged him to be strong, to follow Jesus, to study hard, because God has an amazing plan for him. His eyes filled with tears as he told me how sad he was that I was leaving. At that moment, I realized that I had formed a bond with this family, with the people in this project, that would continue for the rest of my life. I could see through their tears at that moment, that God had sent me to Columbia. Yes, to meet and love Esneyder, but also to become part of his family, to encourage the project leaders that they are not forgotten, and to know what it means for God to pour out mercy and grace. My life will never be the same. The deep bonding of love that I felt for those people, and that short day, will forever be etched on my heart. I have walked with those who truly know what it means to follow Jesus. And I now understand why God spoke to me that morning: “You are exactly in the place that I want you to be — right now — today.” Thank you God for your truly amazing grace! Thank you God that walking with you is the most exciting and fulfilling place in the entire world.

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