Five members of the Pan y Vino Hispanic ministry, which meets in the Hillcrest Church, were in Medellin in June. This is a new step in our continuing pursuit of missional partnerships. Because of the long time connection and partnership between Cathy Campobello, fellow Long-term missionary, and the Hillcrest Covenant Church in Prairie Village, KS, we were able to fulfill this vision of partnership with a Covenant Hispanic Church ministry. William (the pastor), Irlanda, Jeanine, Luis and Byron spent a week remodeling the church office of the Iglesia Misionera Remanso de Paz, ministering in the Casa de Vida church plant, sharing the Sunday worship experience at the Remanso de Paz Church and sharing their immigration experiences with a young professional outreach led by Julio and Katie Isaza. All but Byron, who was born in the U.S., have their immigration story and it was good insight for the young professional group to hear those stories, especially in light of what is currently happening in the U.S.
This mission team consisted of two Hondurans, one Mexican, one Ecuadorian, and one teenager born to a Guatemalan and Honduran, all bilingual and bicultural. This made for intriguing interaction with the Colombians since there is not too much migration from Central America into Colombia. It wasn’t just the language that was a common denominator, but, also the challenges of ministry, outreach, discipleship, etc. were similar enough to allow for encouraging times of fellowship and sharing as the team worked with the Remanso de Paz pastor, Diego Cuervo, and some of his leadership. Near the end of 2013 a vision team from the Hillcrest Covenant Church came to Medellin to determine how the partnership could move forward. After many conversations and visits to ministries and churches in Medellin it was decided what would be done in shared ministry. The fact that our Mission staff did not have to do any translating allowed us to accompany the team in other ways, like working alongside of them in their painting and remodeling and landscaping.
We look forward to future opportunities and possibilities of this type of missional partnership. Perhaps you know of some candidates that we should follow up on?
