{"id":1225,"date":"2012-09-01T21:15:53","date_gmt":"2012-09-02T02:15:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/?p=1225"},"modified":"2012-09-01T21:15:53","modified_gmt":"2012-09-02T02:15:53","slug":"even-in-the-middle-of-suffering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/2012\/09\/01\/even-in-the-middle-of-suffering\/","title":{"rendered":"Even in the middle of suffering"},"content":{"rendered":"

A blog entry from Julio!<\/p>\n

After a great few days of vacation with my family, I was ready to visit some of the churches on the coast of Colombia (an area where the Covenant Churches are economically poor) with renewed energy. My plans were to visit 5 pastors and spend time with them, to talk about how we could serve alongside of them in ministry. However, I quickly learned my plans were not God\u2019s plans. I was visiting my second church and had just laid down to sleep when my phone ran at 11pm. It was one of those phone calls you dread receiving \u2013 one of my cousins had been killed in an accident in my hometown. The next morning, first thing I left immediately by bus to be with my family to give and receive comfort.<\/p>\n

This painful event created a space for our family to reflect, to experience unity and above all a time when Jesus was made known. God gave me the tremendous gift to be able to spend 2 nights with my family, as well as be there for the funeral service. The majority of people who were with us in this time of grieving would not consider themselves to be followers of Jesus. I had the opportunity to share about the fragility of life and how we are here today, but don\u2019t know what tomorrow will bring. That Jesus invites us to come to him and rest to enjoy the gift of life that has been given to us, because we never know when God will call us home. Two nights I was able to share the Gospel of Jesus in the midst of pain and grief and I know that a seed was planted in the hearts of many. It was amazing to be able to pray and lead others in prayer.<\/p>\n

On my third day in El Bagre (my hometown), fellow missionary Gary Sander, as well as two visitors from the States, Pastor Bob and Paul, came to visit the Covenant Church. God in a very special way gave me the opportunity to go and talk with the director of my high school and we were able to talk about the possibility of partnering with the school in the future to help train English teachers. We were also able to visit with the Director of Planning for the town (who was a classmate of mine) and he shared about the needs of the town and the areas he sees that collaboration is possible. We were able to pray for him and the town. We were also able to meet with the newly elected mayor (also a friend of mine from high school). We talked about the different ways that the church could partner with the various projects in the city. It was a great discussion and we finished our time together praying.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Julio with the mayor of his hometown<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Julio with Bob and Paul outside his high school<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the middle of a difficult time for my family, God opened the doors for the Gospel to be shared and also for a connection to be made between government officials in the town and the church to explore ways of collaborating together for the good of the community. How exciting to see the doors opening to be able to bring groups and people from North America to serve in this community of 65,000 people where there is so much economic and spiritual need. Please communicate with us if you would be interested in helping to train English teachers!<\/p>\n

Spanish Version –<\/p>\n

Jes\u00fas se da a conocer en medio del dolor<\/p>\n

Despu\u00e9s de unas buenas vacaciones con la familia, \u00a0visitar algunos pastores y l\u00edderes de las iglesias del Pacto en la Costa Sur (\u00e1rea donde est\u00e1n las iglesias del Pacto m\u00e1s pobre econ\u00f3micamente hablando) \u00a0ser\u00eda un buen tiempo para comenzar en nuevas fuerzas. Mis planes era visitar unos cinco pastores, compartir tiempo con ellos \u00a0y ver como servir mejor juntos en el ministerio. Sin embargo en mis planes no eran los planes del Se\u00f1or y en la segunda visita cuando ya estaba en mi cama a las 11 de la noche recib\u00ed una\u00a0 llamada de esas que uno no desea recibir. Un primo hab\u00eda muerto en un accidente traigo en mi pueblo natal. \u00a0A primera hora del otro d\u00eda sal\u00ed inmediatamente a estar con mi familia y poder ser consolado y consolar con el consuelo que el se\u00f1or nos da.<\/p>\n

Este doloroso momento se convirti\u00f3 en un momento de reflexi\u00f3n familiar, unidad y sobre todo un momento en que el se\u00f1or fue dado a conocer. Dios me regalo la gran oportunidad de compartir dos noches durante el servicio funeral. La mayor\u00eda de los que hicieron parte de este tiempo no eran seguidores de Jes\u00fas.\u00a0 Compartir sobre la fragilidad de la vida y como hoy la tenemos y ma\u00f1ana tal vez no. Que Jes\u00fas nos invita a venir a \u00e9l y descansar \u00e9l en porque nunca sabemos el momento en el que el don de la Vida que fue dado por Dios sea nuevamente tomado por \u00e9l.\u00a0 Dos noches compart\u00ed eso y el evangelio de Jes\u00fas fue proclamado en medio del dolor y siento que la semilla el evangelio fue sembrada.<\/p>\n

Por otro lado, el tercer d\u00eda de estar con familia y amigos en mi pueblo natal, Gary Sander, Bob y Paul\u00a0 llegaron para estar conmigo y visitar las iglesias del Pacto en el bagre. Dios de una forma especial me llevo a hablar en el director de la escuela donde estudie y compartir la posibilidad de trabajar con ellos en la capacitaci\u00f3n de profesores de ingles para el municipio. Tambi\u00e9n nos reunimos con el director de planeaci\u00f3n y desarrollo del pueblo (el cual fue mi compa\u00f1ero de estudio) y compartirnos sobre las grandes necesidades del pueblo y al final oramos juntos. De Igual forma nos ru\u00f1imos con el alcalde del pueblo (un buen amigo m\u00edo) y tambi\u00e9n mostro su inter\u00e9s en servir juntos por el bienestar de toda la comunidad del pueblo. Al final de la conversaci\u00f3n tambi\u00e9n oramos juntos.<\/p>\n

En medio del dolor Dios abri\u00f3 puertas para que el evangelio fuera proclamado y tambi\u00e9n posibilidades para que personas que est\u00e1n en posici\u00f3n de alto poder en el Municipio abrieran sus corazones \u00a0a las posibilidades de que la iglesia del Pacto por medio de quipos misioneros pueda servir a una comunidad de 65.000 habitantes que es la poblaci\u00f3n del Municipio y donde hay mucha necesidad econ\u00f3mica y espiritual. Gloria a Dios<\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A blog entry from Julio! After a great few days of vacation with my family, I was ready to visit some of the churches on the coast of Colombia (an area where the Covenant Churches are economically poor) with renewed … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nEven in the middle of suffering - The Isaza Family<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/2012\/09\/01\/even-in-the-middle-of-suffering\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Even in the middle of suffering - The Isaza Family\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A blog entry from Julio! After a great few days of vacation with my family, I was ready to visit some of the churches on the coast of Colombia (an area where the Covenant Churches are economically poor) with renewed … Continue reading →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/2012\/09\/01\/even-in-the-middle-of-suffering\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Isaza Family\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-09-02T02:15:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/53\/2012\/09\/julio-bagre-1-300x224.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"isaza\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"isaza\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/isaza\\\/2012\\\/09\\\/01\\\/even-in-the-middle-of-suffering\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/isaza\\\/2012\\\/09\\\/01\\\/even-in-the-middle-of-suffering\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"isaza\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/isaza\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be982b4629cda21b5db7c5e865ef4534\"},\"headline\":\"Even in the middle of suffering\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-09-02T02:15:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/isaza\\\/2012\\\/09\\\/01\\\/even-in-the-middle-of-suffering\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1142,\"commentCount\":3,\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/isaza\\\/2012\\\/09\\\/01\\\/even-in-the-middle-of-suffering\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/isaza\\\/2012\\\/09\\\/01\\\/even-in-the-middle-of-suffering\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/isaza\\\/2012\\\/09\\\/01\\\/even-in-the-middle-of-suffering\\\/\",\"name\":\"Even in the middle of suffering - The Isaza Family\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/isaza\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-09-02T02:15:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/isaza\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be982b4629cda21b5db7c5e865ef4534\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/isaza\\\/2012\\\/09\\\/01\\\/even-in-the-middle-of-suffering\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/isaza\\\/2012\\\/09\\\/01\\\/even-in-the-middle-of-suffering\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/isaza\\\/2012\\\/09\\\/01\\\/even-in-the-middle-of-suffering\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/isaza\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Even in the middle of suffering\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/isaza\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/isaza\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Isaza Family\",\"description\":\"Serving with the Evangelical Covenant Church of Colombia\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/isaza\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/isaza\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be982b4629cda21b5db7c5e865ef4534\",\"name\":\"isaza\",\"description\":\"Welcome to the Isaza Family blog! Thanks for taking the time to get to know us and read about our ministry in Colombia. Check back often for updates!\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/isaza\\\/author\\\/isaza\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Even in the middle of suffering - The Isaza Family","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/2012\/09\/01\/even-in-the-middle-of-suffering\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Even in the middle of suffering - The Isaza Family","og_description":"A blog entry from Julio! After a great few days of vacation with my family, I was ready to visit some of the churches on the coast of Colombia (an area where the Covenant Churches are economically poor) with renewed … Continue reading →","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/2012\/09\/01\/even-in-the-middle-of-suffering\/","og_site_name":"The Isaza Family","article_published_time":"2012-09-02T02:15:53+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/53\/2012\/09\/julio-bagre-1-300x224.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"isaza","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"isaza","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/2012\/09\/01\/even-in-the-middle-of-suffering\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/2012\/09\/01\/even-in-the-middle-of-suffering\/"},"author":{"name":"isaza","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/#\/schema\/person\/be982b4629cda21b5db7c5e865ef4534"},"headline":"Even in the middle of suffering","datePublished":"2012-09-02T02:15:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/2012\/09\/01\/even-in-the-middle-of-suffering\/"},"wordCount":1142,"commentCount":3,"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/2012\/09\/01\/even-in-the-middle-of-suffering\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/2012\/09\/01\/even-in-the-middle-of-suffering\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/2012\/09\/01\/even-in-the-middle-of-suffering\/","name":"Even in the middle of suffering - The Isaza Family","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-09-02T02:15:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/#\/schema\/person\/be982b4629cda21b5db7c5e865ef4534"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/2012\/09\/01\/even-in-the-middle-of-suffering\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/2012\/09\/01\/even-in-the-middle-of-suffering\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/2012\/09\/01\/even-in-the-middle-of-suffering\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Even in the middle of suffering"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/","name":"The Isaza Family","description":"Serving with the Evangelical Covenant Church of Colombia","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/#\/schema\/person\/be982b4629cda21b5db7c5e865ef4534","name":"isaza","description":"Welcome to the Isaza Family blog! Thanks for taking the time to get to know us and read about our ministry in Colombia. Check back often for updates!","url":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/author\/isaza\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1225"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1231,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1225\/revisions\/1231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/isaza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}