#colo14

Missing Team Oba Today. The time when we took 26 of the same Polaroid pictures and my thighs were burning. 

I thought the reunification of SK and NK happened because all the members of the COLO14 were hugging Monica, Daeun, and Haeun like we haven’t seen them since 1950s.

We returned safely back to Cartagena from Arjona. It was a rough car ride but phew, we were glad to be home. We looked rough.

Anyways, after returning we got a bit of rest until we went out to do College Evangelism. After being in the no shower zone for 5 days, I almost feel like we forgot how to dress nice. And I mean, its not like we had nice clothes to begin with. By the 2nd week all of our clothes were smelling like… Idontevenknowhowtodescribe…

This is Jin again. Attempting to update this backdated blog so when our team look back at our adventures we know what went down and how God was so good to us :)

——— From Wednesday to Friday, COLO14 dealt with the intense battle with Palenque. Friday morning, we woke up and with a few hours of sleep we barely got - we cramped into the smallest van ever and went on to Arjona. We were at Arjona, Colombia for 3 days…it was a life changing 3 days for our team.

We first arrived at a church with... AIR CONDITIONING!!! This is so important that I thought I mention it :)

The things we did in Arjona

- House to House evangelism

- Block Party (Spontaneous Worship, Skits, Testimony, and Loving on Colombians)

- Las Magaritas Worship + Service (this hut in this area 0 - which means it's really dangerous!) 

There were healings, manifestation in the spirit, saw the evil spirits leaving the bodies, and more. Let me tell you a quick story - 

Our team heard many horror rumors about Arjona being just this terrible place to be. Well, I guess not terrible but you get my point. It is going to be hard and... just so hard! 

Well, that actually prepared our team for the worst and I am glad it did, actually. Our team went to Las Magaritas located in the zone 1 part of Arjona. I mean, what are roads? The roads are made up of a combination of dirt + rocks + dust? Anyways, if you walk down down the road - you come to a stop with this big 'hut' looking place. Apparently this woman's house and she lives with her daughters and her anorexic dog (even the dogs in Colombia are malnutrition). We did house to house evangelism on Saturday and went back on Sunday for Sunday service/worship.

Well, sorry to bore you with the background story but... this is when the actual thing starts. Our dear Miquel gave his testimony about healing and Dlee gave a message to the people of Arjona. It was really encouraging for me to watch those two men of our group share so openly and vulnerability about how God has changed their lives thru DTS. (And of course, we did our Why skit and did crazy worship... the "get down" only the colo14 team will understand this but my back was about to break from my dance...)

Anyways, afterwards we broke out into 2 groups the "VBS" group and the adults group. The VBS group, did the heart activity - I remember Linda and Juan Carlos carried the cross on that one. Of course, with the support of Julie and Minah.

I was helping out with VBS until I got this massive headache and they advised me to drink some water and sit down... Well, so I did. And... so did the owner (women) of the house. She sat right next to me and honestly, I was so dizzy with the massive headache but something compelled me to talk to her and pray for her... Long story short, all the translators were with the colo14 team and... this woman obviously only spoke Spanish. So with my limited Spanish speaking skills, I asked her prayer request and... I got what she needed but I couldn't actually pray in Spanish so I just simply asked for the Holy Spirit to fall down. And, little did I know that was the wrong prayer to pray... heh heh 

The woman began to manifest in the spiritual realm and begin to get slay by the Holy Spirit. As soon as she got hit by the HS. The guy in the middle of the room that Jen, Jess, and Subie were praying for fell and then afterwards the woman Miguel and Glenisis were praying for fell. And the last woman, I have never seen anyone manifest in the spirit in that way. It took me a couple second to realize it was the evil spirit that was roaming inside of her. She starts vomiting blood and as soon as that happened Dlee and Becca rush to start praying for the lady as well. Everyone began to intercede for that woman and declaring boldly and asking in Jesus Name that all evil be removed from the woman and.. literally after praying for what it feels like 20-30 minutes - she finally began to find peace and the Joy of the Lord just swept her up as she began to declare 'Hallelujah, Hallelujah!' How awesome, huh?

There are so many stories that lie within Arjona. If you really want to know, ask one of us and we can refer back to our journal :)

but we here now! :)

This is Minah signing in. 

The team is finally settled into our home for the next two weeks in Cartagena, Colombia! We ate a delicious meal prepared by Monica and the two staff members (who just came to Colombia two weeks ago for a commitment of two years from Korea, wowowow), and now, we are preparing for our first outreach tomorrow at a local church. 

Please keep DLee and Jess in your prayers… especially DLee. Apparently, the guys didn’t get the memo that men need to wear long pants for ministry time. So… Monica is looking for long pants for DLee and Mike to wear tomorrow. Please pray for pants that fit.. that won’t be stumbling to the congregation, haha jk! :P But really. Your prayers are needed! 

DLee will be sharing a message and his personal testimony to the adult congregation, while Jess will teach a brief lesson to the children’s ministry. Please pray for anointing and for the Holy Spirit to speak into the hearts of those who come. We are looking forward to our first ministry time and praying for inner and physical healing for any who desire prayer!

The team is healthy and hearts are full. :) Thank you for your support even from so far away. Your prayers have power and make the world of a difference. 

Until next time, :’) 

I was given the privilege of giving my testimony, sharing a message to the church, and praying for the members there. It was the first time I gave my testimony outside the US and what a honor it was. We were able to pray for the congregation individually. It was an amazing experience. We saw a lot of reconciliation and spiritual healing. We also saw people regain joy and confidence that they heard God’s voice. Did I mention it is SO hot. By 11am, when church service ended, my shirt was drenched. 

Later in the afternoon we took a journey to the highest place in Cartegena. It is a place called La Popa. It is called La Popa because at the top of this hill, the pope came and prayed and prophesied over the city of Cartegena. There is a church located there. We prayed and sang worship songs there. It was a tough and long uphill climb to the top. It was not an easy walk up the hill. There were some very shady areas on the way. However, we were sent an angel in the form of a police officer that escorted us to the top and back down after our time of worship. Normally, there are no police officers there. We honestly believe it was God’s provision for us. Did I mention it’s SO hot in her. By the time I we got to the top of the hill, my second shirt got soaked in sweat. It was 4pm. 

Buenos all, this is Jess giving you the latest update on team #colo14!

It’s been an amazing time here so far - we’ve been so blessed with good (in the words of DLee, hot hot HOT) weather, amazing food, and opportunities to experience life here in Cartegena.

Today we visited the Universidad de Cartegena through the YWAM student ministry team to meet the students there and share a little bit about ourselves. After an expertly negotiated cab ride to old city Cartegena, we arrived at the Universidad de Cartegena which is housed in an original building from the 1800s. The school is three floors that looks down on a beautiful courtyard where students meet and mingle while waiting for class. Rebecca and Jin shared their moving testimonies that started a dialogue of sharing and prayer that helped us realize that whether you are in the US or Colombia, the struggles and the grace of God remains the same.

We learned beforehand that students are very open to foreigners because they love to practice their English with native speakers and are generally very curious but wow, we were SO blown away by the openness of the students there. Our very own kpop star, Jin, helped us break the ice by performing a riveting solo of amazing grace and I will always love you (move over, Whitney!) in the courtyard. Some of us got to meet a number amazing young people who aspired to be lawyers, journalists etc while others did a prayer walk through the school. We even got to pray for a group of young women and in turn, they asked to pray for us. How amazing is our Father that even in times when we least expect it, he blesses us.

This will be our last blog until next Monday as we will be traveling to Palenque and Arjona for the remainder of this week. Please pray for safe traveling, no rain, and God’s spiritual and physical protection for the team, and for the people of Palenque and Arjona that they will be open to us while we are there.