A Happy Saturday Song From the Children of Barranquilla, Colombia

150 New Smiles

Children welcome us to the project.

 Thanks for sharing my little journey to Colombia the last five days.  On Saturday when visited one last Compassion project.  One-hundred fifty children just got a chance to join this project which just started two weeks ago.  However, the church has been planning and ready for these kids for around a year.

Everywhere we went we were surrounded by smiles.  They were smiles of kids who were simply having fun being kids.  Too many kids here in Colombia and around the world don't get to be kids.

A little girl spreads some sunshine.

But people like you are changing that.  There are so many kids in the world that need help that it can seem overwhelming.  But each child is special.  And each child has a story to tell.  It's a story that's still being written.  Coming up on WGTS 91.9 on September 18th and 19th you'll have a chance to make the difference for one child.  Our broadcast team will be sharing with the WGTS 91.9 family ways that you can develop a relationship with a beautiful child in Colombia.  I'll be sharing more of what I've seen and heard here in hopes that it will inspire you to bring hope -perhaps in DC or another corner of the world.

Talking to the kids in the classroom.

Little girls everywhere like to play dress-up.

Okay, okay, I'm ticklish!

150 kids at the new Compassion Project.

The Carballo family show me their home.  Their little girl
is in the new Compassion project.

How Compassion Saved Derwin's Life

Children's commitment card.

There are lots of child sponsorship programs that are doing a lot of good.  One of the things that makes Compassion unique is the emphasis on Jesus.  Every single Compassion project is run by a local church in that country.  To the left is a commitment card that children sign when they want to give their hearts to Christ.  Around 80% of children in each project give their hearts to Christ.  Frequently, the parents are led to Christ by their children as well.

My new friend Derwin.

Let's be honest, while being spiritually healthy is a top priority,these children have very real physical needs right now.  Take Derwin for instance, when he came to the project as a year-and-a-half ago, he was very sick.  His liver was failing.  Compassion found this out when they sent him to a doctor for routine check-up.   They provided care for him, and got him on the transplant list.  He got transplant last year, and it saved his life.  Unfortunately, his liver is failing again and the team here at the project is working on getting him a second transplant.

You wouldn't know that he's sick from the way he acts.  This five-year-old led the singing of popular praise song in English for all of us.  Later he led the singing in his classroom.

When sponsors, people like you love on these kids, it changes their lives.  In fact, I think it's not an understatement to say it can save their lives!

My friend Heather says goodbye to a little one.

Five-year-old angels singing for us at a Compassion Project

Hope Starts with One Child

The Mancilla family take a picture with us in the home that they own.
 

Whenever you turn on the news, it's easy to get depressed.  I hadn't heard much news for a couple of days, so I flipped on one of the couple channels here in Colombia that's in English.   I saw stories of violence in the Middle East as well as problems at home.  There are so many things we can get down about.   Then we went out to another project, and met this family, the Mancillas.  They gave me so much hope. 

The young lady in the green shirt is 14-year-old Yanaris.  She has been in the Compassion project since she was four years old.  When we asked her to describe how it had changed her life, she teared up.  She talked about how things were not happy at home before the project.  Then she got to know Jesus.  She shared him with her parents, and now they all believe and they all go to church together.  She told us that she wants to be a singer, an actress and to travel the world when she grows up.  She says her job right now is to help set a good example for her younger brother and sister. 

 

Sergio is the dad from this family.  He makes his living by going out fishing on the Caribbean Sea.  He saved up enough money to buy bricks to build a simple home.  This home is much better than the ones we saw yesterday that were built out of simple clapboards.  Both mom and dad are very proud of their daughter, and how her example has helped pull the family together.  A sponsor, someone just like you, is helping to give this entire family a better way of life and a hope because of their love for Jesus.

 



The outside of the Mancilla home.

Special Guests in a Child's Home

Earlier today the team and I got a chance to visit one of the homes of a Compassion sponsored child.  A little boy named Isael lives here with his three brothers and mom and dad.  The parents actually own this home, and mom was happy to share her home with us.  She told us the story of how Isael, who is only five, taught her how to pray.

A Tale of Two Cities

 

This is the city of Barranquilla, Colombia.  It's a very metropolitan city of almost two-million.  All in all it doesn't seem that much different from the United States.

 We left Barranquilla this morning and took an hour bus ride to the Magdalena River.  From there we took a boat 10 minutes to Sitio Nuevo.  Suddenly, we were in an entirely different world; one plagued by poverty.

 And yet in the middle of this poverty, there is great hope.  The children greeted us at the dock with signs that had our names on them.  From there we walked a few minutes to the church. 

This particular project is called Los Hijos Del Rey which means "The Children of the King."  It has only been in existence for about six months and right now it serves 170 children.  The difference between these children being served by Compassion and the many more around them
is profound.  The children in the project look vibrant.  They get food, tutoring, medical care and spiritual training.  But there are  many more children in the community.  Many who don't even have the opportunity to go to school.  This project is looking to expand to 400 children soon. 



Isael & his mom at their home.

After putting on a chef's hat and helping serve lunch, we walked to  a local home to see where a little boy named Isael lived.  The house was simple clapboard with a dirt floor.   In the backyard a dog, kitten, pig and her piglets roamed.  The mother shared with us how her son had started behaving better and looking for ways to help her since he has been at the project.  He is only five years old.  Isael told me that he wants to be a policeman when he grows up.  There are many, many more Isael's here who are just looking for someone to give them an opportunity to succeed at every level. 

Outside of Isael's home.



Blowing bubbles with the kids at the project.



The Dedicated Staff at Los Hijos Del Rey along with our team from the U.S.
 

Welcome to Barranquilla, Colombia!

Me (Jerry Woods) & the team of radio people from North &
 South Carolina as we prepared to leave Miami for our
Compassion trip to Colombia.

It's almost midnight in DC, and we're an hour behind here in Barranquilla, Colombia.  I almost didn't get here to day.  There was a ground stop in Philadelphia and I arrived with only 10 minutes until my next flight left for Miami.  I literally ran across two terminals, ran into the plane and they shut the door.

When we arrived in Barranquilla, I got stopped in customs.  They were concerned because I had about 150 containers of bubbles that weighed in at 100 pounds.  They wanted to know what the bubbles were for.  I didn't speak enough Spanish to explain, so I had to get a friend to help me out.  Apparently, if you want to bring large quantities of something into the country, you have to get permission, even if it's just soap.  After explaining that these were gifts for the kids we're going to meet this week at the Compassion projects the customs officials warned me not to bring that many bubbles into the country again, but let me go with just the warning and with my bubbles.  I was going to have a hard time explaining to my colleagues at WGTS 91.9 how I ended up in jail for having too many bubbles, much less my wife.

 

We're here now, and it' already been a good experience.  The video is from a band that welcomed us when we arrived for dinner at the hotel.  Ironically, we're staying at the Howard Johnson.  Anyhow, these kids are part of one of the Compassion projects here in the area that's attached to the Rock of Salvation Church.  Each Compassion project works in tandem with a church to provide for children's needs.  The band that played for us is totally made of children from one project ranging in age from 10 to 15 years old.  This was the first time they had ever performed.  I think you'll agree they did a pretty fantastic job.
     

 

Our team will be up bright and early tomorrow and we'll head out to meet some of the kids at one of the projects.  I'm going to try to report in during the morning show, so you'll get to hear first hand what I'm seeing.  For now, good night and I'll write again tomorrow.

South America Bound

At 5:00 a.m. even Reagan National Airport is still asleep.

I get up before 4:00 every morning, but somehow today felt earlier.  Maybe it's because I couldn't sleep.  You've probably had those nights were you just can't turn the movie in your mind off.  I kept thinking about what the kids would be like that I'm going to meet in Colombia tomorrow.  I kept thinking about getting to the airport on-time.   And I kept wondering what is that one thing that I forgot to pack. :)

This isn't my first international trip.  In fact, I've really lost track of how many times I've been overseas.  I know that I'm about to leave the familiar and will come face to face with poverty.  I know that I'll also come face to face with the joy of people who have no material possessions, and yet have more happiness than we do.  While I know these things, that doesn't stop my anticipation for meeting new people and playing with the children at the Compassion projects we'll be visiting.

A long time ago I used to be a reporter.  This week I'm going to put that hat on again.  Reporters are supposed to be unbiased, but that won't be the case for me.  You see I know I'm going to fall in love with these children I've never met.  I won't be able to help from sharing how important these children are, and how someone just like you could change their lives.  So while I haven't slept, I'm not tired.  In fact, I feel a little like a kids on Christmas morning.  I can't wait to see what happens next.

--Jerry

In 48 hours I'm headed to Colombia.  As with any trip there is much to get done in advance.  While I like to travel, I can't honestly say that I'm ready to go.  Ready or not I leave on Wednesday morning.  The good news is that it doesn't take much practice or preparation to show children that you care about them.  That's what this trip with Compassion is all about to share the love of Jesus with children in the Barranquilla area of Colombia.  Throughout the trip I'll be sharing stories here on this blog, and also on the radio at WGTS 91.9 FM in the DC area and online at wgts919.com.  If you have questions about the trip or Compassion, feel free to write me on this blog, and I'll respond.  I'm looking forward to sharing with you how you can literally transform a child's life through the work Compassion is doing.