What a blessing it was to
have the Park Street Church youth serving with us in early August. For the second year in a row, they taught ESL classes to the high school youth of Colegio Villa Flora — the public school next door to the seminary. The students were thrilled to see their American friends again and to meet new friends in addition to learning more English.
The PSC youth started their trip with three drama presentations to the different age groups of Colegio Villa Flora. There was laughter and tears as each child and adult responded to the word-less skits showing how Jesus heals those who are broken.
Their first Saturday was spent at the Open Arms Foundation boy’s farm in San Pedro located an hour from Medellin. Street boys are invited to leave the streets and live on the farm, going to a local public school, hearing about Jesus, and having an opportunity to turn their lives around.
Our youth were joined at the farm by the Lutheran Church youth group. The church itself meets on the seminary campus and it is where we currently worship.
Together they hauled gravel up a steep hill measuring about 3 football fields, laid the gravel on a dirt road, and moved a massive bag of wood chips to the chicken house.
After a yummy lunch of Arroz con Pollo, all of the youth played sports together – soccer, basketball and volleyball – while trying to talk and interact with each other in their respective beginning English and Spanish. It was a blast!
The ESL week of classes was based on Prince Caspian and it was a big hit! 165 students came over each day to watch part of the movie and then split into 8 classrooms for instruction and discussion based on the movie.
Thanks goes out to all the English speakers who live on the seminary campus who volunteered their time and expertise to help us out in the classrooms.
The PSC Youth not only lent their brains but also their brawn. They worked hard physically for four mornings, painting, fixing, cleaning and removing debris as a service to the Biblical Seminary of Colombia.
Please look at the photos that try to capture the team’s time here in Medellin. Here’s a link to the Youtube video.
A special thanks goes out to the children of the Park Street Church Kidsweek. Thank you for your very generous donation of school supplies. Principal Mazo was thrilled and very thankful.
We are also excited to announce that the principal of Colegio Villa Flora has agreed to let us use the school’s auditorium once a month on Saturday afternoons so that we can offer a gathering time for the Colombian youth in our city. The gatherings will be characterized by games, movies, and other types of interactions followed by ethical and spiritual discussions.
We are already missing our PSC friends but please know that their time, effort and affection for the Colombian students was well worth it. We are continuing those relationships by offering the Boston English Club twice weekly: Boston English Club Facebook Fan Page.
It is because of the efforts and prayers of the PSC Youth that we have a wide open door to minister to the youth in our neighborhood.
Muchas Gracias Amigos y Amigas!