Colombian Christian Mission

THE BENEVOLENT FUND

I traveled to Dinamarca at the invitation of the principle of the local government high school to present a sex education conference based on Christian moral principles. Between each session, which lasted nearly an hour, I had a five or ten minute break to drink something and rest a bit before the beginning of the next session. As I came out of the conference room for a break, an anguished mother was waiting to speak with me. She held a sleeping child in her arms. I pulled up a chair to listen to her story.

She was a young mother with three children. Her family moved to the village when her father was abducted and killed by the guerrillas about ten years ago. That left the family in extreme poverty and devastated by their loss. There in the town, she met a young man from one of the families in the church. They married and began their family with all of the excitement typical of first time parents. They were thrilled when a beautiful baby girl was born to them, they named her Tanya Michelle. All seemed fine for the first year and a half, the baby grew and developed normally.

Then, when Tanya Michelle was eighteen months old, tragedy struck. With no warning and no fever or other obvious illness, she was seized by a violent convulsion and stopped breathing for a while and turned blue. The panic stricken mother could do nothing but watch and pray. There were no medical services available in the village, so she was helpless. From that time forward, the Tanya Michelle seemed to have been set back considerably and her development was significantly delayed. Even her hair failed to grow from that time forward.

She took the little girl to the local hospital in the nearby town of Acasias. Each time she was given shampoo for her hair or told there was nothing apparently wrong with Tanya Michelle. The mother new that something was seriously wrong with her precious little girl but because of their poverty, she could not afford to take the little girl to a specialist and the local physicians refused to send her up through the government health system which is supposed to help the poor.
Now, more than six years later, she sat there waiting for me to get out of my conference and prayed that God would help her through this “gringo” who had so unexpectedly shown up in the village. I listened to her story, by looking at the little girl I would have guessed her to be two to three years old. She was tiny, very frail, and had very short hair. Her face had rather unusual features, looking more like that of a mal-nourished young boy than an eight year old girl. “Can you help my little girl?” the mother asked pleadingly. My heart was filled with compassion and I said that I would see what I could do.

I returned to Bogotá and called a physician friend who is a specialist in endocrinology, she agreed to help. I contacted the family in Dinamarca and arranged for them to come to Bogotá. They arrived on Monday and on Tuesday morning I met them at the Hospital Cardio Infantil, which is a Pediatrics Specialty hospital. All of this past week was spent in a battery of tests and visiting different pediatrics specialist.

As of this writing, we still do not know exactly what Tanya Michelle’s problem is, but at very least, for the first time in nearly seven years, the parents know that someone is concerned and that a concerted effort is being made to find out what is wrong with their daughter.

We could not have helped this family without your generosity and expression of Christian love and concern. Our benevolent fund is used to reach out in special cases like this one.
If you would like to help this little Tanya Michelle and her parents as they struggle with a sick child and the limitations of poverty, fill out the coupon to the right and send it in. Help us show the love of Christ through our Benevolent Ministry.

LITTLE EMILY - AN UPDATE
Many of you remember little Emily and her fight with Leukemia. We were able to raise enough money to cover her treatments.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: We greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ wishing many blessings for you and your families.

Through this letter we want to express our sincerest appreciation for the economic help you extended to us for the treatment of our little girl Emily. Thanks be to God that she is doing well. Even though she is doing well, her Oncologist have her tested every month for preventative measures to make sure she is still in remission.

I pray that though this letter all those who helped us will know how much we appreciate the help you have given us. A million thanks for all of you and many blessings from God.

Thank You!
In Christ’s Love, Stanly & Yillian Osorio

COLEGIO PENIEL SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

It’s that time of the year again, back to school, the kids at Colegio Peniel started school in February. They are eager to hear if they will be receiving a scholarship again this year.
Please help us with this ministry. If you would like to support the same student again this year let us know as soon as possible. The cost of each scholarship is $216 per year or $18 per month.

If you would like to start supporting a child this year, send in the coupon to the right. This is a great project for Sunday School classes, Jr Church groups, Women’s Ministries, Small Groups. We also have many parents and grandparents that support children the same ages as their children and grandchildren. This is a great way to teach your children and grandchildren about helping those in need.

Please help us change the life of a poor Colombian child. Giving the gift of education is the the best gift you can give. Receiving an education allows these children to have the hope of a better future for themselves and their families.

This year we are also starting a Sponsor a Teacher Program. The teachers at Colegio Peniel make about half of what they would if they worked at a secular school. They view their jobs as a ministry, but it is a struggle for them to get by on their small salaries and we do have times when teachers have to leave so they can afford to provide for their families. Help us keep our talented teachers. We would like to raise $500 per year for each teacher to help them provide for their families.

We also try to help Colegio Peniel with some of their expenses. Since they provide education for so many poor children they have to keep their tuition as low as possible. As a result, they often do not have enough to fund certain programs and buy new books, computers, science equipment, and other items. We try to help as much as we can so that they have the supplies they need to provide a quality education.

With this program we are not only providing an education but we are encouraging the children that will be the future of Colombia and the Church! Join us in equipping them to rise up and change their nation for the better!

Contact us to join us in this ministry!
SusyMorris@supportCCM.com

Colombian Christian Mission
Post Office Box 95
Rittman, OH 44270-0095

COLEGIO PENIEL SCHOLARSHIPS READY TO BE MAILED
It’s time for scholarships to be mailed out again. If you let me know you wanted to support your student again you have probably already received your student form. If you haven’t let me know, I’ll send it out. Let us know if you would like to support the same student again this year by May 31 or they may be assigned to someone else. Hopefully this school year will be as successful as the last!

SPONSOR A TEACHER PROGRAM
We have great teachers at Colegio Peniel. This year through our Sponsor a Teacher program we are trying to raise support to be able to give each of our teachers a bonus at the end of the year. Here are photos of all of the teachers at Colegio Peniel. They give up a lot of benefits and economic gain to work at Colegio Peniel. Help up thank them and show them that we appreciate all that they do.