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Wednesday, October 10, 2018


 

Williams Family News

Fall 2018


What a summer! Ministry this summer has been hectic and incredible. It began with a trip to the USA for missionary council at One Mission Society Headquarters. My return to Colombia marked the beginning of travels to Apartadó, Arboletes, Montería, Tierra Alta, La Apartada, Manizales and Sincelejo.
In this update, we will share some of the pictures and brief descriptions. We hope you enjoy!
As always, we celebrate your role in all that God is doing through you, both where you are and here in Colombia! Thank you for your prayers and support.

May God richly bless you!

Chris, Heather, Keney, James and Madison
 



I (Chris) taught the final module for the first graduating class in missiology from the Bible institute in Apartadó (North Colombia). The program consists of 6 courses taught over a 6 month period (2 of which I taught) and the completion of a mission project. It was a great honor to teach and walk with these students as they work toward fulfilling their role in God's Kingdom and in his mission. I excitedly look forward to the new class of students starting in 2019!

Following the graduation, 3 Colombian co-workers and I began a training tour through Northern Colombia. We trained pastors and leaders in basic theology of mission and in church planting using the method called "Train and Multiply". 



Arboletes is a town on the north coast of Colombia. I stopped here for a day on the way to Montería. While there, I watched a parade that stretched over miles. It closed the road for a couple hours as it passed by on the way to the center of the town. 


Montería was the largest city that we visited on this trip. We have several churches here that are working diligently to reach the city's 500,000 inhabitants with the Gospel. We gathered the pastors and leaders of the district and trained them to plant new churches and bless Montería with the message of hope and redemption.

In Tierra Alta, we trained another group of pastors and leaders. The homes here are typical wood or concrete block construction with thatch roofs.
This is a town that has suffered violence by armed paramilitary and guerrilla groups. 


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In La Apartada we had a huge crowd of pastors and leaders! The training went well and they were eager to learn. One leader approached me after the first day of training. He was a small, older man wearing simple and worn clothing and flip-flops made from old tires. He bowed his head looking at the ground and said, "Thank you for sharing with us what the whole Bible says about God's mission." He then hugged me burrying his head in my chest like a child hugs his parents. Something about this humble man touched me deeply and blessed me to the core of my soul.
The night after the first day of training, we held an outdoor, evangelistic service in which more than 40 people came forward seeking to begin a life with Jesus Christ!
The last day of training, I became ill with digestive issues that would plague me for the next week! Thank God for antibiotics, that eventually brought me back to health! 


On the long Journey back to Medellín, we stopped in Caucasia for the night at the farm house of one of our partners (second photo). The next morning we stopped at the church in Caucasia and visited with the current pastor. This is the church where an armed paramilitary group murdered the pastor for helping a wounded boy that they had shot. His widow is the woman that we are helping by building her a home. 


After I returned home from the north Coast, my family and I took a road trip to Manizales in the coffee region of Colombia. We visited with the regional missions coordinator, Davidson, and also with the district superintendent, pastor Pedro Martinez. These men are leading the churches of this region in incredible mission outreach that reads a lot like the book of Acts! Pedro ministers in the prisons of the region and Davidson leads a faithful group of volunteers who travel the sparsely populated farm region (sleeping in tents) to share the gospel with those who live far from the reach of any church.
While we were there we had the privilege of sharing at their church on the national day of missions (for our denomination). James, our 11 year old son, participated with the praise team by playing bass. Heather sang with the praise team and Kenley shared a 5 minute presentation with the whole church about "kids in missions". I had the privilege of preaching. I often travel without the rest of the family, but it was an incredible blessing to travel with them and see them use their gifts to glorify God!
A few more photos of Manizales below.....   



Just a Glimpse 

This was just a snapshot of all that went on this summer. Here are a few more of our activities:
  • Costa Rica - Heather spent two weeks in Costa Rica where she helped lead a women's retreat, connected with the church we used to attend and sang with the worship team. She also helped with a Bible study at Christ for the City as well as spent some time with a dear friend.
  • Sincelejo - While Heather was in Costa Rica, the kids and I went to Sincelejo for the first national celebration of Satura Colombia (a church planting ministry started by OMS). Close to 500 people attended! I taught a workshop entitled, "Saturate the Nations: The Missionary Call for the Colombian Church". Madison and James helped me in my workshop (which I taught three separate times over the weekend) and Kenley helped translate for a Kenyan who was presenting a workshop on prayer. (No, Kenley does not speak Swahili! The Kenyan spoke English and Kenley translated to Spanish.)
  • Catch-up work - After all these travels, the Fall has been filled with playing catch-up: two solid weeks of meetings with partners here in Medellín, catching up on reports and answering emails. Now I am finally settling back into a normal routine.....whatever that is!  

Thank you for taking the time to read this update! We appreciate you immensely and pray that God will richly bless you and yours.

Until all worship,
 
The Williams family 




Copyright © 2018 Chris and Heather Williams, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you expressed interest in our ministry.

Our mailing address is:
Chris and Heather Williams
7256 Self Rd
Pinson, AL 35126


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Copyright © 2018 Chris and Heather Williams, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you expressed interest in our ministry.

Our mailing address is:
Chris and Heather Williams
7256 Self Rd
Pinson, AL 35126


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You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

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