Williams
Family News
Fall 2018
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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
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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".
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.....
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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!
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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
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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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