Seven days into the trip and this is my first update.  Sorry.  Medellin had no convenient way to communicate and I have been very busy.  Busy is good.

I arrived in Medellin in a terrific thunderstorm on Wednesday, January 26th and met Venezuelan colleagues Rubén Garcia and Ana Carrillo.  The time there was very informative and productive.    We were able to present the Help and Hope Center concept to a local church and they are currently considering hosting a Center there.  A visit to a Compassion project, far in the mountainside, gave us a better understanding of that ministry and how we might team with them in the future.  We were concerned that a visit to a second Compassion project would make us late for a critical meeting.

Our host suggested that we might like to look at another ministry in the heart of the city called Open Arms (Brazos Abiertos).  This ministry has three separate ministries in separate locations; teen pregnancy, homeless street boys and homeless abused girls.  We visited the teen pregnancy center and all of us were absolutely floored by this ministry.  These people represent Christ to these kids around the clock.  It’s led by a energetic Brazilian named Christina.  We got to visit the girls and see all the aspects of the center.

We were invited to worship with them at their combined service on Sunday and were richly blessed.  The worship team was comprised of young men who were brought into the ministry as homeless young boys.  Absolutely stirring!  I told one young girl who is having her baby in February that she must have the baby on my birthday which is February 19th.  I plan to meet a friend in Medellin on my return trip to visit this girl and see the baby.

I arrived in Rubio, Venezuela on Monday via Bucaramanga and Cúcuta Colombia.  The flight was very nice and it was great to return to Rubio.  Many terrific things have happened so far – but that’s for my next post.  Until then -  Chao!

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Colombia is only exceeded by Sudan in displaced refugees.  I’m currently reading “The Dispossessed – Chronicles of the Desterrados of Colombia” by Alfredo Molano.  It’s a collection of stories from the refugees themselves.  Most are just spine chilling.  The violence these people experience at the hands of opposing forces is appalling.  They hit home even  more to me personally knowing people who have been through this.  I pray that Andean Aid will be able to provide peace and comfort to some of these hurting people.

The board of directors of Andean Aid has issued a challenge to me to complete a book by the end of the year detailing my experience of leaving industry to serve as a missionary ans subsequently forming Andean Aid.  I’ve had an outline for some time now and have begun plowing into the first chapter.  Those of you that know me – pray for me.  I’m easily distracted so pray for perseverance and persistence.  I’m hoping that putting this out there in a most public way will keep me on track.  I may be contacting some of you for clarification of certain events.  So, off I go, quill in hand.

I’m attending the Head Start national conference in Dallas, Texas.  It’s a great conference and a side benefit is that the information I receive is very pertinent to improving Andean Aid and our Help and Hope Centers.  I return on Monday for surgery but should be up to speed by Tuesday.  Wishful thinking?  I hope not.  Anyway, as soon as possible I’ll be back to making blog posts about our exciting work in the Andes.  Please pray for our director who contracted dengue fever this week.  I’ve experienced this and it is not pleasant.  More unpleasant while raising a baby I imagine.

Well, I contacted TOM’S shoes to see what the requirements were to be a shoe drop point figuring that perhaps we could meet the needs of the kids attending our Help and Hope Centers.  Wouldn’t it be great to meet the needs of a few hundred or a thousand kids?  My jaw dropped when I found out the minimum commitment an organization can make is to distribute 17,000 pairs of shoes!  Every six months!  To the same kids!

Now, I respect what TOM’S Shoes is doing to meet the needs of poor children.  And I understand that it’s wise to keep the same kids in a pair of shoes as they grow.  But 17,000?  Every six months.  A participating organization also has to keep records and provide stories of how the shoes are positively impacting the child’s life.  All this is good.

My question is, what organization that has its’ own mission to carry out has the surplus resources to create a system to distribute 17,000 pairs of shoes every six months?  And remember, 17,000 pairs is the minimum requirement.  If we were to create such a system our kids would not be receiving help with their studies at the Help and Hope Centers.  They would be getting shoes period.

The ads for TOM’S on television show a company representative going into a village, getting hugs, and giving away shoes.  What the ads don’t say is that more than a hundred such villages would have to be visited each six months.

So, we at Andean Aid will continue to provide a superior place for young minds to grow and develop.  We will stay out of the shoe business.

Andean Aid is participating in Toms Shoes “One Day Without Shoes” event on April 8th.  This event is to bring attention to the need to provide shoes to the poor.  TOMS gives a pair of shoes to someone in need for every pair purchased.  So, why is Andean aid participating?  Yesterday I found out from our Help and Hope Center director, Gaby Andrade, that a huge need among our students is shoes.  Just in villa Bahareque it is estimated that 200 children need shoes.  In our Cúcuta, Colombia location the need is even greater with an estimated 500 children without proper footwear.  The same with our new Chinácota, Colombia location.  That’s why we’re spending the day shoeless to get a feel for these kids needs.  Wouldn’t it be great if Andean Aid joined forces with Toms Shoes and our location in La Frontera of Venezuela and Colombia became one of their shoe drops?  Learn more about One Day Without Shoes at the following link and go barefootin’ with us.

One Day Without Shoes

The speed networking session at lake Forest College was excellent.  The organizers did a great job of streamlining the process to make it easier and more productive for both the professionals involved and the students.  I got to meet more than twenty-five great students with a broad array of college majors and interests.  There were thsoie majoring in English, Spanish, Sociology, International Relations, Business and Economics.  It was refreshing to see how many of them are interested in either a career in the non-profit sector or want to be in a position to give back some day.  They certainly brightened my day!

I’m looking forward to participating in “Speed Networking” for the second year at Lake Forest College this coming Friday afternoon.  This is an opportunity to assist bright young student to prepare for work life after college.  The concept is for students to interview with professional from a variety of organizations and industries.  The professionals assist the students in their networking skills.  I feel privileged tthat Andean aid has been invited back for this great event.  Perhaps some of these students will assist Andean Aid in the future.

We professionals have been asked to give one piece of advice for the student networkers.  My advice is to be interesting and “interested”.  Networking is a two way street.  As I thought about this concept a rather strange example came to mind – Hugo Chavez.  Though our politics are a world apart I have heard that he has a great ability when he meets with someone to give them his full and undivided attention which is no easy task.  People who have spent time with him say that he gives the impression that you are the only person in the universe during that time and that he is completely interested in and focused on what you have to say.  Hopefully I can do Hugo proud on Friday.

And so it begins – a new year, a new strategy for reaching more poor children in the Andes and a new website.  Hopefully the inclusion of this blog will allow me to keep interested parties aware of our work.  More will follow shortly concerning the new Andean Aid strategy.  The site is sparse now but the thought was to get a basic site operational, especially this blog, and enhance it over the following weeks and months.  Please bear with us and we’ll try not to disappoint.