Note: Colombia was the "Country of the Day" for January 10. However, while I personally prayed for Colombia, my desire was for the blog to be devoted to Anthony Horsman and God only. Therefore, I have combined two countries today, in order to stay with a country every day.
Colombia is located in the northwest part of South America, bordered by countries like Venezuela and Panama. It is a very troubled country politically, as warring factions have been tearing the country apart for decades. The illegal drug trade, particularly that of cocaine, is strong in Colombia. There are 44,205,293 people in Colombia, which makes it a top-30 nation, population wise. Bacterial diarrhea, dengue fever, malaria, yellow fever, leptospirosis and HIV/AIDS are the more prevalent diseases in the nation, and 46.8% of the population is below the poverty line.
Spiritually, 90% of the nation is Roman Catholic, with some reports saying that up to 97% of the nation are Christ followers. This is misleading. According to Christianity Today magazine,
"Over the past three years, more than 200 churches have been forcibly closed and 35 pastors assassinated in the South American country..."
There is a difference between Colombia and China, which we profiled on Sunday. In China, it is the government that is limiting the Gospel. In Columbia, we find that it is a lack of government that limits the truth of Christ. In the cities, where government is still in control, we find Bibles and the truth of Christ abound. It is the rural areas where the problems begin. Parts of Colombia as big as Texas are rural areas of jungle and mountains. It is in the jungles where the guerrilla terrorists and drug traders rule, and it is in the jungles where the Gospel finds resistance. For obvious reasons, a Jesus-loving culture is a counterproductie culture for war and drugs. This is where Bibles Unbound steps in.
This is the first cause I will highlight here on my blog, and not the last. I came to know about Bibles Unbound through the Passion conference I attended last week. At the Passion conference, they always set a huge area in a convention center called "Do Something Now." In the "Do Something Now" area, they highlight multiple causes that the people at Passion have felt led to share with 20,000 college-age kids, in hopes that we would jump on board.
One such cause was Bibles Unbound, an organization that focuses on bringing the Bible into countries hostile to Jesus, such as: Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka. Sometimes, they must perform covert missions in order to get the Bible into some countries, and Colombia is one such country. So, what they've done is print up Bibles in Spanish. The hope is that everyone that doesn't have a Bible can get one.
Passion challenged the people there to raise $20,000 for Bibles Unbound, which would allow them to send 20,000 Bibles into Colombia. Some of these Bibles would even have to be dropped from helicopters! The students and volunteers at Passion responded to the need for Christ to reach Colombias outskirts, and together raised an astonishing $31,554 for the same amount of New Testaments to be taken into Colombia! Praise God!
God, praise You for the good you do in this world! I know that sometimes we focus on the negative of the world, and forget that it is You that keeps us breathing, blinking, and heart-beating. Thank You so much for compelling the people at Passion 2011 to donate that much money for the people of Colombia, but we know that Your job isn't finished. We pray that the people of Colombia continue to be able to get the Bible and delve deeper into Your Word. We pray for a revolution, not politically, but spiritually, in Colombia. We pray for the Christians there, that they remain steadfast and faithful to Christ. We ask that you bring healing to a nation that is very wounded and sick, not just spiritually, but also physically. Thank you God. In Jesus's name, Amen.
If you are interested in learning more about Colombia, here's some links:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/co.html
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/april/24.17.html
http://www.biblesunbound.com/qry/mc_home.taf
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