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CSFLI
SERVICES PROVIDED IN 2002
Formal & non-formal
education. Our resources were maximized to serve
the educational needs of 21 elementary students, 38 secondary
students, 35 university/vocational students, 30 first & second
graders in the Alternative Elementary School of the Lutheran
Mission Las Delicias in Ibaguˆ, 50 preschool children
in the newly established Lutheran Mission of La Gracia
in Bucaramanga.
Meal
a Day Displaced Children. This service is extremely
important in strengthening the holistic ministry of Lutheran
congregations & missions where the concentration
of displaced people is very high. In 2002 CSFLI was able
to offer The Meal A Day to 50 children in the
Mission La Gracia in Bucaramanga & to 40 students
in the Mission Las Delicias in Ibaguˆ. 50 more
students in Bogotá benefited through an elementary
school run by the President of the Council of San Pablo
Lutheran Church. In every place, formal education & spiritual
direction was integral part of this initiative! Like
in the Gospel story where Jesus fed a starving crowd
of 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish,
so also happened in Colombia! Thanks to God!
Support
for New Mission Congregations. It is extremely important
for CSFLI that the work we do be always holistic. This
means that the spiritual component must always frame
everything we do. Since the work of CSFLI happens in
Lutheran congregations & missions who are struggling
financially because of economic recession & the unprecedented
levels of unemployment, we see it as necessary to include
very basic assistance toward the salary of the pastor
or evangelist in that particular place. During 2002,
humble resources were provided to the Lutheran Mission
La Victoria in Villavicencio. This Mission is made up
mainly of internally displaced people. The second Mission
we assisted is located in Tobia. In both places, CSFLI
sponsors different educational opportunities.
Home
Improvement and/or Ownership Loans. We are so excited
to let you know that in 2002 two people were able to
buy their humble homes thanks in part to these small
loans. Their names are Fabiola in Bogotá & Yanid
in Ibaguˆ. Yanid is a displaced woman who
lost family members to a massacre. Just this past May
Yanid was part of the Colombian delegation that Lutheran
World Relief brought to the United States to share their
personal stories about Colombia.
Encouraged
by her experience here in the United States & wanting
to further her leadership skills, Yanid not only decided
to go back to secondary school but also has taken the leading
steps of buying her own humble home. The third person that
will consider this service is Stella now
that she returns to Colombia.
Families
who use this service pay a much lower interest than the
available rates of any financial institution. Through this
service we are empowering people to be responsible & thus
achieve their own self-sustainability! Like the
mustard seed of the Gospel parable, God's kingdom keeps
growing in Colombia!
Retreat
Center + Evangelical Lutheran Church of Colombia. Thanks
to the truly generous gift we received from
the Estate of Leonard Wayne, Geneva MN, CSFLI was able
to provide some resources for the completion & a
few furnishings for this exciting Leadership Development
Retreat Center. We are already using it for our ongoing
retreats as CSFLI. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Colombia is of course fully using this facility already.
The Retreat Center truly is a great shared investment
with promising missionary potential for the future!
As you see, empowering ministry
is taking place in Colombia. Thank you for making it possible
with your prayers & financial gifts!
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