![\"IDEAS_GMF_Colombia_dancing\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/IDEAS_GMF_Colombia_dancing.jpg?resize=696%2C439\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
(Above) Joy Eva Bohol teaches body movements to prepare participants for a self-defense session
during the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy workshop in Flores de Muchas.<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n
God\u2019s People in Colombia<\/strong> On May 2013, I was blessed to see the real Colombia. I had taken a one-hour flight and a four-hour bus ride from the capital, viewing the prosperous city life in Bogot\u00e1 to the quiet rural indigenous Zen\u00fa community in C\u00f3rdoba.<\/p>\n The roads going to the community are not yet developed, so the terrain was rough and muddy due to rain. Locals use motorcycles or donkeys as the preferred modes of transportation. While there, I felt that I was also back in the Philippines since so many areas are very similar to this (although we use the carabaos<\/a> and cows instead of donkeys).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I was so amused at the sight of children sitting atop of a donkey. I felt transported back to the Biblical time when people used donkeys as their mode of transportation. To be honest, it was the first time I\u2019d seen a real donkey.<\/p>\n I noticed that there were water gallons on the donkey. I asked one of the host organizers about it. \u201cThey use them to fetch water for drinking, cooking, and all household needs. Until now, we don\u2019t have water pipes available for the entire community, which is why they need to travel far to get water.\u201d<\/p>\n Here, the water is stagnant. It accommodates the entire Zen\u00fa community and aside from being the source of basic water, it is also where people fish. Water is scarce in this area, which is very opposite from what we experience in the city (talk about Hunger Games!).<\/p>\n Political corruption is prevalent in Colombia. In this indigenous community, politicians are quite obvious to identify: they have big houses with complete utilities. <\/p>\n The main livelihood of the Zen\u00fas is farming. But some of them tend hectares of land they don\u2019t own. Literacy is low in this community. Most of the children study only until elementary or high school and the rest of their lives is spent in farms and raising their own families, marrying very young.<\/p>\n What is your dream?<\/strong> I was tasked to talk about spiritual health. I asked the kids and the youth about their dreams in life. Most of them said they want to graduate from high school and get married. I asked them again about their dreams, but I got the same response. \u201cGraduate from high school\u2026get married\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Poverty has limited their desire to do more \u2013 or so they think. They think that money is equivalent to success. Although that\u2019s how the world runs, that is not the only road to a better life. There is so much potential in these young people they haven\u2019t even discovered yet.<\/p>\n Identifying with God\u2019s People<\/strong> During a workshop, I shared my own similar life experiences among the children, youth and women in C\u00f3rdoba, about being the first Asian volunteer from a developing country. \u201cWe can still dream big,\u201d one woman said. <\/p>\n Jesus has given each of His children the power of the Holy Spirit to testify of His kingdom. The good news: we are given power to live now in ways that are consistent with the values of God\u2019s kingdom. We are called to prepare the way for God\u2019s reign of gracious love, social justice, human reconciliation and peace in our world. (The Upper Room Ministries, June 8, 2014)<\/p>\n My trip to C\u00f3rdoba has reminded me that sharing a part of my life story could be an instrument of peace, justice, and love \u2014 through IDENTIFYING WITH GOD\u2019S PEOPLE. <\/p>\n Cover photo: Pupils and teachers at Colegio Gimnasio Indoamericano gather for a picture with Global Mission Fellow, Joy Eva Bohol. Bohol teaches children songs and responsible usage of Internet, including tools, websites, etc. This primary school is a partner of CEPALC. (Above) Joy Eva Bohol teaches body movements to prepare participants for a self-defense sessionduring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":9448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[111,15,440,168],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9446","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-channels","8":"category-justice","9":"category-global-mission-fellows","10":"category-missionaries"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/IDEAS_GMF_Colombia_children.jpg?fit=700%2C357&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2l75j-2sm","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9446"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9505,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9446\/revisions\/9505"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nBy Joy Eva Bohol<\/em><\/p>\n![\"National](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/IDEAS_GMF_Colombia_joy.jpg?resize=300%2C300\")
\nCEPALC (CENTRO Popular para America Latina de Comunicaci\u00f3n)<\/a> held a five-day workshop series on Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy among the Zen\u00fas in primary and high schools as well as partner women organizations.<\/p>\n![\"IDEAS_GMF_Colombia_presentation\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/IDEAS_GMF_Colombia_presentation.jpg?resize=696%2C416\")
\n
with the theme: Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy.<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n
\n
\nI still haven\u2019t really figured out why in this area they lack the encouragement to be more than what they are now. Perhaps it is the system that disheartens them to move forward. If this mentality continues, I can\u2019t imagine achieving a better future if we have a generation raised without hope. These young people may be poor financially, but they are very rich in so many other aspects \u2013 and it has to start from within them!<\/p>\n
\n![\"LINK_Channels_80\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/LINK_Channels_80.png?resize=696%2C287\")
<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"