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Unexpected Reinforcements
12/1/2018
During August, I had the privilege of traveling with our friends from Finland and our staff from Colombia to Lomalinda, the base of our main shortwave radio station called “The Voice of Your Conscience”. Just as it has been for the past 5 years, we had our usual share of challenges getting there and back including landslides and violence in a town just a couple of hours from our base. We were showing our friends the importance of keeping this shortwave signal on the air since it is the best way to signal the gospel into Venezuela and other hostile areas of Colombia. However, just one day after we returned from the trip, our base was violently attacked by the local cartels and they robbed most of the copper from our radio equipment. This was only the first of several attacks that followed. Sadly, in just a period of two weeks, we had more than seven robberies and we have not been able to stop them. The local police have been useless and we do not have confidence in the local people who have been hard-hearted for the things of God, until now.
In the middle of our desperation, we called our friend Marco Tulio, one of the main leaders of the Christian Paez Indian community in Cuaca. We knew Marco would help us and pray concerning this dire situation. To our surprise, our Indian friends who have suffered persecution and many troubles first-hand were very prepared to not only pray for us, but offered a supportive call to action. That is how a group of ten Christian Paez native men and two women traveled for almost thirteen hours at night from Cauca to Bogota to help us. They picked up Alex and Fernando (our main radio engineers and coworkers) to make an unexpected trip to Lomalinda. Two white trucks were on the move. In the first truck, was Alex, Marco and five Christian Indians. (This truck was donated by HMK Germany, VOM Finland and Colombia a few years ago.) The other vehicle is a very old, but useful bulletproof truck. Fernando and four other friends arrived at Lomalinda. After surveying the area, they stopped at the cemetery where Chet Bitterman and other missionaries who were killed for their faith were buried. They gathered together, lowered their heads and prayed in their native language. When they finished the moving and respectful prayer, Alex asked Marco what they were saying. Marco replied, “We were thanking the LORD for sending these missionaries to Colombia and other countries where they died. And we asked the Lord to help us defend this place not just in the spiritual realm, but also the natural ground we stand on.” Marco explained to Alex and Fernando, how they were just kids when their parents and grandparents used to tell them stories of Lomalinda, a place full of missionaries that were translating the Bible into many native languages. He also said that he always wanted to go to Lomalinda because it was there where the Bible was translated into his language, the Paez - Nasa language. All our Indian friends were very moved and grateful to be able to be there. On their way back to Bogota, Marco suggested to Russell to protect Lomlinda with a community of persecuted native Christians who will defend the land and protect the shortwave antennas and radio station. Eventually, with their hard work and willingness, the land could even produce self-sustainability through agricultural endeavors for the families; leaving other resources free for the maintenance of the shortwave antennas and keeping the cost down for the radio station. In spite of the difficulties and constant warfare in keeping this radio station on the air in the midst of such a hostile place, we see the potential in partnering with Marco and his community. A ray of light has pierced through the darkness as we see these Indian leaders, who as children were impacted by the Bible translation work done by foreign missionaries at Lomalinda so long ago. These Indians are willing to protect and work this land with a clear vision of the potential and the importance of the message being broadcasted through this station to the unreachable corners of the country and even into Venezuela. Thank you for partnering with us in keeping the radio stations operating in remote areas of Colombia and Venezuela.
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