Erin and Dalton Boyce were two of the 20 people who ventured to Bogotá, Colombia from FAC this past summer. They partnered with a local Christian & Missionary Alliance Church, worked in local schools, and helped with Oasis – an after-school program for impoverished kids in a slum area of the city.
Here’s their story, published in the Fall 2018 issue of Storyline magazine …
ERIN: When you hear of short-term missions you typically hear the following comments: “What can you do in such a short time?” “Aren’t you doing more harm than good coming and going?” “How can you create relationships in that time?” Short-term missions, to say the least, has had a big reputation, like Taylor Swift. I can tell you this trip encouraged me in community and made more sense of my faith in ten days than in my 20 years of believing. I had always wanted to go on a missions trip but if I’m being honest, feelings of inadequacy stopped me from pursuing this. When I arrived in Colombia I was shocked … If you think Canadians are nice, Colombians give us a run for our money. Lucy (who started Oasis) opened not only the doors of the daycare for us but her personal home as well. She fed us, provided us with transportation, and most importantly truly gave me the picture of Godly hospitality. Lucy has committed her life to serving God and to witness and be a part of that for ten days, even one day, was life-changing.
Throughout the mission trip I saw God work in many ways. I’ll share one example, though I could share many, many more. During the first three days we visited a school where we performed skits, sang worship, and went to classrooms to hang out and speak. At the end of the day the 20 of us would gather and talk about the discussions we had in the classrooms. Some of them were “Do you know who Pablo Escobar is?” or “What do you think of Trump?” … They always kept us entertained! But then you would hear the stories of how God moved in the classrooms. A few of the team members were able to share their testimonies with students and even had a couple of students feel called to share their testimony with the whole class. God brought us together despite language and cultural barriers and showed us that His love connects us all. The end of the day was always my favourite, and not because we had been up since 6:00 am. Our debriefs were typically from 8:30-10:00 pm. These times gave me renewed strength and spirit to wake up at 6:00 am again the next day. We would gather in a circle and talk of the ways we saw God move in the children or community and in the ways He was working in our lives. We would pray for teammates affected by sickness and sing songs of worship. God showed me the true meaning of community through these 20 incredible individuals. We ranged from singles to families, students to doctors, children to adults … and yet in all our differences God made us one community under Him.
DALTON: My whole life I have struggled to find God. I’ve always believed He’s been there but I’ve never seen anything to prove it. I’m sure there have been many obvious signs but I’ve been too caught up in my own ways to see Him. I’ve made so many wrong choices in life where I find myself seeking forgiveness from God and from the ones I love. I’ve been doing it my whole life. My wife is a great example of forgiveness. If forgiveness is a person, I’m married to her. There was a moment in Colombia that I always think about that was the highlight of my trip. Erin and I shared some very personal moments from our life with Paul. Paul and his wife Lineth are the missionaries we worked with down in Colombia. Paul said something to me that I will never forget. He said, “The love that Erin has shown for you is the love that God has for you.” For the very first time in my life I could see the God I’ve been searching for. He’s been here the whole time and I’ve chosen to ignore it.
God revealed Himself to me during this trip and it reminds me of what one of our leaders, Tiffany, said: “It’s the trip I never knew I needed.” Since arriving back from Colombia, God has shown me a new purpose for my life. I used to value money and furthering my profession as quickly as possible. Now, I pray that God blesses me so I can give the money back to Him and in turn those in need. Matthew 10:39 says “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for Me, you will find it.” God is showing me every day how to continually surrender my life to Him. Like I mentioned before, Colombia was the trip I never knew I needed.
– Written by Erin & Dalton Boyce
- Read more stories of what God is doing through FAC in the Fall 2018 issue of Storyline magazine.
- Learn more about Global Impact partnerships through FAC
