Trip: Colombia Vision Trips
Dates: May 2023
Location: Palmira & Bogotá, Colombia

Taking an International Service Team to Colombia has been a dream we've been working towards these past 2 years! 🇨🇴

Diego, our Executive Director, visited two ministries in Colombia - one in Palmira (close to Cali) and another in Bogotá. The intention of these visits was to get to know the potential partners, see how they impact the communities, meet the kids we would be serving, stay in their facilities, analyze the safety standards, and meet with their Directors about the logistics of taking a service team. 🤝

Below is a recap of the Vision Trips. ⬇️

Palmira, Colombia

The visit to Palmira consisted of getting to know our potential partners and spending time with the Pastor and his family who would be the ones guiding our service work. They currently do a lot of work in the community geared towards supporting children with school supply donations, providing meals, and ministering to their families.

Diego was also able to meet with other community leaders and share about HFK’s mission and vision to bring service teams. The focus was to share about each other’s work, learn about the different ways in which they impact the children in the community, and how we could support that work. We were also able to visit two different care homes in the area in which we could serve.

Our team would stay in a “finca”, a great place for teams to debrief the day and even host events for the community. Lastly, a visit to Cali was in order to see a bit of history and spend more time with the Pastor and his family. Overall a great vision trip!

Bogotá, Colombia

The visit to Bogotá was packed with getting to know the facilities, staff and kids! Diego even helped out in the classroom and with construction materials.

The day began with meeting their Director and heading up the hill to the Foundation. The Foundation is found at the top of the hill of a low-income barrio that started as an invasion. From the top, the view of Bogotá, the country’s capital, was incredible! The tour of the Foundation covered the kitchen, multipurpose room, apartment for teams, classrooms, soccer court, stores that provide income for the foundation, and pending construction.

The tour was followed by a delicious typical lunch which provided the opportunity to hear from staff members, volunteers, kitchen staff, and “tutores” who each impact the children in uniquely important ways. It was helpful to understand the history of the Foundation and their work. They provide after-school support, sports ministry, medical care, food, gymnastics and acrobat classes, and more for the community on the hill.

Later in the day, the Foundation received construction materials as a donation from the city to help expand their garden. Diego was able to help unload and move the construction supplies!

Diego was also part of the staff’s daily devotional which was a great opportunity to hear about what motivates them to serve the kids and follow God’s call for them.

The day continued with Diego supporting in the classroom for the little kids as they worked on their motor skills by making numbers with play dough. Lastly, the day ended with Diego on the soccer court with the older kids - the best way to end the day! Overall, another great vision trip!