First week in Colombia!

Hello everyone!
I’ve been in Colombia for a week now and it’s been so amazing! It’s a very beautiful country. We’re in Medellin, Colombia for about 6 weeks in total. My squad and I are staying in apartments that are above a homeless shelter and bakery. It’s called Ciudad Refugio and their whole ministry is to help those without homes and share God with them. It’s safe where we stay, don’t worry. Our accommodations are a lot nicer than I expected as well, most likely the best we’ll have the whole trip. We have two floors for all of us. It’s apartment style living with a kitchen and living too. I’m sharing a room with 6 other girls. Most sleep in triple bunks but I’m very pleased with my mattress by the window. The foundation also has roof access with some amazing views. I can clearly see the Andes mountains surrounding us from up there. Except for when it rains, which is fairly often given that it’s rainy season in Colombia right now. The weather here is really quite nice. Not too humid, hot or cold. For cultural reasons we always cover our legs, and it honestly hasn’t been hot enough for that to be uncomfortable.
As far as ministry goes, my team has mostly done cleaning in the foundation itself. It’s been very enjoyable. Yesterday, we did some kid’s ministry which was fun. I was with kids ages 13+ and it was interesting to see how teenagers in other cultures are virtually the same as American teens. This Wednesday I will get an opportunity to go to what’s called the “Broncs” and pass out bread and water to homeless people. The Broncs is the most concentrated population in Medellin of people who are homeless, drug addicts, etc. I think that will be a very eye opening and hard experience to have. Two teams went last week and it was very hard for them. I’m still looking forward to it though, and I’m interested in the ways God will be present in the things I’ll experience. I will say, Medellin has to most wealth disparity I’ve ever seen in my life. Within 30 minutes of driving in the city you will see extreme poverty and extreme wealth. The gaps are very apparent. Typically the higher in elevation one travels here, the poorer it gets. This is just due to the convenience of traveling up and down the mountains. And likewise, the lower in elevation one gets the wealthier it gets. My squad and I are staying right around the middle of that. However, I’ve already had a lot of exposure to both sides and they are equally jarring. On both ends I notice many far from God, which grieves my heart. Many people are nominally Catholic here or unaware of who God truly is. So there’s definitely a need for more of the Lord in Medellin. Not unlike the way America needs Him though.
Anyways that’s kind of a short summary of my first week here! I’ll do more stories and specific blogs in the coming weeks but I just wanted to give my readers some context first. I’m really loving it here; the culture, food, language learning, and scenic views are so awesome. Thank you so much for reading, your support is greatly appreciated!