Blessings For Brisas 5K

In today's world, needs are found everywhere, even in our own country. We've seen hurricanes and wildfires and devastating shootings in the last month. The saying has been said you can throw a dart anywhere on the map and land in a place that has a need. That is because we live in a fallen world. But we do have hope, and those of us who have the hope of Jesus want to share it with others.

Our dart happens to fall in Brisas del Mar, Colombia.

This little village stole my heart in 2016. To voice the ways they have taught me to feel love, to love others and to reprioritize myself would take an entire day to share. But for this short blog, I want to focus my heart's attention on the clinic in Brisas del Mar. I want to give you a peek into their world, so that perhaps you can understand why this has become my own calling, and the calling of many others as well.

Brisas del Mar is a little village tucked away in the northern corner of Colombia, near the Carribean Sea. The village has around 600 people who live there, and their way of life is so vastly different, one that here in the states we can't even comprehend it until we see it. Dirt roads, minimal electricity, no washer or driers, not even running water through the village. But what they do have is a clinic.

 This clinic, the Clinton Rabb Clinic, was established in 2011, with teams that helped build it. It has electricity and clean facilities and capabilities to help the community that so desperately need it. and the arms of love that reach Brisas del Mar through the clinic extend to the neighboring communities as well, like Alto de Julio, Vista Hermosa and more. This clinic has become a refuge for those who desperately need medicine or stitches or blood work or care.

Here in the states we have no idea what it is like to not be able to obtain medicine or healthcare. Even the poorest of us are not turned away, but given the chance to be seen by a doctor. But in Brisas del Mar and other parts of Colombia, when a person cannot afford it, they cannot have it. The hospitals will turn them away. Or, the people won't make it to the hospital because of even the cost to get from the village to the nearest hospital, which is 45 minutes away by vehicle. On dirt roads. And when it rains, it can become impossible to get through the roads to the hospital. They face so many obstacles in getting their health attended to that we cannot even begin to imagine.

and so their ministry of the clinic has touched me deeply. The clinic is funded by the church and the government will have nothing to do with it. The funding for the clinic is running dry and they are in danger of closing down. Let me share some things with you about this clinic.

 -They see 700-800 patients a month
- They have a dental room and that is utilized 2-3 times a week, seeing between 18-20 patients. In June when I was there, a dentist came in and was giving clinics to the children on how to brush their teeth. Imagine not even having a toothbrush!
 - The bacteriologist is there 3 times a week and sees between 8-10 patients
- To keep the clinic running on a monthly basis, it would cost roughly $5,000 a month. This covers the cost of the doctors and nurses and medicines and labs and pharmaceuticals.
 - The closest hospital is in San Onofre, 40-60 minutes away, but by dirt roads mostly, and the people don't have vehicles and have to find ways to get there.
- The biggest issues seen in the clinic are : high blood pressure, diabetes, skin infections, urinary infections, fractures, wounds and cholesterol. These all sound common, right? But to us, who have every day medicines and treatments for these, they are. But to people who have nothing to treat it, some of it is deadly. Without the clinic, these people go without medicine to treat these illnesses much of the time.

  It is on our hearts to help the clinic stay open! We have found our calling in Brisas del Mar and the people of the village there have become a part of our hearts and our journeys, even miles apart. And after much prayer, we are setting out to help raise some money for this clinic to stay open.

 You can help by signing up to attend, spreading the word, or making a donation. We know that many needs exist, but this is our calling and we are answering it with putting on a 5K to benefit them.
   Blessings for Brisas will be held November 4 in Riverside Park.
 To register, you can go to Get Me Registered to sign up or make a donation. All proceeds go to the clinic!

 But most of all, you can pray! We ask that God will use this to make another little difference in the huge ministry that is happening in that village we have fallen in love with.

 Here are a few pictures of the clinic for you to see different aspects of what we are aiming to support

The dentist doing a cleaning

The women and children waiting to be seen  

A nurse from the city who came in to help the women in the village learn some basic first aid

The clinic staff looking through the supplies we brought for them to have (Thanks to Kettering Health Network) 

Yuleida, clinic administrator

The view of the clinic from the street... it has since been re-painted

Yuleida, clinic administrator, and Doctora Jennifer, with the new ultrasound machine, thanks to courtesy of GE and other generous donations

Brisas,the Beautiful

Brisas, the Beautiful ------

Written by Meghan Witzel

It's hard to fully articulate and illustrate what happened for us in Colombia. So much of it is indescribable. But alas, I shall do my very best. I have always believed in relational ministry. I think when we connect with people, whether on faith based mutual ground or not..that we discover the Holy in each other. "In true relationships, the only point is to be together. Once there is another point, the relationship withers under the heat of expectations and obligations." -Theologian Andrew Root. 

I'll never forget the first evening in Brisas. It was like an awkward school dance. Our youth were huddled together sitting in a row on the ledge in the main hut area, and the children and youth of Brisas were doing the same thing, but perpendicular to them. I said to our youth: "You guys can interact with them you know. Play hand clapping games and stuff" They said "Well there's kind of a language barrier". I thought to myself: "Oh ya. They're new at this. They don't know yet". 

While the first 24 hours consisted of our youth feeling frustrated that they didn't learn more Spanish before the trip...that frustration quickly melted away. You see, the language of love is universal. Energy doesn't lie and smiles speak to each other. Card tricks, music, dancing, hand clapping games..they all broke down those initially frustrating language barriers, and VERY quickly. By Circle time before bed with our youth on day 2 in Brisas, "language barrier" wasn't mentioned even once. 

As the week progressed the relationships formed into friendships. And, by the time we left we were family. Their community became our community and we will never be the same. I and one of our youth experienced the emotional and spiritual intimacy of a restorative justice circle, and reconciliation happened so quickly and organically. I will hold onto that holy moment for the rest of my life. We learned how to move our hips and dance it out. And we definitely taught some "White people dancing". We learned how to braid hair better, that passing the peace is much better with warm bear hugs instead of cold handshakes, and that hanging in the shade more on beach day would have been a better life choice. 

My guitar was happily passed around and spent more time outside of its case than in. We laughed, we cried, we hugged, and we sojourned together. The first couple of days our scheduled youth programming time was a game and follow up discussion by our incredible host, Juan. By the third day, the youth time wasn't programmed. It didn't need to be. If you were a stranger walking into that space you would have thought everyone grew up together. The interactions and laughter were beautiful. I smiled as I remembered that only days ago there was a "language barrier".

 Now, no one spoke either language any better. But it didn't matter. It was no longer a wall that separated us. Love does that, you know. It's powerful enough to tear down even the biggest and scariest walls. Part of why we came to Brisas was to help build a church and assist with construction. One of our last days I began looking around at the transformation and transfiguration among us all. And I smiled and said to myself "It was never about building a church". I believe in moments. Moments that move us, shake us and take our breath away. Moments that challenge and change us, teach us to believe in magic and shape our very existence. Moments of impact. In Brisas, the moments were endless. And grace happened. Blessed be.