In a conference on indigenous tongues held in the U.S, the panelist invited those in attendance to choose one slip of paper from a jar made by indigenous people. On these slips of paper were the names of many of the tribes of the Americas who had been persecuted or extinct. The slip of paper chosen by one man read: “name: Chimilas; country: Colombia, South America; zone: Northwest; status: In extinction.” From that moment on, this man dedicated a great amount of time to praying for this indigenous group. He didn’t know much about them and tried to find out more, but he found little information available. Some months later he crossed our path and, in an informal conversation, the names “Colombia” and “Chimilas” led to a passion for God’s mercy and justice in Colombia.

At the same time, on the streets of Santa Marta (a tourist city in northern Colombia), two half-dressed boys were hurrying to a place where they knew they would find something to eat. Among the population of northwest Santa Marta, the name “Pastor Jaime” was well-known. He was a multi-faceted man who preached the love of Christ in practical and simple ways…Pastor Jaime Leal, along with other members of his church, had been dedicating themselves for many years to walking with the poorest people of Santa Marta. On their pilgrimage they came to know the reality of the unknown Colombia, that which is full of stories of men and women persecuted by the violence generated by power-hungry groups…It is there in a land between hatred, vengeance, hope, forgiveness and love where Pastor Jaime and his ministry move: taking care of street kids who flee from the country’s interior…serving men who survived torture and persecution…and serving indigenous tribes to whom Pastor Jaime was led by the feet of these two little boys after they had arrived and been fed at the ministry’s base, the “Home of Refuge”.

For Jaime it was one of the longest walks of his pilgrimage. It lasted four hours, during which time he repeatedly asked the boys if they really knew where they were going. Their answer never changed: “Just a bit further.” When Pastor Jaime finally arrived at the place from which the indigenous boys had come, his eyes could not believe what they saw. It was an entire tribe living there among the lower part of the mountains that lead to the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta. And there was dire need. The name of this tribe: the Chimilas. They had all but been exterminated by the persecution of paramilitary groups in the lands of northwestern Colombia. They were only able to secure for themselves a few miles of land in Santo Angel…Today the Chimilas are under the government’s protection who, until that moment, had believed them to be extinct. Even so, those who were relocated in Santo Angel are still threatened by paramilitary groups who want to take their land for their own benefit…

The story of the Chimilas, as well as that of the boys on the street…is the story that gave way to the work begun by Pastor Jaime in Santa Marta, that of feeding and caring for more than 250 children and stabilizing families...This same work paved the way for Pastor Rafael in Barranquilla, where the same number of children are being served, children who come from similar backgrounds of persecution and violence. The work was extended to Bogota, where Elias, a friend of Jaime in ministry, works with more than 100 children of impoverished families…The potential to serve is great, because there is great need...

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