Recently, I had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Colombia to teach English to the people of Bogota. The learning tool we used is called FriendSpeak. FriendSpeak uses the Bible, and specifically the book of Luke as a means of teaching and practicing English while at the same time bringing people closer to God and his church.

I was surprised how popular English lessons were in a country whose native language isn’t English at all. It turns out that English is taught in the schools a lot. It also surprised me how Bogota was so similar to the United States. It really shows you what we are like when you don’t speak the language in a country that you are so similar to. There were very few differences. However, one difference that I saw is their view on religion. It was not uncommon to meet with students that would say how much they disliked religion. When they described how they viewed religion they would describe keeping the legal side of church with its precepts and practices. I found people searching and yearning for a relationship with God. The Colombian people want to talk about God and follow him, but find it difficult given their religious culture.

We need to have more people who are willing to travel to Latin-American countries to spread the Word. The people we encountered were desperate to hear the good news.