Dear Friends,

In January, your giving enabled an Alliance church in Ipiales, Colombia to open a shelter for Venezuelan refugees. By March, it had become a “shelter in place" for many desperate people.

Keiver Medero and his family are among the hundreds of Venezuelans to have arrived in Ipiales this year.

The 24-year-old made the decision to leave his country on February 28 with his wife and children. He could no longer earn enough to care for his family. Even food was becoming difficult to find.

After traveling over a thousand miles, partly by foot and partly by bus, the family arrived in Ipiales just when COVID-19 was declared a pandemic.

Before the family arrived, the local government asked Alianza Por Mi Prójimo (Neighbor’s Alliance) to serve as a permanent shelter for refugees during Colombia’s lockdown. The church accepted the challenge. They added a few new rooms and prepared to host and feed each guest for a minimum of 21 days to meet health requirements.

Since March, the shelter has housed 350 refugees like the Medero family, serving each guest three meals a day—meals made possible because of you. Thank you!

“To this day we thank God for His great support that we’ve received from the shelter’s staff and for sharing the Word of God. Now we have what we need,” Keiver says. “There is hope in our hearts.”

Ana, a lawyer by profession, has spent two months in the shelter with her husband and son. They are waiting for borders to open so they can travel to French Guiana. Marvi, another mom, gave birth to her new baby at the shelter. In fact, three babies have been born at the shelter so far this year.

The kindness and clear witness of the staff have resulted in 26 guests putting their faith in Jesus! Three more guests have rededicated their lives to Christ.

Pastor Guivani expresses well what I want you to hear, “Thank you for believing in us and making all this possible. The glory is for God!”

We continue to see God at work but are now facing a shortage of funds. The requirements of being a permanent shelter cost more and extended longer than anticipated. Would you consider making a gift that will allow our local church partner to continue to shelter and feed Venezuelan refugees?

Your gift does make a difference.