Our Morning in Manatial

I think I can speak for the four of us when I say I have a new definition of a ''crazy drivers'', as we all have had the opportunity to ride on the back of a Colombian's motorcycle through the streets of Medellin.  Today Jack and I road with two coaches 15 minutes up the mountain from where we are living to a place called Manatial, or ''the fountain''.  The C.D.U.C coaches run a weekly training session here for the kids of the neighborhood, followed by a short message from the bible.  The space they usually play in was taken up by circus of some sorts, so we played on a smaller space next to it.  Despite the fact that we were playing on a slanted dirt and rock field with a drainage ditch lining one side, and bags of human waste in another corner, the kids had a great time playing, and so did we.  While the soccer was fun, my favorite part was seeing the kids stay after to listen to the message, ask questions, and pray together.  We were able to share the spanish gospel booklets we brought with us with the kids and we could see that they were excited and curious to read them and learn more.    Although going back to the neighborhood means another life threatening motorcycle ride, we are still excited to go back next week to see the kids and play with them. 

Livin' la vida loca,

          Grant 

view from our neighborhood

key word...FLEXIBLE

I wish I knew what Sam and Jarrett were doing right now. Grant and I are living about 30 minutes in a car or 1 hour on the metro away from them. We are living with Alex and his family. He and his wife,  have three kids, Alexis, Lorena, and Juan David. Like expected, we are not doing anything we expected. Fortunately, we got to hang out with them at the stadium for a few hours today. We also trained with the all star teams which was fun (we did fitness the whole time). It has been a brand new experience living with a Colombian family. Everything is just different then back home. Juan David goes to bed last, and he is only 2 years old. Grant and I sleep in bunk beds and we accidentally slept in until 10am this morning! For not knowing any Spanish, we communicate really well with our family and the guys on the team.They are all awesome people. As of right now, I am walking back and forth from my room trading clothes with Alex...a language all soccer players speak!

Last night for about 3 hours, Alex was telling Grant and I about his life and how he came to know Jesus. It is a story that not many can tell. From a murderer to a gentle, loving husband, father, and coach. He talks about how Jesus is his only protection now. The neighborhood we live in, Granizal, used to be a terrible place filled with drugs, kidnapping, and murder. Today, it is not bad, and Alex has a big part in that. It is a long story to tell, and I will tell you when I get back!

We are going to try and figure out how we can all be together more, but the bottom line is we are living, breathing, and serving wherever we find ourselves on this trip. Pray that God continues to force us to be willing and flexible to his plan, even if it is not exactly how we see it. 

Con Toda Mi Mente y Mi Corazón,

Jack

And so it begins...

We have arrived!  Marcos picked us up from the airport and drove us to the stadium. To start everything off we played in a staff scrimmage, which was a full 90 minutes.  I didn´t think we would be so tired the first day!
We got our tentative schedule for the next few weeks.  Looks like we´ll be helping the coaches a lot with their teams in the various sections of the city and helping around the stadium (final preparations for their turf field).  We will also be training with the CDUC´s select teams (u14, u16, and u20), with opportunities to share our our stories and testimonies.
Jarrett wins the prize for best spanish.  Jack gets second place, and Grant and I are tied for a distant third.  I do feel as though even in one day, I´ve learned a good amount of spanish (or maybe just how to nod and respond like I understand).  Anyway, all is well here. Learning the language and building relationships with the people around us!!!
My apologies if there are typos. I am writing on a spanish keyboard, on a spanish computer.
Grace and Peace,
Samuel

Woodworth Brother Interview- The night before

We're Going Back!

It has been almost a year since our last post, and I don't know if anyone is still reading this blog. But if you happen to see this, there will be many more posts coming in the next month as we head back down to Medellin.

The team had an unbelievable experience down in Colombia last May, and it has caused us to stay connected with CDUC this summer. While the entire team is not making the trip, there is a group of 4 of us going. Our team consists of 2 guys who went last year, Sam Woodworth and Jarret Weaner, and 2 newbies added to the team, Grant Woodworth and Jack Thompson. God put a desire in our heart to remain connected with our friends at CDUC and the country of Colombia.

We are waking up at the crack of dawn tomorrow for a 6:45am flight out of Philadelphia. Our arrival time is set for 1:00pm in Medellin where our point man, Marcos, will pick us up and our journey will begin.

There will be a video posted interviewing the Woodworth brothers shortly explaining the purposes and hopes for our trip!

** If you are one of the few reading this post, we would love for you to share our blog with friends and family through email, Facebook, Twitter, and however else we communicate these days. We would appreciate as much support as possible as we share in this journey with you. **

Jordan's Story

      As Sam alluded to, I was asked to share the most memorable moment of the trip for me, which comes in the form of an uplifting and powerful story of the work of Christ.  So the second night into our trip, I was down checking my email when I realized that someone was watching me over my shoulder. When I saw that it was the night watchman, his son, and his son's friend, I smiled and explained what I was doing. They were really nice guys, and we began talking about all different things like soccer, the US, our team, etc.  They thought it was neat how I understood spanish and could communicate with them and answer all their questions.  We did this nearly every night and it was really neat for all of us. One night, I was wearing a pair of Messiah shorts and they saw our crest.  They saw the name of our school, but they did not undrstand what "as iron sharpens iron" meant. I explained that it was a bible verse in Proverbs and is the foundatuon for what we build our team relationships on. Luckily, there was a Spanish Bible there and I was able to point it out to them. To my surprise, the two younger boys said they were familiar with the verse and said they were believers when I asked.  I then asked the older man if he was a believer in Christ as well. When he responded no, it caught me a but off-guard to see a CDUC employee who was not a proclaimed Christian. I asked him why not, with such a successful Christian organization right here at his disposal, why did he not believe? He replied with this..."take a look at the city. Look how dark and crime-ridden it is and look at how little we have.  There is no God here watching over us or else things would be different."
     This really struck me and God kind of took over at this point.  I said to him that I think you are missing the whole point of Christianity and what Christ is calling us for. Our identity is not found in what we have or our surroundings, but rather through Christ and the promise he offers through it all. He is the light in this present darkness and can give you a sense of purpose and all the hope you ever need in this world.
     This seemed to really move him and he was able to realize that there might be some truth to this. This simple retelling of the story definitely does not do God's impact in this situation justice, but it was so powerful to see God work at his heart.  Throughout the remaining part of the week, I continued to have nightly conversations with them, sharing our favorite verses and speaking about the struggles of being a Christian in a place like Medellin and how to overcome them.  It was so uplifting to see the man join in the conversations and even read verses and pray with us. 
     Through this, what was really shown to me was that although the people of Colombia do not have much, they are desperate for something to believe in to give them hope despite current conditions.  It felt great to know that we were able to bring them joy, even if it was in the form of a simple 2 hour practice, our shared joy and testimonies are something they were able to really feel and hold onto, giving them hope where it is often unable to be found.