Storyline Fall 2018

The Trip We Never Knew We Needed
Written by Erin & Dalton Boyce
Erin and Dalton Boyce were two of the 20 people who ventured to Bogotá, Colombia from
FAC this past summer. They partnered with a local Christian & Missionary Alliance Church,
worked in local schools, and helped with Oasis – an after-school program for impoverished
kids in a slum area of the city. Here's a bit of their story:
Erin: When you hear of short-term missions you typically hear the following comments: “What can you do in such
a short time?” “Aren’t you doing more harm than good coming and going?” “How can you create relationships in that
time?” Short-term missions, to say the least, has had a big reputation, like Taylor Swift. I can tell you this trip encouraged
me in community and made more sense of my faith in ten days than in my 20 years of believing. I had always wanted to
go on a missions trip but if I’m being honest, feelings of inadequacy stopped me from pursuing this. When I arrived in
Colombia I was shocked … If you think Canadians are nice, Colombians give us a run for our money. Lucy (who started
Oasis) opened not only the doors of the daycare for us but her personal home as well. She fed us, provided us with
transportation, and most importantly truly gave me the picture of Godly hospitality. Lucy has committed her life to
serving God and to witness and be a part of that for ten days, even one day, was life-changing. Throughout the mission
trip I saw God work in many ways. I’ll share one example, though I could share many, many more. During the first three
days we visited a school where we performed skits, sang worship, and went to classrooms to hang out and speak. At the
end of the day the 20 of us would gather and talk about the discussions we had in the classrooms. Some of them were
“Do you know who Pablo Escobar is?” or “What do you think of Trump?” … They always kept us entertained! But then
you would hear the stories of how God moved in the classrooms. A few of the team members were able to share their
testimonies with students and even had a couple of students feel called to share their testimony with the whole class.
God brought us together despite language and cultural barriers and showed us that His love connects us all. The end of
6
10