The purpose of the Nutrition Supplement Program is to provide additional nutrition for 412 children in the “God is Love” Conviventia schools in Cartagena, Cazuca, and Lucero Alto. The children benefiting from this program participate in a lunch program, have frequent height and weight screenings to determine the best course of nutritional follow-up, and their families are given advice on healthy lifestyle and eating habits.

“Family is family!” This was the response of a teenage girl from Colombia when asked whether she would rather still be living in the Tenjo Girl’s Home, or living with her family as she currently does. As evidenced in this response, the Family Protection Program is a very worthy successor to the Girls’ Home in Tenjo. That program mainly worked with the “victims” while this new program works with the whole family. The program also includes training of prevention and detection methods for staff members at the Conviventia schools. The program is also getting a great deal of attention from the government and other schools who are sending Conviventia high numbers of referrals. The gospel is shared with all the participating families and a discipleship process is started.

John Calvin Christian School (JCS) is located in a very poor and vulnerable neighborhood of Barranquilla, Colombia. Our partner, Conviventia, longs to bring stability and the hope of the Gospel to this community through the care and education of children, offering classes for grades K-11. Many of the students’ parents were never educated and so they do not always understand the importance of ensuring a good education for their children, therefore, many parents send their children to the free government school instead of having to pay a small fee to send their children to JCS. However, the school has gained a very good reputation for their quality education, care for the well-being of their students, and their involvement in the lives of the whole family. Students are not only provided with a high-quality Christian education, but they are taught skills that can lead them out of the cycle of poverty that their families have been stuck in for many generations. The transforming power of the Gospel is at work in this community!

The vulnerable communities that our partners in Colombia minister to (Lucero, Cazuca, Santafe, Cartagena, Barranquilla) desperately need greater involvement, support, and influence from local Christian churches. The School of Practical Ministries (SPM) exists to train church members, Conviventia staff members, and students to be effective leaders within the communities that Conviventia is active in. Churches within these communities are invited to send their members (including pastors and leaders) to participate in training workshops that teach them about various topics including: God’s Purpose for the Family, Work Ethics, Evangelism, Christ as the Model for Ministry, etc.