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What would you do if you had a vision to spark a disciple-making movement in your nation? A vision to see hundreds and thousands of people come to know the life-saving truth of the Gospel and share it with everyone around them? What would be your first step to making this happen?

Fellowship International missionaries and workers are currently faced with these very questions. Their hope is to spark movements of disciples who don’t keep the Gospel to themselves, but share it with those around them and empower them to lead others to Christ, too. Our vision is to raise up national leaders in these countries who speak the language, know the culture, and are able to best communicate the Gospel with other locals.

Fellowship International has launched the Empowering the Nations appeal which is seeking to raise $60,000 to be shared amongst four specific projects to help our missionaries fulfil this vision. Over the coming months we will share about each of the locations within this appeal.

The first location is in Colombia where Diego and Claudia Cardona have begun taking steps towards the God-sized vision of empowering the community through their soccer ministry in Granzial.

Granizal is an impoverished sector in the municipality of Bello. The figures registered by the Colombian government state that more than 70,000 people live in conditions of poverty in the region. Diego and Claudia, along with El Redil Baptist churches, desire to reach this population, which is so affected by violence and poverty, with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They provide humanitarian aid in conjunction with other organizations and preach the Gospel of reconciliation with a heart to make disciple

One of the ways this is realized is through the Granzial girls’ soccer league. The program provides soccer equipment (shoes, uniforms, balls), coaches for each team, referees, and facilities in which to play. Furthermore, the girls are discipled by team members so they can, with the Holy Spirit, break the cycles of drug addiction, abuse, and prostitution so prevalent in this sector. Young girls are empowered as they discover their talents, learn to be a part of a team, gain invaluable life skills, and experience Christ’s love in a safe community.

For two years, the El Redil Baptist churches have been running this and other programs with the desire to launch a church there. Today, they have a venue rented, and the new church is called "El Refugio", which means “The Refuge”

Funds raised through this appeal will directly impact the lives of these girls in Granzial. Would you consider giving today?

In the coming months, we’ll feature each project within the Empowering the Nations appeal in our blog posts, so stay tuned!