Our Day at the Refuge

Monday morning, we traveled two hours up the mountain from Bucaramanga to the little community called Berlin. While the views up the mountain were beautiful, the road was one curve after another!

At 10,500 feet is the Samaritan Purse refuge in Berlin. Until we arrived, we did not know if or how many Venezuelan’s would be there. 

This sign is right next to the front door of the refuge. It shows the path from the border city called Cucuta to Bucaramanga. The refuge is at the top of the mountain range and it is much colder there than anywhere else along the way!

We were surprised to find about 60 Venezuelan immigrants at the shelter. We were given an opportunity to do our “Emotions” skit and everyone present applauded and were encouraged by God’s Word! Before we left, there were another 30 or 40 who arrived at the shelter. 

On the way back down the mountain, we had the opportunity to share some of the warm clothes and shoes with some young Venezuelan men walking down to Bucaramanga. We were amazed to hear one of these young men tell us that he had just cried out to God that morning telling Him that he needed shoes that fit as the shoes he had were much too small for his feet! What a blessing to be an answer to a desperate prayer!

It was an emotionally draining day seeing such hardship and suffering first hand, a day we won’t soon forget. We pray that the love of Jesus that we shared with those we connected with today was a great encouragement to each and every one of them!