Youth with a Mission

Youth with a Mission is evangelical and Christian, and unashamed to say that its mission it to bring the Word of God to street kids. It began in 1982 when a group of concerned women got together to pray and ask help from God. The leader of the group was a young ex-communist, Lisbet Buritica, who saw the need to go into the streets, “not to help street kids, but to change them.” Youth with a Mission has never approved of the idea, now fashionable in Colombia, that the street is a lifestyle just like any other.

To begin, these women fasted for 40 days and then wrote the ideas the fast had inspired in them. With the commitment brought on by their common prayers, they went to work on the street. These women came from many backgrounds and brought many skills to the table: one had been a Madame in a brothel, another was a secretary, another a businesswoman... Each Friday, they got together for a “think tank in prayer,” then, with the help of an American Missionary, Steve Bartel, they started to work with street kids in the Parque Nacional, one of the most dangerous parts of a dangerous city. They gave out food and made friends with the kids, but after a couple of years, the police told them to get lost.

En 1987, the program opened a drop in center, “The other way,” and a farm. They developed a seven-step process from street to life; this process is still in effect today.

Among the seven stages is a school for kids who cannot attend other schools because of their behavior, because they are too old for their grade, because they have a different intelligence, because they are disabled, or because their peers exclude them. The school has a great student-teacher ratio, and generally is able to reintegrate kids into regular schools within a couple of years.

Youth with a Mission would like to better reunite families, but they find it to be a major challenge. For most kids, the people in the program become their families -- and Youth with a Mission promises to help them for their whole lives, just as parents would.

The program encourages kids to be models of caring, commitment, and Christianity. They have made a commitment to Christian values, including compassion for others, and they learn to help others just as the adults in the program have helped them. The example of the “tíos” (uncles) is very important: all of them volunteer their time. “You couldn’t pay me enough to do the work I do for free,” said one missionary. The children live in the missionaries’ houses and are treated just like their own children. The kids recognize and appreciate this sacrifice.

The program serves 120 kids in 7 houses, the majority in the school or the drop in center (25 are full time residents).

Training is very important for the program. It notes that there are 8 million at risk kids in Colombia, and no one program could serve all of them. Each year they offer some 20 courses, from speeches to month-long classes, in order to train evangelical, catholic, and secular leaders in work with children.

Juventud con una Misión
Steve Bartel, Director, or Darren McCrea, Director de Comunicaciones

Apdo Aereo 59340
Bogotá
Colombia

Donations:

Formando Vidas c/o Robyn Patzig
4520 Shadowridge Dr
The Colony TX 75056-4064

tel-fax 57 1 213 5496 o 213 5806

streetkids@aol.com

www.colombiastreetkids.org