AN INTERVIEW WITH WARREN
This past month, the Cross-Cultural Missions Team sat down with Warren Van Sydenborgh to hear about what he has been up to in Colombia. Over the past year he has been learning Spanish, taking courses at a local seminary and exploring a call to be a missionary in Colombia. Recently, he has secured a job teaching English in Bogota, which will allow him to obtain a work visa. He will be moving back to Bogota at the end of June and we will be sending him off on in the coming weeks. Read below to learn more about what led Warren to go to Colombia and how God is working to expand his church there.
1. How did Colombia get on your radar?
Colombia first came on my radar when I met Dennis (former attendee of New City) in Moses and Miranda’s backyard. That friendship led to him inviting me to Bogota, Colombia and I lived with him for 9 months there.
In 2022, we went to the Cross Conference together in Kentucky. It so happened that we got COVID there and had to be quarantined together. So we ended up spending 3 weeks together in close quarters – which led to us becoming really good friends. We enjoyed every second of this – without even so much as a single argument! Living together in Bogota was a beautiful way that God used to introduce me to Colombia.
2. What is the culture of Bogota like?
The people are very hardworking and the city is alive and awake at 5 am with the majority heading off to work even before then. Many people live outside the city and commute back and forth. The base of the culture is Catholic and many kids grow up knowing about some form of Christianity. Colombia is a country of many different regions and sub cultures. The accent, food, climate, and music tastes change quite drastically as you travel around the country.
As a whole the country is quite stable and the government has a standing peace agreement with the various paramilitary forces that still hold sway in various parts. In the paramilitary zones it can be dangerous to be a Christian if you are vocal about your faith. Christian viewpoints are in conflict with how these groups operate (drugs, sex trafficking, etc) and being a pastor in these areas is extremely dangerous if you preach faithfully. If one stays in the cities and government controlled lands you should be quite safe besides petty crime.
3. What is the current state of the church in Colombia?
Bogota is quite Christian, but the current generation is fed up with Roman Catholicism. Many Colombians have an understanding of Christianity but are not dedicated to following Jesus and are very secular in their worldview. If you say you’re Christian though you are generally well received by the middle aged group who generally claim to have some sort of faith (they say they pray and have some personal connection with God).
In other areas there are different challenges to the faith. In the Amazon it is a struggle for those who come to a knowledge of Christ not to develop a syncretistic faith that comes from their tribal heritage. For example, people may go to their pastor to help with some sort of sickness and after that go to the witch doctor. The current generation in Bogota generally sees Christianity as a cool thing to be into and will attend the big churches for the lights and show. But denying themselves and taking up their cross is not something they are not doing.
Many churches in Colombia are Charismatic. In some regions there is some heavy influence of Oneness Pentecostalism, which teaches an ancient heresy, called Modalism. There is also a lot of health-and-wealth Gospel that is well-concealed by the appearance of good doctrine. Yet, there is also a growing movement of Reformed churches in Colombia. They are growing fast, “like a dandelion on an unkempt lawn.” When I was in Colombia, I attended a church with OPC (Orthodox Presbyterian Church) affiliations, ministering to about 175 people. The desire for the Reformed doctrines started there with the Colombians and not by a foreign missionary, illustrating that Reformed doctrine is not just a foreign import. If you want to learn more about the work of the OPC in Colombia, you can listen to the podcast episode “Reformed Ministry in Bogota, Colombia.” They have a passion to help churches become more Reformed. There are also good partnerships that have formed between Presbyterians and Reformed Baptists in the area. Bogota itself has around 6 small Reformed congregations.
4. Where are the needs in Colombia?
Let me start with where the needs are less – in the cities. The cities are a lot easier to reach. The local churches can reach them since there is available work there and infrastructure (roads, bus routes). There is a need for Reformed churches to be planted in the smaller cities now while God willing those already planted grow. However, the fringe parts of the country will be quite difficult for these small churches to reach. For example in the Amazon rainforest you have to fly in or take a slow boat so it’s difficult and costly to work there, especially with the oppressive heat. There’s a city in the Amazon region (Leticia) but it’s more like a large town where many of the people from the surrounding tribes end up. I spent 3 weeks down in this city on the border with Brazil and Peru. I felt very at home there and felt very drawn by God to mark that place as somewhere that I felt a special calling. A desire came to my heart there to consider ministering in the settlements along the river.
A friend I made there who comes from one of the tribes way up a distant river explained to me the costs of taking a plane and later a boat in a journey of a couple days to arrive at his village. He said that these villages lack so many basic things like salt, soap, and fish hooks. In places like this the gospel has never been heard. My friend came to faith only after arriving in Leticia where he learned Spanish and had lived for some years. He tells me that there are hundreds of villages like his up and down these rivers and generally they have at least one Spanish speaker in each village (though the kids are starting to learn Spanish these days). Mission opportunity? We will see.
Another opportunity in this region that I came across is in Macedonia (a couple hours up the Amazon river from Leticia. There’s a Christian church there that has been receiving missionary attention over the last ten years. The church was originally planted by Pentecostals (they planted churches, “converted” the locals, and left and did this in many villages along the Amazon). A girl from my church in Bogota spent her twenties there teaching the children and the woman the bible but she’s a woman so she couldn’t plant a church. However, she was able to teach a young man who now is the acting pastor and spearheading mission trips to the other village. There is a huge lack of theological training for these people and they really need a dedicated pastor living there to help the local young man.
5. Is there a good seminary in Colombia?
There’s “La Fundacion” and “Seminario Reformado Latinoamericana”, which are more like a Reformed Bible schools. The one I go to is called “Hispanico Seminario.” I attend online. Sometimes they do meetings in my actual church because my pastor is one of the professors. It’s quite new and working out the kinks. I’m planning to teach at a school and take seminary courses at the same time.
6. What will your teaching job entail and what is the school like?
I will be teaching Math and possibly Sciences at the El Camino (The Way) school. I’ve never been a math whiz but it’s pretty universal and I’ve used it enough, having worked in engineering. The teaching will start in July with a 2-week orientation. I’m thankful for that because I’ve never taught before.
El Camino is an Evangelical Christian school located in the north part of Bogota. Half of the teachers are local and half are foreign missionaries. It functions like a North American private school. Although the school offers housing (not free), it tends to attract English speakers so I hope to find off-site housing together with someone who speaks Spanish. I don’t want to be stuck in an English bubble (since I will be teaching in English).
After teaching, I want to seek ordination and be sent out as a missionary. I have a desire to go to the unengaged tribes of Colombia. I hope to find someone to marry who has the same heart for sharing the Gospel with these remote tribal people.
7. Did you have culture shock the first time you went to Colombia?
No, not really, but I did have some culture shock coming back to Canada. The roads are so big here. We just have so much stuff.
When I’m in Colombia, I like to blend in and be Colombian. So it’s hard when I’m showing Canadians around. I put on the face of the people around me to blend in on public transit. Still, sometimes I’ll sit on the floor and talk with the beggar Venezuelans and then I draw a bit of attention but this is fine as Colombians are generally nice towards the Venezuelan migrants.
8. What are some ways we can support you as a church?
I’m working on signing on with a missions organization because my teaching stipend is pretty minimal and it is expected that I raise funds to support myself. Right now I’m working 2 months in Canada and saving up my money to have enough for extra costs like flights. I am planning to sign with the Great Commission Foundation since they already have a sub-account with the school I’ll be teaching at and are not just for teachers, so it works better for my end-goal. GCF is Canadian but they can receive US donations, which is also good.
A great way to support me is through prayer. Please pray for me. I truly covet your prayers. I’m reminded of how people launched the church plant in Halifax and how some people actually left after being sent out on mission. I want to still be connected to New City in the way they were and are.
9. What are you feeling excited about? What are you nervous about?
I’m excited to be in Bogota again – though I love Spring here and the time working in the fields with migrant workers. I’m excited to move all my stuff and get rid of stuff and complete the transition to Colombia. It’s been hard living half a year in Colombia and half a year here for the past two years while I learned Spanish and networked…
I am a bit stressed about all the balls I have up in the air at the same time right now. It’s stressful to think about getting everything done in the right order. Thankfully, I have all my paperwork filled out for the work visa.
