In February 2020 Ray Schellinger undertook a journey walking with Venezuelan refugees in Colombia. He walked from Palmira to Mondomo, a journey of 100 kilometers, a small section of the 2,000 km trek many refugees take from Colombia and into Peru. We are posting some of Ray’s FB posts from along the way. This is Ray’s reflection at the end of the journey, but we will use it to start the blogs about his journey.
I have officially finished my walk from Palmira to Mondomo, a small portion of 100 km in the middle of a migrant trek of more than 2,000.
However, the journey continues for each and every one of the friends I made along the way.
In being able to experience, if even for only a minuscule portion, the long, long road that these sojourners must travel, I have gained immense respect for their resilience.
My fellow travelers have faced endless miles, walking weeks on end, knowing nothing other than pavement to walk on and hard ground to sleep on. They have encountered freezing cold temperatures in the mountains during the first stretch of their journey into Colombia, only to be followed by blasting heat under the equatorial sun for much of the rest.
The blisters, dehydration, muscle breakdown and illness are not even the worst they have faced.
The worst is to be rejected and cursed at by people in the towns along the way. In Colombia, there is a growing sentiment of unwelcome for Venezuelans.
It is for this reason that I have also gained a much greater and first hand appreciation for the ministry of SEPAZ.
It was an amazing experience to enter into Mondomo with a group of people I had grown very close to over a couple days and many kilometers. The SEPAZ team met us, as they do for every traveler, with love, warm hearts, listening ears, compassion, and yes, of course, a good meal, ice tea and plenty of water.
They listened to every story, worked to find the resources that every family would need, and ensured that they would not go back out onto the highway without being healthy, safe and ready.
They are just beginning this ministry, and are working to gather the resources to do much more. But I have to tell you, the difference SEPAZ makes, the welcome it offers, to each of these my friends brought tears to my eyes. It is so desperately needed.
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