Defining Moment for Columbian Christians; Real Life Community Services - Morning Light

追加: 2026-05-26

[00:00:08]Well, it is the start of Memorial Day weekend. Good morning. I'm Jeff Coleman.

[00:00:11]>> And I'm Deborah Pinkerton. Welcome to Morning Light.

[00:00:14]>> Well, events in Latin America are changing fast with all eyes 90 miles off the Florida coast in Cuba. On May 31st, voters in Colombia, one of Latin America's most stable democracies, will choose a new president. and evangelical Christians may just hold the key. We'll go to Columbia's capital for a live update in a minute.

[00:00:33]>> And here's a preview of what's coming up later in the show. Reaching at risk youth and families in need in Northern Lancaster County. That is the mission of Real Life Community Services. We will share how this nonprofit is empowering students with the gospel all while pro providing basic needs.

[00:00:50]>> Well, here's where we begin this morning. 67 years after Fidel Castro's revolution transformed Cuba into a communist state, the island is facing one of its darkest chapters yet. On Wednesday, the US indicted former Cuban leader Raul Castro and five other Cuban nationals for the 1996 shootown of two unarmed civilian aircraft. And an American aircraft carrier and its strike group has moved into the Caribbean amid rising tensions. Meanwhile, Cuba's economic and humanitarian collapse continues to deepen with rolling blackouts and food shortages, failing hospitals, and thousands fleeing the island in complete desperation. It is a a tragic scene in Cuba.

[00:01:31]>> It is. While Cuba dominates headlines across Latin America, another battle is unfolding in Colombia's presidential race. A contest that could reshape one of the region's most stable democracies.

[00:01:43]Recent polling shows three major political forces pulling ahead. A hardline conservative movement promising tougher security measures. A left-wing coalition pushing sweeping social reforms. And a centrist block campaigning on stability and also economic growth. Analysts say the election is quickly becoming a referendum on crime, inflation, and the future direction of democracy in Colombia. Yeah, it's an election we have to watch because it is so strategically positioned in Latin America. Well, much like the United States, Colombia's presidential race is becoming a battle for evangelical Christian voters.

[00:02:19]Candidates across the political spectrum are making direct appeals on issues like family values, abortion, religious freedom, while seeking endorsements from the country's fastest growing non-denominational megaurches and their influential pastors. Evangelicals now make up an estimated 15 to 20% of Colombia's electorate. Uh analysts say that voting block could prove decisive in what is expected to be a deeply divided 2026 election. We go to Ernandra Streo, Christianity Today's Latin America correspondent for a firsthand perspective. He joins us today from Bogota Talk. It's good to see you. Uh >> hi Jeff. Happy to see you again.

[00:02:58]>> Well look, Colombia's democracy is is now more than two centuries old. In all that time, what kinds of leaders have Colombians traditionally chosen as president? Strong men, reformers, technocrats. Of course, there's always a populist candidate. Um, how different does does this field feel from uh Colombia's political history?

[00:03:21]>> Yeah, it's important to understand that Colombia was government governed during most of these two centuries by two traditional parties. Liberal Party that could be seen close to the ideas of the Democratic Party in the US and the Conservative Party that could be seen like closer to the ideas of the Republican party in in the US. But everything changed in 2002 when we elected our first h president who was an independent candidate that didn't belong to any of this party that his name is Albero Oribe and he promised to bring security to Colombia and he was a very popular president. He was even reelected h for another period. And things changed again in 2022 when we elected our first h leftwing president, former guerilla leader Gustavo Pedro who is just three months away from finishing his four years period of of presidency. And that's kind of interesting because there there you've seen this in Brazil, you've seen this in other countries uh throughout South America and Latin America. Um that there is either a very traditional kind of pro- Catholic traditionalist uh aligned with family values and then you have a a socialist or someone straight out of uh the guerilla movement in some cases. Um I want you to though talk a little bit about the political power of the evangelical church in Colombia. Those numbers were astonishing to me to know that in a country that we traditionally associate with Cathol Catholicism, you have maybe 20% identifying as evangelicals. Um, do evangelical Christians generally aligned with with Catholics on on social issues or are they looking for something completely distinct from from Catholics who live next door? No, I would say that definitely Catholics and evangelicals align in many issues like the defense of traditional family, family values, fight against gender ideology, what the so-called gender ideology and here in Colombia the difference is that Catholics don't have a political party but Christians we do have two political parties Colombia Hustalures and Mida and they have senator s who are Christians, governors, mayors. So, evangelicals are a very strong political population here in Colombia.

[00:05:56]>> That's fascinating to me. Two evangelical political parties.

[00:05:59]Fascinating. Um I I do want to show you an ad from presidential contender Abelardo de la Espa. Uh he's a senator, I believe, and he's styled almost like an action movie star. He's got the sharp suit. He's got dramatic music. He's he's flipping through the Bible before dancers suddenly appear on the screen.

[00:06:18]Let's take a look at this ad.

[00:06:34]So, who is uh dea and exactly what which voters is he trying to to bring uh with imaging and messaging like that? Can he win with just that segment given that it looks like you probably will go to a runoff in in June? Well, we had a new polls going out today and Petro's successor has 40% chances of becoming president and the spread is very close with 34% around that. So, and for Colombia we you need to win 50% plus one for becoming president. So, we are going to a second round shortly after the first round next Sunday. So deas pria wants to be portrayed as the Colombian version of Na Boule, the president of El Salvador.

[00:07:29]>> And Boulli is the one of course that to American audiences would be very familiar because of of the the prisons and he and President Trump of course had that agreement to ship uh undocumented uh um immigrants uh there to to his prisons I believe. Right.

[00:07:46]>> That's right. and he has done a very good job bringing peace and security to El Salvador and that's what dea is promising for Colombia. He's a criminal lawyer famous for defending many of the most popular or known criminals in the recent history of Colombia. That's the reason why why he has been criticized also and he was openly atheist. uh but recently er like five years ago he became a Catholic and he's a very religious man now some say that because that's convenient for him to say that he's religious now but but he's the the right way to describe him is like the Colombian version of Na Buchelli >> so for for Christians specifically evangelical Christians in Colombia is it important that that next president personally embody Christian beliefs and values. I'm looking at that ad and um you know, for maybe a traditional Catholic grandmother or a traditional evangelical family, it's it's a little provocative. Um or or is it enough for that candidate uh to promise to defend Christians politically and culturally, but really live a different personal life? Have Colombians separated those two, or do you still want to have leaders who embody Christian values? I would say that especially after Gustavo's proto presidency who has failed failed many times in his uh personal example.

[00:09:20]>> So this is the current the current president right >> the current president. So now we Christians and Catholics are eager looking for a successor who sets an example as a person as a leader of being a a a person with a good behavior. For example, Dao Petro divorced from his wife during his presidency. He had no problem with walking around the streets of Panama with his mistress or going to a strip club during a visit to Portugal.

[00:09:51]So those things are something that we Christians don't don't like and expect that the new president sets a personal example. For example, Paloma Valencia was Alvaro Riv candidate and she's the third runner. She made a mistake. She named a a g openly gay man as his v president formula for these elections.

[00:10:17]So that has not >> so that's had an impact on the on the evangelical vote. That's fascinating to me. So what you're telling me is in Colombia, character still matters for leaders if you want to earn that evangelical vote. I I need to ask you this. Um Colombia does have some of the most progressive uh laws when it comes to social issues in Latin America.

[00:10:39]Abortion um legal, if I'm not mistaken, up to 24 weeks. You've got same-sex marriage recognized for about a decade now. Realistically, uh, what is a what are Christians looking for their president to do if you've already had a pretty significant progressive tilt in the last decade?

[00:10:59]>> Yeah, there's an issue that has become the most important and is the so-called gender ideology. this uh our current president Gusta Petro created a new ministry uh called the equality and gender ministry and he named gay uh leaders there on that ministry and these right-wing candidates as de la and Palma Valencia have promised to end that new ministry and especially to end with the gender ideology in public schools that has become very coming.

[00:11:36]>> So, gender ideology at the top of a Christian voters uh agenda, I guess, in the next few one week to the polls, at least the first round. I I just want to take a minute or so to talk about Cuba.

[00:11:47]You've been reporting, of course, uh on how churches have been responding to the crisis. Uh pretty remarkable. Of course, this week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered this amazing uh direct message to the Cuban people in Spanish.

[00:12:02]Um, do you sense evangelical Christians in Cuba are going to play this kind of a larger role in public life or or are evangelical Christians so conditioned to a socialist system that you wouldn't see what you're seeing in Colombia?

[00:12:19]Yeah, I I saw Marco Rubio's message and it surprised me because I have never heard about this GASA military company that has so many resources and is extremely profitable company led by the Cuban Communist Party. And what Rubio state on that message is that Cuban leaders are thieves and and liars and they have resources uh to bring uh wealth to their people but they are they are not doing this and Christians are becoming very uncomfortable with what's happening and Rubio's message pointed that US will need the population support to change Cuba and Christians will be And definitely for for this because Christians don't go along with with communism and as it happened in Venezuela they will play a major role in in the change of Cuba.

[00:13:22]>> It's it's going to be very interesting and to see how Christian the role that Christians take uh both I mean I when I think of Christians Latin America I think of them loving neighbors uh and doing it so very well because there's such deep poverty and need. but how they define this political moment is going to be incredible. Inan, thanks for taking time to share this insight with us. It's always a pleasure. Uh enjoy the rest of your day and go vote in a few days.

[00:13:47]>> Happy to talk to you, Jeff.

[00:13:50]>> Well, coming up on Morning Life, connecting the community to hope, Real Life Community Services is helping change lives by providing basic needs to students and families in Northern Lancaster County. The founder and executive director is right here to explain how. Up next, you're watching Morning Light. right here on Lighthouse TV.

[00:14:18]Welcome back. Real Life Community Services, formerly known as Real Youth Ministries, started with the goal of engaging in the lives of youth in the Coalico School District in Lancaster County. The founder and executive director, Rob Redk, is here to share what services they offer. Thanks for being with us.

[00:14:36]>> Good morning, Deborah. It's good to be here this morning.

[00:14:38]>> So, tell us about this ministry.

[00:14:40]>> Yeah, Real Life Community Services was birthed out of my heart and and desire to help at risk youth uh in Northern Langster County. Uh my wife and I uh founded the organization in 2010 and uh I quickly u became the executive director a year later, left my career.

[00:14:59]uh I turned 40 midlife crisis felt like I had to do something uh bigger in my life and give back to the community and so uh that quickly evolved uh from just focusing on youth but to actually focus on the entire family uh there's a direct correlation between atrisisk youth and families in need and so we quickly started providing social services to these families.

[00:15:22]>> We were talking earlier and you said this was from your own personal experience. Yeah, I was uh you know, one of those kids uh son of a single mom. Uh you know, trying to make uh ends meet.

[00:15:33]Uh and uh my teenage years uh I saw my mom struggle. Uh but uh what kept us uh from being homeless and on the street uh was a caring family and a caring church.

[00:15:46]And that's what I see now giving back uh to our community uh wanting to be community to those who don't have any.

[00:15:54]You said you started out with the youth, but now you've expanded. Talk to us about that expansion and how many people you service.

[00:16:01]>> Yeah. uh we focus you know in northern Lancaster County primarily the Coalico school district in the very uh tip of the of the county and there's about 23 24,000 people in the community and uh we found that um when we I started helping youth uh there was a a a real need uh for these young people who came to our programs uh for food were food insecure and so we just started helping their families buying uh you know food and groceries for for their families and that just evolved into doing more.

[00:16:35]Finding out that uh they had a their car broke down, need their car fixed, they're about to be evicted, uh wanting to help, how can we give back and how can we serve uh uh and helping them stay in their home by uh helping pay the rent. And this uh just evolved over the years. We partner with um different organizations, power packs project in Lancaster, a food distribution uh program uh and that serves families with children in our local school district uh providing them a weekly power pack of food uh with ingredients to make a hot meal. And then uh staple items like milk and eggs every single week during the school year. And then we also um hired a social worker because I don't have a degree uh but I have a big heart. Uh and what we found is by having that social worker who has the experience and knowledge of the resources in the community to get them connected uh to those resources and then things just really uh went crazy in in 2014. I became the mayor of our community and uh congratulations. Thank you. and uh and and we started serving more families and finding more needs and uh we uh started and and founded um a building called the Declaration House. Uh raised $ three and a half million dollars and got a new building built downtown Denver to provide affordable housing for families in need. uh our offices uh where our staff are able to meet uh folks who are in need and getting them help to re towards resources as well as uh partnering with the Union Community Care, a fairly qualified health center and it's just such a great community effort uh to see lives being transformed and uh we just happen to be that vehicle in our community to do so.

[00:18:20]>> So, how does it play out? How does one person get involved?

[00:18:23]>> Sure. It's uh very simple. Um you know, we're a small community. uh people see what's happening, they want to get involved, uh they can either come into our office and and uh and talk with our staff or they can go online uh onto our website reallcs.org and uh sign up uh to volunteer. Uh they get connected uh with uh Benny Yordescu who is our uh director of our volunteers. We have over over 120 150 volunteers that serve uh our community.

[00:18:50]And it's so neat to see uh how uh people who have a big heart can get plugged in and get involved to give back to their community.

[00:18:59]>> How do you share the gospel with these people?

[00:19:01]>> Very good question. I you know I think St. Francis of Aisi says it best. Uh share the gospel always and when necessary use words. And what we found is that uh people don't care what you know until they know how much you care.

[00:19:15]You need to build that trust uh before you can really share the gospel what's on your heart. So, what we found is that this is a great opportunity to find out where people's needs are and walk through life with them. Um, they might need food. We give them food and they might come and shop at our client choice um uh program and our staff, our volunteers are there and shop with them and build this relationship with them.

[00:19:40]And through building those relationships, we've earned their trust.

[00:19:43]So they're able to share with us more of the the deeper rooted issues that going on in their lives and they're able to share with us, you know, like prayer requests or someone came in a woman came in one day to shop for food and she was crying and she said, "I just lost my job." Uh our I was quick. I I was happened to be there and I saw our our volunteers just surround her uh and pray for her and encourage her and it was just so neat. Couple weeks later, I got word uh from our staff uh that she came back in and she was so excited. She found a new job that paid more than the old job. Uh and that's how it works. And we're just so excited to see how that happens in our lives.

[00:20:24]>> I can imagine that many people who are coming there may feel, why is God putting me in this situation?

[00:20:32]>> Yeah. Uh you know, it's difficult. Um you know, again, I was placed in a situation the son of a single mom. I always was angry at God because I didn't have that father in my life. We didn't have the the the the never go on vacation, you know, like we we really didn't have anything. Uh and I saw my friends and they had fathers coming to their baseball games. They had, you know, uh went on vacations and I'm like, there's something wrong. It's not fair. Life isn't fair. And I, you know, understanding that our goal is to say, look, we understand life's not fair, but let me tell you this. If if you know that you're not alone, that helps go a long way. And so we're able to come alongside of our families and individuals and let them know that they are recognized, they're acknowledged, they're appreciated, and they're well-loved and that's goes a long way when you're going through a crisis.

[00:21:25]Plus, obviously providing those basic human needs also helps.

[00:21:29]>> When we were talking earlier, you had shared a story with me about how life has been transformed. Yeah, there's a a story uh of a woman named Christy who um was u at 16 uh got pregnant and uh she was adopted child and uh her parents said, "Well, uh you're making adult decisions now. It's time to be an adult." And uh so she was challenged to have to uh hand figure this out on her own. And uh she went into a women's shelter that cared for her till she had her baby. She tried to uh make it work with the father. It did not. And so, uh, she, um, ended up in another shelter.

[00:22:07]And finally, she came into our, uh, transitional home, uh, for moms, uh, called the Glory House. And there she was able to get connected with a social worker and a mentor to help her get back on her feet. While there, she was just doing everything right, uh, following, you know, our plan for her, and she was able to get a better job, and she was able to, uh, feel confident about herself. so much we actually had an opening, one of our affordable housing units, and we were able to place her in there, uh, a two-bedroom apartment that was her own, and she continued to thrive, and she her and her daughter uh, just felt loved and cared for there.

[00:22:50]And, uh, she actually started earning more and more money and she actually earned more than the median income uh, in Lancaster County, believe it or not.

[00:22:59]She's there in the program. And then the amazing thing happened. She had met a young man uh fell in love and they got married. He moved in. They're big family now and she uh let us know uh recently that she is pregnant and she's going to have a baby later this year. And so we're excited about that. She says, but now her family's big. Uh she needs a bigger apartment. We had a three-bedroom apartment available for her. We moved her into that apartment and now they are just thriving there. And we are just so blessed to see uh how much they are, you know, cared for if they follow the the guidelines that we place for them. It's amazing what happens and see what God can do.

[00:23:39]>> And you really do need people walking beside you every step of the way because she could have fallen through the cracks again.

[00:23:46]>> Yes. I mean, real is a name in our name is an acronym relationship evangelism affecting lives. It's not about that fixing that one crisis. It it's it's it's more than that. It's actually living life with them. We're not a transactional type organization. We don't just give out food that we do, but we want to do more than that. We want to build a relationship with them and we want to see them uh grow and succeed in life and celebrate those successes with them and be through that become a community connecting them with others like them who are struggling and to be encouragement to one another.

[00:24:22]>> Let's talk about your fundraiser in June.

[00:24:24]>> Yes. Yeah. We have a fundraiser coming up. It's always a great time for those who love to golf. Uh we have our golf outing on June 10th uh at 1:00 at Foxjase Golf Course in Stevens, PA, Northern Lancaster County. Uh they're wonderful, God-fearing owners there. Uh they uh really show a good time. Uh we have over 100 golfers now. We need to get to 120, so we have a couple open slots yet left. If there's anybody out there that uh has uh the interest and want to get in a team together, uh we would love to have them there. They can just check out our website and sign up.

[00:24:59]>> Okay. Wonderful. Thank you so much for being here and sharing this with us, >> Deborah. It's been an honor to be here and just celebrate and encourage uh these wonderful stories with you and uh thank you for your time.

[00:25:11]>> Yes, you're welcome.

[00:25:13]If you are interested in taking part in that golf tournament or if you're interested in becoming a volunteer with Real Life Community Services, visit real lcs.org. Stay with us. We're back right after the break.

[00:25:32]Welcome back. Well, for some of you, any mention of Colombia brings to mind the name Cadet Bitterman. You remember that name? The Lancaster County missionary.

[00:25:41]He was a linguist with Wickliffe Bible Translators kidnapped by Marxist gerillas in 1981. Long time ago, murdered after 47 days of captivity. On March 7th of that year, President Ronald Reagan recorded an unusually for him raw reaction in his private White House diary. He said, "Received word the young Bible translator kidnapped in January by terrorists had been executed. We would expect every effort to find the cowardly scum," wrote Mr. Reagan who did this. It wasn't a public speech, but something like controlled fire, anger, and grief from a president who knew his Bible and the price of following its author.

[00:26:20]Today, Chad Bitterman's witness still lives on more than four decades after he traded the jungles of Colombia for the treasure of heaven. His life, Mr. Berman's life on this weekend is worth remembering. For Deborah and the entire Morning Light team, I'm Jeff Coleman.

[00:26:36]Thanks for spending this week with us.

[00:26:38]Enjoy some time checking on your neighbors. Pray for our troops this weekend. And we'll look for you again next week. Happy Memorial Day.