Spiritual Director Visits Colombia

By Rev. David Drye and Denise Adams

Each January for the last three years, the Spiritual Director Rev. David Drye has traveled to Colombia to visit our members and their groups. This year, Denise Adams accompanied Rev. Drye as his translator. Denise also works in David’s office at the Inner Retreat as the Sacrament and Services coordinator for our church.

The trip began by visiting the city of Pereira for the annual national youth retreat. This was a three day event that brought the youth and young adults together from all over Colombia. Each year the youth choose a theme to study. This year’s theme was the world’s religions. They chose Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism. The youth come from 5 regions of Colombia that include the cities of Pereira, Cali, Medellin, Bogota, and Cartagena. The foundation of each religion was presented by youth from each region. They created the slide shows for each workshop and shared how devotees of each religion worship.

About 100 attended and many felt this was the best experience they have had since they began holding these retreats 5 years ago. The resort we stayed at was very nice with lots of facilities to support the retreat. Great weather and the experience of making many new friends were highlights.

Several memorable skits included the birth of Brahman and the creation of the Hindu deities. The costumes created for this were just incredible. Everyone was also treated to a traditional Hindu dance presented by one of the attendees who grew up in a Hindu monastery and had practiced for many years the moves of the dance.

Following the youth retreat, we flew to Bogota to meet with the leadership and present teachings on the five steps of discipleship and what does it mean to bond to the heart of the Guru. This was a lecture that Mother gave and is published in the Pearls of Wisdom Vol. 52. No. 1-6. We also shared wonderful teachings on Karma and Reincarnation from Mother’s lecture on Nine Cats, Nine Lives.

Following Bogota we journeyed to Cali where the seminar, The Healing Power of Angels was presented to the group. There were many new seekers who attended. The group decorated the altar in their sanctuary with many white roses which was a beautiful addition to the experience.

We visited Cartagena for two days to meet the members at their center, which overlooks the Caribbean Sea. An introductory lecture on the masters, including teachings on reincarnation and karma was open to the public. About 20 new seekers attended and many were very happy to know there was a local group.

Our final stop was in Medellin. Here we had a great weekend visit with the youth group and the members. This is the largest group that we have with about 125 attendees over the weekend. We shared again the five steps of discipleship and four sections of Mothers teaching from her lecture on Nine Cats, Nine Lives. We will never forget the beautiful faces of the Colombians, and their great love for the teachings of the Masters and the Messengers.

Throughout the trip we were struck with the presence of the Holy Spirit and how the Ascended Masters and angels came to minister to the people. The devotion and effort of the people in Latin America as well their warm and open heart was a joy and blessing to us in many ways as well.

One particular story really touched our hearts. It was about a 13 year old boy who had been looking for something spiritual and found it through a long-time Keeper of the Flame in Cali. This happened right before our arrival and he was able to participate in the entire weekend event of the Healing Power of Angels along with all the adults. He is now decreeing and preparing to become a Keeper of the Flame.

We know there are souls who need this teaching in order to have their victory in this life, and the story of this boy made us realize how supremely important it is for all of us to keep this teaching alive and available to the light-bearers. Can you imagine what our lives would be like not to have these teachings because no one was willing to do the decree work, print the books, or be a part of an outreach event we could find? What if there had been no one in Cali who kept the flame of our teachings? What might have happened to this little boy?

Fortunately, there are many of our members today in Colombia who continue to spread the knowledge of the ascended masters. We thank everyone who prayed for our safe travel in support of our membership in Colombia.