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The earthquake that demolished Armenia, Colombia, in January 1999 convinced Gustavo Granados, MD, that evan-gelicals there have a lot to learn about missions of mercy.

Granados, head of an inter-denominational medical ministry based in Cali known as the Fundación Arco Iris, or the Rainbow Foundation, arrived in Armenia two days after the quake. He brought a team of volunteer doctors and nurses to help treat the thousands of victims. Most of the city’s hospitals had been destroyed, so the team searched for a place to set up a temporary clinic. They discovered an evangelical church building in the city center that would do.

“Half the church was destroyed, but there was space for us to improvise treatment rooms,” Granados recalled. “So we asked the pastor to please let us use a bit of space to work. He agreed, but said that every morning at 10, we would have to dismantle the clinic because that was their worship time and we couldn’t see patients during services. Well, we thanked him and left.”

The Rainbow Foundation eventually set up shop in a badly damaged community health post. The building continued to crumble in the aftershocks, dumping debris on staff and patients. Despite the difficulties, the team persisted at its mission in Armenia for 17 months. During that time, Granados witnessed other examples of misplaced priorities and misguided attitudes.

“About 80 percent of the evangelical church considered the Armenia tragedy the result of sinfulness in the town,” he said. “So the more traditional missionaries who came to lend support were saying, ‘Repent, you sinner.’ But how can we go evangelize somebody whose house is in ruins, who lost his family, and condemn him?”

Rainbow’s ministry consists of one full-time missionary- Granados-and a couple dozen volunteer doctors and nurses who come and go. All are Colombian.

Evangelical organizations oversaw distribution of food aid provided by government agencies and businesses. In many cases, these groups refused to give rations to families unless they presented a certificate, signed by a pastor, attesting that they regularly attended an evangelical church. When Rainbow Foundation staffers learned of the discriminatory policy, they began providing certificates to needy Roman Catholics. “We had to lie,” Granados said with a shrug. “Sixty percent of our patients were Catholic.

“Through the Armenia earthquake, we realized we have a traditionalist evangelical church that has no idea about its obligation to society. It thinks it can minister just within the four walls of the church.”

The Rainbow Foundation does some work within church walls, but most of its ministry takes place in city slums and hard-to-reach rural villages. Granados founded the non-profit organization in 1993, after medical studies in Paris and spending several years treating alcohol and drug abusers. Rainbow sends medical brigades to perform vaccination campaigns, treat parasites, establish feeding centers and conduct community health education. In disasters like Armenia, volunteers provide first aid, trauma counseling and infectious disease control. Although the organization’s focus is medicine, its motivation is “integral evangelism.” Rainbow’s ultimate goal: sending Colombian missionaries to Africa.

“The vision is to form our own missionaries, specialized in community development, who can transplant the foundation in poorer countries,” Granados said. He believes Colombians can play a crucial role in cross-cultural ministry because they live in a developing country plagued by violence and disease, similar to many parts of Africa.

A photo display of Rain-bow’s work hangs near the front door of Jesus is the Way Church in Cali, where former Evangelical Ministers Association of Cali president Julian Collazos is pastor. “It’s a good work,” Collazos said of Rainbow. “Some of our members are using their participation in Rainbow to carry out their own individual ministry.”

Two years ago, Rainbow Foundation formed the Missio-logical Institute, a university-level training program. Building on lessons learned in Armenia and elsewhere, the Institute offers courses in community development, holistic missions and Christian leadership. Classes are open to anyone interested in studying missiology at an advanced level. In addition to all-day Saturday classes, students participate in “practical work,” periodic trips to the mountains and Pacific coast jungles to provide health care and discipleship training to isolated communities.

The Cali medical missionaries are all bivocational, including Granados. He and his wife Alva Lucia live on her teacher’s salary and occasional income that he earns on short-term contracts with other non-governmental organizations. To assist Armenia quake victims, for example, Rainbow volunteers worked four days a week in the stricken city, returning to their paying jobs in Cali the other three. Granados admits it is difficult to recruit and retain Christian professionals for missions. Financial sacrifice is but one reason.

Doctors and dentists are reluctant to work in rural areas in Colombia, due to violence from Colombia’s long-running civil war. For example, Marxist guerrillas subject affluent professionals and businessmen to pay what’s known as the boleto, or ticket. The terrorists identify wealthy victims and extort protection money from them to finance the rebellion. Anyone who refuses to pay the boleto faces kidnapping or murder in retaliation. Rainbow brigades operate in paramilitary-and guerrilla-controlled areas. Volunteers are exposed to extortion, or worse. None of Rain-bow’s workers have been shot or kidnapped-yet.

The war brings other frustrations. Rainbow Foundation worked for five years in Boca de Satingo, Nariño, providing low-cost health care and a nutrition program to the town. In March 2000, guerrillas attacked, killing the local police force and taking over the school and courthouse. The rebel takeover has cut off Boca de Satingo from the outside world and effectively ended Rainbow Foun-dation’s five-year relationship with the town.

The setbacks have taken their toll on Missiological Institute enrollment, which fell from 35 at the outset to 12 students at present. War is not solely responsible for the high dropout rate. “One student withdrew because, he said, ‘I don’t like what you’re teaching. I just want to evangelize,'” Granados said.

Despite the difficulties, Granados is undeterred in his goal of preparing missionaries for needy areas of the world. “From each graduating class of missionaries, we are going to take five to open bases in other countries. It’s imperative that we train them here in Colombia. We can’t keep relying forever on money from the US and Europe to do missions. The work has to become self-sustaining so that it can continue to go forward.”

What Granados believes about the missionary enterprise, he learned from his own experience and reading Scripture. “For us, the mandate comes straight from the biblical concept of doing good,” he said. “We see that very clearly. We hope that, through our testimony, (the person will see) a vision of what a Christian is and accept Jesus as his Savior. That is the concept we follow within the foundation. Every program revolves around this biblical mandate of doing good.”

September 7, 2001