{"id":4237,"date":"2022-10-29T09:11:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-29T09:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/?p=4237"},"modified":"2022-10-21T20:15:55","modified_gmt":"2022-10-21T20:15:55","slug":"colombian-pastor-preaches-outside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/","title":{"rendered":"Colombian Gang Blocks Church, Pastor Preaches Outside"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Asking for permission to preach is a way of life for \u201cLeonardo.\u201d Merely forgetting or refusing to ask can result in death at the hands of the guerrillas or paramilitaries in Colombia\u2019s<\/a> \u201cred zones.\u201d Pastors in these areas are viewed as obstacles to the groups\u2019 political ambitions because young people who become Christians are no longer attracted to the groups\u2019 violent lifestyles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey give you a time to start preaching, and you have to begin and be done at that time,\u201d Leonardo explained. \u201cThere was no nighttime preaching or walking outside [allowed], and I always had to give a note if I was going to go anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\r\n\t

\r\n\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\"\"\r\n\t\t<\/figure>\r\n\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t

Request your free magazine<\/p>\r\n\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\n\n\n

Leonardo\u2019s church soon transferred him to a different area, where he worked with people who had been displaced by guerrilla groups in the red zones<\/a>. But his new home was not free from opposition, either. \u201cThere are gangs, hitmen,\u201d he said. \u201cI have been there two years. Two times they have not let me preach.\u201d The gangs stopped Leonardo in front of his church and denied him entrance, saying, \u201cToday no preaching!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Leonardo found another place to preach. With a speaker and microphone in hand, he began preaching outdoors. He first began preaching to young boys, and in a short amount of time his outdoor church grew to include 70 adults and 53 children. Most had never heard the gospel, but they soon placed their faith in Christ and were baptized. Now Leonardo is training several others to preach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He knows it is dangerous to share the gospel so openly, but he also knows that he is not alone. God is with him, and he has the prayers and support of his brothers and sisters around the world. \u201cI feel the warmth of my brothers outside … the appreciation you have for us, our service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When authorities told Leonardo to stop preaching, he found even more opportunities to share the gospel. VOM comes alongside these front-line workers <\/a>to equip them with the resources<\/a> they need for evangelism and discipleship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus told us to go and teach all nations; he said nothing about getting permission from others (Matt. 28:18\u201320). Our persecuted family members are obediently living and evangelizing in some of the world\u2019s most difficult mission fields. May our Christian witness be unhindered by earthly restrictions and empowered by the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Asking for permission to preach is a way of life for \u201cLeonardo.\u201d Merely forgetting or refusing to ask can result in death at the hands of the guerrillas or paramilitaries in Colombia\u2019s \u201cred zones.\u201d Pastors in these areas are viewed as obstacles to the groups\u2019 political ambitions because young people who become Christians are no longer attracted to the groups\u2019 violent lifestyles. \u201cThey give you a time to start preaching, and you have to begin and be done at that time,\u201d Leonardo explained. \u201cThere was no nighttime preaching or walking outside [allowed], and I always had to give a note if I was going to go anywhere.\u201d Leonardo\u2019s church soon transferred him to a different area, where he worked with people who had been displaced by guerrilla groups in the red zones. But his new home was not free from opposition, either. \u201cThere are gangs, hitmen,\u201d he said. \u201cI have been there two years. Two times they have not let me preach.\u201d The gangs stopped Leonardo in front of his church and denied him entrance, saying, \u201cToday no preaching!\u201d But Leonardo found another place to preach. With a speaker and microphone in hand, he began preaching outdoors. He first began<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4238,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[16],"class_list":["post-4237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-field-stories","tag-colombia","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nColombian Gang Blocks Church, Pastor Preaches Outside - Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"But Leonardo found another place to preach. With a speaker and microphone in hand, he began preaching outdoors.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Colombian Gang Blocks Church, Pastor Preaches Outside - Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"But Leonardo found another place to preach. With a speaker and microphone in hand, he began preaching outdoors.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-10-29T09:11:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/CUS202103AZ_0003-1_pub-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2115\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Megan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Megan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Megan\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/ea63eedbbbed48d27a0f5da18832377a\"},\"headline\":\"Colombian Gang Blocks Church, Pastor Preaches Outside\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-10-29T09:11:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/\"},\"wordCount\":400,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/CUS202103AZ_0003-1_pub-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Colombia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Stories from the Field\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/\",\"name\":\"Colombian Gang Blocks Church, Pastor Preaches Outside - Stories\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/CUS202103AZ_0003-1_pub-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-10-29T09:11:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/ea63eedbbbed48d27a0f5da18832377a\"},\"description\":\"But Leonardo found another place to preach. With a speaker and microphone in hand, he began preaching outdoors.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/CUS202103AZ_0003-1_pub-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/CUS202103AZ_0003-1_pub-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":2115,\"caption\":\"Aerial shot of Colombian house\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Colombian Gang Blocks Church, Pastor Preaches Outside\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/\",\"name\":\"Stories\",\"description\":\"VOM\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/ea63eedbbbed48d27a0f5da18832377a\",\"name\":\"Megan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cf3a90350e5bc57191a502794c311240907fffa912111a78187004d24109bf7d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cf3a90350e5bc57191a502794c311240907fffa912111a78187004d24109bf7d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Megan\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Colombian Gang Blocks Church, Pastor Preaches Outside - Stories","description":"But Leonardo found another place to preach. With a speaker and microphone in hand, he began preaching outdoors.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Colombian Gang Blocks Church, Pastor Preaches Outside - Stories","og_description":"But Leonardo found another place to preach. With a speaker and microphone in hand, he began preaching outdoors.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/","og_site_name":"Stories","article_published_time":"2022-10-29T09:11:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":2115,"url":"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/CUS202103AZ_0003-1_pub-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Megan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Megan","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/"},"author":{"name":"Megan","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/ea63eedbbbed48d27a0f5da18832377a"},"headline":"Colombian Gang Blocks Church, Pastor Preaches Outside","datePublished":"2022-10-29T09:11:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/"},"wordCount":400,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/CUS202103AZ_0003-1_pub-scaled.jpg","keywords":["Colombia"],"articleSection":["Stories from the Field"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/","url":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/","name":"Colombian Gang Blocks Church, Pastor Preaches Outside - Stories","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/CUS202103AZ_0003-1_pub-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2022-10-29T09:11:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/ea63eedbbbed48d27a0f5da18832377a"},"description":"But Leonardo found another place to preach. With a speaker and microphone in hand, he began preaching outdoors.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/CUS202103AZ_0003-1_pub-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/CUS202103AZ_0003-1_pub-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":2115,"caption":"Aerial shot of Colombian house"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/colombian-pastor-preaches-outside\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Colombian Gang Blocks Church, Pastor Preaches Outside"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/","name":"Stories","description":"VOM","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/ea63eedbbbed48d27a0f5da18832377a","name":"Megan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cf3a90350e5bc57191a502794c311240907fffa912111a78187004d24109bf7d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cf3a90350e5bc57191a502794c311240907fffa912111a78187004d24109bf7d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Megan"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4237"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4280,"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4237\/revisions\/4280"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}