It was a disaster waiting to happen: On 18 May 2015, torrential rainfall in Colombia caused mudslides that swept away homes in the city of Mocoa, killing 254 and leaving hundreds missing. Neglect and corruption left low-lying parts of the city vulnerable and impeded efforts of rescuers to reach those affected. But one man — Raul Moreno — used his Haggai training to turn things around. Here is the story in his own words.

Raul Moreno unloads aid supplies in Mocoa.

I was returning from a business trip to Bogota when I heard of the disaster. Immediately, I gathered a task force, collected food, and loaded the provisions and some boxes of Bibles. Two days later, we were in Mocoa.

We arrived with boots ready to take people out of the mud and give physical as well as spiritual food. But we soon realized the local churches were hurting and discouraged. The first person we met was a local pastor burying the fifth member of his congregation.

We had to redesign our plan. So we located 17 churches and matched them with census data for the populations they served. The churches were able to tell us what the most urgent needs were in their area, and local pastors helped with the logistics of aid distribution. We saw a united Church that was beginning to mobilize effectively at the national level.

My eyes still fill with tears because of the pain we saw – people who had lost homes and were unable to find wives or children. Only Jesus could bring hope of a new birth and give us a message of comfort to sit with the people and embrace them.

Did Haggai training help? Totally! Haggai has taught me that the life of a Christian only makes sense when it is used to carry the message of the cross. The clarity of providing timely planning based on goals and objectives helped build a master plan that continues to guide the aid process up to this day. Haggai has been outstanding.

It is time to have channels of transparency and honesty that make a difference with state processes. Today, as a church, we are called to preach by example in the management of this catastrophe. We need a vision for a different society, where the leaders do not serve themselves, but serve God, with His power!