The El Abrigo Foundation is situated in the city of Cali, on the Western side of Colombia, in the shadow of the Andes mountain range.
It was to here that Dutch Pastor Hendrik Hoere, and his Finnish wife Teija, travelled in 1986, to commence work as youth pastors to Julio Ruibal. Julio led a great spiritual transformation of Cali and shortly before his assassination by drug cartels, commissioned Hendrik and Teija to launch their own ministry.
1994
IN THE BEGINNING
Pastor Hendrik Hoere and his wife, Teija, start the El Abrigo de el Altissimo church in their living room. Very soon after, people began to knock on the door, asking to attend. Finances were tight, Colombia was in a bad state and violence was rife throughout Cali. It was a dangerous time full of uncertainty. Hendrik and Teija had to move the church to various locations sometimes for financial reasons and sometimes because we were growing in numbers.
2000
2000
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
For many years, the church had to move from place to place, and from building to building. This was as a result of having to constantly deal with visits from guerilleros, who put pressure on people and finances. In 2000, the church settled in a nice building.
2001
2001
A NEW FOUNDATION
The El Abrigo Children’s Foundation is established by Teija. Its mission is to provide an outreach into the local community, by helping to educate and feed the young children and provide support to their parents.
2004
2004
THE NI CONNECTION
Paul Shields, from Belfast, Northern Ireland, visits Cali for the first time after being invited on a mission trip. The purpose was to visit many churches in the area, to preach, teach, lead worship, anoint the sick and to help feed the local children. One of churches visited was El Abrigo and Paul later recorded a song in Spanish. The team also helped to distribute translated copies of St. John’s Gospel. The booklets had been translated by Every Home Crusade who are based in ….. Belfast!
2009
2009
ON THE ROAD AGAIN, AGAIN
Upon discovering that the building was owned by the mafia and being used to launder money, the decision was made to move again. The new location, which was much bigger, needed a lot of work to make it fit for purpose. A team of volunteers helped to get it into shape. As time passed, it was discovered that the area had a lot of problems; Hendrik’s car became the subject of vandalism, a church attender had his car taken from him at gunpoint and there were many other robberies.
2013
2013
ANOTHER NEW HOME
Hendrik and congregation were on the road again and finally settled in the building that still acts as the El Abrigo Church. It came as a big relief to the congregation, to be able to settle in one place, and free from the troubles that existed in other parts of the city.
2013
2013
DIVINE HEALING
Paul Shields leads a team from Divine Healing Ministries (based in Belfast) which had an emphasis on “teaching”. It was on this trip that amazing miracles were witnessed; a baby’s leg grew out and a tumour disappeared. These are miracles we rarely see at home.
2016
2016
A HEARTBREAKING DISCOVERY
Bangor builder, Thanney Pyper, visits Cali for the first time in order to assist with some renovations at a Children’s Foundation run by Anna Bustos Gomez. What was to be a simple job turned into a heart-breaking decision as it was discovered that the foundations of the building were unsafe and it was subsequently condemned. The ability to evangelise to 150 children was taken away. On the same trip, Thanney met Pastor Hendrik and performed some building work at the El Abrigo Church.
2017
2017
RETURN TO CALI
Thanney Pyper returns to Cali on 3 separate occasions, with the mission to build a new 4th floor at the El Abrigo Children’s Foundations. Doing so would allow the foundation to cater for 350 street children. Not without challenge due to weather conditions and even a broken hand, the build work was completed and opened exactly 1 year to the date that Anna Bustos Gomez’s Foundation was closed.
2018
2018
A HEART FOR COLOMBIA
Thanney’s heart for Cali and Colombia sees him return once again to perform some renovations at the Children’s Foundation. Thanney delights the kitchen staff as he overhauls their facilities to provide a brand new space for them to work in.
2019
2019
EL ABRIGO NI
Northern Ireland based El Abrigo fundraising committee is formed. The inaugural “Concert for Cali” takes place in Belfast on August 31st, raising much needed funds for the Foundation. Pastor Jhon Jairro gives up full-time employment to become a full-time pastor at El Abrigo, with his monthly salary being covered by the NI based committee.
2020
2020
PANDEMIC
Covid-19 sweeps through the world, leaving Pastor Hendrik stranded in The Netherlands from February of that year. Meanwhile, Pastor Jhon continues to run the foundation back in Cali, preaching and providing support to those in need.
2021
2021
HARD TIMES
The congregation of El Abrigo and those in the local community felt the hardship of the pandemic, with many people struggling for basics such food and heating. Support was sent by donors in Northern Ireland to help the people, with food and supplies being distributed in the community by Pastor Hendrik, John and the pastoral team.
2022
2022
WEST CHURCH PARTNERSHIP
A partnership between West Church Bangor, Northern Ireland and El Abrigo is formed, allowing for the current church building in Cali to be renovated. The work will allow for a bigger meeting space on Sundays for worship, for young folks to have their own place to meet and for gatherings during the week. Support is also being given to support a youth worker for 3 years to help with outreach in the community.