Good Samaritan Society – Canton

Jun 15, 2012

(Canton, S.D.) – One simple request spoke profoundly to Michelle Short’s heart. As part of a mission outreach project with the Good Samaritan Society, Michelle — an accounts payable staff member at Good Samaritan Society – Canton who recently celebrated her 25th anniversary with the Good Samaritan Society — helped initiate construction of a home in Colombia. The home was built for Concepcion “Conchita” Bolanos through Michelle’s involvement with Project Outreach.

Michelle’s interest in Project Outreach arose three years ago after seeing a presentation about the mission program. She learned about one of the program’s partnerships to assist seniors in Soacha, Colombia. Michelle and the Canton center offered to sponsor an elder there. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Colombia — Iglesia Evangélica Luterana de Colombia (IELCO) — assigned the sponsorship of Conchita to the Canton center.

Left: Good Samaritan Society – Canton staff member Michelle Short visits Conchita Bolanos, a Colombian senior Michelle has sponsored through Project Outreach since 2010.

The center started small by raising money to pay for meals and bedding — not only for Conchita, but also for other elder Colombians in need. Michelle communicated by e-mail with staff members about those needs and also with the IELCO to hear from and about Conchita.

For Michelle, the closing of a letter written by Conchita in 2010 brought the Good Samaritan Society’s mission of sharing God’s love into sharper focus. Conchita wrote, “I pray to God to die in my own home because I do not have a home.”

“It broke my heart to think of anyone — but especially an older person — without a home,” Michelle says. “And I thought even if she lived there for one day, what an amazing moment that would be for her, to have this wish come true.”

Immediately, Michelle asked her family, friends and favorite businesses for donations to raise $400 so that Conchita could buy a plot of land for a new home. The drive quickly generated $1,300 — enough for Conchita to acquire both land and materials for a home.

Just a few months later, Conchita had a place of her own.

“In 2011, I got to see the land that Conchita and her family found, which in itself was a huge accomplishment now that I see the area,” Michelle says. “There are not many places to build or purchase. As you near Soacha, you see hillsides that are eroding but homes all along them anyway. Miles and miles of poverty. As in any poor area, there are many people living in tight quarters and in often poor housing.”

However, bleak surroundings did not diminish the light rising in Conchita’s spirit on that visit.

“When I met Conchita the first time, it seemed she was a little subdued. But after walking down to her lot with her, taking pictures, I think it became more real because then she was much more emotional,” Michelle says. “When I had to leave, she and her sister-in-law were just clinging to me and crying and crying. They kept saying something, so I finally found an interpreter. They were asking, ‘When are you coming back?’ So, of course, I said, ‘Un año’ — one year.”

Right: One of the Good Samaritan Society’s mission projects in Colombia is a senior center and soup kitchen in Soacha. “It is definitely a place not only to feed the body, but the soul as well,” says Michelle Short, Good Samaritan Society – Canton staff member. “People walk anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours for a meal there.”

Conchita’s new home now shares land next to her son and his family and is near where her brother and sister-in-law live. This location gives her a sense of security. During Canton’s sponsorship, the IELCO had moved Conchita into an apartment because she had been robbed twice while living in shoddy shelter without family nearby to help protect her. The new home also means that Conchita no longer pays rent, which additionally translates into offset costs to the IELCO for providing housing.

While a land purchase and new home isn’t feasible for all seniors in Colombia who depend on the Good Samaritan Society’s presence, sponsorships from Society centers and willing volunteers from across the U.S. can get new bedding, food, medicine and other necessities to seniors in need. An expanding ministry program within Project Outreach offers the opportunity to contribute $40 a month and sponsor the delivery of medicine, vitamin supplements, clothing and basic furnishings to these seniors.

Cindy Nielsen, who visited Colombia in 2011 and works in project management for the Good Samaritan Society, sponsors a man named Pedro. Pedro, a former taxi driver, lost his job after one side of his body became paralyzed following an assault by a customer. The loss of income drove Pedro into the streets. He pieced together scraps and trash to construct a shack on the edge of a ravine near Soacha.

Cindy keeps tabs on Pedro by communicating through e-mails with the IELCO and Pastor Nataneal Lizarazo of First Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, S.D. She describes a recent photo of Pedro proudly standing by his shack as “heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time.”

Meanwhile, the satisfaction that comes from sharing tears and Christ’s love with Conchita after visiting her this year continues speaking to Michelle’s heart.

“It’s amazing how it all happened,” Michelle says. “I always felt that not only was it a blessing to Conchita, but to her family, as this will be something that can continue to help them over the years. Now they have each other—and safe and solid homes.”

To learn more about Project Outreach and its missions, click here. 

Story by Todd Norden

Electronic Communications Assistant at the Good Samaritan Society’s National Campus in
Sioux Falls, S.D.

Above: Housing in Soacha, Colombia, often consists of cramped, unsturdy dwellings on steep hillsides.