A church with no roof and no walls

More than 25 years ago, still teenage parents, Roberto and Andrea Cifuentes gave their lives to Jesus. Since then, they have never stopped serving Him with passion, walking alongside young people, children and families, and bringing hope to every place God has sent them.

Their desire to put God’s love into action led them, together with two couples who were friends, to found SKN Group in 2015, with the vision of inspiring, equipping and transforming lives. Through this foundation they carried out social work in different communities and, between 2017 and 2018, they shared the biblical evangelism course “The Steps of the Master” in more than 15 congregations across Colombia.

During that time, God connected them with Scott and Edna Bass, a couple in the United States who shared the same longing to serve the communities of the Colombian coast. Together they began a beautiful adventure in Aracataca, taking the message of the gospel to schools, squares and streets, where many people came to know the love of Christ in a real and close way.

From that experience a conviction was born: to plant a church in the region where people could encounter a living and transforming God, knowing Him and His Son Jesus Christ through the Bible and without religiosity. After a time of prayer seeking divine direction, God confirmed His will: Roberto and Andrea were the ones called to begin this project in Santa Marta.

With faith and obedience, they decided to leave everything: their jobs (Andrea as a psychologist and Roberto as a commercial manager), their families and their life on the plains of Bogotá, to dedicate themselves to serving God full time in this new city.

One of the many confirmations of this calling came the day they met pastor Miguel Santos, of Iglesia Camino in North Carolina (USA), in a virtual meeting arranged by Edna. He shared that he had spent a year praying for a couple starting a ministry, so that he could support them financially and spiritually during the first years, the most challenging ones, and when he heard their testimony he understood that they were that couple.

In January 2019, Roberto and Andrea moved to Santa Marta together with their younger children to work on planting Iglesia Camino Colombia. Although there was no organizational tie with pastor Santos’ church, they were joined by a deep bond of brotherly love, gratitude and spiritual support.

Little by little, God kept adding people to the prayer meetings and the Sunday teachings held in their home. What began as a small group of faith soon became a growing spiritual family. Finally, on August 4, 2019, Iglesia Camino Colombia was officially born in the city of Santa Marta.

The name “Camino” (the Way) reflects the identity of the first believers, who were known as “those of the Way,” and reminds us that Jesus Himself is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Since then, our vision has remained firm:

Love God, love people and live His Word (Matthew 22:36–38; James 1:22).

We dream of a church with a clear vision and solid leadership, formed by leaders of good testimony full of the Holy Spirit, full of wisdom and trustworthy (Acts 6:3) and pastors devoted to prayer and to the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4), so that, as in Acts 6:7, the Word of God keeps growing and multiplying throughout the region.

Since then, God has been adding one person at a time, and has allowed us to grow together in faith in Christ, based on the model of the early church in Acts 2:42-47: a united, generous community committed to the Word.

Today, Iglesia Camino is a church with no roof and no walls that moves forward together toward the maturity of each believer, with the work of every member who places their time, treasure and talent at the service of God’s purpose, following the way Jesus left us: to love, serve and live His truth with authenticity and passion.