Follow God's Calling And He Will Make The Connections
“If God calls you for some reason and you obey God, you will be in the right place. This is simple for me.” -Jhonny Anderson Nieto
Jhonny Anderson Nieto has witnessed God’s work throughout his life. The most recent example is his connection and now friendship with Angel Galvis, CEO of Mission Life, and how it led to a partnership with Fundacion Formavida in Bogota, Colombia.
Jhonny grew up in the Amazon jungle. His parents, originally from Bogota, spent 17 years preaching to communities and tribes in the jungle. His home was always open to visiting missionaries. At 17, he left to become a musician, but it did not take long for him to return.
Jhonny organized mission trips in Colombia to Fundacion Formavida and the Amazon for young people as well as missionaries from the US. He started volunteering with Wine to Water, a non-profit organization that builds and rehabilitates wells and brings filters to communities in need of clean water. Today he is Wine to Water’s Program Director for Latin America.
He remembers getting an email from Angel Galvis in 2017.
“‘Hi I’m Angel Galvis. I found your name. I’m looking to do missions in Colombia. I’m from Colombia and I want to know how to do missions there,’” quotes Jhonny.
He did some research on Angel but all he could find were pictures of him partying on Facebook.
Jhonny says, “He told me yeah, I really was kind of into some bad things in life, but God changed my life.”
They talked for a few months. Jhonny was in Puerto Rico for an arts conference and Hurricane Maria was about to hit the island. He knew he’d be stuck there for a while, so he gave Angel Lucy Lanchero’s phone number. Lancheros is the director of Fundacion Formavida, an organization in Colombia that provides resources for children whose families are struggling.
“For sure we were trusting in the Holy Spirit. Okay, it’s time to be relaxed and trust that Angel had real transformation from God,” Jhonny says.
Sure enough, Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. Cell service was wiped out. Jhonny spent the next couple of months focusing on relief efforts there.
When he got back to Colombia, he asked Lucy how things were going with Angel.
“Did you talk to Angel?” he said. Lucy said, “Yes! We were talking. We have a plan. Look!”
Before they knew it, Angel was bringing a discovery team to Colombia and then an even bigger group. Today, Mission Life has a strong partnership with Fundacion Formavida and it is helping to provide hot meals, tutoring, enrichment, school fees and spiritual guidance to the children there.
It all began with one email and two Colombians who put their faith and trust in God to obey and carry out His work.
Jhonny’s next project? He’s the director of Asociacion Latino Americana de Ethno-artes, an organization that is connecting artists to missionaries to develop artistic worship based on a community’s culture and roots. Look for more to come from Jhonny and Angel.
Jhonny Anderson Nieto and Angel Galvis
Sharing Musical Talent With Children In The Amazon
Building Wells For Clean Water