In a nation long gripped by the stranglehold of violence and drug warfare, an extraordinary transformation is quietly taking place in the heart of Medellín, Colombia. Once branded the world’s murder capital, this mountainous city is finding redemption not through politics or force, but through soccer, faith, and community resilience.
From 1985 to 2000, Medellín was drenched in bloodshed. Mark Wittig, president of COSDECOL – the Social and Sport Corporation of Colombia – remembers the horror vividly. “There was an average homicide rate of 15 to 20 per day. Psychologists would call Medellín the culture of death,” he said. It was a city where children learned to kill before they could read and where Pablo Escobar’s cartel ruled with terror.
Picture: Official logo of COSDECOL (Union Cristiano)
Yet, even amid this darkness, seeds of change were being sown.
Wittig, an American missionary born in Colombia, returned in 1985 during the city’s most dangerous era. His mission seemed improbable: spread the gospel and offer hope in neighborhoods ruled by gangs. But he discovered an unlikely bridge to these hardened young men – their love for fútbol.
“I just figured that God was going to take care of me one way or another,” Wittig said, as he began organizing soccer tournaments for neighborhood gangs. The initiative, innocent in its inception, evolved into a movement. What started as a way to get young men off the streets turned into a ministry of transformation.
The model was simple: before every soccer practice, there was a Bible lesson. As a few youths embraced the faith, Wittig met them weekly for Bible study and prayer. These early disciples became the foundation for what would grow into COSDECOL – an organization now touching lives across Colombia.
One of those lives is Alex Saldarriaga, now COSDECOL’s Sports Director. By ten, he was already cleaning his cartel-leader father’s weapons. At one point, he came home from practice only to be handed a kill list by his father. Another member, Wilson Rogers, recalled his time running drugs as a matter of survival. Juan Martinez began selling drugs at eleven after learning his mother was prostituting herself to keep them afloat.
For these young men, violence was inherited. But COSDECOL offered something different – purpose and peace.
Picture: Gang survivor and COSDECOL Spirts Director, Alex Saldarriaga, having a pep talk with child footballers
Despite the constant risk, Wittig never turned away. “We had guys taking mini-uzi submachine guns to practice – to games,” he recalled. “I went to jail for them. I had them in my house.” Yet, he remained faithful to the mission: meet them on the soccer field and speak to their souls.
Saldarriaga remembers his turning point. “At the first practice, I saw a coach with a Bible in his hand. It was the first time I heard anything about love,” he said. The message pierced deeper than bullets ever could.
Today, COSDECOL is a well-structured organization that reaches some of Colombia’s most dangerous and impoverished communities. From hosting leagues and offering mentorship to providing education and planting fields even in gang-controlled areas, the initiative has reached over 45,000 lives.
Even in settlements like Manantiales, where displaced families live without basic amenities unless provided by criminal gangs, COSDECOL has found favor. The very gangs that fuel the drug trade have given the ministry permission to operate. “Even the gang leaders want their kids to train with our teams,” Wittig said.
With three soccer fields, a ministry complex, and a brownie business funding half its operations, COSDECOL continues to grow. International partnerships provide clinics and professional opportunities for Medellín’s youth. The organization’s impact is not just in numbers, but in stories of transformation.
Picture: Children registered with COSDECOL preparing for a match
Young players like Miguel and Emiliano describe learning the values of Jesus through sport, and how fútbol gives them purpose and vision. For Saldarriaga, the change runs even deeper. Now a man of faith, he’s made peace with his father and even travels to the jungle to share the gospel with cartel members.
“God’s grace is greater than any sin,” said Wittig. “Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more. That’s what we’ve seen here in Medellín – lives changed, families restored, and hope ignited.”