New Advisory Board, Upcoming Youth Leadership Retreat, Fundraising Unknowns
There’s something powerful about watching a young person realize they were made for this moment.
This June, a group of young leaders in rural Colombia will gather for a two-day retreat — complete with influential speakers, workshops, games, goodie bags, and personal words of encouragement — all designed to help them step more fully into who God created them to be.
In this update, we’re sharing:
About our first ever Advisory Board meeting
The Youth Leadership Retreat coming up in Filandia, Colombia
And an unexpected challenge with our 2025 fundraising
Keep reading to see how you can be part of what God is doing through Village Reach.
🌱 A Milestone: Our First Advisory Board Meeting
This spring, we reached a new milestone in the life of Village Reach: our first-ever Advisory Board meeting.
Unlike a traditional nonprofit board of directors, our advisory board exists purely for counsel and wisdom. It’s a circle of trusted voices to help us continue growing in a sustainable, focused, and faithful way.
We were honored to be joined by Mark Collins (Chase’s dad), Joe Clayton, and Dave Osborne — all accomplished business leaders who have known and supported our co-founders Katlyn and Chase for years. Alongside our core team of Katlyn, Chase, and Alyssa, we gathered to reflect on who we are, where we’re going, and what wise stewardship looks like.
Our co-founder Katlyn led the agenda with incredible heart and clarity, sharing the full foundation of Village Reach: our mission, vision, values, strategic plan, impact framework, governance structure, ethical guidelines, and more.
We also surfaced big decisions currently in front of us — like whether to take on Mission: Liberia with Melvin as our new Dreamer in Africa, the challenges and benefits of that opportunity, and how to clarify our evolving VR Relief efforts.
Since that meeting, our core team (Katlyn, Chase, and Alyssa) has been doing some important “homework” to prepare for our next advisory session and help us continue building sustainably. We are actively seeking to answer these three questions:
What is our core focus as Village Reach?
Should we remain project-based or transition to program-based work?
How do we graduate a mission location — how do we know when a mission is complete so we can shift our focus elsewhere?
One of the most moving moments came from Mark Collins, who shared about Chase’s lifelong desire to serve — and how, as a father, he’s always been eager to support this God-given vision. Mark said something we’ll never forget:
“When someone’s in my office and asks if they can do anything for me, I tell them, ‘Well, there’s this great nonprofit, Village Reach. If you could cut a check right now, we’d be so grateful.’”
And sometimes… they do.
Mark and Chase share a boldness in asking — not for themselves, but for God’s kingdom. It reminded us why we do what we do.
Looking ahead, the advisory board will meet quarterly to provide a sounding board as we make key decisions about the future of Village Reach. As Katlyn said so well:
““We want to get better at letting our yes be yes and our no be no.””
Now, with more wisdom around us, we feel better equipped to do just that.
Chase’s parents Jill and Mark Collins with their new grandson Beckham
🌟 Coming Up: The Second Annual Youth Leadership Retreat in Colombia
Next month from June 17–20, something truly special is happening in the small Colombian village of Filandia — the Second Annual Youth Leadership Retreat, led by our incredible Dreamers, Karson and Eyson.
Karson and Eyson serve through their ministry, Fundación Pioneros, which meets the holistic needs of local youth and families in Filandia. Through after-school programs, Bible studies, grocery aid, youth groups, and access to counseling, they have become pillars of hope in a community facing deep challenges like broken families, drug trafficking, and generational trauma. Some of the youth attending this year’s retreat have been with them since preschool — and are now graduating high school.
These young leaders have faced so much, and yet they continue to serve others. This retreat is our way of celebrating them, encouraging them, and reminding them that they are made for this moment — the theme of this year’s retreat.
Over the course of two days, these students will hear from local psychologists who already know and serve their community. They’ll engage in games, activities, prayer, and reflection — all designed to help them recognize the gifts, skills, and passions God has placed within them. We’re also preparing a custom-designed workbook to guide them through the retreat, offering space to journal and respond to what God is speaking to them.
We’ve designed T-shirts, created goodie bags with notebooks, pens, and treats, and we’re even considering hiring a local videographer to capture the experience for those of us who can’t be there in person this year.
Youth Leadership Retreat 2024
VR Cofounder Chase and his now wife, Atalie, at the last retreat in Colombia
One of the most meaningful parts of the retreat will be the commissioning scrolls. For each student, Eyson and Karson have written down their name, hobbies, and the character traits they see in them — things like courage, compassion, and creativity. We’re now inviting both the Filandia community and our wider Village Reach family to write short notes of encouragement to these youth. These personal affirmations will be included on each student’s scroll and presented during a powerful moment of celebration and commissioning.
If you’d like to participate, we’d love for you to write a short message to one of the students — even just a few heartfelt sentences. Simply email your message to admin@villagereach.world with the student’s name in the subject line or body of the message. You can choose one of the following students based on what resonates with you:
✍🏽 Student Leaders & Their Strengths
Diego – Head male leader, graduating high school. Wants to study business administration. Loves soccer and joking around.
Sara Nicool – Head female leader, 10th grade. Close to her family and pets. Taking a course in manicures and pedicures.
Andrei – First-year university student studying economics. Very smart and speaks English.
Jojhan – Recreation and games leader, 10th grade. Talented soccer player and avid gamer. Loves anything sporty.
Nicolas B – Organizational leader, 10th grade. Loves the outdoors, especially fishing.
Maria Jose – Graduating this year. Very creative, especially with personal style and clothing.
Chadia – 10th grade. Enrolled in a nursing program. Speaks a little English.
Juan Jose – Graduating this year. Plays soccer, exploring options to continue playing at university level. (Cousin of Jojhan)
Jhesman – Graduating this year. Plays basketball.
Santiago – Graduating this year. Enjoys soccer and video games. Shy but ambitious and a hard worker.
Esteban – 10th grade. Loves soccer and is great with kids.
David – 10th grade. Helps his mom with her local businesses. Aspires to be a pilot.
Juan David – 10th grade. Loves the gym and riding his bike. Lives on a farm and bikes into town for school and activities.
Samuel – 9th grade. Plays basketball and likes video games.
Juan Camilo – 8th grade. Introverted, respectful, helpful. Loves video games and has a sweet relationship with his mom.
Emmanuel – 8th grade. Talented guitarist and very musically gifted. Quiet but always helping.
Mateo – 8th grade. Likes basketball. (Cousin of Emmanuel)
Nicolas N – 8th grade. Loves basketball and TV. Quiet and introverted, but one of our best leaders.
These students look forward to this retreat all year. They ask about it constantly. And they still talk about the times we’ve visited in person — though we won’t be able to attend this year, we’re sending our love through videos, letters, and prayers.
We believe in these young leaders. And we believe that God has prepared them for such a time as this.
💭 The Dreams Within Reach Gala… Postponed
Every year, we run two major fundraising campaigns — one in July and another from mid-November through December 31st. In 2025, we’re pursuing our biggest annual goal yet: $75,000, with a stretch goal of $100,000. That’s right in line with what we’ve raised in past years — this year, we’re moving forward with growth in mind, trusting God to make a way.
Our July fundraiser, Dreams Within Reach, is usually capped by a beautiful summer gala, hosted for the past two years by Abby and Wyatt Morton of The Morton Collective, a real estate team based in Tennessee. This event has historically been the single largest source of donations during our July campaign.
Gift bags from the Summer Gala last year
But this year, Abby and Wyatt are in a busy season, and while they’re still supporting us wholeheartedly, they’ve had to postpone the gala until the end of the year.
This leaves us at a crossroads. We are currently on our knees asking the Lord to reveal what comes next. We believe He gave us this fundraising goal, and we know He is faithful — but right now, we don’t yet see how it’s going to work.
We’re asking honest questions like:
Should we move forward with our Dreams Within Reach July campaign without the gala?
Could our new summer intern, starting June 2, lead this effort? Her focus will be fundraising, and the precedent for an intern-led fundraiser is a $400 campaign — a great starting point, but reaching our usual July benchmark will take all of us rallying together.
Or should we try something entirely new?
We’ve brainstormed ideas like:
Hosting smaller fundraising events at coffee shops, breweries, carnivals, and fairs (which typically bring in ~$500 each).
Organizing vision tables — intimate gatherings of 6–8 people in a co-founder’s home to share the story and impact of Village Reach, and invite deeper partnership. These aren’t about fundraising in a traditional sense, but about connection, calling, and vision.
And of course, continuing to build the movement online — through storytelling, encouragement, and shared hope.
We don’t know what it will look like just yet — but we do know we don’t want to wait passively until the end of the year. So we’re asking you, our beloved Village Reach family, for two things:
Would you pray with us? Ask God to show us the way.
Would you share your ideas? We’re open — truly.
We are ready to grow and serve God’s Kingdom, but we cannot do it without you — and without this fellowship of believers who keep showing up, lifting us up, and helping us carry the vision forward.
Thank you for believing in this mission and helping us extend God’s love through sustainable, locally-led impact. Whether it’s helping a young person feel seen through a personal note of encouragement or helping us meet our $75,000 fundraising goal, you have a vital part to play.
👉 Write a short note to a young leader in Colombia by emailing admin@villagereach.world — we’ll include your message in their personal commissioning scroll.
👉 Make a donation today to support our 2025 goals and help bring dreams within reach across the globe.
We’re ready to grow and serve God’s Kingdom — but we cannot do it without you and this fellowship of believers.
With love and gratitude,
The Village Reach Team
