Quecan, Sara Lucia Salinas

Sara Lucia Salinas Quecan is an international Global Mission Fellow with the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, engaged in a two-year term of service.  

The Global Mission Fellows program takes young adults ages 20-30 out of their home environments and places them in new contexts for mission experience and service. The program has a strong emphasis on faith and justice. Global Mission Fellows become active parts of their new local communities. They connect the church in mission across cultural and geographical boundaries. They grow in personal and social holiness and become strong young leaders working to build just communities in a peaceful world. 

Sara is a member of the Anglican Episcopal Church in Bogota, Colombia. 

She received her secondary education at Colegio Arteaga Muñoz in Bogota. Her focus was accounting and business management. Since graduation, she has provided pedagogical support to children, ages 5 to 10. She strengthens their skills in English through recreational activities that immerse them in a second language. 

Sara has always loved music. “I was a singer in a band called ‘Indoamerican Rock’ when I was in elementary school,” she recalled. “I was also lead singer in a salsa band called ‘La Primera en Salsa,’ and I was a chorister in the high school choir.” 

In her Global Mission Fellows application, Sara described herself as a team player “with a high sense of responsibility, enthusiastic and eager to learn.” 

“All my life,” she said, “I have been surrounded by people who like to help others. This was taught by my family since I was very young; most of them are teachers.”  

Sara loves to help others. “Volunteer programs,” she noted, “are a great opportunity for personal and professional growth because we can develop our skills in different areas. As we teach, we also learn, and those teachings stay with us for life. 

“I like to share my knowledge and love with other people,” she said. She found that working with children with medical challenges was much more enriching than she ever anticipated.  

“I learned a lot from them,” Sara added. “I learned to value what I have, to love myself as I am and to have empathy because we never know what other people are going through.”