Hey everyone! Well, it´s about that time to move locations again. So, tomorrow morning we will head out to do ministry at a finca (farm) for boys, and then move to our next location in the evening. This time we will be staying at the YWAM Medellin base.
Ministry last week continued to be great, though I was out of commission all day Saturday with the 24 hour stomach bug that has seemed to plague three-fourths of the team. Even though I would have rather been doing ministry, I really feel like God had other plans for me for that day. I did a lot of praying for the team while they were gone, and for those sharing their testimonies. I have learned that sometimes your ministry for the day is just to pray for your team members.
This week we have done ministry in the neighborhood of the Bible College dorm, where we are staying, and some of the girls on our team were able to go to a girls´home and minister to eight girls, ages 10 - 14, who had either been living on the street or were prostitutes and had been rescued from that. I was one of the few that were not able to go, but the ones that did said it was so heart-breaking to hear the stories of girls who had started prostitution at the age of 6.
As far as cultural things go.....the Colombians don´t see white people (otherwise known to them as gringos) very often, so everywhere we go people stare and us, and even ask to take a picture with us! It was really funny at first when people would approach us and ask us to take a photograph for them, and just when you thought you were going to use their camera to take the picture of them, they put their arm around you and someone snaps the picture. I am sure in some of those first pictures many of us have the weirdest expressions on our faces, but now we just have fun with it. Driving here is crazy, and we definitely pray while travelling all the time. The best way to describe the driving is a cross between Atlanta rush hour traffic with New York City driving, all at the speed of the German Autobon. I really do not understand how there have not been more accidents here (we have only seen 1 fender-bender). It is crazy to the point that people will pass in a no passing zone on a curve of a mountain road when they can´t see around the corner. We have been lucky to have some great bus drivers, who drive defensively, and just make some smart decisions.
And while I may not be proficient in speaking Spanish yet, or even understanding it, I have definitely been immersed in it. It makes me laugh when people here ask you if you speak Spanish and you say no, so then they continue to talk to you in Spanish anyway. I may not fully understand, but I am able to pick up a few words that they say, so I am enjoying that. Plus I think they think I am funny too when I speak to them in English. But, I can tell you that I have learned very quickly how to order ice cream in Spanish - no problems there in saying that one!
Well, I hate to close, but I need to for now. I will update again as soon as I can based on internet availabilty at the YWAM base or an internet cafe. In the meantime, our team prayer requests are below.
Prayer Requests:
* Health - the stomach bug is still affecting our team
* Injuries - we have had a few random injuries (Joe injured his thumb during team game time one night, then fell off a seesaw at park ministry and cut up his arm - yeah, he keeps me busy with the First Aid job I am responsible for)
* Continued team unity
* Continued safe travel
Please feel free to email me any prayer requests you may have, as I am praying for each of you. Thank you for continuing to read my blog and your support of me. I pray that God may bless you for your faithfulness.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Colombia Outreach Update
Hey everyone! Well, our time here in Colombia so far has been great and very rewarding. We have stayed at three places so far and will be staying at many more before it is all over.
The first place that we stayed at was the YWAM Bogota base. It was very nice. The second place that we stayed at was a finca (Spanish word for farm – though nothing like what we think of as a farm, basically it means a lot of land and beautiful foliage). The finca was owned by the church that we were working with the first week, and it was their retreat center. We think that it used to be a mansion because it was so big and beautiful. The third place, which we are currently staying at, is a Bible College dormitory that is very nice too. Several areas of the dorm have an open roof to allow cool air to flow into the building, since many people do not have air conditioning here. We leave the windows open at night while we are sleeping and it is the perfect temperature.
The food here is great too. We knew that the Colombians were very hospitable, but we also found out they are very generous with food too. It is the culture here to eat everything that you are served, unless you have a food allergy. The last two places that we have stayed we have had a cook, and our current cook daily reminds us that there are starving children in Africa (she knows since she lived there several years), so we better eat up! Again the food is good, just enormous portions. Instead of losing weight on outreach like most people do, I may come home having gained 10lbs!!
We have been extremely busy this week with ministry, but I have enjoyed it. The month of January we are working with Mark and Maritza, who are actually YWAM Denver staff, but will be working here in Medellin for a year. So, on Monday we went to a local park and did dramas. Our translators did not show up (other than Maritza), but it was cool to see how God still provided for us. A huge crowd gathered before we could even start the dramas, and then people talked to us for an hour and a half after the dramas. We were able to communicate through Maritza and some Colombian Christians who saw our dramas and offered to translate for us. Tuesday was spent at a farm where special needs adults live just “hanging out” with them and doing a brief program for them as well. Wednesday this week was our day off, so we explored the market shops around the area. Today (Thursday) we did manual labor here at the Bible College dorm. Tomorrow (Friday) we are going to a poor community to do dramas and pass out food to needy families, and then we are doing a church service in town in the evening. On Saturday we are going to a park to pass out food to the homeless, and I do not know Sunday´s schedule yet.
I will check in again in about a week or so. I hope that things are going well for you all and that 2009 has been a good one so far. God Bless.
The first place that we stayed at was the YWAM Bogota base. It was very nice. The second place that we stayed at was a finca (Spanish word for farm – though nothing like what we think of as a farm, basically it means a lot of land and beautiful foliage). The finca was owned by the church that we were working with the first week, and it was their retreat center. We think that it used to be a mansion because it was so big and beautiful. The third place, which we are currently staying at, is a Bible College dormitory that is very nice too. Several areas of the dorm have an open roof to allow cool air to flow into the building, since many people do not have air conditioning here. We leave the windows open at night while we are sleeping and it is the perfect temperature.
The food here is great too. We knew that the Colombians were very hospitable, but we also found out they are very generous with food too. It is the culture here to eat everything that you are served, unless you have a food allergy. The last two places that we have stayed we have had a cook, and our current cook daily reminds us that there are starving children in Africa (she knows since she lived there several years), so we better eat up! Again the food is good, just enormous portions. Instead of losing weight on outreach like most people do, I may come home having gained 10lbs!!
We have been extremely busy this week with ministry, but I have enjoyed it. The month of January we are working with Mark and Maritza, who are actually YWAM Denver staff, but will be working here in Medellin for a year. So, on Monday we went to a local park and did dramas. Our translators did not show up (other than Maritza), but it was cool to see how God still provided for us. A huge crowd gathered before we could even start the dramas, and then people talked to us for an hour and a half after the dramas. We were able to communicate through Maritza and some Colombian Christians who saw our dramas and offered to translate for us. Tuesday was spent at a farm where special needs adults live just “hanging out” with them and doing a brief program for them as well. Wednesday this week was our day off, so we explored the market shops around the area. Today (Thursday) we did manual labor here at the Bible College dorm. Tomorrow (Friday) we are going to a poor community to do dramas and pass out food to needy families, and then we are doing a church service in town in the evening. On Saturday we are going to a park to pass out food to the homeless, and I do not know Sunday´s schedule yet.
I will check in again in about a week or so. I hope that things are going well for you all and that 2009 has been a good one so far. God Bless.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
In Colombia
Hey everyone! I wanted to let you all know that I am safely in Medellin, Colombia! We arrived in Bogota on Christmas Eve, where we stayed at the YWAM Bogota base until the 26th when we left for Medellin.
Here in Medellin this week we have been staying at a church retreat center, which is really nice. We learned really quickly here in Colombia that many people do not have hot water for showers and such, so we all have become accustomed to cold showers, which actually after a while feels kinda good when it is hot outside. The average temperatures here have been 50 degrees in the morning and night and 70 degrees during the day. I can now say that I have also learned how to hand wash my clothes and hang them over a balcony to dry. Who knew 2-in-1 Suave shampoo could make your clothes smell so good.
Our ministry this week has been to work with the kids (ages 2-10) and the youth (ages 13-18) by doing dramas, giving testimonies, and someone preaching. We leave the church retreat center on Friday and will then be working with the YWAM Medellin base for the next 12 days, and will be staying various places. We will start out staying in a college dorm, and then will move to the YWAM base, and possible some host homes.
I hope that you all are doing well. I will post again when I can get to an internet cafe. God Bless.
Here in Medellin this week we have been staying at a church retreat center, which is really nice. We learned really quickly here in Colombia that many people do not have hot water for showers and such, so we all have become accustomed to cold showers, which actually after a while feels kinda good when it is hot outside. The average temperatures here have been 50 degrees in the morning and night and 70 degrees during the day. I can now say that I have also learned how to hand wash my clothes and hang them over a balcony to dry. Who knew 2-in-1 Suave shampoo could make your clothes smell so good.
Our ministry this week has been to work with the kids (ages 2-10) and the youth (ages 13-18) by doing dramas, giving testimonies, and someone preaching. We leave the church retreat center on Friday and will then be working with the YWAM Medellin base for the next 12 days, and will be staying various places. We will start out staying in a college dorm, and then will move to the YWAM base, and possible some host homes.
I hope that you all are doing well. I will post again when I can get to an internet cafe. God Bless.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Week Eleven
Well, this week has definitely been an exciting one. The week started out with us going down the mountain on Monday, like we always do, but what we didn’t expect was to be spending the night down the mountain too. That afternoon around 3pm it started snowing at Eagle Rock, but didn’t reach Arvada until about 5pm. We left early that night to head back to Eagle Rock, but soon discovered when we were only about a quarter of the way up the mountain that we weren’t going to make it……my van had already fishtailed three times, and we soon discovered when we pulled over to put the chains on (before the worst part of the mountain) that one of the three vans was missing the chains. So, the decision was made that it was safer to come back down and stay in Arvada for the night. The 57 of us (staff and students) were split among the Arvada base and YWAM Denver staff houses for the night, and we just had a fun sleepover – we all just looked at this adventure as preparation for outreach.
We started out Tuesday morning with class down the mountain and made it back up the mountain by the afternoon. Our teaching for the week was on Evangelism, and I enjoyed our speaker, Richard Thompson very much. One aspect of Richard’s teaching that I found to be interesting was when he talked about the four reasons why many people do not do Evangelism. The four reasons are: Bad Experiences / Bad Examples, Apathy, Unbelief, and Fear of Man. We then talked about how to model Evangelism in the way that Jesus did it.
Tomorrow night we have our Love Feast with the entire YWAM Denver community. The students in my DTS, as well as all the secondary school students, and all staff come together at the end of the lecture portion of the school for a big celebration of what God has done the past 3 months, as well as a send off for the outreach portion of training. There is always a theme for Love Feast, so ours is Winter Wonderland (kind of funny since it is suppose to snow again tomorrow). I am looking forward to Love Feast and just “hanging out” with my fellow classmates, who are going on a different outreach than I am. I still can’t believe that the Mexico outreach team leaves a week from Sunday, and the Argentina team, and my team, Colombia, leave three days later on Christmas Eve. It seems like the first three months have flown by.
I pray that you all are doing well. Please let me know how I can be praying for you.
We started out Tuesday morning with class down the mountain and made it back up the mountain by the afternoon. Our teaching for the week was on Evangelism, and I enjoyed our speaker, Richard Thompson very much. One aspect of Richard’s teaching that I found to be interesting was when he talked about the four reasons why many people do not do Evangelism. The four reasons are: Bad Experiences / Bad Examples, Apathy, Unbelief, and Fear of Man. We then talked about how to model Evangelism in the way that Jesus did it.
Tomorrow night we have our Love Feast with the entire YWAM Denver community. The students in my DTS, as well as all the secondary school students, and all staff come together at the end of the lecture portion of the school for a big celebration of what God has done the past 3 months, as well as a send off for the outreach portion of training. There is always a theme for Love Feast, so ours is Winter Wonderland (kind of funny since it is suppose to snow again tomorrow). I am looking forward to Love Feast and just “hanging out” with my fellow classmates, who are going on a different outreach than I am. I still can’t believe that the Mexico outreach team leaves a week from Sunday, and the Argentina team, and my team, Colombia, leave three days later on Christmas Eve. It seems like the first three months have flown by.
I pray that you all are doing well. Please let me know how I can be praying for you.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Thanksgiving and Outreach Prep
Hey everyone! I hope that you all had a splendid Thanksgiving holiday. I know I definitely did. I was blessed to have mom and dad come out to Colorado to visit me for the holiday. I got to spend about two and a half days with them, and we had a lot of fun. I am very thankful for my parents for the love that they have always shown me, and for their unconditional support of me in following my dreams.
Well, this week has been Outreach Prep week, and we have been learning the different dances and dramas that we will use while on our respective outreaches. Each outreach leader was given the task of choosing the dances and dramas that would be most effective and culturally sensitive for our outreach locations, and this week we have been learning them non-stop. My team will be doing nine dramas and a skit with puppets (we are not doing any dances on our outreach team). Each outreach member is a part of four dramas, and I am involved in the three dramas called: Fix You, Gone, and Redemption, and I am doing puppets. I am pretty excited about all of the dramas, and our team has worked really hard during practices. Hopefully I will be able to film some of them and post them for you to see.
It is hard to believe that there is less than three weeks left before we leave for Colombia. We will be flying out on Christmas Eve and travelling from Denver to Atlanta to Bogota, Colombia. Luckily we have a four hour layover in Atlanta, so mom and dad, as well as a few other parents that live near by, are going to come see us at the airport. It will be nice to see mom and dad again, even if only for a few hours.
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Above is a picture of the Colombia outreach team. The three in the front our our outreach leaders, and the rest of us are students. (Darren, the outreach leader is front and center, and Keri and Angie behind him are our assistant outreach leaders).
Well, this week has been Outreach Prep week, and we have been learning the different dances and dramas that we will use while on our respective outreaches. Each outreach leader was given the task of choosing the dances and dramas that would be most effective and culturally sensitive for our outreach locations, and this week we have been learning them non-stop. My team will be doing nine dramas and a skit with puppets (we are not doing any dances on our outreach team). Each outreach member is a part of four dramas, and I am involved in the three dramas called: Fix You, Gone, and Redemption, and I am doing puppets. I am pretty excited about all of the dramas, and our team has worked really hard during practices. Hopefully I will be able to film some of them and post them for you to see.
It is hard to believe that there is less than three weeks left before we leave for Colombia. We will be flying out on Christmas Eve and travelling from Denver to Atlanta to Bogota, Colombia. Luckily we have a four hour layover in Atlanta, so mom and dad, as well as a few other parents that live near by, are going to come see us at the airport. It will be nice to see mom and dad again, even if only for a few hours.
Above is a picture of the Colombia outreach team. The three in the front our our outreach leaders, and the rest of us are students. (Darren, the outreach leader is front and center, and Keri and Angie behind him are our assistant outreach leaders).Well, next week we are back to a somewhat normal week with teaching on Evangelism, so I look forward to updating you then on what I am learning.
Oh, and I have added some new pictures as well. A few weeks ago my small group and I did a photo shoot, so those pictures are posted, as well as some pictures of our recent snow.
God bless you for your faithfulness in reading my blog and for your prayers. I pray that you know how much I love and appreciate each one of you, and how thankful I am to know each of you.
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