Bogota

Camilo & Brisa (two of our hosts)

We're Here!

We've been in Bogota for 24 hours. Everyone is looking after us quite well and our schedule is looking very full. Will try and take a few pictures in the next days and post them for all to see. Today we ran a couple of medical errands with my health insurance in preparation for my check ups (MRI etc.) next week. It was great to see the city and realize how much we miss living here. Tonight we are off to visit the Bible Institute, tomorrow we'll visit with friends... Bill's speaking about 14 times at least while we are here.

Packing ...

We're packing today... tomorrow we fly down to:
We'll be gone for three weeks... but we do have a couple of cat-sitters lined up!

Last Friday we had one last visit to the beach with our Colombian friends from Talbot... here's Bill and Julian boogie boarding!

The Spectators

Meanwhile, Sonja, Misha and I watched the boys racing around the track....

... but that got a little boring, so we played a couple of games of air hockey.



Afterwards we went out for a treat (see NZ ice cream post) ...
... but some of us needed a frappuccino too!

He tells me this was his very first Starbucks that he didn't have to share!?

Jon's Birthday Present

We took Jon to a go kart racetrack for his birthday (late gift... it was a couple of weeks ago!)
He and Bill raced each other (with a few other strangers)... overall Jon had the best lap times, but Bill managed to sneak ahead of him in time for the finish line!

Let me recommend...

... some New Zealand ice cream! We found this store in the city of Orange this afternoon, with genuine NZ ice cream. The most authentic NZ flavors you should try are: Hokey Pokey, Orange Chocolate Chip and Boysenberry.
We all had Orange Choc Chip, except Misha who had vanilla!

New Zealand Natural

July Newsletter

You can access our letter using the following link:
July 2007 Newsletter

The Hollywood Bowl

We went to hear the Los Angeles Philharmonic perform several classical Russian pieces last night. It ended with a fireworks display timed with the music.

Sonja, Dad, Mum, Bill, Noel (NZer on his way to Guatemala) & Jon.

Trivia: the Bowl seats 17, 376 people!

We arrived early... this section was full by the end of the evening!

STEP 2007: Summer Fun Day

Summer Team Evangelism Partnership

We ended the ten-day outreach efforts with a day off for the team. We went down to Laguna Beach early Monday morning hoping to find breakfast and then spend the day swimming and snorkeling in the ocean. We had a hard time finding a breakfast spot we could all agree on, when the smell of bacon lured us to this delightful little restaurant overlooking the beach. I think everyone was happy in the end!

Then we met up with Paul K. and had a great time swimming, boogie boarding, snorkeling & tide pool exploring. There were several sunburnt bodies at the end of the day!

One of the men in the Spanish church has a brother who drives a Hummer Limo, so he arranged a free ride in the evening for all... a fun way to end a busy, challenging but rewarding outreach effort.

STEP 2007: Outreach

Summer Team Evangelism Partnership

We were trained by Tom to use the Open Air Sketchboards to present the gospel to the children:

We were trained in personal evangelism and how to reach out to children with God's love and truth:

We went out into two hispanic neighborhoods and held children's clubs that included games, songs, memory verses and a Bible story. Parents were also reached on a one-to-one basis as well as with a gospel message in Spanish at the end of each club:

Newport Mudflats Hike

Last Sunday after Jon, Sonja, Bill & I went for a hike in the Newport Bay area. It was interesting... you never really got the sense that you were totally away from civilization as it is located just south of the John Wayne airport, which is the main OC airport. There is actually a lot of wildlife there, we walked about a 2 mile stretch and saw lizards, bunnies, birds & fish. However we only saw a small percentage of the entire area.
Some of our group forgot that we were supposed to be hiking!

Green Thumb ?

After the semester ended I got inspired to try gardening again. I planted herbs, some potted plants and flowers. So far everything is thriving... here are a few pictures:

Back Porch

Front Flower Beds

Independence Day

Jorge & Monica, from Bogota, Colombia, spent a night with us on their way through L.A. to Australia. We spent the 4th of July with them driving around the Palo Verde Peninsula and then down to Seal Beach. We arrived at the Korean Freedom Bell around 11:00Am to discover they were having a 4th of July celebration. So we stayed and heard some speeches (in both languages), saw a flag folding ceremony (the words that go along with this are amazing, I'd never heard them before) and then heard the bell rung 14+ times.

Korean Bell Flag Folding
(You can read the words that accompany this ceremony here, scroll down past the folding instructions and you will find the words)

Jorge & Monica at Whale Watching Lookout Museum

Summer Team Evangelism Partnership 2007

Summer Team Evangelism Partnership

Our team leaders/initiators, my Dad & John Duckhorn (Wisconsin):

The team was composed of people from our local church in Westminster, the Knox family from Tulare, CA and the group from Wisconsin (Milwaukee area mainly):

The folks from Wisconsin (minus John & Dona):

Girls' Day Out

Mum, Debbie, Sydney and I enjoyed a day together last week. We had pedicures, went to BJs for lunch and then hit the mall. It was fun to hang out! Here's the picture I took of Debbie and Sydney enjoying their pizookie dessert.

San Francisco

On Tuesday we spent the day looking at a few of the sights to be seen in San Francisco...

One of the locals came to check us out...

Downtown there were lots of flags flying... here is a group of them, from left to right: Gay pride, USA, California, San Francisco. I'll let you guess which one we saw most! (Ignore the blue flag, I've no idea what it is.)

We stopped by the campus of UC Berkeley. Bill momentarily left US soil. This circle says:

"This soil and the air space extending above it shall not be a part of any nation and shall not be subject to any entity's jurisdiction."

Only in California!!

It was a beautiful but clear windy day. Here's Dorothy and me looking out at downtown San Francisco from Treasure Island. Bay Bridge can be seen.

Bill needed to see the intersection of Haight and Ashbury. I'm still trying to understand the history of this place.

And, of course, the Golden Gate bridge was walked upon.

Windy... Bill, Robyn & Dorothy.

Bay Area

We mainly went to the Bay Area to share at a missions conference last Saturday. But... we also went to visit friends too:

Robyn & Dorothy (we stayed with them).

Had a nice evening post-conference with the Hamiltons, Gina and some of the gals.

Monday we enjoyed lunch with the Dillons and an old Colombian friend, Nelson (on left).

... and we also rested from our normal flurry of activity.

I'm proud of Bill

Bill received an award last week at Talbot. I wanted to show it off...
It also came with a $300 scholarship towards next semester!

Let the favor of the Lord be upon us...

This morning, God brought these two psalms to mind:

Psalm 90:17

"Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,

and establish the work of our hands upon us;

yes, establish the work of our hands!"

Psalm 127:1-2

"Unless the LORD builds the house,

those who build it labor in vain.

Unless the LORD watches over the city,

the watchman stays awake in vain.

It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest,

eating the bread of anxious toil;

for he gives to his beloved sleep."

It made me think ahead to our planned ministry this summer with STEP (Summer Team Evangelism Preparation). There is much to be done in preparing for the team's arrival and the outreach events we'd like to see happen. I was convicted about fretting too much and striving to work it out in my own strength. These Psalms remind me that it must be God's work through us. He is the One who changes hearts and causes all things to work together for good. Yes, we must be diligent and obedient to the tasks at hand, but not excessively - sleep is allowed and is a blessing!
Please pray along with us that God would establish the work of our hands and be the builder of and guardian over our feeble efforts in reaching the world for Christ.

Wedding

Here are my parents and the Lopez' having an enjoyable time at a wedding we all went to last weekend. I "forgot" to get pictures taken of Bill and I. The girl getting married is from our church and she and her family are close family friends of ours. It was a Samoan-American wedding, so it was fun to see some of their traditions!