Trip to Bucaramanga

During the last week of March we made a quick visit to Bucaramanga, a city of a million  located in the Andes mountains about half way between Bogota and the coast. Soon after arriving we drove past the place I called home for four of the eight years we lived there (from ages 3 to 13, with 2 years in New Zealand in the middle!! = being a third culture kid becomes chronologically challenging!). 

These blue apartments hold many memories for my sister and I. Playing hide and seek till 10pm, climbing the mango trees, eating green guavas, losing all my marbles (literally), skating in the parking lot, slumber parties at the neighbors, wondering why people prayed at the statue of Mary, screaming at the big spider, teaching our baby brother to walk...

Our main purposes in visiting was to meet up with old friends and for Bill to teach at the Easter conference held by one of the churches. My parents were also in town so we had the added bonus of extra days with them. We enjoyed several meals in the homes of old friends. Here we are with two of the church leaders and their families:

I met some old childhood friends for icecream and enjoyed an afternoon catching up with them:

We stayed with Marcia and Sandra, two missionary ladies I've known my whole life. They're pictured here on the right with the rest of the crowd from the church choir who came to give us a mini-concert!

It was fun to see the sights and hear the sounds of a warmer climate. Much more of life is lived outdoors  there compared to the city of Bogota which has colder weather. Here are a couple things that caught my eye:

 

notice the statue?

 

yummy!

I even got to eat an ANT for the first time in many years! They are a true delicacy in this region and they don't taste THAT bad.

and just to give you an idea of the size:

It all ended so quickly, before we knew it we were on a plane back to Bogota.

Getting Involved

We've almost completed two months of being involved in the Bible Institute again. It has been hard work, but enjoyable. Such a blessing to be able to serve and encourage Christians here in Bogota.

This picture shows the house where the Institute meets. It is a rented property that is mostly used by a church for their meetings, but loaned to us on Thursday nights and Saturday mornings. There are seven classes this semester with about 165 students in attendance.
Bill teaching Old Testament Survey on Thursday night - 44 active students from 14 different churches in Bogota.
Bill's smaller Discipleship class, using Matthew as their text, on Saturday mornings - 10 students (only 4 pictured)
Romans class on Saturday morning taught by Ovidio (he's the teacher who is sitting near the middle with a mustache)
Bible Doctrines class on Saturday morning taught by Gilberto

Last Sunday we went to church in a neighborhood called "Berlin" (northwest Bogota). It was our last scheduled visit to one of the other churches in the city. We've enjoyed the opportunity to see how God is working in other parts of Bogota. They are a smaller group with lots of children, as you can see below. Also in the picture is Mario, one of the main leaders there. Together he and his wife serve the churches in Bogota by volunteering their time to help with administrative tasks at the Bible Institute and Emmaus Correspondence School office.

Starting this Sunday we will regularly attend just one church, Aposento Alto J.Vargas, instead of visiting and speaking at other churches in the city. This is the building we meet in. The first floor is a bank and the top floor is the owner's apartment. We have the middle three floors. Our largest space is on the fourth floor and currently we are squeezing approximately 140 adults and 40 children there on Sunday mornings. The search is on for a larger place to meet.
Prayer is an important part of our Wednesday night meeting.
Once a month a team of about 20 meet to pray, study and plan together.

Here's our church mission statement:

SER UNA IGLESIA QUE EVANGELIZA EN TODO TIEMPO HACIENDO DISCIPULOS DE CRISTO, CAPACITANDO INTEGRALMENTE A LOS CREYENTES PARA EL MINISTERIO Y DONDE JESUCRISTO SEA SIEMPRE EXALTADO”.

In English: "To be a church that evangelizes at all times, making disciples of Christ, thoroughly equipping the believers for ministry and where Jesus Christ is always exalted."

Come Visit Bogota!!

My parents came to visit us this month. We had a lot of fun being together and experiencing some of the beauties of this country. Be encouraged to come visit us too, here in Colombia!

Street sights in our neighborhood
Downtown Bogota - Plaza de Bolivar
The Cathedral (my first time inside!) - lots of statues and religious stuff
Government buildings - we found out that the ants on the building are an artistic way of getting people to think about "the theme of migration and population movement [that] has particular relevance for Colombia, where there are an estimated 2 to 4 million displaced people, most of whom were forced from their homes by the country's ongoing armed conflict."
Downtown streets

We also visited Villa de Leyva about 3 hours drive north of Bogota
Trying to sell stuff to the tourists :)
Bill enjoying an escape into his book
We stayed at a quaint, little hotel owned by this ladies' family. They're Christians who used to live in Bogota attending the church that gave birth to our current church. It was neat to reconnect with her.
A traveling curiosity: at the bus station in Tunja the women's restroom was out of order so they converted the men's room to serve all!

Progress on the Apartment

As of 1/23/1o the apartment remodeling status is:
Ceiling - done
Walls - done
Floors - done
Kitchen - not done
Laundry - mostly done
Bathroom - mostly done
Cleaning - half done

Here's the new front door the guys installed last Thursday. It is made out of reinforced metal for security purposes.
The view during daylight hours. We like how the bars turned out - they protect small children from falling out of the windows (which are quite low) and yet don't obstruct the view we have of the Andes mountains!
Our somewhat messy living room - like the furniture?!
The unpacking has begun! This is our bedroom. You can see we still have a little electrical details to work on.
Bill's work place is taking shape. We took the old front door and two empty packing barrels and made him a great desk! He's got the books out that he needs to begin preparing for classes.
Clean closets!
Working on hooking up the washer and gas dryer. Since this picture was taken we've also installed a gas water heater on the wall to the left of the window.

Due to previous plumbing problems and current gas pipe regulations our apartment has a lot of pipes on the outside rather than inside of the walls. The solution was to put up molding to cover them and make it a little more visually appealing. The molding is just made out of plaster of paris. (Bill's standing in the kitchen/laundry area.)

Aposento Alto Nuevo Colon

Rooster crowing, children singing, dogs barking are the sounds that join the heartfelt prayer of a man thanking the Lord for sins forgiven. The sun warms our heads through the thin roof of the top floor of a three-story house where we are joining a small group of Colombian Christians to worship on a Sunday morning. As we sing I marvel at the bond of Christ that unites us around the bread and wine with men and women from a very different background than our own. Humanly speaking there is a vast gulf between our culture, education, experience and economic situation. Yet in Jesus we have a common faith and look forward to an eternity together in heaven.

Street view from third floor of Church's house

These men and women are intimately acquainted with violence and hardship. In front of me sits a woman whose son was murdered in front of their house by the son of another woman in the congregation. She has found peace not only with God but also with the other hurting mother. In the midst of the adversities of life in this violent neighborhood people are coming to God.

Cazuca barrio on hillside

Fortunately for Bill and me the church is located at the foot of a hillside community known as "Cazuca" in a somewhat safer neighborhood called Nuevo Colon. It is not recommended for Americans to venture up the hill and we were not allowed to come and go on our own into this area. Years ago Cazuca came into being when a group of squatters coordinated to move onto the hill and thus made it their own. There was nothing the original landowner could do, the land passed to the new occupants who essentially are a law unto themselves. What makes this area dangerous for foreigners is that it is known to be inhabited by city guerillas who would not hesitate to kidnap someone they see as a potential for profit. The sad thing is that it is incredibly dangerous for the locals too. Our friends described a terrifying "justice" system that operates there. If someone is caught stealing or offending they are given a warning. If they repeat the offense they are shot. End of story, end of problem. Many, many young teenagers lose their lives. Life has little value. Sexual abuse is rampant with young and old alike exposed to much perversion.

Yet little by little seeds of hope are sown by courageous and self-less Colombian Christians who go into these neighborhoods to share the message of the good news of Jesus. Over the past several years God has allowed a team of believers to plant a church here. One of the key leaders in this team is Sergio Gomez. This tall, lanky, gray-haired man's heart of compassion for these people led him to move his family and humbly live in this area and thus win the people's trust and be able to effectively pastor the new Christians. We were touched on Sunday to see Sergio baptize his youngest son, Samuel, along with three other new Christians.

Sergio praying with his son, Samuel

Baptizing in small tank made out of wood and lined with thick plastic

Villa de Leyva

We traveled three hours north of Bogota to a touristy little town called Villa de Leyva for a church camp last weekend. Here's a few pictures of our time there - in the village, at the campgrounds and on a walk in the "desert" area.