Bogota, Colombia was home for the month of October. We partnered with IncaLink once again, this time working with a local church. Colombia was a bit different, however, as we were not allowed to leave the church or explore even the streets around us without an accompanying church member for safety purposes. At first, we were skeptical about how this month would look. We love getting to know cities by exploring, seeing the sights and eating the local cuisine (via street vendors). We questioned how enjoyable the month would be. Our hopes of taking a married getaway were quickly dashed and the comfort of “freedom” was gone.
Then we were reminded that the answers to our prayers don’t always look the way we want them to. We told God we were willing and wanted to be sent wherever he wanted us. We asked for the opportunity to preach the gospel in areas that needed to hear it. On our own, we never would have had access to this part of Colombia, but God opened the door and had great things in store.
Secondly, this was an incredibly relational month. We spent a large amount of time at the church (where we worshipped, did ministry, ate, and slept) and therefore saw a lot of the same people day in and day out. We were completely overwhelmed by the outpouring of love we received. One woman did all of our laundry – 2 weeks worth of 11 people’s clothes. Several different women rotated the job of cooking for us three (delicious) meals a day. The youth (19-30) were constantly around, taking us to ministry or to go on whatever errands we may need to run. Several families welcomed us into their homes to feed us and go above and beyond the call of hospitality. We were taught by the best how to make arepas (corn cakes) and empanadas (meat pies). We heard countless testimonies of how God is at work and has saved people from drug addiction, alcoholism and other bonds.
A large part of our ministry involved going to local schools (middle and high schools). I loved interacting with the students. We continue to experience that kids (and people in general) are the same everywhere. Each classroom we went into there was still an overwhelming sense of kids wanting to be loved and accepted. Going into the classrooms brought back fond memories of my six years of teaching. The biggest difference, however, was that we were asked to share about Jesus in each classroom we entered. The freedom to share of the hope I have in Jesus was incredible – something I’ve never been allowed to do before. My heart ached for my students back home as I remembered each of their faces. It made me wish I could have openly shared this hope with each of them.
Please pray for the church here in Bogota. Especially for the people at El Encuentro Church. They are God’s faithful servants through whom He is doing great works to spread the kingdom of God!
