Month one of the world race is already in the books. Our time here in Colombia is coming to an end. We have been so fortunate this month with our ministry and our location; we couldn’t have asked for better. So what better way to end the month than to reminisce about some of the great things that happened? There is no way I could possibly share all the things, but here are a few. These are in no particular order
- Paragliding over Bello
One of my greatest fears is falling from high places, so, naturally, I decided to go paragliding. At breakfast that morning I had to convince myself not to back out because paragliding is something I wanted to do since I signed up for the race. The view from the top of the mountain was incredible! My teammates made me go first, despite my request to watch first. They strapped me in and wasted no time running off the mountain. No time to be afraid. It was surprisingly so smooth and peaceful up in the air. I came back wanting to go again. It was definitely so awesome to see God’s creation from a new perspective.
- Climbing a waterfall in the mountains
Our new friend, Wei, who is a coach at COSDECOL and the pastor of the church there, took us up the mountain to a beautiful waterfall. The water was cold, but the view and the time spent with him and his family was worth it.
- Salsa dancing in a tiny living room
When we first walked around town with Wei, Nathan asked him where we could go dancing. He invited us to come dance in his living room. So one night we went to his house and he put on some salsa music and we danced.
- (Almost) daily trips to the ice cream shop down the street.
There was an ice cream shop right outside the gate of COSDECOL, the place we were living. Once we started going we couldn’t stop. It was great.
4½ .One word: empanadas
No explanation needed.
- Going to Aceveda to play soccer with some pretty swell group of little boys.
Medellin is divided into different sectors, or neighborhoods, and the coaches of COSDELCOL go out into the community to have soccer practices with the kids right where they are. It’s awesome. One night we went to Aceveda, which is also known as the dump because it used to be a part of town where people would dump their trash and dead bodies. It has come a long way since then. But we went there and the kids completely embraced us and welcomed us to their team as we played soccer with them. We played and danced and exchanged Spanish and English words. It was beautiful.
- Accidentally becoming a Colombian soccer star
So not really, but basically. I am not a soccer player, but I loved playing with these teams and I tried to go all out every time. We went to a sector one afternoon and jumped in the game after some drills. This kid kicked the ball to me and another one was running after me. I don’t know what I did, but it impressed the kids. It was encouraging to get some applause for my poor soccer skills. I’d like to think I improved a little bit.
- Throwing a pizza party for our ministry host, the staff and coaches at COSDECOL.
On one of our last nights at our ministry site, we decided to have a little pizza party for the staff. The coaches, cooks, directors and friends came to celebrate one another, and it was a beautiful blessing to have everyone together before we left.
- Becoming a worship team0
I don’t know how it happened, but our team became a worship leading team. One day we were asked to lead worship at church the first week we were at COSDECOL. It worked out well since we have some worship leaders on my team. We led worship that night and then we were asked if we would lead it at the coaches meeting Monday morning. Why not, right? That became our little job while we were there.
- Praying over the people of Medellin
Two things stand out under this category. One night while we were walking around Medellin we came across a homeless man in his 70’s. He told us that none of his 6 kids wanted him, so he is living on the streets. He still had a joyful spirit and made a joke saying that “street” is in his name so he was destined to be there. He was open to us praying for him and our squad leader had the chance to tell him that the Lord has a home prepared for him.
We made a friend who worked at COSDECOL who has been such a blessing to us. His mom is currently in the hospital, so this morning we had the chance to go pray over her. The woman in the room with her and a friend of our friend wanted prayer as well. All I can say is wow! God met us there and the spirit was moving.
10. Bonding with my team
Our home and our ministry pretty much forced us to spend all day, every day together. Surprisingly that worked out so great. We were able to build such a strong foundation within the team that will help us get through the good and bad seasons of this race. I’m pretty sure I have laughed until I cried every single day with this team. It has been a blessing to become so close and feel so safe with these people that I had only known for 10 days. I just really love my team.
So many good things have happened this month, but there is no way I could list them all. It has been such a great month of transitioning onto the race and finding out what it is all about, but I am ready for what’s next. I have such high expectations for Ecuador and can’t wait to see how God is going to move in our childlike faith.
