I went to Colombia and I had a few things stolen from me there:
1. My Day Pack
On our overnight bus to Bogota, I put my backpack in the overhead compartment. When we arrived, I asked my teammate Shannon, who was sitting next to me in the aisle seat, to hand me my things. She handed me my bag of snacks and my water bottle and then went on about her business. I then said to her, “and my backpack, please.” She looked up, then said to me, “It’s not here.” Just like that, I lost my mac, enough information on my debit card that I had to cancel it, my Bible I had had since high school, and my journal with all my thoughts, prayers, and emotions from training camp and the first three months of the Race. It was hard, I didn’t cry about it until maybe a week later, but in the end they’re just things. I was able to borrow people’s Bibles during the month and my sweet teammate, Meagan, paid for all my stuff during the month and let me pay her back once I had access to my money again. At the end of the month, I got a new debit card, computer, and Bible.
2. My Freedom
As I quickly learned from being robbed within just the first few hours of being in the Country, Colombia was not very safe. We were not allowed to go anywhere without having a Colombian with us and we lived at the top of a mountain away from civilization. This means we spent our days trapped inside the church where we were staying just gazing over the city of Bogota instead of walking around in it and exploring. At least it was a pretty view!
3. My Heart
I know, let out your biggest, cheesiest, “Awwwwww.” Based on what I said above, it may sound like I did not enjoy my time in Colombia, but I truly did. The people I met had the most beautiful hearts. My ministry hosts for the month were a married couple–“I Love Lucy” fans, I kid you not, their names are Lucy and Ricardo! They are some of the strongest warriors for Christ I have ever met and they work so hard, love so deep, and serve so diligently. Working with their ministry was a privilege (left side of the picture).
I was also greatly blessed by the lady who cooked our meals, Aurora (right side of the picture). She also cooked lunches for kids during the week. The kids would come to the church during their school break in the middle of the day. This ministry was called Oasis. This is a safe place for kids to come during this time, eat, have a Bible study, and play games. Oasis is a sponsor based program. I would encourage you to read a post by my squadmate, Sarah Gill: http://www.derekandsarahgill.com/blog/day-god-broke-heart/?fb_action_ids=10154656923850234&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5B742233472532198%5D&action_type_map=%5B%22og.likes%22%5D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D
The kids and the youth I met through the church captured my heart. For ministry, we went to schools and performed skits, songs, and shared messages and testimonies. At one of schools, they loved us so much that when we had to leave our last day there, the kids began shouting “Injustice!” in Spanish over and over.
