Hola everyone! It’s been a while since my last blog. I apologize for keeping you waiting. I just wanted to let some time pass so I could have something to talk about, and now I do, so on to it then. Our flight to Colombia wasn’t bad at all. We got up early and drove to the airport at about 5 a.m. Our first flight was a two-hour flight from Atlanta to Houston, and the second flight from Houston to Colombia was six hours. We landed around 10 pm and went through customs. It was a process, but thankfully, everybody made it through. After customs, we grabbed our bags and went outside, where we took our first breaths of that fresh, moist, and wet Colombian air (it mostly smelled like plane fuel and cigarettes) and walked to where our ministry hosts had a bus waiting for us. There wasn’t much to look at when we were leaving the airport, but once we were out of there, we were immersed in the vast darkened green hills and mountains of Colombia, which sparkled with the bright lights of civilization. It was quite a sight.
What was also a sight was how the traffic laws worked here. There are motorcycles and mopeds everywhere, and buses that are covered in LED lights. The roads are much narrower here than they are in the States, and incredibly steep. The shelter here is truly astonishing to look at, with literally buildings upon buildings. Once we got a little taste of sightseeing, we arrived at our new home for the next six weeks. We unloaded all our bags from the bus and headed inside to a garage, where our hosts showed us our accommodations. It was not at all what I was expecting. We went up a few flights of stairs and entered a large hall with wooden flooring, where rooms with bathrooms and bunk beds were located. At the center of the hall was a kitchen, a laundry room, and a living room space. Our squad of over forty people was split into two floors with the same setup. I will be honest, I kept my expectations very low. The vision I had was us sleeping on a concrete floor, but it wasn’t even close to that, quite the opposite. It was all such a blessing, and to top it all off, we had WiFi!!! Once we settled in and figured out the room situation, we went to bed, where we would wake up the next morning to begin our ministry in Colombia.
To provide some context about our hosts and accommodations, we’re staying at a church/homeless shelter called Fundación Ciudad Refugio, which translates to Refuge City Foundation in Spanish. The church is on the other side of the building, and we pretty much just walk down the stairs and we’re there (finally I get to sleep in for church). It’s a pretty good setup, and now for the rundown of every week. We do ministry on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. The ministries we offer include kids’ ministry, youth ministry, homeless ministry, English lessons, men’s ministry, nursing home ministry, recycling, and kitchen duty. Every week, a team is assigned to one of those ministries for the week, and then we rotate.
So far, the ministries that my team (all men) has done are recycling, kitchen duty, men’s ministry, homeless ministry, youth ministry, nursing home ministry, and English lessons. My personal favorite has been men’s ministry. Two days a week, we meet in a lobby to do Bible study and pray together. We also go out and play football (soccer) every Monday and Thursday, and it’s a lot of fun. Most of the men don’t speak English very well, so it’s hard to make conversation with them, but football, for me personally, has been about the only time we’ve connected. I try my best when playing football, but I don’t really care if I win or lose; I only care about the fellowship. Another favorite ministry of mine is English lessons. I’ve only had a chance to do it once, but it’s fun. We visited a Christian private school, where we had the opportunity to interact with a group of high schoolers and help them practice their English. It was a lot of fun. I hope we can go there again.
For the days we have off, which are Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays. On Sundays, we go to church, and of course, it’s all in Spanish. Worship is enjoyable, involving lots of clapping and jumping. For the sermon, we listen to a translator through our phones. Mondays are our Sabbath, and I try my best not to be a lazy bum on that day; I aim to be as productive as possible. Lastly, Thursdays are our adventure days.
Usually, for that, I’ll go out with a group and explore. We often go to the mall or check out some incredible tourist attractions, but recently we went paragliding, which was super fun, and I still can’t believe I did that. Colombia has been incredibly enjoyable, not just because of all I’ve seen, but also because of the ministry I’ve been involved in here.
Sad that we’re leaving in a few weeks, but so thankful for the time we’ve had here. Signing off for now, I’ll post another blog, hopefully sometime next week or the week after that. Miss you all so much, adiós.
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