Barranquilla

As I stated in my last post I have been invited to go with my host family to the city of Barranquilla which is along the Carribean coast of Colombia. So here I am sitting in my host mom's sister's apartment feeling the breeze of Barranquilla. How is Barranquilla? Well let me start by saying it is a decent sized city that is hot but has an ocean breeze. It is full of life especially now that they are in their carnaval season and the city is decorated for the carnaval as well and there are people selling anything from fruit to car parts to other odds and ends from stands along the street. There is also carts being pulled by donkeys that share the streets with cars and buses. I have also seen women walking through the streets carrying whatever they are selling on their heads (usually it is something sweet that they have made).

My host family seem to know everyone here (ok maybe not everyone but a lot of people)and it seems like everyday I am meeting someone new and seeing a new place. I finally realized today that even an extroverted person like me needs to allow for their introverted side to come out and breathe sometimes. So today when my host mom asked me if I wanted to go with them to visit someone else or stay in her sister's apartment I chose to stay behind and get caught up on sleep (as I have been going to bed at midnight or later since coming here), journaling, letter writing and other things that I have been putting off doing.

The drive here was very beautiful and it was nice to see different scenery other than mountains. We drove through areas that are as flat as Kansas and you could see far into the distance. There were areas full of palm trees where they harvested cooking oil, areas that looked very dry and you could see many cactuses, areas that were mountanous as well as rivers that we crossed. We also saw fields of banana trees as well as other fruit trees. The houses looked different as well. Most were cement with thatched roofs but we did see houses made from bamboo, dirt and a thatched roof. My host dad told me that the thatched roofs help keep the houses cool on the hot days.

We also went to the beach for a day which was alot of fun and we might be going to one called Santa Marta which I hear has the best beaches in Colombia. :)

2008

Happy New Year to all. I hope this year has started out well for everyone. The Mennonite Church here had an end of the year supper for the whole church and Amy and I baked bread for the meal. I also helped with many other preparations for that supper. I am looking forward to seeing what 2008 has in store for me. Somethings that I already know are in a week and a half my host family and I will be traveling 20 hours by car to the city of Barranquilla where my host family is originally from. (They moved to La Mesa last February). Barranquilla is a city on the Carribbean coast. We will be spending 2 weeks there with their family and friends as well as at the beach. Then when I get back school will be starting and my role as a teacher will begin. I am also going to continue to be involved in teaching sunday school, youth group and in the Anapoima project. Also I mentioned in my last blog that I have a new ministry opportunity so I guess I will explain that more. Starting in February I will be helping with the prision ministry that the Mennonite Church has here. The story behind that is that apparently there is a North American in the jail here and my host dad asked him if he would like someone to translate the preaching and share the gospel in English and the inmate said yes he would so I will be translating and sharing the gospel with him. I am really excited about that. So that is what I will be doing with the remainder of my time here. Some year long goals that I would like to see accomplished for 2008 are the things I mentioned above, then after RAD I would like to get a job and find my own apartment and live on my own again since I really enjoyed that before. Those are some goals for this year.

Year in review

As I sit here waiting for the Saturday night youth group to start in 30 minutes I am refelcting on the past year and the dramatic difference in the journey that I have taken over the year. I definately did not think in January of 2008 that I would be in Colombia in December of 2008. I started out the year as a first semester junior at Millersville University studying Spanish. I was enjoying most of my classes and was planning on studying in Argentina the following fall. However God decided to do something drastically different in my life about mid May when I heard about RAD and started thinking about it. Then the week before I submitted my application my church did a missions Sunday which focused on Colombia. So when I got the application submitted and found out I was accepted I began to make preparations to come here. The first step was spending 2 months in intense training in Chicago where I met the other Radders and began to live in a house with 6 girls and 2 guys. THe biggest thing that God was showing me through that time in Chicago was to trust him that everything will turn out fine. He taught me that it was ok to trust him even though answers might take time. He also reaffirmed that Nanen is the guy that he has for me and has brought us closer together through this time and closer to God. While here in Colombia God has been reaffirming things that he has confirmed in Chicago as well as answer a prayer about being spiritually challenged which I was not feeling like I was being challenged spiritually. He gave me a chance to work with the prision ministry that the church in La Mesa has. More details on that to follow...

"Whatever you do for the least of these you do for me"

Last Thursday was a day where it was raining hard here in La Mesa. I was planning to go to another town to go camping overnight with some people. We were supposed to meet at the church at 2:00 to leave. I arrived at the church early while some children from the church`s soup kitchen where still there. I realized that I had forgotten something so I found and umbrella and was about to head back home to retrieve it when a girl by the name of Daniela (from the soup kitchen) stopped me and asked me where I was going and when I told her she asked me to accompany her home. Thinking that her house was on my way home I said ok. Well as it turned out when we got to my house she told me that her house was farther down. It was still raining hard and she wanted me to go with her farther. I already knew I was late and I was more focused on being time consciencous that I did not really want to go with her. But the I remembered Jesus`s words that ``whatever you do for the least of these you do for me`` so I went with her. I finally got back to the church and hour late but the leaders of the group still had not arrived. They arrived shortly after I did. I had forgotten that Colombians are not nearly as time consciencous as Americans and 2:00 often means 2:30 or 3:00 so it all worked out

One thing that I have noticed among Colombians is hope. There is hope for a better tomorrow and hope for change. As the youth group expands so does the passion that is in the hearts of the youth to reach out to the community. We have had several events that have involved the whole community. One was a concert in another town called Analaima where youth from several churches as well as adults gathered in a public square for a Christian concert. This concert lasted until 11pm. Then last Saturday we had a worship event in the town theater in La Mesa and many people from the community came out. There was an altar call at the end of it and 3 people accepted Christ for the first time. One of those people was a police officer who looked to be in his 30´s. I found out later from my host dad that he was a commander in the police force in La Mesa. I was excited to see this because it showed God even reaches and softens the hearts of armed forces and government officials. I believe that this is one area that God wants to move in here. Only time will tell. As my host dad once told me little by little things are changing and change is pòssible.