Colombia 9-2013 Day 5

Today was a beautiful day on many levels. First, because we were heading to an orphanage 2 hours outside of Bogota and we had to go through some amazing scenery to get there. We left the city and very quickly the landscape turned into desert. I was amazed as I had never been out this far west of Bogota and didn’t realize there was desert this close to this verdant mountain city. As we traveled farther west I kept telling everyone, “this looks like Arizona or southern New Mexico. There were cactus in bloom everywhere, deep red ravines (or arroyos where I come from), and strange monoliths of rock.

Then we began to climb and climb and climb. It wasn’t long before we had left the desert floor below and were winding through mountain peaks covered in clouds and mist. It was stunning. We wound our way down into the jungle and then up again into the mountains until we came to the sleepy little mountain Pueblo of La Mesa. We toured the orphanage and met all of the workers as we were waiting for the children to come home from school. This would be a beautiful place to come for a few days and they even have facilities to house us in the future. We had many talks of ideas and plans and are excited about future work with these folks.

Soon the children arrived and we had lunch and then spent some time helping them with their homework and then it was off to play soccer, frisbee, dodgeball, and all manner of games. It was a wonderful time of building friendships and sharing love. The old guys sat in the shade and dreamed up new visions and ministries together. As we were resting a little boy named Miguel came up to talk to us. He was a very precocious three year old who surprised us with how bright he was and as cute as a button. His mother abandoned him to live in a drugged stupor on the streets of “The Bronx” Bogota’s worst section. My heart broke for her and for him.

Everyone played and played and then we gathered up for devotions. We sang some songs and Luke shared his heart with the children and then Oscar Perez shared. It began to rain so while Pastor Timothy and I met with the director the team and children moved into the chapel and had a wonderful time with the Lord. At the end the children prayed for our team. It was very powerful. We said our long goodbyes and then headed into the village for a wonderful dinner in among the 200 year old colonial buildings of the square. On the long winding ride back through mountains, jungle, and desert we sang, shared, dreamed, and some of us snored. We arrived back and the hotel and our two beautiful Colombian daughters were waiting for us with the wonderful news that Heidy had been accepted into the prestigious music school for which she interviewed today. Praise God. Blessings all around.

 
 
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