Day 2, Miracles of 6th Bogota Trip, September, 2010

One of our strategies for this trip was to scout out a new orphanage to visit on the mission trip in January. The previous day when talking with ICBF they told us about an orphanage in the mountains outside of Bogota and so we went left out of the hotel on this morning headed for this new orphanage. As we wound our way up into the mountains the scenery became wilder and more beautiful. We came to a police checkpoint and after several minutes of sitting there with the police talking back and forth with our driver, Sandra went to go see what was going on. Apparently our van did not have an updated inspection and since we were traveling through a secluded area the police were afraid that the van might break down and there would be a whole van of Americans stranded in the mountains of Colombia. Not a good idea. Sandra told them of our mission and that we had an appointment with this orphanage and we really needed to get through. She is very persuasive. So the police decided that they would let us through and that one of the officers would escort our van to the orphanage in a prisoner transport van that they had nearby. So we set out again for the orphanage with our police escort with flashing lights leading the way. We hadn’t gone two miles when sure enough the van broke down on the side of the mountain. We all piled out laughing and shooting pictures like total tourists while Sandra went and negotiated with the officer and some of the men tried to see what was wrong with the van. It had thrown a serpentine belt and was not going anywhere. Finally, the police officer agreed and we piled into the prisoner transport van and headed for the orphanage once more. I can only imagine what the children thought when we pulled up to the orphanage, lights flashing, and the new people who were coming to tell them about Jesus piled out of a police van. It was hilarious.

We spent some wonderful time with the children and officials in this beautiful, breathtaking little town called La Calera. The views were stunning and the needs were great. We too soon had to leave because we had a big dinner planned with the officials from several orphanages in Bogota for that night. As we drove away from one of the locations some cute little boys were peaking through the fence, waving and asking, “Are you coming back tomorrow?” Of course we couldn’t but we will visit them again in January.

That night we hosted a very nice dinner with the officials of two orphanages in Bogota and shared our presentation and answered many questions. There was much support and excitement from all in attendance and even a few tears as we talked about the children and about Jesus and about many things. It was a fantastic evening and I believe all felt the presence of the Lord and all sensed that we were on the cusp of something huge for the children and the people of Colombia. We went to bed exhausted but praising God that we were so blessed to be a part of this work.