Colombia Preaching Tour Days 12-16
Day 12 – This morning we went up to beautiful La Calera to pick up our precious daughter Heidy so that she can spend the week with us. I never get used to her little yelp and her running and jumping in my arms the first time she sees us. We met with the leaders of the ministry that she lives with and talked about some future plans and then we went to get her a chocolate milk shake which is her favorite. I’ll never forget the first time I bought her one and she looked at me with tears in her eyes because it was so good and she had never had one before so now it is a tradition.
Day 13 – This morning we were blessed to meet up with Juan David and Hillary (another aged out orphan having a very hard time on the streets) and treat them to a ride up the cable car to Monserrate overlooking Bogota. We had a nice lunch and took lots of photos and then they had to go and we met up with our daughter Ginary and her boyfriend Sebastian and our dear friend and Pastor Hector’s nephew Rafael for dinner. We laughed and teased mercilessly and everyone had a grand time. I love being a Papi, Padrino, and Tio to as many of these precious kids as I can. But so many are so desperate and it hurts me that I can’t do more. I always tell them that I am praying and looking for more people in the U.S. to get a consuming passion that will help me help them…
Day 14 – This morning we visited a deaf school. It is the first one of its kind in the city. It was founded by a girl from Texas and she is still there 31 years later. She gave us the grand tour and shared story after story of what God has done. It was amazing. They are working on translating the entire Bible into Colombian sign language videos too. We were so blessed to spend time with her and hear what God is doing. Later we met up with our dear friends Pastors Lucas and Doraynne and their kids and had a wonderful dinner and fellowship. Brooke lived with them for two months in 2012 and considers them her second family. It was a blessed reunion! Pastor Lucas is a leader in a large pastors council here in Bogota and we made some exciting plans for my next preaching trip.
Today we were very excited to head back to Soacha (which was such a blessing to us in September) and meet up with Pastor AC Jordan and Centro Internacional Cristiano. Wow! We were so amazed at what God has done here since we last saw them. Based on some great advice and mentoring from Pastor Timothy Vowell when we were here last time and when he returned in January, Jordan has been building relationships all over the city and God has been sending him people and resources and this place is growing like crazy. He has built a skate park and an auditorium and video room and much more. We were each asked to share our testimony and I couldn’t have been prouder of Heidy and Brooke. Heidy shared how our family had brought her to Christ slowly but surely and how she gave her heart to Jesus at the end of one of my sermons on the last mission trip. Praise God! She now wants to give her life to working with Mission Critical in Colombia helping girls and boys like her to know Jesus. Brooke and I were also interviewed for their new television station! God has given them everything they need but the right camera, a Canon 7D. We are praying that God will use us to get that camera for them.
After we went and had a marvelous dinner with Pastors Hector and Liliana and there precious daughters Heyley and Karoline and liliana’s sister and her sweet little ones at their apartment. We ate and laughed and sang and cut up something fierce. It was blessed and joyous. Heidy again told her testimony and made Pastor Hector cry. What precious friendships we have in this country. God is so good to let us be a part of His mission here.
Day 16 – This morning we visited a brand new ministry 3 years old that cares for disabled children. It is a very neat place and we will definitely be spending some time there are future trips. The husband and wife team that founded it are sweet Christians and we hope to get to know them better. This evening Heidy and I shared our testimonies with a Christian band called Grako (short for Great Commission). My friend and translator, Oscar Useche, is one of the founders and their drummer. We again had a blessed and wonderful time sharing and hearing about their passion for Christ. We then went and had Colombian pizza on the roof around a nice fire. I couldn’t wait to take a photo and share with our Mission Critical board and supporters/friends because we often meet around a fire at the Arnold’s our dear friends and board members. Tomorrow we take Heidy back to La Calera and start our last preaching run before heading home to Texas. Blessings.
