United Church Bogota

Hi again! Last week was so busy for me, so I decided I would take a slower week this week.  So far, that hasn't worked out too good!  But, it has been a good week overall.  Other than a bad day in Spanish, which happens from time to time, it has been good.

About 2 weeks ago, we went to United Church Bogota on a Saturday.  This is a Christian, English speaking church.  Two of our teammates are members of this church, with one of them being the pastor.  A short term mission team from Texas came to help with some projects, so we went to see the church & also help where they needed it. The church is located much further south than where we live, about an hour ride via bus & taxi.

They have a nice facility which got a facelift with the mission team who came to help.

The girls are in the center of this picture, participating with kids singing praise songs, although these were in Spanish.

Goodies from Home!

It is hard to describe what a fun feeling it is to get something from home.  It just brightens my day.  In this case, my week has been brightened!

Let me take you back a few weeks.....we received an email from a lady in Memphis whom I had never met who attends one of our supporting churches.  She was coming to Bogota & offered to bring us something. Well little did she know, I always have a mental list of things I want from the states!  During this same time, a sad thing happened here....my slow cooker cracked :(.  They don't sell them here & I use mine a lot!!  I called my family & submitted my Target list, which of course, the slow cooker was at the top of the list.  Cliff bars for the girls, especially Isabella, was next priority on the list.

Monday of this week, I was able to meet the lady from Memphis & get my suitcase from Memphis!! We were/are excited about our treats from home.

This is our family with the visitors from Memphis & the family they are staying with in Colombia.  The lady from Memphis is at the end in the white.  We meet them at our local mall.

Cliff bars & Rotel!!  Neither are sold here.  

But wait!! There is more!!  There is another family from Bogota we met who just spent 6 weeks in the states. We placed an Amazon order, (thanks to my in-laws for this order) had it shipped to their house, & they brought it to us in Bogota.  We got that package Tuesday!  2 days in a row we received goodies from home!  

Twizzlers, sunflower seeds, applesauce, Organic fruit snacks, & more cliff bars...again, little snacks we like that are not sold here.

This is random, but that is what Amazon is for, right?  Dryer sheets are not sold in Colombia, so I ordered this for my dryer. Behind it is a tray I ordered for our microwave.

And one more thing, we got a letter from my family in the mail Saturday!  These things, plus a new friend this week has been an answer to prayer for me.  While we were in the park Tuesday talking with our new friends, they invited us to their home for hot chocolate, bread & cheese.  So in minutes, we were sitting in their house enjoying a late afternoon snack.  This is a very typical Colombian late day meal.  Me in my English/Spanish confusion was calling the cheese Cheeso, instead of cheese or queso! Everything is running together in my head! Ha,ha!  

Sunday Church

Oh Sunday.  Sunday is a day where I realize I am going to a service where I can't understand hardly anything said.  It is a day I try to listen to a sermon from back in the states.  It is a day I worship the same true, living God with others in a different language.  It is then I marvel at a God who is great & mighty & big. He is a God who made us all in His image.

I will tell you about Sunday church in Bogota. When we arrived here 3 months ago this week, there was an average of about 40 people at our church plant.  The last few weeks, there has been an average of 20, which has been discouraging. Remember two missionary families returned to the states & some others have been traveling on summer vacation.  And some people just haven't been back.

Today we had 15 at church, our lowest number we have seen since being here.  About half way through the service, the family we met in the park came into church!  It just lifted the mood of our entire congregation of 15!  It was just so refreshing to see new faces as this was their first time at our church. We are the only non-Spanish speaking family at our church, so it was fun to have this family as our guests.  I'm telling you, this made our day.  After church, we went to the mall food court with them & they spent some time in our home. It is fun & tiring at the same time with the communication barrier.

Also at church yesterday, Avery led worship for the first time.  He has been singing with the church, but today, he was asked to lead the singing.

Brook looked so grown up to me today in her outfit drinking her coffee.

Here is a sampling of our song sheet from church:

Oh Love That Will Not Let Me Go

Mighty to Save

Here I Am To Worship

This is a picture Brook took of us out to eat Thursday night with our new friends.

Pray for us to be not only a friend to these people, but the light of Jesus so they may see & know Him.

Quinta de Bolivar

Wednesday afternoon, Avery, Clara & I took a spur-of-the-moment trip to downtown Bogota.  I mean, we went south in the city.  This is a HUGE city!  It took us an hour to travel by bus there & we were still in Bogota!

We visited Quinta de Bolivar, which is the home of Simon Bolivar in Bogota.  Simon Bolivar lived in this house between 1820-1830, but not consecutively. Simon Bolivar was a military & political leader in the independence of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, & Bolivia from the Spanish Empire.  He is considered the liberator of Colombia.

 

There were beautiful gardens around the home.

This picture is from a nearby artisans area.

Some police cars on this day had their cars adorned with balloons & a statue that is said to be protection for their cars.

If you can notice in the background of this picture is a cable car.  Those cable cars lead up to the most famous tourist area in Bogota, Monserrate.

Have a good weekend!

Good things

In the midst of the hardest few weeks I've had since being here (just little things of life & being homesick), here are a few good things.

If you  remember reading from our time in Europe in January, we met a guy from Iran who has an incredible testimony.  We have been blessed to stay in touch with him since our return.  Well, just last Sunday, he was baptized!!  We were thrilled, yet sad we couldn't be there to witness it.  However, we had a friend with MTW there who sent us a picture & a video.  It was pretty awesome & we are happy for our brother in Christ!

I have struggled with loneliness here, realizing I don't have any friends.  I was able to see the lady I met in the park last week again this week.  She gave me a bracelet she made & then actually brought me a Colombian dessert Wednesday.  Granted, she only speaks Spanish, but we are finding ways to communicate with my limited words.  She is very helpful to me with my Spanish & her husband does speak a bit of English which helps a lot!  We are having dinner with this family Thursday evening, so pray for that time together.  They don't go to church & we've invited them again, so we will see.  If you're wondering, the Colombian dessert is arroz con leche, which is rice with milk & it has grapes on top of it.  At the time of writing this, I haven't tried it yet, but will have to before our dinner date.

As far as Spanish goes, it is going slow.  I basically failed a test last week, which was discouraging.  But, every week I learn at least a new word & recognize other words when I hear or see them.  Last week, my teacher had me re-write my grocery list that she saw I had of course written in English to Spanish.  Here it is...recognize anything?

Salt Mine Cathedral

This week we went to a Salt Mine Cathedral.  It is considered one of the wonders of Colombia & definitely a tourist attraction.  I say definitely because this is the first time in over 2 months we have met travelers from the United States.  And may I say it was refreshing!  We heard one group speaking English.  I went straight over to them & asked where they were from & their answer was California.  While we were waiting in line for an English tour guide, we met a couple from New Jersey.

Our language tutor, Clara, was our escort for the trip. We are trying to have one outing a month with her to experience the culture here.  This was a fascinating place.  It is a cathedral, made of salt in a mine.

The cathedral is located in a town about 45 minutes north of Bogota called Zipaquira.

This is the town square.

Inside the mine, this is a kneeling platform that looks like it is made of quartz, but it is actually made from salt.

There are crosses throughout the cathedral symbolizing the story of Christ's death & resurrection.

This is a nativity scene made  from salt.

We did a miners tour & were able to mine for salt, emeralds or whatever we knocked off the walls!

Brook put some black soot on her face to look more authentic.

The guide was getting ready to make an explosion sound in the mine.  Brook was preparing herself.

Clara is always fun to be around & we had a nice cultural outing & a change from our class routine.

In front of the carved image with salt walls.

Hope you have a good Thursday.  I'm ready for another weekend.  Or a vacation.

Our Park

We are grateful to have a neighborhood park.  It isn't anything fancy, but it is a great outdoor space & a great place to meet our neighbors, and of course, practice our limited Spanish.

Last week, I met this cute little boy out there who is Colombian, but has dual citizenship because he was born in the USA.  He therefore speaks pretty good English.  We met 2 of his friends as well.  One is only in Colombia for the summer visiting family because he is from the Dominican Republic.  He kept saying "Dominican Republic" with his accent & it was so cute.  These boys kept helping us with our Spanish. They would say, "Repeat after me......".  The Colombian boy told us, "We've been speaking English.  Now let's talk in Spanish!".   Yesterday, this cute Colombian & another friend came to our door to invite us to go play in the park with them.

I mean seriously, aren't they cute?

Colombian kid to the left, DR kid to the right

Our family also met another family in the park whom we invited to church, but they didn't come last week.  We hope we see them again so we can invite them for this upcoming Sunday.  The husband spoke English, but the wife did not.  It was good for me to try to talk with her.  Our family also enjoyed being on the seesaw along with our new friends.

A little blurry, but hey, I was on top of the see saw! 

Isabella is now taking tennis lessons, which also take place in our park.  She is doing well, even though she can't understand her teacher!

July 4th & 5th Celebration

The 4th was a day of many emotions here.  We started the day with Spanish class & a birthday celebration for our teacher.  We had balloons, cards & a small gift for her.

We are so thankful for Clara.  We would be lost here without her help. We treated her to an All-American hamburger for lunch.

Selling World Cup souvenirs

Pure devastation after the World Cup loss for Colombia

Being homesick, I watched Macy's fireworks on the computer.

Due to the Colombian game on the 4th, a few families celebrated Independence Day on the 5th. Two families from our team are actually in the states and one family had other plans for the day. It was nice, but different.  There was no swimming, no grilling food, & no fireworks.  We went to a park & had a picnic.

I sure wish I realized this picture was blurry when I took it, but I didn't notice until I loaded it on the computer.  I still thought it was a cute picture of Brook in her red, white, & blue.

Avery & Joe, our team leader, played tennis with Isabella, who is in the far background.  Isabella had already had an 8am tennis lesson that morning.

Brook is hammering in a stake for horseshoes.  We played several rounds of horseshoes.

Avery & I sporting our red, white, & blue outfits to honor our home country.  We are so thankful for our freedoms in the USA.