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Our time here has been absolutely amazing so far! Seeing God working in the hearts of adults and children alike, through the abundant ministry opportunities, has been so exciting to be a part of. Although we pour ourselves out each and every day, we are at the same time continually refreshed in our hearts.

Monday morning was one of our favorite opportunities yet.  We all woke early to pile on the bus and head out to the mountains to visit a Christian school for kids in an incredibly poor area. All of the kids attend through scholarships, and it’s obvious that the privilege of attending school is something they treasure, rather than take for granted. We started with the youngest class of kindergarten and preschool kiddos. Wow, Colombian kids are so cute! We told the Gimme Hands story about selfishness, taught the boomerang song, and got lots of hugs and kisses from each of the three classes of preschoolers through 5^th graders.  They received the message very well, and were a great group to work with.

After the sessions with the kids, we ate lunch provided by the school, and then taught a group of teachers and parents how to effectively work with ninos. Elizabeth shared about teaching Bible verses with actions, telling interesting stories, and using fun, engaging songs to reinforce basic concepts.  Pastor Salazar taught about the necessity of character training, and how to reinforce character in children’s lives. It was a very practical session and one that was greatly appreciated.

We arrived back at the hotel just in time to run into our little phone booths to change into our Supermen costumes and dash off to the first night of the kids program. Borderline unorganized chaos might be the best description of the evening. Fortunately, we have the best group of translators many of us have ever worked with. About 150 kids showed up for the program, and the evening flew by. Five classes were kept busy teaching the concept of gratitude and developing a servant’s heart. Games, crafts, stories, and personal testimonies make great teaching tools!

We’re absolutely loving out time here in Bogota and wish we could stay longer than two weeks. The Bogotans are very sensitive to our impressions of their country, and are working hard to make us feel welcome. Everything is very safe, and the old reputation of a dangerous Bogota is quickly fading away. Though we remain headquartered in Bogota and its suburbs and don’t travel outside of the city, inside it seems very much like any other populous, developing city. In fact, many of us are surprised by how well it runs, even more so than other South American capitals. Add to that the great weather, flowers, sunshine, and friendly faces, and it makes for an awesome destination.

From 7:30 in the morning to 12:30 at night, our time Monday was filled with divine appointments, effective ministry, great fellowship, and watching God show Himself strong and be magnified in this amazing city.

Amy, for the team

Here is a glimpse of the Gimme Hands skit in action.

Micah, one of the star actors in the drama.

Another key actor in the story. By the way, this is what it looks like to turn 33 in Colombia. Today was Elizabeth’s birthday!

Daniel the story teller.

Do you wonder why we love working in a place like this?

Note from Elizabeth: “There is nothing in the world I would rather be doing on my birthday.”

 

This entry was posted on Monday, March 2nd, 2009 at 6:50 am and is filed under Blog, Colombia 2009. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.