| Friday, July 29, 2005 |
| PARTE III - LLEGANDO A VELEZ |
So, after leaving Chinauta, having a day "reprieve" in Bogotá we boarded yet another oh too small bus for us and our baggage and headed off to Velez in the department of Santander (or something like that)... arriving there we proceeded to unload the sound system, 5000 maletas, soccer ball, pots and pans, and yes - the bicycle. We were greeted by Hector and Sonia Cordoba... Hector who is a former MIJUQUERO and with whom I spent many a day talking about their ministry and how the heck they know what to be doing in this initial stage of their church planting ministry and about Trever Godard. Yes indeed, there are some stories about beautiful TG... and also about Joan's cooking. How random to be on the side of a mountain surrounded by other beautiful mountains in the middle of the mountains of Colombia talking about Joan's cooking. RANDOM. Basically, our time in Velez was to assist Hector y Sonia in their ministry, and our time was to be packed full of events with children, door to dooring, praying, and yes... running up the side of a mountain for like, 5 km in the pouring rain. Booyeah...
The story I would like to share is the following: So on our 3 Domingos in Velez we always went to a barrio where H & S are working at setting up cell groups. This barrio happened to be approximately 6 km down the mountain from where we were staying in their house, and as the heat of the afternoon was usually brutal when it was time to go, we always took a truck down with the boys who couldn't fit hanging out the back end... and walked back UP... and when I say UP I mean UP - 6 of the most brutal km of my life... but anyway. We went to leave on this particular night wlaking on the dirt part of the road before reaching teh Carretera (scary road on teh side of the mountain) when the rain started while we were still praying in this one family's house. I thought it was some freakish torrential mountain storm or something cuz seriously the wind and rain were heinous. We tried calling for a truck to come pick us up, but they wouldn't come cuz the dirt road on the side of the mountain is most definitely mud slide material and so we started to hike it - oh beautiful stubborn Tomas... so we're trudging through the heinous rain when something happens and Tomas is frustrated, and so the call comes out: "MIJUCO TROTAR"... We were a long way from home people - but trot we did... I am pretty sure it was like 3 km worth of running. But it was actually really tight because as Leidy and I jogged along in the pouring rain on the side of a mountain facing other mountains in the mountains of Colombia I knew that this was a memory that is gonna be with me for the rest of my life. Gracias a Dios! |
posted by Erica @ 2:32 p.m.  |
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| Thursday, July 28, 2005 |
| Parte II : Reality |
"...we were stunned into thinking the next 2 weeks were gonna be tight."
Our time in Chinauta was not to be a vacation.
There were days starting at 6 in the morning, and ending at 11, 12, 1, 3.... starting at 6 going until 11, 12, 1....
Days with teaching from 9 am until 10pm on any variety of themes... my favorite was Anabaptism, in Spanish... booyeah!
There was the night of the robbers when we were woken from our sleep at 1 in the morning and rushed into the night air to huddle in the salon while Tomas and Paula and Giovanny freaked out about what to do... suggestions of machetes, finding the finca caretaker, praying, etc were whispered into the night air... until the truth was revealed that it was all a hoax and we were questioned about why none of us thought to bring a Bible. Luckily for us, Monica remembered her money.
There was the night of the fire that went until 3 in the morning with us renouncing areas of bondage in our lives, past regrets, etc... with crazy acts of Holy Spirit happening... definitely need to debrief about this one.
The day of the hose. WoW. Basically the point of training was to break our norms, break our characters and challenge us to see if we were up for the test. This day we messed up hardcore. Team work wasn't happening, we were messing up on setting up tents... and so we were ordered into bathing suits and to be on the field in 5 minutes... we proceeded to run, jump, roll, whatever was ordered around the soccer field for the following hour, when out came the hose. We were ordered into a line, and I was selected first - on my knees facing Tomas and the hose with my hands behind my back... the water was turned on and water at high pressure was sprayed into my mouth and nose and the question yelled "What are you?" Struggling for breath and words to say that I am a Christian for the next 50 of the hardest seconds of my life with the rest of the MIJUCO team laughing behind me because they thought it was funny and not as hard as it really was. Hardest part about this lesson: I just did it to get to that 50 seconds, and the conviction in my heart was not into my words. Hearing the laughter of the other MIJUQUERO's I knew in my heart that my inaction in prayer and in support is the laughter that persecuted Christians in the world are hearing. Hardest day of my life... best day of my life... feel free to ask me about this day when I talk with you...
So many days... so much learned. However, in the next parts I must talk about our outreach in Velez because WOW! |
| posted by Erica @ 10:43 a.m. |
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| Monday, July 25, 2005 |
| Back in Bogotá |
Hey all - MIJUCO dos mil cinco is finished! I give PRAISE to the Father for His continual support and faithfulness through every minute of the 5 weeks I was in the program... Thank you all for your prayers! I don't want to bore anyone with the heinous stories I have to tell, so I will be posting a story a day for the next week, so if you want to hear about my crazzzzzy adventures - check in as much as you want.
PARTE I - THE ATTACK OF THE HEINOUS DOGS
So... we arrived to the farm in Chinauta where we would be spending the next 15 days in training - with teachers coming from Bogotá... with absolute awe and excitedness for our upcoming time. The 2 hour drive to the farm through the amazing mountains of Colombia had been nothing short of spectacular, and the awe effect was only amplified as the gates to the finca swung open and we were faced with PARADISE. Palm trees, flowers, mango trees, and green green grass surrounded the pristine pool and soccer field - the place we were to hold sessions was a open air type salon thing situated in the middle of the farm... we were stunned into thinking the next 2 weeks were gonna be tight. The first night we were on the farm, pretty much all of us were pumped to go stargazing and I possibly the most out of anyone - and so I took off wandering the farm by myself with my beautiful black Bethany College hoodie to keep away the chill. You know, the best part about Colombia is that everyone has a dog... and sometimes more than one... and sometimes the dogs are really, really, really big - especially in cases where the dogs have to gaurd a finca in the Colombian countryside. So picture this, here I am walking around the farm in the dark, with my dark clothing and the farms gaurd dogs think I am someone coming to rob the farm and so in the dark of the night I hear deep deep barking and see these two MASSIVE dogs streaking towards me and I think "no no I'll just try and pet them and everything will be fine... they must know I am just innocent stargazing Erica..." HA! I've never felt fear like this is my life. The dogs started growling really scarily, jumping up on me (and their heads when they jumped up on me were higher than mine....) biting me and growling at me. So crapping my pants I calmly walked away dragging these dogs on my arms until there was some light - and they finally let go of me and starting having the scariest dog fight between themselves of my life. I wasn't hurt too badly - but seriously I have this fear of dogs now. In the moment it was really scary but now I think back and can kind of laugh at how dumb I was to be walking in the dark in dark clothing on the farm in the first place... Have I mentioned I really don't like dogs? Welcome to missions training 101. |
| posted by Erica @ 9:56 a.m. |
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| Tuesday, July 12, 2005 |
| GDT Newsletter... |
Had to come to email to help Paula send out the newsletter I wrote up for GDT Alliance and thought I would share with you all - really has no details to speak of, but PRAY for us here in MIJUCO! I am doing well, but this time has been very stretching and I know that my heart has changed, and the character of Christ has been ground into me a little bit more... daily we walk towards Christ - pray that we would all have the strength and desire to keep on.
"Por mucho tiempo busque una razón de vivir... tu reino vino en mi vida, y ahora vivo para ti..." (For a long time I looked for a reason to live... your Kingdom came into my life and now I live for you...) This song has been one that we have often sung in our programs here in rural Velez, Colombia. The lyrics have been words that we’ve longed for those listening to understand and take hold of for themselves. It has been in our hoping this for others that the words of this song are becoming real in the lives of us 13 participants and 2 leaders as we serve and reach out to a largely unreached community and area. Within the team, barriers of disunity, distrust and resistance to the Holy Spirit are being broken before the Kingdom of God – that as we go out and tell of Christ and the freedom to be found at the Cross, that our lives would do the talking. Our prayer is that Christ’s light within us would be a beacon from the mountains around us, and especially that the love and joy we have for one another would be evident to the burdened and weary who come to our prgrams and receive our visits and prayers. As participants and leaders alike, we have sought for reasons to live and have experienced the joy of the Kingdom in our own lives. Now we wish to live for God – preaching His love and salvation to those hardened by a tough life in the mountains of Colombia. |
| posted by Erica @ 8:17 a.m. |
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Name: Erica
Home: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
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