Whatever is Lovely

"I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has given me strength that He considered me faithful appointing me to His service." 1 Timothy 1:12

I have been in Colombia for over a month now!!! I can't believe it. Time is flying. I am so thankful that I am have the opportunity to serve in Bogota. School is going great. I have had three weeks with my students and am completely in love with them and working in the kindergarten classroom. I am learning a ton about English Language Learners and how to teach specifically to those types of students. It is frustrating at times because I don't always have someone there with me to translate. I basically have to act out everything I am saying all the time which I'm sure would be hilarious for someone to watch. My students are incredibly smart and loving. We talk about how big and good God is all the time. Their favorite song is, Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord, and they know all the hand motions to it. So cute. It is fun to worship with them. The next song I am going to teach them is, How Great is Our God. I used to love singing that one with my BRCA students. We learn a memory verse every week and a wonderful teacher at our school teaches us all the signs to go a long with it. That is a really good way for them to learn english words. We spent the week studying plants and living things. They were so excited to watch their seeds sprout and kept a daily journal of all the changes they saw. I love them because they are excited about learning and love for me to read books to them. They give me tons of hugs and kisses each day and make me laugh all the time. They also love to teach me words in Spanish and will correct me 30 times until I get the pronounciation right. "No Meez, no, like this..." Wow, I LOVE them. I need help with my pronounciation for real. Just as predicted, they are learning to speak English with a southern accent which everyone in the school thinks is hilarious. I have had a lot of fun getting to know the parents as well. So many of them are involved in awesome ministries in Bogota. It is an honor to get to serve the families by teaching their children so that they can do what God has called them to. Families of my students have been inviting me out with them on the weekends to see more of Bogota and some of the surrounding cities. I look forward to spending time with them, practicing my Spanish and learning more of the Colombian culture. Our school verse this year is, "Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -think about such things." (Philippians 4:8)

God has continued to bless me in many ways here. I found the church that I want to be a part of while I am here. Today was my second week visiting and it feels like home. Worship and teaching is wonderful and I always have someone to help with translation. Getting to sing is helpful because I learn a lot of Spanish and can hear correct pronounciation. They sing a lot of songs that I know from back home only in Spanish. People there are so welcoming and loving. One of my student's father is actually the pastor (he is my most difficult one, imagine that). They are passionate about serving the people of Bogota. Last week we sang:

Luz en estas tinieblas

Esperanz al perdido, paz para el intranquilo, eres tu

Mas grandes cosas aun vendran

y obras mas grandes Dios

nara con su pueblo

Which is from Chris Tomlin's song:

You're the God of this city

You're the King of these People

You're the Lord of this Nation

You are
There is no one like our God

There is no one like our God

We believe

Greater things have yet to come

And greater things are still to be done in this city

Greater things have yet to come

And greater things are still to be done in this city

They are studying prayer right now and what can hinder our prayers from being recieved by God. We have talked alot about humbling ourselves and forgiving people we have conflict with. Letting go of selfishness and letting our blessings be for others and not just us. I loved today's sermon because they talked about how the church has been praying for reconcilation with Venesuala and strengthened relationshiops with Equador and Boliva so that Colombia can continue to experience peace. The pastor urged us to pray for the new president and leaders because Colombia has come so far, but still has so long to go before it can be considered a peaceful nation. They believe that God's presence is the only thing that can heal their country.

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14 There is so much for the church to do in Colombia because there aren't many social service programs for the homeless, the handicapped, people battling addictions, or orphans. One of the ways my school urges us to serve in the community is to encourage the leaders who already have ministries in place because they are burnt out, isolated and lonely. It is neat to see the church at work here, very encouraging.

Two people that I have loved watching are Beth and Rafa Afanador. The directors of El Camino Academy where I teach. Beth met Rafa when she was here on a mission trip in college. She later came here to teach and they got married shortly after. They are a blessing to be around and a blessing to everyone they meet. She is much more serious and organized while Rafa is completely crazy and out of control. He makes me laugh so hard. They both have huge hearts and love to serve. A match made in heaven. They put their faith into action in the most pratical ways and give their lives away everyday. I have been challenged by them already. They work with a ton of pastors in Colombia to bring in famous speakers to do big conferences here in Bogota. They work with goverment officials, embassy workers and business men. They serve the poorest of the poor, drug addicts, prostitutes and street kids. They run an after school program for street kids called, House of Peace. They line up medical mission trips to the jungle throughout the year. They find out people's strengths and use them in anyway possible. They dream huge dreams for Bogota and with God's help make them a reality. My pastor back home always says, "If Grace Church was bombed would Greenville, SC miss us? Who are we impacting, loving, serving? Who would notice if we were gone?" Bogota would definitely miss Beth and Rafa if they were to leave. In a city of nine million they make a huge difference. I plan on spending as much time with them as I can this year.

Friends and family, you have to come see Bogota!!! It is incredibly beautiful and there is so much to do. Last weekend I went to some really neat places downtown. There are tons of art museums to see that only cost about 1 American dollar. If you can come we will hop on the transmileno and see all there is to see. There is a neat place called monserrate where you can see all of Bogota, a beautiful Cathedral made of salt, amazing architecture everywhere you look. You must experience Colombia. Beth and Rafa will put you to work in one of their ministries as well.

Dios la bendiga!

Hillsong comes to Bogota!

This one time I told my dearest friend, Gladys, that I would go to church with her. I was excited to try a different church and looked forward to spending time with her and her family. When she picked me up at 8:30, she informed me that we were getting to church early for a special, special meeting. I asked if we were going to get to see baptisms or something cool like that and she said oh no, we are going to a special concert. I was thinking a Colombian worship band and was very excited. She kept saying, "I can't remember the name, big, big, big band, very, very big, I think they are from Australia." I gave her a crazy look and said, "you don't mean Hillsong do you?" She said, "Oh yes, Americans know Hillsong?" I began to squeal and jump around in the car and she just laughed and laughed. Needless to say it was a good day to be in Colombia!!! The concert was simply amazing, such a good time of worship. They sang in english, but the words were written in spanish on the screen so you could hear spanish and english during all the songs. My best friend Jamie and I refer to this as Velvet Elvis moments. Colombians know how to worship for real. I kept praising God for giving me such a sweet surprise. Gladys took me to lunch with her family, it was so yummy and fun. They were telling me this crazy story about their friend who is a doctor and was captured by the guriella army 3 years ago. They only kept him for a few months and gave him hamburgers from this special restaurant he requested. Not only that, they also gave him 5000 dollars for some medical work he did when they released him. These Guriella people are very intriging. So, I was getting a little nervous because they told me that the doctor lived in Bogota and that I would get to meet him soon. I kept thinking, he lives in Bogota...he was kidnapped...he lives in Bogota... and finally asked where he was when he was captured. There son, Alex, who is my age told me that the doctor lived in their neighborhood and was taken from his home. My eyes bulged out of my head and I dropped my fork. They all died laughing and were about to fall out of there chairs. He got me sooooo good. The doctor, who I can't wait to meet, was traveling many hours away in the rural mountains. Don't worry family, no one gets kidnapped in Bogota. They took me to a soccer game later on with a bunch of their friends. They are too good to me and have been one of my biggest blessings to me during my short time here. Just this past week they have stopped by on different occasions to bring me curtains, fresh bread, and a huge box of fruit. Praise God for the Alfonso's. Speaking of praises, I'll just list a few:

1.I can't get over how wonderful my first day of school was.

2.My mom and sister sent me a package through a friend coming to Bogota, full of school supplies and some things I wish I had packed.

3.My co-workers have the most beautiful hearts. They love to serve the families at ECA and are involved in the most awesome ministries.

4. The school librarian putt Rosetta Stone on my computer for free!

5.God provided my roomates and I with a gorgeous home. Missionaries from Germany had to go back home for a year and are letting us rent it for almost nothing. Completely furnished and has a full-time gaurd right outside our door 24 hrs a day.

6. I am learning to be a big city girl and can take buses, the transmileno, and hail taxis. God has taken care of so many fears I had about living here.

7. God is growing my love for Colombia everyday.

8. There are tons of oppurtunities to minister to our surrounding community and tons of passionate people to serve with.

Things that BLOW my mind about Colombia:

1. You don't have to refrigerate milk, eggs, or butter. You really don't have to refrigerate anything, or at least people choose not to.

2. The altitude not only makes you feel out of shape when doing any strenuous activity, it GREATLY affects your baking. ( I made two birthday cakes for my fellow teachers last week and it was an epic failure. My friends still ate them because they love me, but I wouldn't waste the calories).

3. It takes 3 days to line dry your clothes. I will never wash my hoodie again.

4. It can take 30 minutes to hail a taxi on national holidays.

5. Instead of snow days, Bogota has traffic days. We actually cancel school due to the amount of traffic sometimes.

6.Bus drivers like to take off with half your body hanging out the door.

7. People are SOOOO generous.

8. My students are SOOOO cute.

9. People drink unreal amounts of coffee that is intensely strong.

10. The food is amazing. The land for carb-lovers.

11. The immense love for futbol!

12.How beautiful it is to pray/worship in spanish and english.

13. Children love their parents so much. Especially adult children, families are very close.

14. Earthquakes aren't even that scary. At least not the tremors we felt at school last week. (all the Colombians ran out of the buildings as the gringos watched everything on their desks shaking in bewilderment).

Prayer Needs:

1.That I will have a successful start to the school year, strong relationships with families and students.

2. That I will have a strong relationship with the high school student that I get to disciple and that I will have plenty of time to invest in her life.

3. That God will let me get involved and be a blessing to one of the many ministries that flows out of ECA. I am hoping to help with a teenage pregnancy home.

4. Safety and health.

5. Learning language and culture quickly.

6. That I will do well teaching an english institute for families of ECA.

7. My Colombian mom, Gladys, is having surgery on Wednesday.

Juan Manuel Santos takes oath as Colombia's new president

Juan Manuel Santos takes oath as Colombia's new president

Happy First Day of School, Happy Inauguration Day, & Batalla de Boyaca

Today was so much fun! Batalla de Boyaca is a national holiday in Colombia and is the day that ECA always starts school. I met all my sweet students and their families. We spent two hours in our classroom getting to know each other, singing, playing games and touring the room. My students are so cute and behaved very well today. They can't really understand what I am saying but they know how school works and did a great job. Mrs. Amado (my teacher's aide) translates most of everything and is a beautiful woman and one of my favorite friends in Colombia. I hugged and kissed them many, many times! We also made our first class book today and introduced ourselves. I went first and told them that most importantly I love Jesus, I love reading, teaching, cooking, my family and friends, and living in Bogota with the mountains everywhere I look. They used a microphone to share and thought that was the best. The parents were so friendly and welcoming. I look forward getting to know them and working with them to train up their children in the way that they should go. I am so excited about this school year!

Colombia has a new president as of today. We didn't know what to expect as far as riots or protests, but it seemed like a very peaceful day. One of the spanish teachers at ECA gave us a neat history lesson that prepared us for the upcoming inauguration last week. It went back all the way to the Spanish invasion and massacre, Simon Bolivar gaining independence, and the development of the gurriella army and paramilitary. It was very interesting and I can't wait to learn more. Colombia has had so much violence in the past and it still affects people today even though this country is changing for the better every year. Everyone has a family member that has been affected by FARC. Everyone has to deal with the poverty and crime that is still prominent. I have been so confused as to why people look so serious and tough out on the streets but are so warm and loving when you visit their home. Our Spanish teacher told us that Colombians are so proud of their country but have been born with a "no one is going to take anything from me" mentality. It put lots of things into perspective. Colombia's past president, Alvaro Uribe, did so much for this country. He fought against FARC and drug cartels and made huge progress. His successor, Juan Manuel Santos, will continue to do the same and help with the high unemployment rate. Santos studied during college in Kansas, Harvard and London. He was also the Minister of Defense during Uribe's presidency. Colombia has one of the highest populations of displaced people in the world and is still considered a third world country. It is a beautiful country full of hope and a need for peace and love. Thankful to be here.