Our Journal

A Visit to Christ Cental in South Carolina

2008-06-08T12:30:00.001-04:00

Greetings from Smithfield, NC

2008-06-06T12:31:00.001-04:00

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Hey everyone!!

Sorry that it has taken us soooo long to post! We've been spending tons of time with family! It's been wonderful! We have tons of pictures that Chris is working on to share with you from our time in Dilley and since we've gotten home. I have my notes, but I haven't typed up the last of the story...maybe this coming week??!! We are doing really well! Please e-mail us, and we'll send you our cell number...we are borrowing my dad's phone right now. We're looking at our schedule now to start visiting towns and churches that we met along the journey!!

As far as what's next, we're still praying about that...so far there are two really wonderful opportunities that have opened up...one in Wagener, SC and another in Eagle Lake, TX. So it may be one of those options or something we haven't even thought of yet!! Right now, we are just enjoying time with our families!! God bless you and keep you! We love you a ton!

Week 3 at Home--Addie's 1st Birthday Party

2008-06-01T12:29:00.008-04:00

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Week 2 at Home

2008-05-25T12:29:00.006-04:00

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Finally Home--Smithfield, NC on day 591 and beyond

2008-05-19T12:26:00.008-04:00

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Our Time in Dilley, TX...What a Welcome!

2008-05-11T23:24:00.012-04:00

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Fellowshipping with the Hendersons in Trujillo, Peru

2008-04-30T22:48:00.009-04:00

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One last up-date from Huanchaco, Perú

2008-04-30T15:45:00.002-04:00

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Well...time is short! We are staying the night tonight with the Hendersons in Trujillo. Tomorrow morning, we'll catch the bus at 8:30 to Lima. From there, we'll get a taxi to the airport. We fly out at 11 pm from Lima. We'll be in San Antonio at 9 am on Friday. Pastor Lance will be there to pick us up and take us back to Dilley. Please pray for a safe trip...we will be traveling for more than 24 hours! We also ask your prayers as we share the message that God has laid on our hearts for the churches and possibly a few other groups that we will be sharing with in Dilley.

Here's the flight information for our return to North Carolina...I realized after a couple of e-mails that I wasn't specific enough in the last post.

Mon 12-May-08
Raleigh (RDU)Arrive 4:52 pm Terminal A
XE ExpressJet AirlinesFlight: 501

We may or may not be able to post or respond to e-mails until we are back in NC. Don't worry, we'll be in touch soon!! We can't wait to see each one of you to know what God's been doing in your lives and to share the "rest of the story" with you! God bless you and keep you! We love you!!

Learning from the Hendersons and the Elliots in Trujillo, Perú

2008-04-24T22:47:00.007-04:00

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Between Huanchaco and Trujillo, Perú on day 573

2008-04-24T10:50:00.002-04:00

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Hey everyone!! We are still doing really well! God really moved last week while we were with Anibal, Haydeé, Cesar and Kela. Haydeé prayed to begin her walk with Jesus last Friday night and Kela prayed yesterday to do the same! We were soooo excited!! Thanks for your prayers! God has heard and answered them!! We'll be posting more details soon...Chris is working on pictures this morning.

We are staying at the Hendersons' apartment in Huanchaco and going back and forth to Trujillo and Esperanza ministering. We've also been able to rest a bit! Praise God!!

Another huge answered prayer...a man from our home town, Frank Lee, bought the tickets to bring us home to Smithfield!! We'll be flying in on Monday, May 12th around 5 pm!! Wahoo!!! It's been a long time since we stepped foot on Carolina soil!! Thanks so much, Lee Family! (and Annette for all of your behind the scenes work!)

We also just learned that Brett got the NCAE scholarship...we already knew he was going to State (Go Pack!), but to see God's hand of provision in Brett's life is really exciting too!!

Okay...I think that's about it for the brief up-dates! We'll be posting details and pictures in the next week! Then we'll be hugging your necks in 1 week in Texas and 2.5 weeks in NC!! We love you! God bless you and keep you!

Staying with "El Gato" and family in Trujillo and meeting up with the Hendersons

2008-04-19T22:45:00.008-04:00

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Trujillo, Perú on day 565

2008-04-16T17:52:00.003-04:00

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Hey everyone!

Just another quick up-date...we ministered in Tumbes from 12 days, but we knew that God was leading us to move on...the church family would not hear of our walking from there, so they put us on a bus to Trujillo on Monday night. They said that it was a better use of our time to minister in Trujillo instead of walking to Trujillo.

Pastor Emin called ahead to a friend of his who lives here, so we've been with Anibal, Haydeé, Cesar, and Kela. Only Anibal is a Christian, so we are praying for open doors to share with his wife, Haydeé, and her sister, Kela. We've also made contact with the Hendersons (our missionary friends who live in Trujillo), and they are expecting us so that we can work with them!!

I’m hoping to finish up-dating the blog before we get home…we’ll have to see if God allows time for that! Only 14.5 days until we fly out of Lima heading towards Dilley, TX! We'll be posting again soon! God bless you and keep you!! We love you!!

Still in Tumbes, but it's time to move on to Trujillo, Perú

2008-04-14T22:44:00.006-04:00

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WE ARE IN PERÚ!!! Country number 11!

2008-04-08T18:15:00.002-04:00

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I haven't been able to "catch up" any more on the journal, but I have up-dated the map...don't worry, I am still working on the journal. I've taken good notes...we don't want to forget one amazing thing that God has done on this journey.

God has been moving in incredible ways!! We are in Tumbes a town about 20 miles from the border of Ecuador. We were walking along the day that we crossed the border...it was getting late. All of a sudden 10-12 brothers and sisters in Christ unloaded from a van right in front of us. One of the brothers, Enrique, started talking to us, then the pastor's wife, Patricia, prayed over us. Then they said...we are here for church. The mother church in Tumbes is planting a church in Quebrada Grande. So we stayed with them for the service...we were sweaty and dusty from walking all day, but they still wanted us to share testimony. God has continued to open doors, so we have been back and forth ministering in Quebrada Grande and Tumbes. We know that the time here is drawing to a close.

On a side note: God has provided in a huge way...He's bringing us home!! Pastor Lance from the First Baptist Church in Dilley, TX has e-mailed us tickets back to the US. We'll be continuing to minister here in Perú until April 30th, so don't miss the up-dates...then we fly out of Lima, Perú on May 1st, and we'll be in San Antonio, TX at 9 am on May 2nd. We are looking forward to being in their services over the weekend!!! Then we'll be heading back to NC to see our FAMILIES and rest a bit before taking our next step of faith! Can't wait to share more with all of you...IN PERSON...soon!!

God bless you and keep you! We'll be in touch again soon!

Ministering in Tumbes, Perú

2008-04-07T22:42:00.010-04:00

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Quito to Machala, Ecuador and on to PERÚ

2008-04-02T23:23:00.007-04:00

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Machala, Ecuador

2008-04-01T14:20:00.004-04:00

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A brief up-date...we had an awesome time with Chris's parents and his brother, Brett, in Quito and in San Gabriel. We were really sad to see them go, but we know that it will be a lot less time before we see them again. Before they left us, they gave us money for a bus ticket...an anniversary gift!! They prayed about it and searched the map...we were to go to Machala. So here we are...we are walking today towards Peru...you'll never believe how close we are now...less than 80 miles from the border of PERU!!! We believe that God has shown us the city where we will stop "walking"--Trujillo. Rod and Maria Henderson, a missionary couple from Smithfield, lives there. They were instrumental in beginning the change in our prayer life...we hope to share a little more about that later. We are pretty sure that we'll be back in the US sometime in May!! I caught up the journal entries with the pictures...we're still working on it!! God bless you and keep you! We can't wait to see you! We love you tons!

Enjoying Easter with the Emblers...Welcome to Quito--Dad, Mom & Brett

2008-03-27T23:57:00.004-04:00

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Resting and catching up in Quito with Buddy and Isabel

2008-03-21T23:44:00.002-04:00

Saturday, March 15th
We had another work day today--e-mail, blog, pictures, and journalling. We did go out for a little bit with Buddy to see the city for a bit. We also called Gardenia to find out how her English test went. How sad to hear that she didn't get into the program! We tried to encourage her to keep seeking the Lord...that He has bigger and better plans than we can imagine!

Sunday, March 16th
Today we are having Fanesca!! It is a traditional dish that they prepare around Easter in Ecuador...it has 12 grains that represent the 12 disciples. You also make little fried bread of different shapes to put on top. So we made flowers, snails, braids, the first initial of all of our family members, crosses, a crown of thorns, etc.

Buddy and Isabel invited some of their friends--Gustavo and Pili--over to eat the Fanesca because it's also part of the tradition to share the Fanesca with others! Gustavo was a coronel in the Ecuador National Police, but he retired several years ago. Now he works for the Japanese Embassy by providing daily reports about the violence and crime in the country. He was a wealth of knowledge! He also shared several incredible police stories. About 20 years ago, he was involved with capturing a group of guerilla warriors in the southern part of Ecuador. Several of the guerrillas were killed in the attack, and one of them was the son of someone who was really important in the country. Recently friends of this family have come into political power, so they are causing a lot of problems for Gustavo. It's obvious that it's taking a huge toll on Pili as well. We prayed for them and for the truth to come out before they left this afternoon!

We went to Mass with Buddy and Isabel tonight. The church was really pretty...it was built during the colonial times. After church, we took a tour of colonial Quito. Isabel is a wealth of knowledge! Then we headed back to the apartment. Isabel and I had a long talk tonight. She's been through a lot in her life.

Monday, March 17th
Today we went with Buddy and Isabel to the market. I love the market...I'm hoping to find one where ever we end up living! There's nothing like fresh fruits and veggies! The rest of the day, Chris and I just kept working on odds and ends.

Tuesday, March 18th
Chris and I worked again this morning, but after lunch, Buddy and Isabel had a surprise for us. They wanted to take us up the Telefériqo--gondolas that take you to the top of Volcano Pichincha to overlook Quito. We could see most of the way up, but by the time we got to the top the clouds were covering the top of the mountain. We were 4,100 meters. (a little more than 2.5 miles above sea level!!) It was really cold and we had to walk around slowly because of the altitude!

After we came down from there, Buddy and Isabel wanted us to see colonial Quito again. This time in a horse-drawn carriage!! It's sooo beautiful at night!

Wednesday, March 19th
Today we spent the majority of the day talking with Buddy and Isabel. They shared concerns that they'd been having, they asked lots of questions, and we prayed together. By the time we ate supper, Chris had a really bad headache. (very uncommon for him...usually a signal that he's getting sick) We don't know what's going on, but we are praying that it's nothing.

Thursday, March 20th
Chris is sick...we don't know what it is...we are praying that God will touch his body. He spent the majority of the day in bed. He's upset because he doesn't want to be under the weather when his parents are here!

I worked on catching up on the journal today. Buddy, Isabel and I also wrote down some ideas of things that the Emblers might like to do while they are in Ecuador.

Friday, March 21st
Chris is feeling better today...he hasn't thrown up in a while. We are hoping that's a good sign!! Buddy and Isabel thought that we might want to visit the Artisan's Market in downtown Quito. Chris was okay for about 30 minutes, but then he got really light headed. We headed back to the apartment, and he went back to bed.

I worked on e-mail and talked a bit on Skype this afternoon. After supper, Chris was feeling a little better. We had to check into the hotel where we'd be staying with the Emblers tonight. So Buddy and Isabel dropped us off over there around 10 pm.

Well, the Emblers will be here tomorrow!! We are sooo excited that we were hardly able to sleep! Hope you have a Happy Easter with your families! God bless you and keep you!! We love you!

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Quito, Ecuador

2008-03-19T00:45:00.003-04:00

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Hey all! We are still working on "catching up"...I just posted a couple of new entries from the time we were MIA in Colombia! I should be posting several others in the next few days...we have 24-7 internet access!! ha, ha, ha! Chris is working on pictures all day tomorrow, so even if you can't read the story yet, you can check out the pix! Hope you enjoy! Don't forget the journal entries are in reverse order!! They start with God sent Bond, Ivon Bond...

We are staying with Chris's cousin, Buddy, and his wife, Isabel, right now. Chris's parents and Brett will be here Saturday night...we are looking forward to some good family time! It's been a LONG time since we've seen them.

Please pray for Chris's Uncle Dub (Buddy's dad), he's been pretty sick, but they seem to have him a little more stabilized now. He's in assisted living in Winston-Salem. There hasn't been much change in Lisa's condtion or in Gabrielle's. Thanks for praying for them and for us.

We continue to lift you up to our Father in prayer!! Hope you have an amazing Easter...celebrating our risen Savior!! God bless you and keep you! We love you tons!

Heading on to Quito and then to Puerto Cayo for a little visit with family

2008-03-14T23:44:00.002-04:00

Saturday, March 8th
This morning we ate breakfast with Oscar and Alexandra one more time before they told us goodbye. They helped us get loaded up on the bus, and off we went. It's several hours to Quito...but the view is BEAUTIFUL!! Wow! Have I mentioned that I love the mountains?!!

Buddy and Isabel were waiting for us when we stepped off the bus. What joy to see familiar faces!! They took us to their house and feed us really well! We washed clothes and took hot showers...oh so nice! Buddy and Isabel had to run some errands and had an appointment this afternoon, so Chris and I worked on e-mail while they were gone.

When they got back, we had supper and packed up. We where taking a night bus to Manta. From there, we'd head out to Puerto Cayo. The bus usually takes 8 hours, but the roads are in really bad shape because of mudslides and flooding. Parts of the road are still closed, so it will take us 10-12 hours to get there! We are pretty excited to see some of the coast. Ecuador is divided into 4 parts: Amazon Jungle, Mountains, Coast, and Galapagos Islands. We know the Mountains, so now we'll get to know the Coast a bit!

Sunday, March 9th
We had breakfast this morning...an interesting combo...frosted shredded wheat, granola, yogurt, and milk. Maybe you've had it, but I never have...I'm pretty much a Cheerios girl...I loved it though!! Definitely a new favorite!

Buddy and Isabel rented a car after breakfast. They showed us around Manta a bit, and then we headed to Puerto Cayo. Yikes...it's been raining a ton...the road into their place at Puerto Cayo was flooded...we even got stuck a bit. Thankfully, Pablo (the caretaker) and his boys were nearby, so they helped us get out!! Buddy and Isabel showed us around the house...it was about 5 or 6, and Chris and I were exhausted. We fell asleep until about 8...by the time we woke up, Buddy and Isabel were going to sleep. We were all really tired. So Chris and I had no problem going back to sleep!!

Monday, March 10th
Buddy and Isabel are still working on this house and working out details. Because most of the houses in this area are vacation houses, they are low on the totem pole when it comes to electricity and water. So it's common for the power to go out and not come back on until the next day. They have to have a tanker come in to fill us their cistern with water. Poor things...all of this stuff is pretty new to them. Chris and I just tried to help out however we could. We are used to pretty much anything, so it wasn't really out of the norm for us!! ha, ha, ha!

Just before lunch, we went out to walk on the beach...oh there are tons of beautiful rocks and shells!! The waves were really rough though, so they only got in to swim for a few minutes.

We went to have lunch in the actual town of Puerto Cayo...really good seafood...it's as fresh as you can get!!! From there we came back to the house, and Chris and I learned why their house is called Mi Atardecer (My Twilight). When the sun is setting, Buddy and Isabel like to sit on the porch and watch the sun set! Oh, it's beautiful!!! We talked about how they met and what they've been up to over the last couple of years. It was a really nice time.

Tuesday, March 11th
This morning, the electrician came to straighten out some problems that they had been having. Then we went to Al Andaluz...it's a place a little further south where Buddy studied Spanish on one of his trips to Ecuador before he met Isabel. On the way home, they stopped to get some plants for the yard. We had a nice day seeing lots of pretty views. While they were working with Pablo and the plants, Chris and I enjoyed another beautiful sunset!

Wednesday, March 12th
Today we headed back to Manta. We made it there to have lunch at one of Isabel's friend's restaurant on the beach. We have eaten so well...lots of fresh seafood! This afternoon, we all walked on the beach. We collected shells, rocks, and sea glass!! Then it was time to catch the bus back to Quito. We had to take an alternate route because of closed roads, so it took us almost 12 hours to get back!!

Thursday, March 13th
We got to Buddy and Isabel's apartment in Quito around 9:30 am. It was pretty much a low key day. Chris and I were able to work on e-mail and call our parents...Buddy has Skype! We went to bed at a pretty good time tonight...again we were tired from the long bus trip!

Friday, March 14th
Today was about the same as yesterday. Buddy and Isabel had some errands to run and quite a bit of work to take care of. Chris and I worked on e-mails and journalling.

Well, it looks like we are going to keep hanging out with Buddy and Isabel until Chris's parents and Brett get here. We were worried about being a burden, but they said that they wanted us to stay. We'll be in touch again soon! God bless you and keep you! We love you!

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Still helping out at the restaurant in San Gabriel, Ecuador

2008-03-07T23:43:00.006-05:00

Friday, February 29th
Today we added something new to the schedule...instead of helping serve lunch, Chris had an idea. We could make a sign to advertise for the lunches to see if it would bring in new business. We had 5-7 new customers today!!

Also this afternoon, Miriam came in looking for blackberry ice cream. She's taking English in school and her assignment was to write a recipe in English. She was presenting tomorrow. Alexandra told her that Chris and I could help her with her homework if she came back with her books!! So I helped Miriam write out how to make Blackberry Ice Cream...she brought her cousin Vanessa (far right) as well! As we were talking Miriam started thinking that maybe her English teacher would be interested in having us in class. We went to his house, but he wasn't home yet. She decided that she'd come get me tomorrow if he said it was okay.

After Miriam and Vanessa went home, Alexandra had prepared a special treat for us--Quimbolitos (little sweet breads that are steamed inside of special leaves instead of baked). They were soooo good...another new recipe! Then Oscar asked if we want to go watch an indoor soccer game. Chris was, of course, excited about that, so we walked of to the colliseum to see the team from Doménika's school play...it's the father's of the girls who play...kinda like a rec. league.

Saturday, March 1st
This morning Miriam came to get me and Chris to go speak to her class. Chris couldn't go because we were watching the store while Oscar and Alexandra made their daily purchases. So I went with Miriam up to the school...it was a ton of fun to talk to them. I was extremely impressed with how good their English was and how well they understood me!

I got back to the store just in time to advertise again on the street...more new people came today, so we've decided that we'll keep advertising every day while we are here!

In the afternoon, the English teacher, came with one of his private students, Gardenia. She graduated a couple of years ago and is studying to take an English entrance exam. She wants to be a translator one day. We talked to her for about an hour, so that she could practice speaking and listening to English. We learned that she's married to Diego and that they have a little girl named Mickie. Gardenia's mom died when she was 8 years old, so her dad and her grandmother raised her. She invited us to go with her tomorrow to the Bosque De Arrayanes...I'm not sure what it is...some type of forest. We'll see what works out?! The English teacher also invited us to come on Monday to talk to his classes...how exciting!!

Sunday, March 2nd
We played cards with Francisco and Doménika this morning for quite some time...War, Old Maid, Go Fish, etc...tons of fun!

Gardenia came for us after lunch, Diego was driving her dad's car. Mickie came as well as Pablo (Diego's youngest brother). On the way to the forest, we stopped at Diego's cousin's house so that we could see the ostriches, cows, horses, and cuyes (guinea pigs that they raise to eat...yikes!). The car stopped and wouldn't crank again at all! We tried to push start it, but no such luck. It turned out that it was time to milk the cows, so we decided to walk down to see the process!! I was sooo excited. We also got to pet the baby cows. This one was only about a week old...it's umbilical cord still hadn't fallen off!! When they are so little, they will suck on your finger which is what this cow is doing!! Such fun!!

They never could get the car started, so Gardenia's dad came to get it with a friend who could tow him back. Diego's cousin, Polo, gave us a ride to the Bosque de Arrayanes. It turns out that it is one of two forests in the world made of Arrayan trees. The other is in Argentina...so they are called the eye brows of the Andes. It's interesting because only Arrayan trees grow in this forest...other plants grow there, but no other trees. It was really pretty to walk around and see.

We went back to Diego's parents' house for supper. Diego, Gardenia, and Mickie actually live in Quito with Liz, Diego's sister. Diego and Liz are both studying there. They are all in San Gabriel right now because they had a break between the semesters. Diego's parents live in New York City, and 15-year-old Pablo and 17-year-old Junior (Diego's brothers) live in San Gabriel by themselves. It's a pretty sad situation...they have all of their economical needs met, but they don't have their parents. Yet again, I can't really understand what causes this!!

We spent a long time talking to all of them about God and His love for them. They are all basically at the point that they believe that God exists, but they aren't sure where to go from there or even if they want to move from that spot. Another huge prayer request!!

Monday, March 3rd
We spoke in classes today...Pablo's class, Miriam's class, and another class. Tons of fun!! It helps us remember how much we love teenagers and teaching!! We left there in time to pick Doménika up from school and head back to advertise. On our way back to the house, Oscar called and asked us to pick up some plantains at the market. We always go to the same lady every day...I took a picture with her today...she's precious!!

Random fact about El Carchi--the state we are in right now in Ecuador--they are known for dairy products and potatoes. Nearly everyone eat fresh cheese and drinks fresh milk. Potatoes are in such abundance here that a 100 lb bag of potatoes only cost $8!! I'm loving this place!!!

Tuesday, March 4th
Today we went to meet with Gardenia again to help her practice her English!! What a sweetie!! The rest of the day was pretty much like "normal"!

Wednesday, March 5th
Today we spoke English with Gardenia in the morning...then we went to pick up Doménika from school and advertised. They sold 20 lunches today...up from the 10-12 they were selling.

Vanessa, one of the girls from Miriam's class, and her neighbor, Miriam, came over this afternoon to practice their English. A little later, the other Miriam came over too! It's exam time at the high school, so they are trying to get in all the practice that they can.

After they left, Freddy, a man we met today at lunch came over. He rides bulls and teaches horses to do tricks. He wanted us to watch a video of him at work. A little while later, his children--Thalia and Leyn--came over as well. They are a sweet little family. Freddy's wife left them about 8 years ago when Leyn was only 2! Freddy didn't want to become a Jehova's Witness, and she up and left one day without ever looking back. Freddy got home and found 5 year old Thalia and 2 year old Leyn by themselves. CRAZY! We are continuing to pray for them!!

Freddy invited us over to see his trophies, so we all walked up to his house. He showed us his bedroom, but there was no light bulb in there. Honestly that's not that odd here because some people can't afford to light every room in their house. But in this house, there was a light in every other room...that made it a bit odd. Before we could ask, Freddy started explaining why his room was like that. He sunk into a deep depression after his wife left him. He didn't know what to do or where to turn. One night around midnight, he asked God to forgive him of his sins. He said, "Lord, I'm with my kids, but I can't be happy." All of a sudden, the room lit up, but there was no light bulb. He heard the bed squeak as if someone sat down, and he heard a voice that said, "My child, love in the most difficult moments. I am the truth and I will show you the way." Then the bed squeaked again and the light went a way. At first he was afraid, but then he felt peace and knew that it was God who had spoken to him. He told us that it was as if a hand touched his heart and the depression was gone! God has taught him to live each second as if it were his last. Freddy explained, "God moves mountains. Anything we dream or ask of Him--it's nothing compared to what He intends for us." Then he shared that God had taught him how to train the horses and all of it is the result of "la obra y la gracia del Señor" (the work and the grace of the Lord). We didn't really want to leave, but it was getting really late. So we prayed together and headed back to the restaurant.

Thursday, March 6th
This morning we were in the internet, and we got a phone call from Buddy, Chris's cousin who lives in Quito, Ecuador. He and his wife, Isabel, just got back from the US yesterday, so we really didn't expect to hear from them so soon. Chris and I had been praying about starting to walk towards Quito on Saturday, so that's what we told Buddy. He said that he'd get back to us. He and Isabel had to go down to their place at the beach--Puerto Cayo--because it had been raining a ton down there. They knew that mud had gotten into the guard's quarters downstairs, and they weren't sure if there had been more damage. Chris and I thought that we could be of some help shovelling out the mud or cleaning up. We were still just praying. From there we went to pick up Doménika and then headed back to advertise.

After lunch, Freddy came over to the restaurant. Chris and I ended up going up to his house...we looked at pictures and chatted. Then Francisco came to get us...Miriam, Miriam, and Miriam's sister all wanted to play basketball. So Freddy, Thalia, Leyn, and us all went down to play basketball! Tons of fun...but let me be the first to say, I'm out of shape...walking is NOT the same as running...especially at more than 5,700 feet above sea level! While we were playing, Buddy called again. He said that he and Isabel would love to have us go with them down to the beach and to head on in that direction. We decided that we would start walking tomorrow, and if we made it then we'd go with them. If not, we'd minister where God planted us until we made it there. We were still praying for God so show us though...to have His way with this situation.

When we got back to the restaurant and told Oscar and Alexandra, they said, "You are not walking from here. We'll put you on a bus, and you can wait until Saturday to go." We were shocked...it appeared to be confirmation that we were supposed to make it to Quito to be with Buddy and Isabel.

Friday, March 7th
Doménika didn't go to school today, so we played with her a lot today along with the other things that we normally do. Tonight when we got back from checking e-mail we found that Francisco and Doménika had gone to Tulcan to stay with their grandmother. We didn't get to tell them bye! Thankfully, we'll be coming back to visit when the Emblers come!! It also opened the door to talk to Oscar and Alexandra about allowing God to direct their lives and their business decisions! It was a really good time fo sharing with them. Tons of seeds planted. We are really praying for a good church for them to go to or someone to disciple them. In all the time we've been here in San Gabriel we haven't seen a church to go to or to connect them with. Maybe there is one, but we prayed daily to find it, but we never did. Be in prayer about this situation. Freddy is hungry too!

Well, it looks like we'll be heading on tomorrow...with our hearts a little heavy because there is such spiritual need in San Gabriel. All we can do is keep calling out to the Lord! We'll be in touch again soon. We love you! God bless you and keep you!!

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We’ve arrived in Ecuador…9 down and 2 countries to go

2008-02-28T23:41:00.006-05:00

Wednesday, February 20th
Early this morning, Don Efren's friends came to pick us up. It's a mother and a daughter who also make their living buying in Ecuador and selling in Colombia. Chris and I were so tired that we slept most of the way there. They dropped us off in Ipiales at immigration and then headed on to Ecuador. This was one of the most "modern" borders that we've crossed. They actually had computers and the stamp in our passport was done with a printer!! Thank God!! We didn't have any problems crossing today!!! After eating a little breakfast and calling our friends in Colombia one last time, we started walking!! (Something that made us smile...while we were eating breakfast, a man from Perú sat down beside us to eat his breakfast too! We're not very far now!!)

It is gorgeous...I love the mountains sooo much! The flowers are beautiful too!! Our camera is on its last leg though (so I could only take one picture of the flowers today)...it won't delete pictures anymore...I've figured out how to delete them on my Palm, but it takes a long time. Be praying that God will either hold this camera together from another couple of months or that God will provide a new one.

Something we weren't aware of...we thought that we were getting to South America in the dry season....we'll in Colombia, that's true, but as we get closer to the Equator the seasons reverse. So it's actually raining A LOT right now in Ecuador and it's pretty cold. We had walked about 3 hours today when it started sprinkling. I pulled out the umbrella and we made it a nearby gas station to wait out the rain. We were surprised to see soldiers at the gas station...so of course we asked what that was all about. Gas in Ecuador is $1.48 per gallon and Diesel is $1.03 per gallon. (Ecuador has petrolium and they are also on the Dollar.) Gas in Colombia is $4.00 or more per gallon. So a lot of Colombians try to buy quantities of gas in Ecuador and sell it in Colombia. That's why the soldiers are there...to help control the situation! Wow! So we talked to the soldiers for awhile...they were really nice! They also gave us some idea of where we should walk in Ecuador...they've served all over the country, so they talked to us about dangerous areas...for crime and for mudslides. We also talked quite a bit to Maria, the wife of the manager of the gas station. She's a really sweet lady too!

We waited and waited on the rain, but it didn't see that it was going to stop. Maria offered to get some lunch for us while we waited. It was delicious...like in Colombia (and Perú according to Chris) they serve a soup and a second plate at lunch nearly every day. It's a ton of food...and your drink comes with you meal...all for $1.50. Things are really inexpensive in Ecuador...no wonder there is so much business of people buying here and selling in Colombia. After lunch, the rain let up a bit so we decided to walk on...

After several hours, it was obvious that it was going to rain again. We were just praying for God to provide shelter, a town, or a ride. Finally around 5 pm, this car stopped to offer us a ride to Huaca. We'd walked more than 10 miles today, so we were ready for a break!! We hopped in, and just as Eliezer and Yolanda started driving again, it started pouring rain! Praise God for His right on time provision!! They took us to La Casa del Perigrino (The House of the Pilgrim) in Huaca. When they stopped there...I just smiled at the name!! We ended up staying the night there.

Thursday, February 21st
When we woke up this morning, I was sooo sore. The blisters on my feet were open again, so Chris said it was okay if we stayed one more night. We worked most of the day on journalling, erasing pictures that we didn't mean to take, and working on the spreadsheet of statistics. Pretty low key day. I did, however, lose my gloves. We figured out that I must have left them in Eliezer's truck. Thankfully, he works right next door, so I was able to get them back!! Praise God!!

Friday, February 22nd
Time to walk again...we walked about 6 miles and had arrived at a set of toll booths. We walked to the other side of them and sat down to drink water and rest. It started sprinkling...so we made a bee line for the shelter where the toll booths were. While we were waiting there, this guy, Edgar, came up to us and started talking. He's seen all kinds of people walking, cycling, on mule, on horse, etc come through the toll booths! We talked to him for more than an hour while we waited for the rain. Spiritually, I'd say he's a bit confused, but he did say something profound when we were about to leave. "Allow the new person that God has been forming on this journey to shine forth as you finish your walk and return home. Don't be afraid." Wow! Apparently God can speak through even non-believers!

We walked on...probably 3 more miles...then it started sprinkling again! Aaaahhh! We saw a gas station in the distance and there was a restaurant right beside it. It was lunch time, so we decided to stop in. It appeared to be a family-owned restaurant. It looked like a dad, a mom, a teenage son, and a little daughter. The mom kept looking at us. She had to leave before we finished eating...she had on a green jacket just like Edgar...we figured she must work at the toll booth too. When we finished eating, it was still raining. We asked the owner if it was okay if we waited out the rain. He said that it would be fine.

After we'd been there about an hour more, the owner, Oscar, and his son, Francisco, started talking to us. Doménika, his daughter, was a little more shy. We shared with them what we were doing, and they asked a ton of questions. Eventually, Doménika started talking to us too. Before we knew it, it was dark and it was still raining. We learned that they had only opened their restuarant about 1 week ago. They are still in the fight just to survive as a business! We kept talking with Oscar and Francisco and playing with Doménika. We looked down again and it was 10 pm...Alexandra was coming in the door from work. She was soooo excited that we were still there. She told us that she hoped that we would still be there when she got home. She and Oscar started making supper for us. Then they were inviting us to stay with them. They explained that they didn't have any room in their house, but that we could make a bed on the floor of the restaurant. They would lock us in and we'd be safe. And so we saw God's hand of provision again!!!

Saturday, February 23rd
We slept really well and stayed warm despite how cold it is here! We packed up our stuff and put on our walking clothes again. We had all intentions of walking on today. Oscar and Alexandra told us that we could stay as long as we wanted as long as we slept okay...they really wanted us to stay on. So we did. Just praying that God would show us when it was time to continue on!

When we were reading our devotion this morning, we felt like the passage in Hebrews that talks about Jesus being the new high priest was for Alexandra. So we shared it with her. They are very open to the Bible and learning more about relationship with Jesus.

After breakfast, Chris and I went with Alexandra and Doménika up to the market to buy the things that they needed for today's lunch. Tons of fun! We helped in any way we could by cutting up veggies, washing dishes, etc. We also played with Doménika a ton today...Chris showed her how to make card houses, and I taught her how to play Slap Jack. We shared some more with Oscar and Francisco when Alexandra had to go back to work. It was a good day...they are such a sweet family! We are praying a ton for open doors to share with them!! God's got something big here!

Sunday, February 24th
We helped out again today around the restuarant...sweeping, washing dishes, going up to the market to buy veggies, etc. Then we helped a little serve lunch.

This afternoon, they decided that we should go to visit Tulcan. (The town we passed through and waited at the gas station on the day we came into Ecuador.) Both Oscar and Alexandra are from Tulcan and both the kids were born there...they only just moved to San Gabriel 3 years ago. There wasn't much work in Tulcan, so they decided to move. They had a Karoke Bar and were doing pretty good until Alexandra got really sick about 4 months ago. She wasn't able to go to work, and they weren't sure what was wrong with her. Finally, they discovered cysts on her ovaries. They've been treating it with pain medicine, but she needs to have surgery to have them removed. We are praying a ton for her!

We went to Tulcan to meet Alexandra's family. First we met her brother, Danilo, and his girlfriend, Sonia. Then we met her sister, Monica, and her 3 kids--Juliana, Esteban, and Lizeth. Then we went next door to meet her other sister, Andrea and her husband, Homero, and their kids--Pablo, Margarita, Paula, and Sebastian. While we were visiting with Andrea, their mom, Doña Miriam walked up. She had just arrived from Pasto, Colombia where she was taking care of her mother. Wow!! What a surprise...we were able to meet the whole family!!!

Homero and Andrea decided that we should see the cementary in Tulcan...supposedly it's one of the most beautiful cementaries in South America. When we got there, we could see why. An artist works there full time shaping all of the shrubs...it's truly a work of art! While we were there, Alexandra showed us where her father was buried and their second child was buried. Alexandra miscarried when she was about 8 months pregnant...she dropped into a horrible depression, but then God gave them Doménika and through her life, God has begun to bring healing to Alexandra.

We had a huge family supper!!! It was great to be with them and the food was extremely tasty! Then Homero and Andrea gave us a ride back to San Gabriel...what a great day!

Monday, February 25th
Today began our routine in San Gabriel...in the morning after we had prayed and had devotion, we swept the restaurant and washed dishes. Then Oscar and Alexandra came up and we had breakfast together. Then we'd go up to the market to get the fruits and veggies for lunch. Next we'd walk to Doménika's school to pick her up and bring her home. We'd help with lunch and do homework and play with Doménika in the afternoon. When we had time, we'd run to the internet or work on journalling. Every time God opened the door, we'd share more from the Bible, answer their questions, and pray with them. God gave us a lot of time to share with Oscar, Alexandra, and Francisco.

Tuesday, February 26th
Today pretty much followed the same routine as yesterday. Chris did show Doménika how to make a quarter disappear today. She loves magic tricks!!

They are also trying to get their product providers in order. They had to change ice cream providers today. So we had to look all over San Gabriel tonight for a freezer to store the new ice cream. But we just prayed as we went, and God provided...a wonderful teachable moment as we try to share about having a relationship with the Living God!

Wednesday, February 27th
Not really anything different today. It was a really good day though! We've really fallen in love with this family!!

Thursday, February 28th
Today was pretty much like the rest of the days except we went back to Tulcan this afternoon! They had run out of ham, cheese, and yogurt, so it was time to run down Tulcan...it's a much larger city than San Gabriel...plus it gives Alexandra the opportunity to see her family.

So we picked up the supplies and then headed over to Doña Miriam's house. Esteban's little knees were hurting him a lot, and they were thinking about taking him to the doctor. We asked if we could anoint him with oil and pray for him. They agreed that it was okay, so we shared with them out of James 5:14-15, and we prayed over him. We explained to him and to the other children that they could talk to God any time that they wanted to...He wanted to listen to them. We share about how Jesus fussed at His disciples when they tried to keep the children from Him. Juliana had a hard time believing that God would listen to her. She's so young...please pray for this family!!

Getting back to San Gabriel was quite an adventure...we missed the 9 pm bus, it was cold and the next bus (if they would take us) was at 10 pm. So we walked out to the main road and prayed and waited. All of the sudden this huge tractor trailor stopped. Alex ran to ask him if he could take us to San Gabriel. He could only take us as far as Huaca, but we climbed up any way. We'd at least be further down the road. (I smiled to think that this was the same route with the same stops that we took when we came into San Gabriel last Friday!!) Oh, and the other funny thing...counting the driver and the other man that he picked up, there were 7 adults and Doménika in the cab of that truck!! In Huaca, we waited and prayed again. God sent an empty truck to carry us the rest of the way to San Gabriel. We climbed up in the back and off we went!

What an adventure!! God is sooo good!! Well, it doesn't look like we are leaving San Gabriel anytime soon. God hasn't given us an open door to leave yet. We did, however, receive news that the Emblers--Dad, Mom, and Brett--will be flying in to Quito to spend their Spring Break with us!! Aaaaaahhhh! How exciting!! God bless you and keep you! Seek God first above all else!! We'll be in touch soon! We love you!

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San Gabriel, Ecuador!!!!

2008-02-23T16:39:00.002-05:00

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Hey...just to let you know...we are still working on catching up...I just posted another week. Be patient with us as we keep walking and work on the journal. God is absolutely amazing!! Through an incredible chain of events, we are now in San Gabriel, ECUADOR!! We are about 750 miles from the border of Peru!!! It's hard to believe how God has moved us for 512 days! Can't wait to share the story with you. Don't forget that the posts are in reverse order by date, so you'll have to go down from here to read the most recent journal entry.

Please be in prayer for Gabrielle and the O'melia family...she went 4 months without a seizure, but she had 2 about 2 weeks ago. Pray for discerment for Duff and Kelly (her parents). For more information, check their website http://gabriellefaith.com

Also our pastor's wife, Lisa Austin, has breast cancer. They treated her and thought that she was going into remission, but in the last test they found more cancer. So they are starting over again on the treatments...much stronger this time. They have two little girls...one that is just months old that they adopted.

We are believing God for a miracle in both cases!!

We'll be in touch again soon!! God bless you and protect you! We love you tons and can't wait to see you!!!!

Going backwards to go forward...We're in Pasto, Colombia less than 60 miles from the border of Ecuador!!!

2008-02-19T23:41:00.005-05:00

Saturday, February 16th
This morning we both woke up refreshed and ready to walk. Praise God for one more hot shower!! We ate and headed out. After walking for about 2 hours, we were on the outskirts of Pereira. I saw a couple selling watermelons, and since I was thristy, I asked Chris if I could get a slice. While we were eating, a man, Rigo, came up to Chris and asked him what his pack said. I began to expain to him that Chris's pack said the same thing as mine only in Spanish. (For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Cor 5:7) I guess from the accent, he could tell that we weren't from Colombia. So he asked Chris, now in English, where we were from! It turns out that Rigo and his mom, Doña Gloria (who was with him), lived in New York City for 20 plus years. They are both American citizens...and they LOVE the US!

As we were talking to them and explaining to them what we were up to, they got so excited. They invited us to stay with them the night and then we could continue on our way tomorrow. So we loaded up our packs in the back of his truck and off we went! They took us by the market on the way to the house...we tasted more fruits that we didn't even know existed!! Then we stopped by their favorite pizza place! What a treat!! From there we headed back to "The House that Cans Built." We had no idea what they meant by that, but Doña Gloria began to explain the story. She worked in the World Trade Center cleaning offices. As she took out the trash, she began to notice how many aluminum cans were being thrown away. She and her co-workers decided to start saving them and see how much they could make by selling the aluminum. Her portion tallied several hundred dollars each month!! So she started sending the money back to Colombia and little by little constructing an apartment building. She knew that she'd retire one day and need some where to live. After 7 years or so, the people who worked in those offices realized what was going on. They were worried about attracting roaches or mice, so they asked them to stop collecting the cans. But Doña Gloria told us, by that point it didn't matter, I had built "Mi Rancho de Lata." (My Ranch of Cans) We just laughed at her ingenuity!!

Rigo called his girlfriend, Vicky, when we got back to his apartment and invited her to come over. She came and brought her little girl, Jennifer! They were soooo sweet. Then Argemiro, another of Doña Gloria's sons, came home from work. He takes care of a farm that belongs to another of his brothers. They have milk cows and goats. He brought home some really good home-made choclo (similar to corn bread but it's not fried). Doña Gloria wanted us to taste several things that she had made...wow...we were so full. After talking for awhile, Chris and I were so tired, so we went to bed!!

Sunday, February 17th
When we woke of this morning, Doña Gloria wanted to fix a special breakfast for us...huevos perícos (eggs with peppers, tomato and onion) and a ton of other stuff. We ate on the terrace over looking the city and the country...a great view especially towards the country!! They really didn't want us to leave today...they wanted to show us around to some of their favorite spots. So off we went....first we drove out to a small community where Rigo is building his house. (It was gorgeous drive!) They have this plant there that if you touch it, it goes to sleep...it looks like it's dead. Then about 15 minutes later, it recovers and looks completely alive again! Then we went to visit an indian village that is near by...some of the kids were playing on "El Burro"--similar to a see saw, but it also spins around like a mary-go-round. Another little boy was earning a little money by painting the trees white...it actually discourages ants and other bugs from climbing on the tree...I'm not sure what it's called though.

From the indian village, we went to the farm where Argemiro oversees the operations. We were hoping to make it there in time to see them milk the cows, but we were too late. We did meet the guy who manages the dairy part of the farm and his family. They had fresh milk (from that day!) that they shared with us! It was soooo good! This was the first time that I've ever drank fresh milk!! Then he took us over to the place where they milk the cows (over 200 cows and they produce more than 250 gallons of milk every 2 days)!! I've always wanted to see them milk a cow...maybe one day! Then we went up to the main house and Rigo showed us around the house and the little chapel that his brother built. It's a really nice place. They have this game called "El Sapo" (The Frog)...you throw a ring and it either lands in the frog's mouth (maximum points) or in a little hole. The ring drops down into a drawer which tells you how many points you earned. The one with the most points at the end wins. Chris was really excited because he played that game when he lived in Perú. After a day filled with fun, it was time to go back to the house that cans built! What a great day...to top it off...Chris was able to talk to his parents tonight!!

Monday, February 18th
This morning when we woke up, Doña Gloria wanted to fix us a tasty breakfast again!! After breakfast, Argemiro's son, Archie, came by...he's really messed up with some bad stuff. Argemiro wanted us to talk to him, but Archie could barely sit still. He was out of there in minutes when we mentioned the name of Jesus. We're praying for him...y'all pray for him too!

Then came the surprise for me...Vicky does peticures and manicures for a living...she offered to give me a peticure. I absolutely love to have my toe nails painted, but I haven't been able to in more than 10 months...a bottle of nail polish is unnecesary weight!! I was sooo excited to have her massage my feet and make my toe nails look nice!

We had lunch together, and then it was time for another surprise. Doña Gloria and Rigo wanted to buy a bus ticket for us...to Ipiales...the border town with Ecuador. We were shocked...we had planned on several more weeks or possibly a month to get to Ecuador...now it looks like we'll be there this week! We were speechless! On our way to buy the tickets, we stopped and had coffee...this guy serves coffee out of the back of his truck, but it is sooo good!

They got the tickets, and then they wanted us to see the overview of the city...beautiful. Then they wanted to see if they could find Don Efren...Doña Gloria's cousin's husband. We went to his house, but he wasn't there. We saw his son at a nearby store, so he took us to where his mother was. It turns out that her dad, Don Francisco, is really sick. Chris and I went in to pray with him for healing and to talk to him about the Lord. Then we learned that Don Efren isn't in town, he's in Pasto the last big town before reaching the border of Ecuador. He wanted to meet us...apparently his work is buying products in Ecuador and sellling them in Colombia. So it looks like we'll be stopping in Pasto instead of going on to Ipiales. All part of God's plan to be sure!!

Doña Gloria, Rigo, and Vicky took us to the bus...they waited with us for nearly an hour before the bus arrived. This will be our 2nd overnight bus. And off we went...

Tuesday, February 19th
We arrived in Pasto around 1 pm! Thirteen hours on the bus...that would have taken us forever on foot! We are really high up in the Andes now! They are definitely the biggest mountains I've ever seen. Don Efren was there waiting for us when we stepped off the bus. He took us straight to a hotel so that we could sleep a bit and we made plans to meet up for supper. His mother and several other members of his family live in Pasto, so he wanted us to meet them and to pray with them.

So we went to the internet and then took a little nap so that we would be ready to meet Don Efren's family. He came to pick us up around 6 and off we went. Doña Maria Luisa is his mom...she's in her 90s and doesn't hear very well. Ligia is his sister and Andrea and Maria de los Angeles are her daughters...they all live together. His brother, Clemente, who is a doctor also came over to visit with us. What a group!! We were able to share quite a bit of testimony with them...supper was delicious!! Then we were able to pray with them and Doña Maria Luisa wanted to pray too...such a sweet family. Don Efren isn't going to Ecuador tomorrow, but two of his friends are, so he arranged for them to take us in the morning.

Apparently God knows something that I don't because Don Efren gave me a pair of wool gloves, and Andrea gave me a thick jacket...hmm! It looks like we might be entering some cold places...We'll have to see what God has in store!! It won't be long and we'll be in touch again...hopefully from Ecuador...country #10!! God bless you and keep you! We love you!!

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Going Turbo from Turbo...we're in Pereira, Colombia

2008-02-15T23:34:00.006-05:00

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Sunday, February 10th
We went to mass this morning with Cémida...the choice of texts was pretty powerful...Genesis 3--the fall of man and Romans 5--death through Adam, Life through Christ. I'll be reflecting on those passages for a while!!

We worked on the internet for about 5 hours this afternoon! We are still weeks behind...God knows though...He'll provide more time when it's His right time.

On our way back to the hotel, someone grabbed on to my daypack. It scared me at first, but when I turned around, I realized that it was Dennis! She was back from taking care of her mom in Tanela and was visiting a friend in Turbo! What a surprise!! We chatted with her for a little bit before we went back to the hotel to pack up.

Cémida, Aunt Leo, Erika, and Francisco all gathered around, and we prayed for each of them. Then Francisco walked down the street to wait with us for the bus.

Monday, February 11th
We got to Medellin about 7 am. We prayed over David, and he pointed us in the direction that we needed to go. Off we went...we walked for about an hour until we found a park where we could sit and have our morning devotion. The people were so kind there. Everyone greeted us, and some people even stopped to talk. We walked on...most of the time we walked by the river today. We saw sights that would break your heart. Tons of homeless people live beside the river. We saw one lady trying to cook in a tin can. Another man was laying in a hole that was dug out in the river bank...he had a tarp covering the "doorway." Several guys were getting high. We offered the food that we had to the ones who spoke to us and encouraged them to seek God. Lots of them didn't want to talk.

We kept walking...pretty close to the edge of the city, Julio Cesar stopped to give us a ride for about a mile. On we walked...a little while later, there was a traffic jam. We were walking by when Rodrigo, Irina, and Lucas called out to us. They were going to Caldas today and wanted to know if we wanted a ride. Sounds good!! They were working, so none of them actually lived in Caldas. We walked into town and found a place to eat a late lunch. From there we went into town to see if we could find a hotel. We were told that it would be about $25 which we had in pesos (Colombian money). Well wrong...it was nearly $50 which we didn't have in pesos and they wouldn't take dollars. So we walked on. We sat in the park for awhile to read and pray. We decided that we would change some money and go from there. Ha! Well, in this town they don't change dollars to pesos in any of the banks! So God's got a plan. I wasn't sure what it was, but we were going to keep seeking Him.

We walked around some more. Still nothing...we found one other hotel, but it was for hourly rent, so we decided against that! We saw this older fellow who looked a little like Santa. We decided to ask him if he knew anywhere else we could stay. He didn't, but he took us to a store where the owner is a Christian. She didn't really know what to do with us...all of a sudden, school let out. We were surrounded by teenage boys asking a million questions. We enjoyed sharing testimony with them!! Oh, how we miss that age-group!!

While we were talking to them, an adult man, Elkin, started listening in and asking questions as well. After the kids left, Elkin stayed around. He wanted to hear some more...he also wanted us to come stay at his apartment, but his landlord wouldn't allow it. As it got a little later, his nephews--Robinson, Jhonathan, and Jarold came up. Elkin introduced them to us, and they went to ask their mom if we could stay with them. Not too long after that, their mom, Gladys came up. She was as sweet as she could be too! Then her sister, Mary, came over. All of us were just sitting out on the sidewalk in front of that lady's store. Gladys wanted to invite us to stay at her house, but she wasn't sure that it would be okay with her husband, Alfredo. He was the next person we met...he definitely did not want to talk to us and quickly walked away.

Before we realized it, we were completely alone again except for Mary. She shared that she was having some health problems. The reason that she was in Caldas was for a doctor's appointment. We prayed with her and talked with her a little more. Then we started saying our good-byes. We were exhausted from not having very much sleep, and it was really cold. We were going to see what else we could find. Just as we were about to leave, Alfredo and Gladys walked up. Alfredo invited us to stay the night at their house. We were shocked!!

We walked up to their house (Alfredo carried my pack for me.) and settled in to their living room. What a change. While Gladys and Mary were preparing supper, we had the opportunity to share a little with Alfredo. He's got some really mixed up beliefs...a lot of new age mumbo jumbo about opening up sensory levels in your brain and healing people with your good energy. Yikes! We were able to ask him where he found that information in the Bible and to encourage him to seek the answers that he was looking for in God's Word.

Tuesday, February 12th
We slept soooo good last night...we were exhausted! At breakfast, Alfredo asked if we wanted to stay another day! I honestly needed another day of rest, so we agreed to stay a little longer. We showed the boys the map and were able show them coins from other countries. They were intrigued. Then we played a game similar to Sorry! with them. Finally, Jhonathan and Robinson took us on a walking tour of their town. Its beautiful.

After the tour, we met up with Gladys and Elkin. They wanted us to meet their dad. So we walked over to his house...he sells bananas, mangos, and oranges to make his living. His little room was full of fruit!! Of course, he wanted us to sample some of it!! We prayed for him and his business, and we headed back to Alfredo and Gladys's house.

Wednesday, February 13th
We got an early start this morning. We understood that the majority of our walk would be uphill today. After walking about 2 hours, we ran into a family of 4--Rafael, Dellanira, Maria Estrella, and Jose. They were walking too...the story that they told us initially was that they were walking for the peace of Colombia. We walked with them for several hours. As we asked more questions their story changed. They told us that they were making a pilgrimage to a cathedral in Buga. Then they told us that they were going to visit family in Cali then in Pasto. We could really never get a good read about what they were doing or what they were after. We felt sad for Maria Estrella and Jose because they are children...their parents are responsible for the choices that they are making, but to drag their kids into it?? Plus the school year has begun and they aren't in school!

We ended up separating because their pace was a lot slower than ours. So many things didn't add up...I struggled to understand and put it all together. I prayed the entire time that we were walking. We stopped for lunch, and we kept praying for discernment for that family. We decided that if we saw them that we would get them lunch, but they never showed up.

We kept walking...about 1 mile from the next town, it started pouring down rain! Aaah! We were soaking wet, and it was freezing cold by the time that we made our way up to Altos de Mina. There was an open-air restuarant that we sat down in to wait out the rain. We ended up talking to Reynaldo (one of the guys who worked at the restaurant) for a while. At first, he didn't believe that we had walked there from the US. We kept talking to him and sharing a little more testimony, and eventually God convinced him that we were telling the truth. We changed clothes because the rain was not stopping! The manager, Alvaro, came over and started talking to us. He gave us supper, and we were just finishing up when he said, "Here comes a family that has been displaced by the guerrillas." We turned around and saw the family that we had been walking with except there was one other boy with them. We couldn't believe it. We explained that we had met them earlier today...but that the oldest boy hadn't been with them.

As the family came closer, the kids ran up to us, but the parents didn't speak to us at all. Apparently, the boy (about 13 years old) ran away from the home he was living in. He'd been walking with them a few hours. The family ended up getting a ride in a tractor trailor on down the road to the next town. The boy...well, we aren't exactly sure where he went. Chris gave him his gloves and I gave him the food that I had, but he didn't hang around.

Alvaro asked us if we wanted to stay the night in Caldas at a hotel...we would only be there just a few hours before we'd come back to the restaurant...Chris and I asked if we could just stay somewhere in Altos de Mina. He offered the floor of the restaurant. We told him that it would be fine...we had our sleeping bags, and we were pretty tired. That's when Alvaro started introducing us to the soldiers. This town has a military check point right on the road. About 40 soldiers live and work here to keep the guerillas under control. They would be patrolling the area all night (just like they do every night), but 2 of them would sleep at the restuarant with us. Another group patrols up above in the mountains and the last group sleeps so that they will be ready to take over tomorrow. Wow!! How exciting!! God has sent literal soldiers to encamp around us and protect us tonight!! We learned that the guerilla has planted mines everywhere up in the mountains around Medellin. They warned us to stay on the highway for our safety. Please be praying for Batallon Pedro Nel Ospina Compania Detonador. Here's the crew that was patrolling tonight. The other picture is of Soldier Escobar...he was one of the guys who slept in the restaurant to guard us.

Before Alvaro left, he put more coals in the stove to keep us warm all night. Reynaldo brought a mattress down for us to sleep on. We are going to be super warm tonight!

Thursday, February 14th--HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
This morning, the soldiers told us that they were going to help us get down the road. They were going to stop someone at the checkpoint and keep asking until someone was willing to take us down the road a ways. And that's just what they did after Alvaro fixed us a tasty breakfast!

The first guy that they stopped was on his way to Pereira, and he said that he'd be willing to carry us. As it turns out, Arbey hauls tomatoes from a town near Pereira to Medellin several days a week. Last night, he got very little sleep and was really tired!! So it worked out perfectly for him to have some company on the trip. He took us about 5 hours...it would have taken us 15 days to go that distance on foot. Amazing! Thanks for the Valentine's gift, God!

When Arbey dropped us out, we went into a gas station. We planned to go to the bathroom and change clothes. It was time for a date night, so we were going to see if we could spend a little time together. The last time we've had date night was at the beginning of October...the whole time we were in Turbo we just worked and minstered to Cémida and her family...no time for date night. But it's long over due!

Well, God had other plans...at the gas station, the guard, Jorge, came up to us. Chris explained to him what we were doing while I was in the bathroom. By the time I got back, Jorge was looking in the phone book for the number of a church. He was concerned about the route that we had chosen...apparently we have to pass through 2 cities that they guerillas are fighting for control of. He wanted us to meet this pastor and talk with him. We thanked Jorge for his concern and wrote down the church. We told him that if God opened the door we'd stop by there. We planned to walk on. Well, Jorge was adement that we needed to go to this church. Some of his buddies from the police department came by to get gas, and he introduced us to them. One of the guys was from El Chocó. He saw my t-shirt and asked me about it. We explained what we were doing, then he wanted to help us to. Before we knew what was going on, this guy and Jorge had flagged down a taxi and paid him to take us to this church.

The taxi driver has really been struggling with his faith, so Chris and I tried to encourage him. We told him that it's never too late to turn to God...as long as we are living, He's standing there with open arms. We got to the church and got out, and it looked like they were possibly having service tonight. We thought we were coming to office hours. As we explained the situation, we could tell that this wasn't going very well. They invited us inside, but no one wanted to talk to us. There was a small coffee shop, but we went to sit down outside which was the back of the church. An older lady was sitting there, so I started talking to her. She told me about the pain that she was having in her knee...arthritis. I started talking to her about the healing power that God has.

Then this older guy came up to us and asked us some questions. When we explained what we were doing, he wanted us to meet the pastor's sister. When we walked us to her, she met us with the coldest look that I've ever seen a human give to another person. She barely offered her hand and mumbled a greeting. We walked away as quickly as possible. I was tired, but I initially thought we were supposed to be at this church. Her attitude shocked me. I started crying. I understand that what we are doing isn't "normal," but I never expected to be treated like that in a church. I just thought it was spiritual warfare...that God wanted to do something big tonight in this service, but the devil wanted us to miss it. After I prayed a bit, God got me under control. The older lady was still sitting next to me. I started talking to her again. It appears that her daughter brought her here because this pastor does healings...the lady is at her wits end and she doesn't know what else to do. I felt such a burden for this woman. She's here looking for a man, but the only one she needs is Jesus.

Finally, one of the ushers came up to us to talk with us some more. When he learned that we were staying, he asked if he could put our bags away for us. Wow...a nice gesture. When we said, "Sure." He said, "l'll need to search your bags." We felt like criminals.

We went to church...it was completely off. The pastor did, however, open the Bible and read a passage about God being in the whisper. God's Word impacted my heart. The pastor went on some tirade after that about what he does isn't a show and that as he walked back and forth across the stage that Jehovah walked back and forth across the stage...but I had tuned him out by that point...I was just thanking God that He is always with us...we just have to listen to that still, small voice. He is there. It made me realize that when someone comes out of a church service where the Word of God has been read, and they say, "I didn't get anything out of the message today." The problem is really with them...I went into that service tonight seeking God, and His Word spoke to my heart...even though the man standing on stage was full of hot air. The pastor continued to put on a show of healing people, but you could clearly see the "invisible" ear piece in his ear and hear the way that they were distorting his voice.

I was glad that the service was over. When we were walking out, who did we see again, but the little old lady with her daughter and granddaughter. She was still in immense pain. I know now that we were probably at that church just to talk to her...maybe to pray for her, but I was too worried about the ushers going crazy on us for trying to pray for some one to even attempt to pray for her. I did tell her several passages of scripture to go home to read...and assured her that God did want to heal her. He just doesn't share His glory with anyone.

We had to wait for quite some time for someone to open the room where our bags were...then we made a bee-line out of there. We didn't know where to go, but we started wallking. I guess what I learned from tonight is that if someone comes to my church in the future...I hope I make them feel welcome. I understand that a lot of people try to take advantage of churches...my dad's a preacher...we heard all kinds of sob stories that may or may not have been true while I was growing up. The thing is, we weren't asking for anything. We were sent there, realized there was a service, and thought it would be an opportunity to worship the Lord.

While we were sitting in a bakery, my parents called. They wished us a happy Valentine's day and prayed for us. From there, a man pointed us to a hotel. It was pretty sketchy, but at that hour of night, we weren't sure what other option we had. After we had paid for the room and were getting ready for bed, we realized that this wasn't a place people came to sleep. I was upset, and Chris was frustrated. What else could we do? I was exhausted and cried myself to sleep. Before I drifted off, Chris said, "We're getting on a plane and flying home tomorrow." I really didn't care at that point.

Friday, February 15th
We prayed for a long time this morning. We realized that we've made some pretty poor choices in the last little bit. We had started making decisions based on how much money Chris had in his wallet instead of based on knowing that God will provide for us. We also have taken very little time for us as a couple. Chris is my best friend...we do everything together, but the focus is never on us...it's always on how we can serve others. That's really important to serve others and to work together side by side, but we have to serve each other as well...at least sometimes. We prayed some more and asked God to forgive us for doubting His ability to provide and for neglecting the first ministry He'd given us...our marriage.

We made some decisions today. We would do the things we'd normally do...buy a phone card, check e-mail, eat 3 meals a day, and when we had to stay in a hotel, only stay in ones that didn't have to worry about getting a disease while we were there. When the resources run out, we'll go home. If God wants us to make it to Peru, He'll provide. If he wants us to go home before that, the money will run out. Either way, we are in His will, and that's where we want to be. It's not our reputation that's on the line, it's His and we want Him to received ALL of the glory. Second decision, it was time for date day. We are going to eat lunch and supper together, play cards, and make each other laugh...enjoy being together without thinking about anything else. We walked until we found a hotel that had hot water...the first hot shower since October!! The lady even let us borrow the washer and dryer so that we could wash our clothes! What a great day! We were just together...us and the Holy Spirit.

Now we are ready for whatever God has for us tomorrow...we just needed to readjust our grip on Him! I know He'll provide. We're going to make it to Peru...I'm not sure how, but He's big enough to do anything!! Bet you're excited to hear the rest of the story!! We'll be in touch again soon! God bless you and keep you! We love you! Keep walking for Jesus!

One last ride in a boat...we've made it to Turbo, Colombia and a ROAD that leads to Peru!!!

2008-02-09T23:33:00.003-05:00

back to Our Walk of Faith

Thursday, January 31st
We thought that we would just hang around the pastors' house this morning...talking, learning and studying, BUT God had other plans. We did study first thing this morning about intercessory prayer (the next lesson that the pastor planned to share on the days of fasting) and spiritual warfare. I was also able to write down a few recipes from Pastora Dionisia before Dionisia (Hno Obidio's daughter-in-law) stopped by the house. Dennis remembered that my birthday was coming up, and she asked her mom to stop by to see if we were still in Tanela.

So we went with Dionisia back to her house. We met Disney (a daughter who was at school the other day that we visited) who was plucking the feathers off of a chicken when we walked up!! Apparently we are going to have fresh chicken today!!! While Dionisia and Dennis where preparing lunch, Chris and I talked to Disney and played with baby Kiara. Dennis came out with two bags...one for me and one for Chris...just before lunch. She told us that they were birthday presents for us! We couldn't believe it...deoderant for Chris and a skirt for me! I was shocked that she remembered our birthdays and wanted to do something for us! What a surprise!!! We had a great lunch together...the food was so good and the company was precious! After lunch, Ana came over again...she wanted us to come to her house, but there just wasn't time. We prayed with her there for Ricardo's foot to be healed. Apparently, he's still having some pain from the mantaray's sting.

From there, we went back for our date with Pastora Dionisia...she wanted to show us how to make candy from coconut. So she showed us the process from start to finish. The candy is soooo good!! While she was doing that, Leidy was boiling iguana eggs. I thought we were going to have to try them, but it turns out that they have to dry out in the sun for an entire day! Praise God...they won't be ready until tomorrow!!

We packed our stuff and still had a little time, so we decided to go to Luis and Luzdari's house to tell them good-bye. We found them swimming in the river...they had just finished washing clothes. Chris and I sang with the kids all the way back to their house. Luis and Luzdari told us the story of how they met and shared of their dream to sing and play together for the Lord. Pretty exciting!!!

On our way back to the pastors' house we saw lots of people, so we were able to tell them good-bye. Pastor Leo, Pastora Dionisia, Leidy and Hno Lorenzo walked with us down to the chalupa. Then they waited with us to find out when we'd be leaving. While we were waiting, a guy named Pablo came up to us and spoke with us in almost perfect English. He'll be riding on the chalupa back to Turbo tonight. He works for a company here in Colombia that is interested in buying large quantities of plantains (that can't be exported) from the growersTanela.

We had to wait quite a while...so Pastor Leo and Pastora Dionisia shared testimony about their church in Santa Maria. Before them...every couple who came to the church to pastor ended up leaving the church with their marriage in ruins or completely destroyed. As they began to pray and fast to seek God's guidance, He revealed that the church had been named after a man from the community who was not faithful to his wife. God showed them that they needed to change the name of the church to something Biblical.

They also told us about a witch doctor who came to know Christ while they were pastoring at that church...the man was drunk one night and wanted to find his wife. He was angry and had a knife. He stopped at the parsonage, and only Pastora Dionisia was home, so she went out to talk to him. She said that she's never prayed more in her life than when she spoke with that man. She shared Jesus with him, and he accepted. He was possessed with all kinds of demons...she and Pastor Leo had to meet with him quite a bit. He spit up rocks, feathers, etc from spells others had put on him and from curses that he had taken on himself. Eventually, as this guy sought God through prayer, fasting, and Bible study, he was freed from all of the bondage that he had been under. His whole family came to know Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord through the witness of this guy. Pretty awesome God we serve!!

By the time they finished sharing with us, it was after 9:30...we were sure that we were going to get on the boat, so we told them that they didn't have to wait anymore for us! We know how early 5 am comes!! So we said our goodbyes, and Pastor Leo prayed over us!

We waited for a little longer...by 10 pm we loaded the boat...by 11 pm we were pulling out. Once we started down the river, a guy came around collecting payment for passage. Yikes...we didn't know about that...we don't pay for rides...we didn't know what to do! That's when God reminded me about the money that the Ultralights had given us for transportation! We had enough to pay what the guy was asking and there was some left over!! What an awesome God!!

Friday, February 1st
Chris talked to Pablo for awhile, but by 2am, we were exhausted. So we crawled up on top of the plantains and tried to sleep for a bit. We woke up at 5 because we were stopping for gas. We had to wait there until the tide came up...that's a change! We've been praying for low tide for soooo long! ha, ha, ha! By 6:30 we were at the mouth of the river coming out into the Gulf of Urraba...the last stretch of water!!! We could see the land on the other side! WHAT A SIGHT!! I was so excited that I could barely sit still!! By 7:45 we were standing on LAND!!!

Pablo took us to breakfast, and then Chris and I had some decisions to make. We hadn't been able to celebrate Christmas or Chris's birthday and mine was coming up. We hadn't had a hot shower or electricity in 10 weeks. We hadn't been able to check or e-mail or write anything to post to the blog in 70 days. Nor did we really sleep any last night. So the question...do we take a break for a bit or do we try to keep walking today? No brainer...it's time for a break! We used our Christmas money and got a room...we went to 5-7 hotels. NO ONE had hot water and only 1 or 2 had anything other than a fan. Well the heat doesn't really bother us at this point, so we just prayed for God to reveal where we were supposed to stay.

We ended up staying at a place that was pretty cheap, but there was something about the owner, Cémida, that made us know we were supposed to be there. We also asked the guy who worked in the bakery where we ate breakfast with Pablo what he recommended. He told us that her hotel was the safest and cleanest all around. We finally made a decision to stay at La Estrella del Mar with Cémida. Chris had already fallen asleep, but I met Erika, Cémida's oldest daughter, tonight. She lived in Chicago for about 7 years, so she speaks English. She seems to be really sweet. Maybe we'll get to know her a little bit while we are here. Early to bed tonight for me too!

Saturday, February 2nd
Today we began a 3-day fast. We learned so much while we were in Tanela, and we wanted to put it into practice. The purpose of this fast is 3-fold: to thank God for bringing us through what was impossible to cross, to ask for God's guidance, protection and provision on the remainder of this walk, and to be with our family members who are so far away...we miss them so much.

So we are giving God our first fruit of our time...we'll be praying, studying God's Word, and seeking God's face over the next three days. We can't wait to see what God's going to do!!!

Note: The Bible tells us that when we fast, we should wash our faces so that it's not obvious to those around you that you are fasting. We did that...no one at the time this was going on knew what we were doing. However, as I write this nearly two months later, I feel like it's really important to share how we spent our first 3 days on this side of the water. As you read the story of the next 2 months, you'll see how God revealed Himself and drew us into Himself as well as how he brought our family for a visit and guided us through the dangerous terrain of Colombia and protected us during a dispute between Colombia and Ecuador when we were less than 35 miles from the border in Ecuador. We've seen God's answer to this fast. We believe that fasting is extremely important otherwise there wouldn't be so much scripture about it. That's why we are staring this...we want you to understand as well. We want you to step a little bit outside of your comfort zone and see what God will do!!

Sunday, February 3rd
Today, Chris and I had church together. It was wonderful to sing songs in English and to understand the message in our own language!! Chris shared from Joshua 1 and Mark 6:30-56, and I shared from 1 Chronicles 16:7-37. God wove the scripture and the songs together! We serve such an awesome God!!

Tonight we watched the Super Bowl, but it was in Spanish so we missed all of the new commercials. We didn't even know who was in the Super Bowl, but God provided a TV for Chris (a sports lover) to see footballs biggest game of the year! I just have to smile!

Monday, February 4th
Today they are having a march for the peace of Colombia. It's going on all over the world. We had no idea where it was taking place in Turbo, but the turn out in Colombia and all over the world was incredible. Francisco, a guy who lives at the hotel, gave us these pictures.

Chris got to meet Erika this morning as well. We talked to her for quite some time! She's a sweetie! We also met her sons, Juan Manuel and Jose Manuel. Then we learned that she and her family lived upstairs! She and her husband, Tirso, have a shop on the first floor. They are a precious family!

This afternoon, we learned that Cémida had a severe headache yesterday, and they had to take her to the hospital. They are concerned about stress and lack of sleep. So she will have to go back for more testing. Chris and I prayed for her healing after she told us what had happened. Being in Tanela has changed us...we really believe in God's healing power now more than ever.

Chris sent me to check my e-mail this afternoon while he worked on my birthday card. I'm excited to see what he's writing! God has blessed me with a very creative and talented husband!!

Tuesday, February 5th--HAPPY 29TH BIRTHDAY, RACHEL!
What a surprise!! This morning, Erika knocked on our door with a tray full of breakfast! I couldn't believe it!! Chris and I had a tasty breakfast that she had prepared for us! While we were eating, Karina (Cémida's other daughter) came by to wish us a happy birthday. Then she went to talk to her mother. It appears that she's been sick too...so we asked if we could pray for her as well.

We got ready and were going to go out around Turbo for a little while, but Cémida asked if we could wait just a few minutes. About 10 minutes later, Francisco came up the stairs with two teenage boys. They are part of a group of teens that Francisco works with. They were here to serenade me!! God has alll kinds of surprises planned for today!

When they finished singing, Francisco invited us to got to the TV station than another group of his teens run. It was an impressive operation! They have to been in school studying in order to be involved with this program...it's a way to get kids who may otherwise be "trouble-makers" to be involved with something worth while! We learned a ton from them!!

Chris sent me to check e-mails again so that he could finish my card. When I got back, I got to read the acrostic that he'd written from my "Twenty Nine" years. Then Erika came to knock on the door again...she and her family had gotten me a cake too! I was amazed!! They put the candles on in and sang "Happy Birthday" in English! She even had birthday presents for Chris and me!! What a day!!!

Wednesday, February 6th
Today is Ash Wednesday...the beginning of Lent, but we didn't even know until late this afternoon when we saw a girl with an ash cross on her forehead. It's amazing the things that pass us by or nearly pass us by...no calendar, no radio, and very little TV.

Late this afternoon, Francisco asked if we could help him start a blog for the teen groups that he works with. Chris and I went to his office and talked with the tech guy. We showed him and Francisco how to get started. Pretty fun!

Tonight when we got back to the hotel, David, one of Karina's friends, and Karina were walking out the door. Karina said "there they are" as she saw us. David quickly told us that he drives a bus to Medellin and that he wanted to give us a ride. Then he walked out the door. What a baffle! Karina came by later to explain that he was on his way back to Medellin when he saw us. She had told him about us, and since he drove the route on a regular basis, he knew the dangers of landslides and guerrillas. We told her that we would pray about it and let her know.

She sat down and started talking to us. We've been wondering where Cémida's husband was, and today we learned the story. About 10 years ago, the guerrilla and paramilitaries were really active in Turbo. Karina told us that she still remembers the day. She's a mama's girl, so she calls her mom a lot. Her dad had just gotten on to her because of the phone bill. Karina called the house, and her dad answered the phone, so she hung up. The next day she got a phone call from her mom saying that her dad had been killed. After some investigation, they learned that it was the paramilitaries. A couple of days later, the paramilitaries said "Oh, we're sorry, we got the wrong guy." What horror!!! As a result, Cémida very seldom leaves the hotel now. She's scared of what could happen. Wow! That explains a lot! Yet again, we are awed by the circumstances that the people of this country have endured.

Thursday, February 7th
Today was pretty uneventful except for supper. We just worked on journaling, the blog, pictures, and e-mails At supper, we met Freddy. He's on his way to the US. His plan is to walk there from here. He was in the Colombian army...trained to live and fight in the jungle. He plans to walk through the Darien Gap. He's done it 9 times...he just keeps getting caught in Central America and sent back. One time he was even caught by the guerrilla! Interesting that God crossed our path with him. We talked with him about God...that He's the one who's brought us safely this far. We set a date for lunch tomorrow to talk to him tomorrow. It will be interesting to see what God has in store.

Friday, February 8th
Today we continued working...I'm still amazed how far behind we are. Once we start walking again, it will be even harder to keep up. We'll jusk keep trusting God about that!!

Lunch with Freddy was good. At first it didn't seem that we were going to be able to talk with him about Jesus, but in the end we talked for quite some time. We had some little cards with verses on them that we bought in Panama City. We gave them to him since he probably won't carry a Bible (the weight) with him. We shared with him about his need for a Savior and that only through Jesus can he have a relationship with God. Some definite seeds planted today!!

Saturday, February 9th
Again...pretty uneventful...we were just working a ton on everything. We did tell Karina that we wanted to ride with David to Medellin. We called Pastor Leo, and he told us that he was concerned about that stretch of road, but he didn't want to worry us. He had just been praying...sounds like confirmation to me!

So tomorrow night, we'll be heading to Medellin. God is so good! Thanks again for all of your prayers. We've seen God's hand at work. We'll be in touch again in a little bit. Hope that you are all doing well. We love you! God bless you and keep you!

Still working in Turbo...

2008-02-09T16:43:00.000-05:00

back to Our Walk of Faith

I've posted the journal through Jan 3rd...I still have a bit of catching up to do. Chris is working on pictures as I am posting...we may be able to get some of them up today. We are also still working on reading and answering e-mails...if you haven't heard from us yet, we haven't forgotten you! It looks like we will be moving on to Medellin tomorrow with a friend of a friend. That will get us out of any "dangerous" areas (landslides, guerillas, etc), and we should be able to walk with no problem. We're still praying for you daily! God bless you and keep you! We love you and miss you!!

Praise God!!!! We are in Turbo on day 490!!!!!

2008-02-01T11:17:00.000-05:00

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After nearly 10 weeks of limited access to nearly EVERYTHING, we finally crossed the last expanse of water that was inhibiting our being able to walk on to Peru early this morning!!!!! We traveled all night long on a banana boat, so we are looking forward to going to sleep soon. Colombia is amazing so far...we have been here for 3 weeks...Colombia has a bad reputation, but the people here are incredible. We have learned of some areas that we should avoid, but the vast majority of this beautiful country is peaceful and free of the civil war that the people of this country have suffered through for the last 60 years. The presence of God is strong here...Romans 5:20b says "But where sin increased and abounded, grace (God's unmerited favor) has surpassed it and increased the more and superabounded..." We have seen the truth of this verse in Colombia. We cannot wait to tell you the story of God´s grace, provision and protection of getting us to this point!!!!! It will have to wait until we get some sleep though...we are looking forward to talking to our FAMILY today (we have missed birthdays, Christmas, New Years, and Addie´s christening...we are excited to hear how it all went), taking a HOT shower with RUNNING water, turning on a LIGHT when it´s dark outside, and sleeping on a MATRESS. ha, ha, ha...oh, the things we have to share!!!! THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH FOR YOUR PRAYERS!! The favor that we have experienced in the last 10 weeks can only be explained by acknowledging that it was the response of a mighty God to the prayers and petitions of His children! We look forward to sharing testimony with you in the next week! We love you sooo much! God bless you and keep you close in His loving arms.

Still in School in Tanela, Colombia

2008-01-30T23:32:00.007-05:00

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Saturday, January 26th
Today, Sindy came to take us to her house. She, too, was an awesome guide! Her mom, Hna Maria Miranda, and her siblings--Cristian, Omar, Marta, and Ana--as well as her cousins--Luis and Veronica--were all waiting on our arrival. After some hot chocolate and bread, the boys all ran off to find guama for us. It's a fruit that grows inside of a pod. It pretty much tastes like bubble gum! They brought back their treasure to share with us, and then they climbed up in the tree to eat their portion of the fruit!

Hna Maria Miranda's husband was out working today, so we didn't get to meet him. We were able to share lots of our testimony with Hna Maria Miranda and Sindy. Hopefully we encouraged them. We talked with Cristian about being a pastor (that's what he wants to be) and reading the Bible as much as he can.

We got a little thirsty while we were talking, so Hna Maria Miranda walked over to one of the coconut trees and knocked down a couple of coconuts for us all to share. Cristian used the machete to open them up for us and we drank the milk out. Then for the best part...the soft part inside...with a spoon we scooped it out and ate it!

Not long after lunch we headed back to the house because we needed to prepare the Sunday school lesson for tomorrow. Unfortunately, Chris had a headache and fever by the time we got home. So he went to sleep. While he was sleeping, I went over to listen to the praise band practice! Wow!!!! They all asked where Chris was, so I told them that he was a little under the weather. They stopped what they were doing, and filed over to the parsonage. Pastora Dionisia lead the prayer for his healing. Praise God! He is big! Chris immediately began to feel some relief!!

Sunday, January 27th
This morning, Chris felt 100% again! Praise God! So we were able to prepare the Sunday school lesson on faith. We started with a faith walk. Luis volunteered to help us, so we blindfolded him and sent him through the obstacle course. Pretty difficult...he couldn't make it out. Domingo volunteered to guide him through by taking him by the hand and telling him what to do. We talked about how sometimes we can't see what God is doing, but if we'll listen we can hear His voice guiding us even when times are tough.

After church, we had another lunch appointment...this time with Hno Alfredo, Hna Odilia, Darley, Alfredo, Josue, and Esther. They have eggplant and squash growing on their parcel of land along with tons of other fruits and veggies that we've already mentioned. Lunch was delicious!! We were able to fellowship with them a ton. Then they boys wanted to show Chris how to play marbles. Chris finally got pretty good at it!! I was impressed with his new skills! ha, ha, ha!!!

Since Sunday is the day of rest, we went back to the parsonage and took it easy for the rest of the day. We had devotion together tonight, and we all turned in early.

Monday, January 28th
Today is a church-wide fast...and today we knew ahead a time, so we are excited to participate. When we were waiting outside the church for everyone to show up, Alfredo and Josue came to talk to Chris. Yesterday, they noticed he wasn't wearing his watch (the one that Nohel gave him in Mexico), and they asked him where it was. He explained that the band broke (again...like in Mexico) and that he was carrying it in his pocket. (He didn't tell the boys yesterday that he was praying for God to fix his watch or to send him a new one.) Today, they showed up with several different watch bands and a knife and they went to work on Chris's watch. Just as Pastor Leo was calling us all into church, they boys finished fixing Chris's watch!! Now it's half Mexican and half Colombian!! Isn't God amazing?!! He's concerned with even the smallest details!

From there, we went into church. Pastor Leo taught on intercessory prayer this morning after our time of singing and praying. Moses, Samuel, and Jesus were the lives that he focused on...it's really about standing in the gap for other people. We as Christians are called to this!

This afternoon, it was time to wash clothes again. We also walked down to the downtown area just to get some exercise. Tonight we had a good time fellowshipping and swapping testimonies with Pastor Leo and Pastora Dionisia.

Tuesday, January 29th
This morning, Hno Obidio came to get us. He wanted us to visit his other son (Hno Alfredo who we ate with on Sunday is Hno Obidio's son) as well. Plus, he wanted us to visit with his house and spend some time with his wife.

So first stop, a visit with Esteban, Dionisia, Dennis, Weimar, Weimer, and baby Kiara...This is Dionisia's second marriage, and Dennis is her oldest daughter from her first marriage. Dionisia's first husband was killed by the guerilla in front of her and their children. Dennis was about 12 years old so she remembers it vividly! Again, our hearts just grieve for this innocent family! About 5 years ago, Dionisia met Esteban, and they married. Now they have three children together. Both Esteban and Dionisia have walked far away from the Lord, so we prayed for them this morning...that God will draw them back to His feet and unify this family through His Holy Spirit.

While we were visiting with Esteban and family, Ana-- one of the neighbors came up. Ana's husband, Ricardo was stung by a mantaray yesterday in the river. He's in a lot of pain, so we went with her to pray for him.

From there we went on to Hno Obidio's house. Hna Dominga was waiting for us!! What a sweetie!! Chris's friend, Pancho (the monkey) was also hanging around to greet us! We had a great time listening to music, playing with there grandkids (Darley, Alfredo, and Josue), and sharing testimony with them!

Hno Obidio walked us back to the house late in the afternoon, and we found Hna Francia and Hna Gladys there! They just arrived back in Tanela. Oh my, her feet look terrible...BUT...they look a ton better than they were before! We are trusting God for complete healing!!! Two of Hna Francia's sons came to visit their mom. She wanted us to share the plan of salvation with her sons, so we pulled out the evangecube and walked through it with them. They understood that they were sinners and that they needed a Savior, but they didn't want to make a decision to follow Jesus. So sad!! Please pray that God uses Hna Francia's healing to bring her children to the feet of Jesus.

Wednesday, January 30th
Today is the export day...and today we were able to go see the process!! First we met the guys who work on the tug boat. Then we talked with Hno Nafer who helps load the containers. Of course, we ran into tons of brothers and their sons bringing their plantains to the boat, so we saw the weigh in processes and everything! Hno Luis (Monica's dad) even took us over to see the new dock that they've built to make the process easier. It will probably be open as soon as next week!!

We made our way back to the center of town, and this guy, José Manuel, stopped us to talk for a bit. He's out of work right now, and he came to Tanela to visit his son. He loves to learn especially English...so he took advantage of meeting us and pulled out his English book to work on his pronounciation! We also talked to him about seeking God for guidance. Before we left, we prayed with him that God will lead him to a new job where he could glorify God!!

As we were saying good-bye to José Manuel, he told us that Franklin the owner of one of the plantain chalupas was standing down by his boat. We walked down to talk with him, and he told us that he would take us to Turbo. WAHOO!!!! We are finally going to cross the water! We just have to be down at the loading area tomorrow night after 6 pm! Praise God!

We went back to Pastor Leo and Pastora Dionisia's house for lunch and we spent time sharing testimonies again. This afternoon, Chris and I helped the family clean up the yard next door. Hno Lorenzo and Hna Regina are going to move to Tanela for a while, and they are going to rent or buy the house next door. After I got cleaned up, Leidy painted my toe nails...the first time since we left Texas!!!! I was sooo excited! The day ended well...we were able to share a lot and learn a lot from their testimonies of God's constancy and consistency.

Well, it looks like we are heading out tomorrow!! The next time we'll be in touch, we hope that we are writing from the other side of the water in Turbo, Colombia!!! We hope that y'all are all doing well! We continue to pray for you daily. God bless you and protect you! We love you!! Keep walking with Jesus!!

A little more about Tanela...
I've never seen anything like this place. Everything grows here. In the middle of the plantains, you can find every plant imaginable--yuca, oranges, papaya, guayava, guanabana, lemons, tomatoes, bananas (two other forms than the plantains), sugar cane, passion fruit, star fruit, plums, pineapple, cacao (used to make chocolate), rice, and the list goes on and on...including some fruits that Chris and I didn't even know existed. I think we have entered the land of milk and honey. Food flows in abundance...they don't have a lot of other things though...their houses are made from wooden boards, sometimes with a concrete floor (other times it's just dirt). The houses are about 150-300 feet apart, but a person can't usually see his/her nearest neighbor because the tall plantains provide privacy!! Very few people have electricity or any form of bathroom. (When they need to go to the bathroom, they dig a hole, and then cover it up when they finish their business.) There is also very little running water. They have to carry water from shallow (not so clean) wells or from the not so clean Tanela River. There's also no doctor or clinic nearby...the closest medical help is more than an hour away on horse. So they have learned to depend on God for their healing instead of medicine. I've learned a lot about the power of our God! In the center of the plantain fields, there is a small area with a few shops to buy supplies. They are truly happy...families live together and work together. As I questioned in the Comarca Kuna Yala, I question again here...who is really more "civilized"?

Life on a Plantain Plantation—Tanela, Colombia

2008-01-25T23:31:00.012-05:00

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Monday, January 21st
We woke up this morning for devotion at 5 am...it was really good, but I was still exhausted. I apologized and went back to sleep. I was a bit embarassed that we didn't get back up until 10 am. I felt it was necessary to explain what we had been through in the last few weeks. When they knew the whole story, they understood that we needed rest. In this house...we could feel God's peace, so we could finally rest at ease!!

After breakfast, we talked with Pastora Dionisia several brothers from the church. We learned so much of their testimony...it's amazing that God has dropped us off in Tanela.

Pastor Leo y Pastora Dionisia have been planting churches in the Chocó for more than 25 years. In addition to planting churches, they've been sent to a couple of churches that need to be revived (spiritually). The last church they were in was Santa Maria which is about 1 hour by horse from Tanela. It was a church that had almost completely been destroyed by division. They pastored there for 10 years. During that time, they opened a mission in Tanela. The body of believers grew, and they needed a church building. Seven members of the church offered part of their land to build the church. How to make a decision that wouldn't offend?? Of course, go to the Bible...they read about how the apostles chose Matthias to replace Judas and decided that they would do something similar. They wrote the names of the 7 families on slips of paper. They prayed over them, and then they drew out one at a time...the last one to be drawn would get to donate their land. Hno Robinson and Hna Maria were the ones who were chosen. There's something soooo special about this couple who have been married for over 50 years. They glow...they are prayer warriors!!! We felt that it was a privilege just to meet them!!

Lots of things happened, and the devil got in the middle of the work that was going on in Tanela. The church wasn't ready financially to support itself, but they wanted their independence from the mother church from Santa Maria. There was nothing they could do, but let them go on their own. After about 5 years, they church dwindled to nearly no one with several thousand dollars of debt from misuse of funds. Who did God decide should come to help restore this church and this situation? Pastor Leo y Pastora Dionisia. They arrived just 6 months ago...praying and seeking the Lord the whole way. They've taught their members that they needed to get married and not just live together as well as how to seek God in prayer and fasting. As they've sought the Lord together, He has grown the church family, showed them how to pay off the debt, and allowed them to build the parsonage. To hear this testimony is just amazing...God has done so much here in such a short time. It's a boost to our faith just to be here!

Next, we learned about why Pastora Dionisia's parents were here living with them since they have their own house in Santa Maria. Hna Regina HAD a huge sore on her leg...this month marks 5 months with this problem. She thinks that she hit it on something, but she doesn't really remember it hurting that bad. The first month it was annoying, but tolerable. The 2nd and 3rd months, she was in such intense pain that she cried all the time. It burned all up and down her leg. They went to doctors for shots and medicine...they tried the herbal medicines that the people of the Chocó often use to treat themselves. NOTHING worked! So Pastora Dionisia called a friend who God has used a lot in Colombia to heal people. When she explained the situation, he told her that he would be back in touch in 3 days because he needed to pray first. God revealed to him that someone had tried to put a curse on Pastora Dionisia, but it hadn't been able to affect her...it affected her mother, Hna Regina, instead. As a result, it was up to Pastora Dionisia to care for her mother and to remove her from this town. In the 4th month, they prayed over her one night that they were having a vigil in Tanela, and the demon left. Horrible-smelling puss began to ooze from her leg for a week or more. It continued to be painful. In the 5th month, she has begun to feel relief. However, they were still fasting and praying for her up until about a week ago. On Sunday, the last of her scab fell off. She's completely well!!! So to show her gratitude to God, she's having a Thanksgiving service this coming Thursday night to give testimony of God's healing in her life!!!

This afternoon, we met another really special lady, Luzdari. She was the first person to participate in the 20 day fast. They have a special place called "El Campo" where the church or individuals can go to be away from all distractions and seek God. It's underneath a huge tree also located on Hno Robinson and Hna Maria's property. Hopefully we'll get to visit it tomorrow?! Anyway...Luzdari's testimony is incredible as well. She never learned to read when she was growing up...she wasn't able to go to school for very many years. But as she has sought the Lord in fasting and prayer since she became a Christian, God began to reveal to her how to read. She can read now!!! It's mind-boggling!! She explained to us that she still didn't know how to write, but she can read her Bible! Praise God!!!

After supper tonight, we had devotion with the family and some folks from the church. Pastor Leo taught out of Jonah 3...when the city of Nineveh repented, fasted, and prayed...even the animals fasted. The outcry to God must have been intense...pretty powerful, huh?!

(Note: In the Chocó, there is A LOT of black magic, Shaman, and witch doctors...there are very powerful
spiritual forces both evil and of God. I would have never believed this existed if I hadn't come to Tanela. I'm not sure that I'll be able to share all of the stories with you are not. Ask us about them sometime.)

Tuesday, January 22nd
I'll share a little more about the rest of the family today...Leidy is Hno Lorenzo y Hna Regina's adoped daughter. They rescued her from a family that didn't take care of her at all...she was dirty and extremely tiny when they found her. When they got her home, they learned that her body hadn't formed right, so she could barely go to the bathroom. Hna Regina immediately put her on a special diet that helped Leidy start to gain weight and be able to go to the bathroom. Leidy was doing well, but she would never be able to fully develop without solid foods. A medical mission team arrived in El Chocó during this time, and they took Leidy in for an exam. The doctors did what they could, but they didn't expect her to live very long without an operation. They operation was several thousand dollars. People in El Chocó don't have that kind of money ever! But they began to pray...God eventually opened the door for Leidy to go to Medellín for the surgery that she needed. She was a 14 months old when she left, and she came back when she was almost 3 years old. Pastora Dionisia was able to stay with her for a couple of months, but she had to come home to take care of her own family. Leidy had to stay in the children's hospital alone...but God never abandoned her. She's as healthy as she can be now!!! Praise God!

Milena is Pastora Dionisia's neice that's spending the last of her vacation with her grandparents. Hna Regina's sister, Catalina, is also visiting right now. She's here to be a part of her sister's Thanksgiving service!! Finally, Monica is staying as well. She's the youngest daughter of one of the church families. Her mom, Gladys, went with her mother, Francia, to visit the man who God used to heal Hna Regina. Hna Francia has been battling with open wounds on both her feet for about 4 years. She's tried everything to get well, and it hasn't happened. Now she's decided to seek God for healing. So Monica is staying with Pastor Leo y Pastora Dionisia until her mom gets back...and they don't know when that will be!

This morning Pastor Leo sat down with us to teach us about fasting and what the Bible says about it. He also let us borrow a book that had a short passage on fasting and 20-30 verses from the Bible. We spent the morning studying. The reasons that the Bible gives for fasting...to prepare to receive a message from God, before going out on a mission of God, death of a loved one, for social justice, to remember a national catastrophe or God's deliverance, or to ask for God's help, discernment, or forgiveness. There are different lengths of fasts mentioned in the Bible...1 day (sun up to sun down), 3 days, 7 days, 3 weeks, or 40 days. Of course...as God lays a time of fasting and prayer on one's heart it could be very different than what I've just explained. I just didn't even have any idea about what the Bible said, so I'm glad to know a little more.

This afternoon, we studied some more...this time about revival...the primary passage is in 2 Chronicles 29...pretty powerful message if you read it and analyze it!! Here's an overview of what we learned...
revival ALWAYS goes from personal to the group.
prayer fuels a revival
Elements necessary for Revival...
constantly in the Word
a life of prayer and spiritual discipline
Spirit-filled
a firm decision to make changes in your life or in the church
must be seeking God with whole heart
must confess where you are out of line with God
must make reforms according to God's Word
only with confession can there be freedom in adoration, worship and celebration
when you are truly experiencing revival, others are drawn in with little effort
the spiritual level of a church con be measured by the spiritual level of the pastor

I told you that we were going to be in class!! It's been a wonderful time of refreshing in God's Word!!

This afternoon, Pastor Leo took us to "El Campo" so that we could see the place were the church members are fasting and praying. It's awesome...you can feel God's presence there...it's a holy place! While we were there, Pastor Leo laid his hands on us and prayed his blessing on us. Then he asked if we'd be willing to share our testimony with the church tonight! Praise God for more open doors!

Something else today...I noticed something about the way plantains grow when we were in "El Campo." As a plantain/banana plant grows, it drops seeds beside it so that it can have "children" to carry on when it can't produce anymore. It's an awesome example of discipleship. When you are discipling someone, the goal is to work yourself out of a job. You should teach the person you are discipling to disciple another...that way you can continue producing disciples even when you are no longer in that city or in this world. In this picture, you can see the stump of the oldest plantain plant, the one that is tall and healthy and producing plantains, and finally the two children that will grow up and continue producing!! It's really possible to see God's Word every where you look!!

Church was awesome...the music was authentic worship of our Lord and Savior!!! Wow! We enjoyed sharing as well. After the service was over, Chris and I visited with a lot of families, taught the kids some new songs, and Hernan (Nicolas's brother) sang some of the songs God has given him. Wow!! What a night!!

Wednesday, January 23rd
Today we went to visit with Nicolas and Felicia. Sandra (who is much better now) came to get us and lead us through the plantains to get to their house. She was a great guide...she pointed out all the different plants and animals along the way!

Today is the day that they export the plantains through a company called BanaCol. Look for their sticker in stores...they export plantains and bananas from Colombia!! So we stopped by to see the process of cutting, cleaning, and packing them. First, we stopped at a stranger's house. Then we stopped at Hno Obidio's house to see how he was doing. In order to export the plantains, they must be a certain size and color, and they can't have any dark spots. If they don't fit into this category, they are sold to chalupas on Thursday. These plantains are for use within Colombia.

We learned (when we got to their house) that Luzmari was stung by a freshwater manteray yesterday, so her foot's swollen and she's in a lot of pain!! We prayed for her first thing...she's going to be better soon!!
We fellowshipped together over breakfast and washing dishes. Then Felicia sent Daurin and Sandra to find some ripe plantains, so that Chris and I could eat some. We followed them around a little more in the plantains. They can move like rabbits. After our treasure hunt, Felicia sent Daurin to the store. In other places that we've been kids ride their bike to the store if it's far away...not here...they go on horse back!! Kids as young at 4 or 5 already know how to control a horse and run errands for their parents!

We had lunch together, and then it was time for me to learn to make cheese!!! The fresh milk from the cow has to sit out until a layer of film forms over the milk. We skimmed off the film and put it in a jar. (Tomorrow it will be ready to make cream or butter!) Then we took a small tablet and dissolved it in a large spoon full of milk. Felicia told me it was time to stop mixing it when curds started to form in the spoon. Then you stir this milk into all of the milk and it works it's way through the whole batch! (Just like the yeast that Jesus talks about in Matthew 13:33) Once the milk separated into water and curds, we drained off the water for the pigs to drink. Then we began to squeeze the rest of the water out of the cheese. We add salt and kneeded it and squeezed the water out again. Then it was ready to be formed into little balls to be sold or put inside of a press so that it would last longer. It was soooo good!!

By the time we finished making the cheese, it was time for Nicolas (the son) and Daurin to go bring the cows in to the pen so that they would be ready to milk in the morning. Chris went with them and watched in amazement as a 10 and a 12 year old lassoed the cows and brought them into the pen!

In the later afternoon, we went down to the river. Felicia, Sandra, Freizer, Jacob, Yudis (a family friend), and I swam and "bathed" with soap and all...with all our clothes on! Chris went with Neder, Nicolas (the son) and Daurin to catch supper! They used a net that Neder just bought to catch more than 15 fish! Tasty!!

Devotion tonight was about the woman at the well (John 4). By then it was dark, so it was time to go to bed!!

Thursday, January 24th
This morning the devotion was about Nicodemus (John 3) meeting with Jesus, and Pastor Leo compared the woman at the well with Nicodemus. Pretty interesting...you should read them and compare the two!!

Chris helped me wash clothes (by hand) again today...I can truly appreciate at washing machine now even the simple ones that you have to fill up with water between cycles that have a 2 different compartments--one to wash/rinse and one to spin out the water!! I'm still not sure how to get the clothes completely clean by hand!!

We walked down today to see the chalupas to see if any doors would open to give us a ride to Turbo. We did learn more about the process, but no open doors! We were a little sad even though we love Tanela...we haven't talked to our families in sooooo long! We are really longing to be across this last expanse of water!

This afternoon we played with Monica, made salvation bracelets, taught Pastora Dionisia and Hna Catalina how to make salvation bracelets, and studied/prepared for tonight's service. Then we went down to the watering hole to take a bath in the middle of the plantains!

Tonight was the Thanksgiving service, so Hna Regina gave her testimony of God's healing on her foot. We shared about memory stones out of Joshua 4. When God does something big, we need to have/make something that reminds us us His faithfulness! Memory stones are especially helpful in the hard times because as you remember God's past faithfulness, it gives you encouragement to keep waiting on Him! After the service, Hna Regina offered refreshments to everyone.
Plus, several families invited us to come to their houses for lunch and to fellowship with their families! We've never experienced anything like this...usually we get to know 1-4 families in the church, but never the whole church...there's no telling how long we'll be here because we never leave an area until God closes the door.

Tonight we received a gift like we have never recieved and will probably never receive again. Luzdari came up to us after everyone at church had left and told us that her husband, Luis, had gone home to bring us a present. So we talked to her and their children--Lucho, Margis, and Juli. Actually we sang with the kids because they love to sing. The whole family is very talented muscially. You can imagine our surprise when Luis came back with a hen THAT WAS STILL ALIVE and gave it to Chris. Chris didn't even know how to hold the thing! We almost passed out...we didn't know what to do with a live chicken! Thankfully Pastor Leo did know what to do, so he helped us tie it up so that it would run away during the night! Apparently one day soon we are going to be eating chicken for lunch! We continue to be amazed at how welcome we have felt in Tanela and in Colombia!!

(The church has a generator so that they can have services at night. It's a pretty awesome time of fellowship because people hang out after church until the gas runs out. It's one of the only places in the community with lights.)

Friday, January 25th
This morning Pastor Leo shared more with us about life in El Chocó during the high time of the guerrillas and paramilitaries. 1996-1998 were the worst years. Daily 4-5 families came to the church seeking counselling because one of their family members had been killed that day. Many people (including pastors) left because they were afraid for their lives. Pastor Leo and Pastora Dionisia held firm ministering to the community because they knew that the Good Shepherd doesn't leave His sheep (John 10). If Jesus is the example that we are to follow, then there was no other choice for them except to hang on with the flock God had entrusted to them. Pastor Leo told us of a day that he had to help dig graves for 20 unidentified bodies. Story after story that he shared rocked our hearts and minds. Chris and I can't understand the horrors that the people of this country have suffered through. What do you do with this kind of information? There is so much hurt and so much that healing that needs to take place. I really believe that's why God's love is so abundant here. Only He can heal all that has been hurt!!

Today we had a lunch date with Alvaro, Luzmaris, Yorlenis, Luis, Alvaro, and Santiago up on the hill. Yorlenis and Luis came for us on horse to take us back to their house. Luis and Chris rode the horse, and Yorlenis took me on a side trail on foot. She too was a wonderful guide, she showed me the river and new plants and even climbed a guava tree to get some fruit for me to eat along the way!

While Luzmaris was preparing lunch, some of their neighbors--Ezequiel, Meri, Angelica, and Eneidis--came over. So the women talked outside while Luzmaris cooked, and the guys chatted in the hammocks on the porch. The boys went to find more fruit for us to sample and to make juice for lunch. They came back loaded down with star fruit and ciruelas. Tasty!!! When Ezequiel realized that we like fruit, he went back to his house to bring us some tiny bananas that are really sweet!!

After supper, we went over to Luis and Luzdari's house because it was close by. We thanked them again for the hen! Plus we were able to pray God's blessings upon them!! On the way back over to Alvaro and Luzmaris's house, we saw a SLOTH in a tree!! At first it was curled up, but Luis poked it and the sloth waved at us!! What craziness?!

All three families and us headed down the hill to the church together. Pastor Leo brought the message. Then after church, the prayer team went out to "El Campo" to pray until midnight.

Well, we still aren't sure when we'll be leaving here. God has opened sooo many doors. We'll be in touch again soon when we know something more definite. Until then, may God bless you and keep you! We love you!

Over the river and through the woods...traveling in El Chocó, Colombia

2008-01-20T23:31:00.001-05:00

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Saturday, January 19th
In the middle of the night, I woke up and heard it raining, so I was pretty sure that our towels would be wet today when we got up. Jorge was leaving to go back home to Medellín, so we woke up early to see him off. The one open door in this house was leaving. After he headed out, I went to check the towels. They were DRY even though everything else was damp! One last open door...breakfast with Hno Rodrigo and Hna Edilma. If nothing else opened up while we were with them, the doors would be closed and we would have confirmation that it was time to walk.

Breakfast was another awesome time of sharing, but no doors were open for later. We stopped by to tell Pastor Santander bye, but he wasn't even there! As we shared what had happened and how we saw that God was telling us to move on, Hna Edilma agreed that we were making the right decision. She packed us a lunch and they gave us directions to get to the next town--Titumate.

We packed up and started to walk...we had to cross a river, so we had to take our boots off and roll up our pants. Then we kept walking, but as we walked by this house were some men were working, they called out to us. "Where are you going?" They asked. When we told them Titumate, they smiled. Apparently we had just missed the small path that leads to Titumate. One of the guys walked us back to the gate, and we continued on. It's the end of the rainy season...so there was tons of mud and huge puddles that we had to get around. Although there was a path, we were walking through the middle of the jungle...which means we also saw some interesting creatures as we walked. Check out Mr. Iguana who didn't want to stop sunbathing to move out of our path!

We crossed another river...this time it was shallow enough to walk through without taking off our boots. Then we entered the first of 2-3 ranches where they raise cows. These huge green pastures stretched out before us with the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other. It was a beautiful day for a walk!! Several times we didn't know which path to take, but each time we were at that point, we saw an open fence and we knew to go that way. It happened 3 different times...I had to smile at God's sense of humor because we always pray for an open door and today that's literally what He gave us!! The last ranch we had to cross had 2 Rottweilers, a German Shepherd, and another big dog guarding the entrance. We prayed and prayed a little more and all of the sudden the female Rottweiler calmed down and let us pass through.

We crossed the last river before coming into Titumate. (we had to take our boots off again.) After not walking for such a long time with our packs, I was pretty much spent after the 4-5 hours that it took for us to get to Titumate. We were just praying for God to open the door as we came into town.

At the edge of town we saw, Lucia and Francisco sitting out in front of Lucia's house. We decided to ask them how much further it was to Tanela. They told us that it wasn't possible to get there at this time of day. We started talking to them, and we learned that Lucia is a Christian. She was excited to talk to us, and she called her pastor's wife, Odilia, over to hear our story as well. They were sooo sweet. Then Francisco piped up and said that he would take us to Tanela tomorrow. He could carry our packs on his donkey and we could just walk with him. We knew it was an open door because Francisco doesn't even live at that house...he was just there visiting!

We were also soooo excited to learn that they were going to have a vigil tonight at the church just down the street. God knows what we need. The music was awesome...with a very Caribbean beat!! Several people shared from God's Word. I'm telling you...food for a hungry soul! It was awesome! The most comical thing happed at this service...they asked Chris and I to sing. We sing, but not in front of the church. Well, tonight we sang our first (and hopefully last) duet--"Lord, I Lift Your Name on High" in English and in Spanish. When they wanted another, we had to revert to the only thing we are good at...kid's songs!

When we got back to Hna Lucia's house, they put up a little tent inside her house to protect us from the mosquitoes. EVERYONE sleeps with mosquito netting in these parts because they bite all night long. We've been experiencing the joy of mosquitoes from quite some days now without a mosquito net! It was such a blessing to have that little tent to sleep in!

Sunday, January 20th
This morning, while we were waiting on Francisco, the kids started arriving for Sunday School. They heard "The Train Song" last night, and they wanted to learn it. So we taught them several new songs and wrote the words down for them to keep practicing! By the time Francisco was ready for us, we had been able to go to Sunday School as well. We were so happy because we really didn't want to miss church!!

Today is Francisco's day off, so his wife, Lizbeth, and her son, Jesu, went with us as well. Lizbeth and Jesu went on horse, Francisco went on mule carrying both of our packs, and Chris and I followed behind on foot. Again today it was an amazing walk...it's beautiful here. Again it was partially through jungle and partially through huge ranches. After walking about 12 miles, we finally came to the plantain plantation of Tanela. I've never in all of my life seen anything like it! As far as the eye can see and further, there is row after row of plantains!!

Lizbeth is from Tanela, so she waved at some people along the way. All of a sudden she said, "I know this family, and they are Christians." She promptly turned off the path, and went up to their house. We heard her say, "I've brought a surprise for you." When the family saw us, they didn't really say anything. Then Nicolas invited us to sit down. It was extremely awkward. (We figured out later it was just because they had never had any contact with white people, and they were in shock at our being at their house!) Eventually the conversation started flowing, and Francisco, Lizbeth, and Jesu left to head back to Titumate.

Felicia, Nicolas's wife, prepared lunch for us. From the homemade cheese and cream, the fresh picked papaya, the chunks of sugar cane, to the orange juice that she squeezed for us, every bite was delicious. Everything was fresh! The only thing that they bought was the rice...everything else was straight from the field to the plate. We really enjoyed talking to them! My heart hurt from Sandra their 2nd daughter because she had an infection that had exploded on her chest. It looked sooo incredibly painful. Chris and I prayed for her, and I gave her some Triple Antibiotic ointment and some band-aids. We talked for a long time to Nicolas's brother, Neder. He's a really intelligent man, but he can't figure out God. So we shared from the Bible with him and tried to answer his questions. We thought we were going to be staying with this family, but as it was getting dark, Nicolas said, "We are going to take you to Pastor Leo's house." Again we were concerned about how we would be received, but we were trusting that the Lord was going before us. Nicolas, Neder, and Hernan (the 3rd brother) walked with us to Pastor Leo and Pastora Dionisia's house.

Pastor Leo wasn't there, but Pastora Dionisia and several of her family members were there. We could tell again that they weren't really sure what to do with us. Their small house was packed. I almost felt like crying...things have been so hard spiritually and emotionally lately...I'm just exhausted.

While Pastora Dionisia was fixing supper (This is the beginning of the abundance of food...we definitely gained weight in Tanela), her dad, Hno Lorenzo began to tell us testimony of God's healing on his body. He had prostrate cancer, and God healed him without surgery. He told us that God performed the surgery to remove it and he could tell us exactly when it was! He also had a stroke and was paralyzed on one entire side of his body, and God healed him of that. In addition to these issues, 12 snakes have bitten him on different occasions through his life. Some of them were extremely venomous and should have killed him...but NO, he's still alive and kicking...giving God all the glory!!! I began to know we were in the right place. I think it's just part of the culture in El Chocó...a little stand-offish at first, and then they welcome you with open arms once they know you are okay. We'll see if that's true with Pastor Leo and Pastora Dionisia.

By the time supper was ready, Pastor Leo was back at the house, and he shared with us a challenge that he had given the church this morning. God laid it on his heart to call a 20-day fast followed by 3 days of 24 hour per day of prayer. The purpose--to seek God's guidance for the church and for direction in the lives of the individual members of the church. It looks like it's time for us to be in school again...first, we know very little about fasting...we have learned that it's important, but that's about all we know...we need to have a better understanding of the Biblical purposes for fasting. Second, check out the passage that God gave Pastor Leo to share with the congregation in relation to this fast....Zechariah 8:18-23 "Again the word of the Lord Almighty came to me. This is what the Lord Almighty says: "The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and peace." This is what the Lord Almighty says: "Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, 'Let us go at once to entreat the Lord and seek the Lord Almighty. I myself and going.' And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord Almighty and to entreat him." This is what the Lord Almighty says: "In those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, 'Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.' " Okay...speak on God!!! We are excited to see what He has in store for this time here in Tanela.

Before going to bed tonight, Pastor Leo and Pastora Dionisia lead devotion for the people who came to fellowship with them and for their family members who were staying with them. Pretty awesome! It's a daily discipline...plus at 5 every morning we'll be having devotion as well.

I don't know how they found space for the two of us, but they gave us our own room with a bed and a mosquito net! It's a straw mattress...the first time we've ever slept on one!! They also have an outhouse...Praise God! We don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we know Who holds tomorrow in His hands. We’ll be in touch again soon! God bless you! We love you!

Note: I can tell you this...from 1/9 to 1/19 we experienced some of the strongest spiritual warfare that we've ever experienced in our lives. The physical conditions were rough, but the spiritual conditions were much worse. If you are interested in knowing more details, we'll be glad to share, but we can't share about it here. We do just want to thank you once again for your prayers during this part of the journey. God definitely strengthened us to be able to endure these days. So we arrived in Tanela exhausted--physically, mentally, and spiritually. God knew though...the next journal entry explains how He refreshed us!

Finally an open door…San Francisco, Colombia

2008-01-18T23:30:00.001-05:00

back to Our Walk of Faith

Thursday, January 17th
We had to say goodbye to Kike and Mariana as well as Gigio and Daniela this morning. After we saw them off, we went back to the house. We were surprised when Blanco and his friends invited us to eat breakfast with them. Blanco told us that we could stay as long as we liked. Then they recommended that we go to Triganá a city that was within walking distance. Okay...we were interested in doing that, plus it would give us more time to pray. I'm telling you that there is power in prayer...we know that for a fact...that's why we've just been bombarding the Throne Room soooo much this past week or so!!

No sooner did we start walking towards Triganá, and God crossed our path with Rodrigo. We chatted a little and then we walked on ahead. Then Chris helped these guys push a cart, and Rodrigo caught back up with us. "For some reason," Rodrigo told us that they were having church tonight. He told us where he lived and that we could go with him and his family if we were interested! We didn't even know that there was a church in town! Praise God for an open door! It's a 4 Square Church...we've seen them all over, but have never had the opportunity to fellowship with them! Wahoo! Our steps were a little bit lighter as we walked on to Triganá.

Triganá is a cute little town...very touristy...but pretty. We found a nice place to sit and write in our journals for a little while...right in front of the ocean!! We'd been writing for about 30 min when Ana Maria walked by us. She stopped suddenly and started talking to us. As I explained what we were doing, she was really interested. She said, I have to go back to finish cooking at my restaurant. Come on over and have some lemonade. She walked on, and we weren't sure if she was serious or not. We gathered up our things but decided just to move a little closer...praying that if she really wanted to talk that she would call us over again. Not 3 minutes later, she stuck her head out of her restaurant and asked us to come over. She fed us and gave us something to drink, and we talked with her a little more. Come to find out, she's also a member of the 4 Square Church in San Francisco!!!

After we were finishing up our soup, an older gentleman walked up. Ana Maria introduced us to Pastor Santander...the pastor of the 4 Square Church! Talk about confirmation!! We knew that we were right were we were supposed to be AND that we were supposed to go to that church tonight!! Just as we were leaving Ana Maria's restaurant...7 tourists came up to eat lunch! Thank you, Lord, for blessing her business today!!

We were soooo excited to be going to church...we went to Hno Rodrigo's house and we met his wife, Hna Edilma and their children. What a sweet couple!!! We told them that how God had crossed our path that day with Pastor Santander and Ana Maria after meeting Hno Rodrigo in the morning!! What an awesome God!

When we got to church, Pastor Santander asked if we could share--our first church in Colombia!! We had a good service. Almost all of the choruses were different from ones Chris and I knew (another indication that South America will be really different from Central America). One of the songs really struck our hearts though...it was as if God was speaking it to us..."Un paso mas, un paso mas de fe; un paso mas, un paso mas de fe; adelante hermano, adelante hermano; allá en el cielo nos espera el galardón." now in English "One more step, one more step of faith; one more step, one more step of faith; keep going brother, keep going brother; our prize awaits us in heaven" Praise God! Praise God! Praise God!!!

After church, we were able to talk with lots of brothers and sisters there. Hno Rodrigo and Hna Edilma invited us to their house for supper tomorrow night. They also asked us to come by in the morning to try a palito de queso that she makes to sell in the community. Before we left church, Pastor Santander gave us 5 New Testaments to share with Blanco and his friends...exactly the number that is staying at the house. We weren't sure when we were going to give the Bibles to them or how they would receive them...but we were excited about the opportunities that God was opening up!

Friday, January 18th
This morning at breakfast turned out to be the perfect time to give them the New Testaments. All five of them were up and gathered around the table. I explained that it was a gift from Pastor Santander for them. None of them seemed very interested except Jorge. He virtually grabbed it from my hand. He opened it and started reading from it OUT LOUD! We were shocked. We had to go on to Hno Rodrigo and Hna Edilma's house, but we were interested in what would become of the Bibles.

Hna Edilma showed us the process...and I wrote down the recipe!! We talked with them a little more about what we are doing and how it appears that we've reached a dead end. Then Hno Rodrigo started telling us about a place called Tanela. Their daughter lives in this town about 2 days' walk from San Francisco. Apparently it's a huge plot of land (over 7,000 acres) off plantains that's been divided up among about 3,000 families. They export the plantains to the US and Europe from Tanela. The chalupas come up the Tanela River to Tanela and carry the plantains to Turbo. The chalupas take passengers!! (definitely something that we would be praying about)

We noticed that Hno Rodrigo and Hna Edilma weren't eating even though they were serving us breakfast. We weren't sure about why that was...come to find out...they were having a church-wide fast that day! Yikes! We had missed that at church last night!! We apologized and asked if we could go to church with them anyway. They, of course, welcomed us with open arms.

We've never been at a church-wide fast...it was really interesting...they talked about scripture and prayed together for hours. Yet, the time passed by so quickly! That's how it is in God's presence!

After they broke the fast, we went back to Blanco's house and had lunch with them. We noticed that one of the Bibles was gone, but the other 4 were still stacked up on the table. Maybe all of this was to plant seeds in Jorge's heart??!! God is in control!

Supper with Hno Rodrigo and Hna Edilma was a wonderful time of sharing and learning from this wise couple! From their house we went back over to the church to pray for some Pastor Santander, Julio Cesar, and Magdalis...all three of them are separated from their spouses right now. Chris and I felt burdened to pray for them. When we finished praying, Julio Cesar said, "The Lord spoke to someone here tonight, and you have a message to share with someone else who's here." Hna Edilma spoke up and said that she did hear a word from the Lord for Magdalis. I was amazed...I knew that the presence of the Lord was strong...but I had no idea! How exciting!!

Hno Rodrigo and Hna Edilma invited us for breakfast again in the morning as we walked back home. So there is at least one open door for tomorrow. We prayed a lot before going to sleep tonight that God would show us what to do tomorrow. Our towels were hanging out to dry, so I specifically asked Him to make our towels dry in the morning if we were supposed to leave. It worked for Gideon, and I believe that He's the same God today!

Spending a little more time with the Medellín crew…moving on to San Francisco, Colombia

2008-01-16T22:28:00.002-05:00

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Sunday, January 13th
Our niece, Addie, is being christened today in Smithfield!!! We wish we were there...we are thinking about you and praying for y'all!!

Mauricio y Juliana left this morning. We saw them off since the rest of the crew was still asleep. We talked to Yenny and met her daughter, Alba, while we were waiting for the rest of the group to wake up. Then we had breakfast together.

We all went our separate ways after breakfast. The two couples who were left--Gigio & Daniela and Kike & Mariana went to the beach. Chris and I walked back to Capurganá. It's about an hour hike up and down a mountain, so it's good exercise for us. We haven't walked in the last 7 weeks...islands and boats don't leave a lot of room for that!!! ha, ha, ha!

At the top of the mountain, we climbed up on a rock and had church together. God was really speaking to us about trusting His timing and revealing a little more for the future. I know that I've probably said this a million times...but God amazes me with the way He refreshes His children!!

We hiked on down to Capurganá. We looked for a few things that we needed. We also stopped by to say "hey" to Hermana Mercedes at her restaurant. Then we started our hike back to Sapzurro. On our way out of town, we ran into Carlos, a chef from Colombia who is on his way to Panama to work. We were able to tell him about the trail and some places that he could stay along the way. We also shared with him that God has a plan for his life...we advised him to seek God's will and follow His leading.

Tonight we had supper with the small group that was left...Gigio & Daniela and Kike & Mariana. They started sharing about what life was like for them as they grew up. It was moving...and it explains a lot of their actions now. The guerrilla initially formed to change the government. They had ideals and the only people they took hostage were political prisoners. What they were doing was costly and time consuming. As changes began to take place in Colombia, the original guerrilla began to turn in their weapons. Others continued, but they began to force poor farming communities to produce coca in order to make cocaine. By selling drugs, they could make tons of money and so the guerrillas continued their craziness. This is how the paramilitaries got involved. Communities began binding together to fight the guerrillas turned drug lords. But the paramilitaries eventually couldn't finance the war against the guerrillas, so they too turned to producing and selling drugs as well. It's been a huge mess for more than 20 years.

What this crew from Medellín experienced as teenagers was the Pablo Escobar Cartel. The first drug cartel in Colombia, and it was based out of Medellín. Between this cartel and the guerrillas/paramilitaries, they saw family members kidnapped and held for ransom. Many of their families fled to the US for protection. They saw friends killed right in front of their eyes by hired gunmen. Kike was standing in line to go to the movies one night and a motorcycle pulled up and killed the guy who was in line right in front of him. It was horrible. Eventually people were afraid to go out in the streets...nightlife virtually died in Medellín. Escobar was supposedly killed in the early 90s...but legend has it that he's still alive. He was so powerful and so wealthy that he offered to pay off Colombia's foreign debt (if they would let him have free reign to run his drugs.) He was also well loved by the poor because he built tons and tons of houses and gave them away to people who couldn't afford to have a house.

Thankfully, the current president, Urribe, has gotten the violence under control on the roads. Cities are safe to live in and it's even okay to go out at night. Now Medellín free of the problems that plagued them in the 80s and 90s is renowned for its nightlife. They've swung to the opposite extreme which is somewhat understandable. So we have continued to see the effects that the violence has had on this country...among the middle class and among the upper class. I'm sure we aren't finished hearing the stories...It has really touched us. The people of Colombia as a whole (I'm not talking about individuals.) are the absolutely kindest that we have met on this journey in any country, yet they have lived through some of the most horrible experiences that I've ever heard. There's a lesson to be learned in this!

Monday, January 14th
Today was pretty low key...we washed some clothes, packed, and did some writing. The group went to La Miel to enjoy one more day at the beach and we met them in the afternoon there.

We had to tell Yenny goodbye tonight...really sad because she's a sweetie! Hopefully, we'll see her again one day!

Tuesday, January 15th--HAPPY 36th BIRTHDAY, CHRIS!!
What adventures does God have planned for today??!! Well, we to start with, we left with Gigio, Daniela, Kike, and Mariana in a panga (a fiberglass boat with a 75 horse-powered engine). We were moving to say the least!!! Chris enjoyed that...plus the scenery was gorgeous! It's virtually virgin jungle and rugged cliffs and mountains!!

We arrived in San Francisco late this morning...Kike and another friend have a cabin there, so they invited us to stay a few days there. Blanco, a friend from Medellín, lives in the house and takes care of it. Blanco was a reporter in Medellín, but he got tired of the hustle and bustle. He decided to take 2 years off "to find himself." Several of his friends--Diana, Sarah, Carolina, and Jorge--were there also. A very interesting set up to say the least. We continue not to know why we are here or when we are supposed to leave, etc. We are praying a ton, but there's tons of spiritual warfare.

We decided to walk around this small village to have Chris's birthday lunch which also gave us more time to pray. The owner of the little restaurant was really sweet and talked with us for a while after we finished eating. We went back to the house to see what everyone was up to, and we learned that Blanco was going to play soccer. So God gave Chris another gift on his birthday...he was able to play soccer!! This gave me time to make a card and to tell everyone that it was Chris's birthday!

Gigio and Kike decided that they would make a bonfire in honor of Chris's birthday. So we all gathered around and sang "Happy Birthday" to Chris. We didn't have cake, but we did have some very tasty bread. Plus, Gigio and Daniela had some little gummy candy in the shape of a hamburger, fries, and a coke!! So they gave them to Chris, so that he could have a little taste of home! ha, ha, ha! While we were around the bonfire, God also sent a brilliant comet shooting through the sky. It looked like a huge ball of green fire--the exclamation point on a great day!

Wednesday, January 16th
Today was less eventful than yesterday...we're still struggling to be able to have our quiet time in the morning. We keep praying...

Gigio, Daniela, Kike, and Mariana wanted to go to the beach one last time because they are heading back to Medellín tomorrow. So we went with them to hang out for the day...the scenery was beautiful!!!! Chris and I found another big rock, so we climbed on top and spent some more time with the Lord...just crying out for discernment.

Tonight we just hung out with Gigio and Daniela...really uneventful day. As we go to bed tonight, we still don't have a clue what to do. There's no way to get to Turbo except by boat. We still have the money that the Ultralights gave us to use for transportation, but it costs WAY more than that to take a boat to Turbo. Kike told us that we could stay at the house as long as we wanted...but we've not really had an open door to talk to Blanco or his friends. Tomorrow will be an interesting day! We’ll be in touch again soon to let you know what happens. God bless you and protect you! We love you a ton!

God sent Bond, Ivon Bond to open the door to Colombia...country #9

2008-01-12T22:30:00.001-05:00

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Wednesday, January 9th
This morning we met the people from the Ultralight Club...they are sooo nice! We talked with them, they showed us their airplanes, and we were able to share testimony with them. We decided not to worry about our situation, and just enjoy the people God had placed in our path. Cristina doesn't have an Ultralight, but she runs the office, so she travels with them from time to time. She loves the Lord a lot...she told us that she doesn't have any family, but the family of God has taken her in! We also talked a lot with Daniela...she's making one last trip with her dad before she goes off to school!! Her dad's Ultralight was one of the ones that crashed yesterday...everyone else headed out this morning, but Daniela decided to stay with her dad...to spend a little more time with him. It was a good morning.

By the time things settled down, we went back to talk to Cande. We don't have a way into Colombia, nor a stamp in our passport, but we know God's going to work something out! All of a sudden these guys from Capurganá said they'd take us for $20. We don't pay for transportation, but the Ultralights had given us $20 specifically for transportation. So we hurried to pack our bags...we weren't sure if it was right to go with these guys or not because they were pretty rude! We just prayed as we packed that God would close the door with them if we weren't supposed to go with them. Packed and ready, we headed back to immigration...just to the Panamanian office in hopes that they would stamp the exit without having to go through the Colombian office. Well, no...we had to go to the Colombian office. The consulate’s secretary was much more rude today than yesterday. There was no way she was going to stamp our passport. We went back down to the Panamanian office...that guy was nicer, so we just kept praying...the office was closed. (Apparently, the schedule posted on the door is only a suggestion.)

Chris and I decided to take a picture outside the closed door because we know God is going to open the door. Romans 4 talks about Abraham and how he believed God. Verse 17 describes the God of Abraham as"...the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were." Then verse 20-21 gives us an example to follow..."Yet he [Abraham] did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised." Praise God for His Word...it is such an encouragement!!! We continued to pray, talk to Daniela, and wait outside the closed door. All of a sudden out of nowhere, a group of tourist came walking over the bridge. The first one to greet us was Gabriel. We just had to smile. They explained that they were all from Medellín, Colombia, and they were on vacation. They were on their way back from spending the night in the San Blas islands. They asked what was going on with us, and we told them of the problems we were having. The Panamanian immigration agent walked up about this time. Ivon quickly spoke up on our behalf, but the agent firmly told Ivon that we had to have something proving we were going to exit Colombia. That's when we learned that Ivon speaks English. He asked if there was internet in this town because he had an idea. We showed him where it was (remember this town has only had internet for a little over a month), and he went to work. He was on the phone and on the internet. He called his travel agent and had her make reservations for us that he would cancel in a day or two. Within 30 minutes, he had the print out in his hand, and we went back to the Colombian office. It was closed. We found the Panamanian agent and told him we had what we needed. He didn't even look at the paper!!! He just stamped the exit for us. The Colombian office was still closed. They told us that they were taking us with them to Sapzurro, Colombia right then. No more waiting around in Panama!! Wahoo! Praise God!!! From there, we could walk to Capurganá and get our passports stamped!

When we got to Sapzurro, they asked us to stay with them!! We couldn't believe it! The guys have been friends since high school, and now they are all in their 30s. None of them are married or have any kids, so they all get together for vacation every Christmas and usually one other time of the year. Of course, all of their girlfriends come along as well. So one extra couple was no big deal! We were soooo excited to take a shower even though it was COLD water! It's been so long since we've had running water--a little more than 6 weeks. After we were cleaned up and settled in, Gigio, a professional photographer, and Daniela, his girlfriend who is studying environmental law, started talking to us. We learned that Ivon and Guayava (whose real name is Gabriel) are the owners of 3 of Medellín's hottest nightclubs. Apparently, we are staying with the "owners of the party" in Medellín. God has a purpose in this too...not sure what yet, but certainly trust God's plan!!

Little by little we met the rest of the couples...Juliana, Ivon's girlfriend who sells wine; Nana...Guayava's girlfriend who is just finish high school; Kike who works for a huge TV station in Medellín and his girlfriend, Mariana who has US citizenship...she speaks perfect English, and she owns a pet store where she sells Persian cats; Mauricio who works in publishing and his girlfriend, Juliana who does the research for a women's TV program; Mauricio and Melisa we didn't get to know very well; and Jaime who is a professional photographer in Milan, Italy. Quite a group...it was a long night too! We are used to getting up between 5 and 6 am and going to bed by 9 pm!! We finally had to just give up...and go to bed. We couldn't make it any longer. Tomorrow should be interesting...

Thursday, January 10th
Chris and I were up long before the rest of the crew...it gave us a good length of time to pray about what we needed to do today. Once everyone was awake, Yenny came over. She's from Sapzurro and is cooking for this crew while they are here. I was all too excited to see her prepare arepa con huevo that we had heard so much about. It's a thick corn tortilla with a fried egg inside of it...needless to say, I wrote down a couple of new recipes!!

The group was planning to go to La Miel, Panama. (La Miel and Sapzurro are actually the border towns between Panama and Colombia, but neither of these towns have immigration in them. You can walk the trail back and forth between the two towns really easily.) I was concerned about walking on to Capurganá to get our passports stamped. I didn't want any more trouble!!! Ivon wanted us to stay and go to La Miel with them and go to Capurganá tomorrow. Yenny's cousin had just stopped by for a visit, and it "just so happened" that his good friend works in the immigration office in Capurganá. So he called her, and she said that we had a 48-hour grace period to get our passport stamped.

So after lunch, Chris and I headed out to La Miel with the group. We swam, snorkeled, and chatted with them most of the afternoon. It was a pretty good afternoon all in all.

When we got back to the house, two new guys were there. We still aren't sure who they were...it was really weird. After chatting most of the afternoon, no one spoke to us for an hour or more. Chris and I walked out on the pier to look at the stars and to pray. We just asked for God to give us an open door either to stay or to leave, but that it would be clear. A little while later, we went back up to the house and sat in one of the hammocks. Almost immediately, Ivon came up to us and said, "God sent you here for a purpose." So we stay for a little while longer.

We had supper with the group, and soon afterwards, it was as if everyone wanted to talk to us. Such a change from earlier...no idea what happened. We especially spent a lot of time talking to Gigio, Daniela, and Jaime. We managed to go to bed a little earlier tonight even though the rest of the group was still going strong.

Friday, January 11th
Today we woke up again long before the rest of the group. We spent some time seeking the Lord, and then we decided to walk on to Capurganá. God had not released us to head out yet, so we left our stuff at the house.

We weren't completely sure about how to get to Capurganá, but God sent several guides along the way. The last one was Hernan who also invited us to his house to see the view of Capurganá from up high. It was beautiful. The overlooks of both Sapzurro and Capurganá are incredible...I'm afraid that these pictures don't do the view justice, but you can get a taste of it.

As we walked into town, we tried to make a plan...passports first, change some money...we have no pesos, eat, and try to find an internet cafe. We asked God to go before us...and walked on.

When we got to the immigration office, Yenny's cousin was waiting on us! He had already shared our story with his friend, and we had no problems getting the entrance to Colombia stamped. BUT she only gave us 60 days on our visa...in all of Central America they gave us 90 days every time we entered a new country. The countries in Central America are tiny in comparison to Colombia. God knows what He's doing. We'll just trust Him...we still have a long way to go to get to Turbo though!!

We changed a little money and went back to a restaurant that we had seen earlier called "La Fe" (The Faith). As we walked in the door, we saw an open Bible on the table. We were in the right place. We talked with Hna Mercedes, the owner, for quite some time. She shared of the struggles that they have had in this community. Many Colombians can't travel outside their own country to vacation because of the bad reputation that Colombia has, so they have to vacation within their own country. The coast of the Chocó is the hot spot for people from Medellín to visit. The guerrilla attacked Capurganá in 1999 and tourism ended for a time. Many people had to leave Capurganá because tourism is the only way that they make money. Plus they feared for their lives.

So it's been difficult economically for this small town, but it's a very dark place spiritually as well. They have a Catholic church that next to no one attends, a church that doesn't believe in the Trinity, and one Assembly of God church with 7 members that has experienced several divisions. People aren't interested in living for God or knowing Him according to Hna Mercedes. She's a member of the church with 7 members...they are struggling...they just want someone with some training to come and teach them from God's Word. Many of the people in the community can't read, so they can't learn from God's Word on their own. We learned from Hna Mercedes that there are no churches in Sapzurro. God has definitely burdened our hearts for these two communities!! Oh, how we will be praying to come back and to share the Gospel on a regular basis!! We prayed together with Hna Mercedes, and then began our journey back to Sapzurro...praying the whole way!

We quickly got showers before the rest of the crew got back from their day at the beach. We were able to chat with quite a few of the group tonight. Nothing profound, but at least the door was open for communication. We had supper, and went to bed earlier!!

Saturday, January 12th
We woke to seek the Lord early again this morning. Still no clear idea of when we are supposed to leave. We thought that we would be able to go with some of the group as they headed back home. Several of them actually invited us, but there weren't tickets available on the boat. So we continue to wait on the Lord for guidance.

Jaime left early this morning. Then we had breakfast with the group and washed our clothes...finally!! Still washing by hand, but I'm getting a lot better at it! Ivon and Juliana left this afternoon. The rest of the group went to the beach, and Chris and I stayed at the house to write a little bit. We are sooo far behind on our journals. We won't even think about e-mail! It was good to have a little break and get a little work done.

We had supper with the group, and they took us around town so that we could see some of the sights that we hadn't seen. Sapzurro is completely dependent on tourism. So the people of this community have to make their living 3 months out of the year. The rest of the time they live off the land and the sea much like the Kuna. Sapzurro is also interesting because it's a haven for artist. It reminds me a lot of Asheville, NC. They too suffered an attack from the guerilla in the late 90s. The entire town emptied out. People started coming back about 3 years ago. Our hearts have been touched by the stories people have shared with us. The people of this country have suffered a lot!!
We are hoping to find a church or have our own service tomorrow…we’ll have to see what happens…still no clear idea of when we should leave. We’ll be in touch again soon! We love you! God bless you and keep you!!

We're in Puerto Obaldia...still in Panama

2008-01-08T19:20:00.000-05:00

back to Our Walk of Faith

This is just a brief up-date...

1st...thanks a ton for your prayers...we have needed them more than you can know at this moment! Please keep praying...today we finally arrived at the border port with Colombia, but it's still not possible to walk. We are praying for transportation (a boat or a plane). We won't get to another road until we reach a town called Turbo in Colombia...it's about 6 hours from here by boat. Right now is a really dangerous time to travel by sea, so not many people are heading that way. We know, however, that WITH GOD, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!!

This is the first time that we have had internet access in over 6 weeks...we are praising God for these few seconds. There's only power here from a couple of hours at night, so we are taking advantage of it. If we have time to respond to e-mails, we will begin soon.

All I can say right now is...you don't want to miss this amazing part of the journey...we can't wait to share it with you!! Our GOD is HUGE!

We love you a ton!! We'll be in touch again with the story and pictures as soon as it is possible. Internet and telephone access will continue to be extremely limited until we get to Turbo (so we've been told)!

God bless you!