La Candalaria, Bogota

In my blog post called "Friday in Bogota," I mentioned that we went to La Candalaria, the "old city" area of Bogota.  The architecture of the old houses, churches and buildings was amazing and varied from Spanish Colonial to art deco.  The central plaza is surrounded by beautiful buildings so we took lots of pictures.  I decided to feature these artsy pictures, mostly taken by Stephen, in their own post.  

Monday in Bogota

Monday, January 19, was our last day in Bogota.  We slept in until 8:00, said goodbye to Bayron as he headed off to work and enjoyed the breakfast that Teresa prepared.  After reorganizing our suitcases, Teresa, Marco and the two of us hailed a "large" taxi, which is nothing more than a car with a trunk.  Teresa and Bayron thought it would be very difficult to take our 3 pieces of luggage on the bus on a workday.  

Pastor David invited us to join their family for lunch at their apartment.  Pastor Alex and his family and Mike Buss, one of the Valley Baptist team, who was staying an additional week to help with the follow-up, also joined us.  It was a great time of fellowship and an opportunity to debrief after the campaign.

We said goodbye to everyone about 2:00 p.m. and took a taxi to the airport.  The flight was smooth and the immigration line was short.  However, when waiting for our luggage, I was paged by an Avianca employee who told me that, for some unknown reason, my suitcase didn't make it on the plane.  After describing the suitcase and giving them the directions to our apartment, they promised it would be on the first flight out of Bogota on Tuesday.  If a piece of luggage is going to go missing, it's much better for it to happen on the way home, as there wasn't anything in the bag that I had to have.  They were true to their word--I had the suitcase in hand by 2:00 p.m.

We were blessed to be a part of the first trip to Bogota.  It was a beautiful city and we look forward to visiting again later this year.  We are excited about the 500+ persons who made professions of faith and for the follow-up and discipleship that have already started.

Saturday and Sunday in Bogota

On Saturday morning we checked out of the Holiday Inn.  Bayron took the bus to the hotel to meet us.  Although we had seen it in action all week and we got our first taste of their mass transportation (Transmilenio) when we rode it to the apartment with Bayron.  We didn't become experts in the time we were there, but it with exclusive driving lanes, it was very efficient.  We also found it to be clean and safe.  A couple of times, we took a "normal" bus and found those to be the same.

Bayron and Terisa have a studio apartment, but they were very gracious hosts and offered us their bedroom.  We didn't spend a lot of time in the apartment because there was so much to see and do.  Saturday afternoon we went to Centro Comercial Titan, one of the largest malls in the city.

  
A big group of us (David and his family, Karen and Gabrielle, Bayron, Teresa and Marcos, Nadia and Pamela and us) ate at Sopas and Postres--typical Colombian food.  I ate Ajiaco, a soup made with chicken, three varieties of potatoes, herbs and a piece of corn on the cob.  It was delicious.  Stephen had some of the famous Colombia beef.  

Sunday morning we rode the bus to church--it was so exciting to have 13 visitors, fruit from the campaign.  The pastors were thrilled that one of the visitors brought his whole family.  It was an awesome time of worship with Gabrielle leading the singing, Alex on the guitar, Bayron on the bass and Stephen on the piano.

Sunday afternoon we took the bus to Usaquen, an area of Bogota where artisans set up their booths around the central park.  There were many street performers (musicians, mimes, comics, dancers, and more.)  We walked through and ate at Hacienda Santa Barbara, a colonial style hacienda that is now a shopping mall.  Alex, Normita, Paola, Nadia and Pamela met us for lunch.  

Ableas--a delicious, typical Colombian dessert! 

Nadia, Pamela and me

Stephen and Bayron finished off the evening playing cards--cribbage and golf.  It was a great day spent with great friends.  Loved seeing another part of the beautiful city of Bogota.

Monserrate and Friday in Bogota

I realized that my blog about what we did on Thursday didn't include our "outing" to Monserrate on Thursday evening.  Monserrate is a mountain that dominates the city center of Bogota.  The summit rises to 10,341 feet.  There is a 17th-century church and shrine built at the top.  In addition to the church, there are restaurants, souvenir shops and other tourist attractions.  The mountain can be accessed by aerial tram, cable car or by walking up 1,500 steps.  All of downtown Bogota, south Bogota and some sections of the north part of the city are visible facing west.  We took the cable car, the only option available after dark.  Not liking heights much, I'm glad it was dark so I couldn't see just how far up we were.  The views were worth the trip.  

We changed things up on Friday and instead of sharing one-on-one on the streets near the hotel, the vans took us to La Candelaria, a historic area in downtown Bogota.  I worked with Eric Hahn, and we were able to talk to three different people.  One young girl said she was a Christian, but didn't have a church.  

On Thursday afternoon, we went to Casa Betsalem, an orphanage in Bogota that was founded and is run by a Christian couple. There are 26 kids living in the orphanage, which is in a three-story house.  

There are bunk beds in the bedrooms and the girls sleep two to a bed--the children range in ages from 16 to 9 months.  It is amazing what they do with such a small space; it was very organized and the kids were very well behaved.  The children gave us a tour of their home and then we shared a snack with them.  After Peter, Lexie, Leanne and Stephen taught them "Jesus, Messiah" (in Spanish), Troy shared his testimony and the gospel with them.  We were hoping to be able to go to the park and play soccer with them (the teams brought new soccer balls), but it was raining.  Please pray for these children and for the couple who runs it--their financial needs are great, but they continue to trust God to provide.

Wednesday and Thursday in Bogota

Wednesday and Thursday morning we worked the streets in Salitre just like on Tuesday.  Ken and I worked together again on Wednesday morning and had the blessing of leading Carlos and Diego to Christ.  On Thursday, he went out with his friend, Dave, so Stephen and I took photos and found the time to slip back to Bosque Popular (old-folks home) and visit with Orlando and Marta again.

We did family festivals on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. Both nights we were at a park in the midst of large apartment buildings. Thursday's family festival was the most well-attended of the week.  We traveled a distance away from the hotel to a poorer residential area and the park was full of people.  

 

At orientation on Sunday, Pastor David told the team that we were going to try many different things because they weren't sure if the type of outreaches that we do in Central America would work in Bogota.  After Thursday, we could definitely say that when God's people share the gospel, He will bring the harvest.  

Tuesday in Bogota

Tuesday morning after devotions, we "worked the streets" near the hotel.  This area is called Salitre and is filled with banks and large office buildings.  

Starting on this day, we had one less translator as Bayron had to go back to work.  So, David asked me to step in and help.  I worked with Nick Hubbard, and we were able to share the gospel multiple times.

Jose prayed to receive Christ us.

Tuesday afternoon we went to Centro Protecion Bosque Popular, a government-run home for more than 130 formerly homeless or abandoned senior citizens.  The home was well-run, the location was beautiful and they all seemed happy.  We did learn that it is a transition home--most of them will be there less than 6 months as the government seeks to find a permanent placement in one of their other locations.  Some of the team members sang for them, Don Laity gave the gospel, we brought a snack and the team from Valley Baptist made a small gift for each of them.  

Stephen talked with Orlando, who spent 10 years working as a surveyor in Alaska.  His English was still very good.  We also met and talked with Marta, a very feisty 80-year old.  

 

 

It was wonderful to see some of these precious older people ask Jesus into their heart.  It was a great day in Bogota.