Bogota Campaign, Part 4

Our third trip to Bogota was about three weeks ago, and we were busy from morning to night.  However, since our flight was not until late Saturday night, we had time to see some of the sights on Saturday.  Hayden, Stephen and I took a taxi from the hotel to Bayron and Teresa's apartment on Saturday morning.  From the apartment we took the bus to Usaquen, a residential/commerical area in the northern part of the city.  There are always street musicians, street artists, artisans peddling their wares and many, many excellent restaurants.  We had visited Usaquen in January, 2015, and were excited to have the opportunity to return.

We had lunch at a nice Mexican restaurant and then coffee and dessert at one of the many cafés in the area.  It was just starting to rain when we finished dessert, so we made a run for the bus stop to return to Bayron and Teresa's place.  It was mid-afternoon when we got back to the hotel.

All week we talked about returning to the senior citizens home to visit our two friends, but just couldn't fit it in.  Here's a bit of the history of why we wanted to return.  

The first campaign in Bogota was in January, 2015; we had the privilege to be there with a team from Valley Baptist, as well as a few others.  Besides sharing along the main street outside the hotel, the team also had the opportunity to visit a senior citizen's home which was walking distance from the hotel.  You can read more about that first visit here:  Senior Citizen Home.  It was during that trip that we first met and visited with Orlando Guerrero and Marta Cano.  

 

 We returned to Bogota for another campaign in December, 2015.  Although there wasn't a team visit to the home, Stephen and I walked over to see our friends.  We found Orlando walking in the garden and had a great time reconnecting with him.  Unfortunately, Marta was at a doctor's appointment so we didn't get to see her.

After we returned to the hotel, we realized we would have time to walk over to the home, visit and still be back in plenty of time to get to the airport.  As usual, we stopped at the gate to sign in, but when we said we were there to visit Orlando, we knew something was wrong.  The security person told us that, unfortunately, he had passed away during the past week.  We were so, so sad that we hadn't made it over to visit earlier in the week.  However, we talked with one of the nurses who said he was hospitalized the second week of July and died of respiratory failure on July 15, two days before we flew to Bogota. 

Marta was there and we had time to visit with her.  She was as feisty as before, and very glad to see us.  We told her about trying to visit in June, but she said no one told her we stopped by to see her.  This time, she let me pick a pair of earrings (she was selling them to make some extra money) to take with me.  We promised her we would be back to see her the next time we are in Bogota.  

We know time isn't guaranteed to anyone, not at age 86 or at age 8.  Still, we were surprised that Orlando wasn't there.  It was a clear reminder of how important it is to share the gospel so that people have an opportunity to have a personal relationship with Jesus.     

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.