Wednesday in Bogota

Pastor Steve arrived on late Tuesday evening.  He was up bright and early to do the devotion on Wednesday morning and devotions just don't get any better than that.

We loaded up about 9:30 and headed to La Candelaria (downtown historic Bogota) where we shared the gospel along La Septima (7th Avenue.)  You see all types of people along that street and many of them are willing to listen to the good news of Jesus.

One of the members of Vida Nueva has a friend who works with families and children in a pueblo named Choachí, so Wednesday afternoon we traveled an hour and half over the mountains outside Bogota to get there.  The views were spectacular and the drop-offs incredible.  

We set up a VBS-like rotation with Bible story, crafts, snacks and recreation and were able to work with all 60 kids in about an hour and half.  We were also able to share the gospel with many of the parents who were there. There were almost 30 professions of faith during the afternoon.

 

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.