Sunday in Bogota

The rest of the team arrived in Bogota after 10:00 p.m. Sunday evening, so we didn't wait up for them.  Instead we saw them at breakfast and then at orientation on Sunday morning.  It was great to see five people from Abundant Life, our home church.  They brought down two suitcases full of fabric, t-shirts and other things for the ministry in El Salvador.  Pastor David Guadron told everyone about the work in Bogota, handed out the schedule for the week and answered lots of questions.

The service started at 10:15 and, as usual, it's great to worship together.  Pastor David translated the message by Perry Safron, from Richland Creek Church in North Carolina.  (It's always a treat for us to hear a sermon in English.)

After church everyone had a quick lunch because the bus picked us up at 2:00 p.m.  One of the families in the church opened their home and set up their pool for baptism.  The weather was chilly and the water was fairly cool, but David and five others were obedient to follow Christ in baptism.

The family festival was hold in a park in the same neighborhood so we went straight from the baptism to knocking on doors.  We had a trampoline, popcorn and a dog show like last night.  There were 25 professions of faith with several whole families coming to Jesus.

La Cima y Escuela de Ecuador

Last night we went to a neighborhood called "La Cima" which means summit or top.  We had our family festival in La Cima IV and it was very hilly.  There was a central street which ran to the park and the residences were on perpendicular streets.  The ones on the left of the central street extended one block "up," while the ones on the right extended one block "down."  Either way you went there was hill climbing involved.  Good thing the team is made up of young families!  

Thankfully, the rain held off and we were able to have a "normal" festival--inflatable, games for kids, pinata, movie, drama and gospel presentation.  The team went door-to-door when we arrived, but it seemed like not many people were home--or perhaps they were not anxious to answer their doors on a lazy Sunday afternoon.  The attendance at the park was quite good by the end of the evening and there were over 20 people who made decisions for Christ.  It was a great first night!

About 4:30 this morning a powerful storm rolled in and brought lightning, thunder and buckets of rain.  By the time we had morning devotions, the storm had moved out, leaving an overcast sky and a fog covered volcano.  After devotions we went to "Escuela de Republic de Ecuador."  Each family, along with a translator and another Salvadoran to give the lesson, formed a classroom group.  Attendance in the lower grades was quite small--one team shared with the 4-6th graders.  The other 7 teams shared in the 7th, 8th and 9th grade classrooms.  

There were 109 raised hands across all 8 of the classrooms!  Glory to God!