Bogota Campaign, Part 1

Hayden, Stephen and I flew out Friday afternoon, June 17, arriving in Bogota at 7:30 p.m.  The temperature difference between San Salvador and Bogota is like night and day, so we bundled up for the 50 degree weather as best we could.  The hotel shuttle was there to pick us up and we were checked in and ready to eat dinner before 9:00 p.m.  We had a lazy Saturday morning, exploring the area around the hotel and walking to the mall for lunch.

Guillermo, Rodolfo and the team of 9 from Costa Rica picked us up at the hotel about 3:30 Saturday afternoon to go to the Alsacia neighborhood, even though the team from Blue Springs, Missouri, wasn't flyiing in until 11:00 p.m.  The schedule for the week was for us to hold a kid's club in the Alsacia neighborhood Sunday through Tuesday afternoons, so we sepnt Saturday night passing out invitations to everyone we saw.  The Costa Rica team set up face painting; there were balloon animals, popcorn  and the trampoline was there, as well.  Alex's wife and Karem had a registration table to enroll kids for the 3-night event.

Wednesday in Bogota

Wednesday morning we returned to downtown Bogota and continued sharing one-on-one on "Seventh" street.  David told everyone that, if they wanted to get souvenirs, they should take advantage of the artisan markets that are along the street.  

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Wednesday night we drove to the south part of the town to set up the family festival in the area called "Kennedy."  As you can see the park is huge, there are apartment buildings everywhere and people are walking everywhere.  This park and the surrounding area reminded everyone of El Salvador.  There were so many kids, we ran out of popcorn and balloons.  It was an amazing evening with so many great conversations and so many professions of faith!  

Monday in Bogota

Monday morning the group had devotions with Pastor Steve and then boarded our little bus to share one-on-one along the main street near downtown Bogota.  For the most part the street is blocked off to cars, so we were able to walk freely.  Many of the people were in a hurry, so sometimes we were only able to get a tract in their hands, but other times they stopped to talk and we were able to present the gospel.  

In the evening we returned to a neighborhood close to Pastor David and Alex's apartment.  It was quite cold, so we didn't find as many people out and about and we are not allowed to enter the apartment buildings.  Nevertheless, at the end of the evening we saw hands raised around the crowd and had new Christian brothers and sisters.