Enjoying Christmastime

I've been preoccupied this month with my trip to Colombia November 15-24, and I've been catching up on all the events that happened then. But this month, I had some fun too. I went to Garden D'Lights in Bellevue on December 4, and on December 5, Jean and I went to A Victorian Country Christmas in Puyallup. For Christmas, both Jean and Bruce had to work, but I didn't so I had the day to myself.

Garden D'Lights is held at the Botanical Garden in Bellevue, a large East suburb of Seattle. Jean was unable to go with me on this trip, but I enjoyed photographing the lights. Fortunately my camera takes nighttime photos well.

The next evening, Jean and I went to A Victorian Country Christmas at the Washington State Fair. At this event, there are a lot of vendors who dress for the venue. As well, there is wine tasting, concerts and performances. It's a great place for the kids too.  Fortunately we had a great night to be there because the moon was out and was almost full, and the weather was reasonably decent.

The Puyallup Fairgrounds had a giant Christmas tree-shaped light set.  It was several stories tall.

The moon glows over A Victorian Country Christmas in Puyallup, Washington.

I got a Christmas present while I was there: an HIDow AcuXP-D. Its user manual describes it as "a double-channel battery operated muscle stimulation system that helps to relieve minor muscular aches and pains." Basically, you put these two or four adhesive electrodes on your body, adjust some settings on the control unit, and let it electrically shock your muscles or acupuncture points. Holy. Cow. I'm taking this when I travel! I'm not really into acupuncture, but I have to say that this is a great muscle tension reliever. You can see how it works below:

Jean and I had dinner together in Issaquah Christmas Eve since she had to work that night and Christmas day.  We had a wonderful evening together.

Christmas was pretty quiet for me other than talking to friends and family on the phone and Skype. Other than the AcuXP-D, I received a scarf, gift cards to Amazon.com, candy, and a book. With the gift cards, I bought a Roku, a coffee burr mill grinder, and a movie.

God's blessed me this year. I'm grateful for all my friends and family all over the world this Christmas season.  I'm looking forward to all the changes I will have in my life next year.

Leaving Colombia

Our last day in Colombia was November 23.  That morning we went to Christian Faith Community Church for their first service of the day.  There were a couple thousand people in the auditorium at least.

During the praise and worship portion of the service, Carlos, the first man to be saved on this mission trip, came up to us and gave us all hugs.  I could see a difference in his face from earlier that week.

During service, I helped Francy with an announcement about Fresh Wind Children's Center by dressing up in a lion costume!  Unfortunately I was unable to get a video of it because the team member to whom I gave my video camera was praying for someone during the announcement.

After service, our team went into a back room and had lunch.  We saw a presentation that the Children's Center made for us to bring back to the United States.

Later, we went back to the hotel and loaded our luggage on our bus.  We said our good-byes before going to the airport.

Our mission really hadn't even ended on the flight from Medellín to Panama City.  For example, I got in a conversation with the person sitting next to me about our trip.  She wanted me to pray for her, and told me she didn't have a Bible.  I gave her mine once I was able to get to my carry-on.  Our other team members had other similar stories of how they were able to pray for the passengers next to them.

I parted ways with the rest of our team in Panama City.  I flew to LAX, where I had to spend a very uncomfortable night.  (Never again if I can help it!)  I planned on staying the night in the airport, but I didn't expect it to be as terrible as it was.

The main problem was that I was required to go through Customs as soon as I got there, so I was trapped on the terminal side of the airport and unable to go back through security (which is closed late at night) to get gate-side.

There was nowhere comfortable to crash, and there was not even a seat to sit in because they were all filled with people.  It wasn't even a busy night!  I couldn't imagine how uncomfortable it would be if there was some emergency grounding the aircraft.

In any case, early the next morning I made my flight to Seattle and got home.  I was so happy at the end of this trip because of all that God had done, the promises he made to me while I was there, and how appreciated I felt by everyone I helped.

I'm going to miss my new friends in Colombia!

I'm going to miss all of our translators—Carolina, Maria, Kamila, Bibiana, and Pedro (he helped me in Carmen).  I had one other translator on the night we had the street party, but I don't remember her name.  We got along really well, and I enjoyed working beside them.

Our translators exemplified humility, love, and servitude.  They considered it an honor to translate for me, just like Romans 12:10.  They never looked for personal gain but eagerly served me and my other team members with their skill.

I perceived that as they used their spiritual gift of translation and interpretation, God used them in other ways too.  Without their help, none of us would have been able to lead others to Jesus and salvation.  Yet I never heard even one of them say they led someone to him, though it was their right.

Francy does a lot of work at the Children's Center in Medellín.  She went out of her way to say hi to us and to visit whenever we were around.  I know that Tom and Jen, the primary missionaries at the Center, would be at a loss without her help.  I'm sure that Francy had some difficult things to manage, but I never saw her without a smile.  Often she was behind the scenes, and the only reason we saw anything of her was because she came out of the office.

Francy, Carolina, myself, Kamila, and Bibiana

Me and Maria (Bibiana is a photobomb expert.)

Tom, Jen, and their children Alex, Abby, and Gabe make an amazing family.  Everyone in Tom's family is bilingual and show the same humility I saw in our regular translators. 

Tom and Jen have a special connection with the people in Colombia.  Although by local definition, they are "gringos," they fit in the society and the people look up to them.  It was truly a pleasure to see how a successful missionary family (successful in Christ and not by the world's standards) works.  Not only do they have a sincere love for the people, and especially the children of Colombia, God gives Tom and Jen special insight and good sense.

I have no idea if Tom can play the guitar, but this is a great photo anyway. (Photo by Michele)

Abby, Jen, Alex, and Gabe at the Peñol-Guatapé Reservoir (Photo from Jen's camera)

Saying good-bye to all these people and others, I knew that I would miss them very much.  We finally got on the bus and went to the airport.

In Carmen de Viboral

(Photo by Jen)

Time has really flown!  it doesn't seem like it was a month ago, Saturday, November 22, that our Colombia mission team went to the small town of Carmen de Viboral. It takes two or three hours to drive there from Medellín, but it was a beautiful drive.  It's a nice little city that felt fairly safe in comparison to some of the places we'd been in Medellín earlier that week.

When we got there, we had a morning devotion and then made plans for the day.  We were going to pray for church members that morning.  In the afternoon we would do street evangelism and advertise a special church service, and then we would attend the service.

We went around the neighborhood and prayed for the members of the church.  This church is a church planting of Christian Faith Community Church in Medellín, but only a few people go to it.  These people mostly ran businesses on one side of one street about a block or so away from the church location.

Karen and I pray for one of the church members as Bibiana translates. (Photo by Jen)

Dave prays for a man's hands as Carolina translates. (Photo by Jen)

There were many needs that we prayed for.  Some of our group prayed for a house that was apparently haunted.  Our team members prayed for the people who lived there and that the demonic spirits causing all the trouble would leave.

At least six people were physically healed and four of them gave their lives to Jesus as a result that morning.  One of those six people was already saved.

Karen and I prayed for a business owner on the other side of the street.  We knew that this lady probably wasn't saved and that she was fairly new to the neighborhood.  After we prayed for her, she told us in Spanish, "At least one good thing happened to me on my birthday."  Of course we sang "Happy Birthday" to her in Spanish.  We bought her a cake and a balloon and came back to her establishment and again wished her a happy birthday.  We saw her again that night at the special service.

After lunch, we went around the neighborhood again, but this time for street evangelism and to advertise a special church meeting that would happen that night.  We gave out Spanish Scripture promise boxes, prayed for people, and led some to Jesus.

Jeifer talks to a man in Spanish about the special service that night.  Because our translator was helping someone else out, Dave and I prayed for the man in English without a translator afterward. (Photo by Jen)

We saw some impressive results.  Dave V. A. led someone to Jesus in the sinner's prayer for the very first time; it was a really special moment for him.  I led a married couple to Jesus.

Dave V. A. poses with the first person he's ever led to Jesus in the sinner's prayer.

At the special service that night, they had more people in attendance than they've ever had.  Literally, there was only room to stand inside that small room.  One of our translators, Carolina, sang a special song, "Oceans," and then Jim T. preached in Spanish.  Although I don't know much Spanish, I could tell he talked about John the Baptist.  Our mission team prayed for the people after the message.

I was thrown a little bit of a curve ball because I didn't have a translator at first.  Fortunately the guitarist on stage could translate and together we prayed for people.  I led an entire family to Jesus—parents and kids.

I'm sure that my other team members have some surprising stories to tell about the service too.  It was pretty awesome.

That night, we rode back to Medellín in our private bus very happy at how God had worked in Carmen de Viboral.

Colombia Mission Trip Slide Show

I'm not finished describing our trip to Colombia, but until I have it finished, here is a slide show that shows some special moments.  I had more than 2,500 photos to choose from totaling 5.7 gigabytes, and another 240 videos totaling 35 gigabytes.  I couldn't get the whole trip in less than seven minutes, but I tried to get some good stuff in there.  I hope you enjoy it!

At El Peñol-Guatapé Reservoir

Although our week was full of blessing, we needed a little bit of a break, and so Friday, November 21 was our rest day.  We traveled by private bus to Peñol-Guatapé Reservoir.  We made a stop at the Replica of Old Peñol.

A replica of the original church in Old Peñol (Photo by Jeff)

Some of the guys bought some shade hats at Old Peñol. (Photo by Jen)

We continued riding to El Peñón de Guatapé. It's an American football-shaped structure on the edge of the reservoir, and is also known as La Piedra de Guatapé.  At an approximate elevation of 7,000 feet above sea level, it's the premier spot for a view of a large portion of the reservoir.  The giant rock rises about 720 feet above the rest of the landscape, and is the tallest structure around.

El Peñón de Guatapé looks like a giant football.

 Once we arrived, we had lunch, and then some of us climbed to the top of the staircase and the tower, a total of 740 steps.  They weren't even steps, and the last step was pretty tall.  We felt like we climbed a small mountain by the time we accomplished it.

A portion of the reservoir can be seen easily from halfway up the Peñón.  Guatapé is in the center.

Jimmy, Karen, MJ, and I stand on the 740th step at the top of the tower on top of El Peñón de Guatapé.

We went back down the rock through a different set of stairs that were behind the ones on the outside.  By the time we got to the bottom, our legs were all wobbly.  Regardless, we were very glad we went to the top.  After that, we rode our bus to Guatapé and rode a cruise across a portion of the reservoir.  The music aboard was very cheerful and Jen and Michele felt the groove to dance.  Sorry folks, I don't have that groove!

Jim & MJ T. were our love birds aboard the cruise.

Dave V.A., Michele, and Dave S. pose in front of El Peñón de Guatapé aboard the cruise on the reservoir. (Photo by Jen)

After the enjoyable cruise, we walked a bit through Guatapé and saw some of their stores.  My aunt Jean likes rocks, so I bought her a tourmaline necklace in one of the stores.

Later we met to zipline over the reservoir.  The line was several hundred yards long and it was pretty fun.  We all had a great time.

I'm not squeamish! (Photo by Jen)

We ate at a nice restaurant in that little tourist town while we were serenaded with guitar music.  People in our group ate trout, steak, and common snook (robaló).  Once we finished eating, we rode back to Medellín for the night.

A man plays guitar while we enjoy our limeades.

What a great day!

Blessing People

Our mission team did much of the same things on November 20 that we did on November 19.  Some of us delivered food to the mothers of the children that attended Fresh Wind Children's Center, others of us helped the staff with the kids and prayed for the staff themselves.  As well, in the evening, we went to more cell groups.

Michele and her kids show off the craft project they did for candy canes. (Photo by Jen)

Jeff was a natural with these kids.  They all loved him, and he loved them back as if they were his own grandchildren.  (Photo by Jen)

This man came up to us and expressed how grateful he was for us for coming to the Children's Center to pray for people and to bless others. (Photo by Jen)

Miguel, Dave S., and Karen pray with one of our wonderful translators, Bibiana. (Photo by Jen)

I think I want to explain what sort of work we did with my own personal experiences.

In the morning on November 20, a small group of us went by taxis to a different Children's Center in the area.  This foundation was primarily for girls, but there was one boy there whose sister lived there also.  These girls were insulated from much of the problems that surround their parents: a bad neighborhood, drugs, gangs, mafia presence, violence, prostitution, abuse, and the list goes on and on.  They were protected because they lived at this center for about six days out of the week and went to their families on holidays and weekends.

These kids are most of the residents at the other children's foundation we visited.

What seemed so stark about this experience was that there was such love inside the building.  There was an older woman who ran this institution, and it was apparent that she cared deeply for these girls.  None of the children had looks of fear which was all too common in these Colombian ghettos.  They were happy to meet us and even gave us a little presentation.

The door to this institution was open, but had bars across the doorway.  There was a lock on this open door.  It spoke to the generosity to those who needed help, and the grace and protection to those who lived inside.  This dwelling was a shelter in the midst of a storm, a safe harbor to those who would ordinarily be in danger, and a ray of hope in a crime-ridden and desperate neighborhood.

I delivered food with Dave S. and John to a few mothers with children at Fresh Wind over these two days.  I prayed for one mother after visiting with her via my translator Maria on November 19.  She lived in a room the size of a large closet, which was attached to a building where she was working.  This woman was cleaning a place that provided public showers.  Inside her humble room, I could hear Christian music playing in the Spanish language on TV.  She told us how she was recently pregnant, of her four children (at least one went to Fresh Wind), and of her fiancé who she was trying to lead to Jesus by reading the New Testament.  She was working in that public shower for her daily rent. (Many poor people in Medellín pay their rent daily.)  If you haven't guessed it by now, she was a prostitute who had recently come to Christ and was now trying to straighten her life out.

When Jesus saves a person, he accepts them as they are, and then wipes all the dirt off of them.  It's so easy to disdain people who have ruined lives, but He died for them to have life.  The Holy Spirit has a way of making something good and new out of what has been destroyed.

I prayed for her, and I know God's grace rests on her.  He will carry out to completion that which he started in her (Php. 1:6).

I look back at these two specific days of this trip, and realize how God is working through all of our problems to give us life.  Every little nice thing we do for others, every prayer, every bit of food we share is a step toward building a community of hope.

This, my friends, is the true work of the Church.

Visiting with Mothers, Staff Members, and Churches

On November 19, 2014, our mission team to Colombia did a lot of things, oftentimes separate from everyone else.  Although we were coordinated, we mostly worked in teams of two for the day.

In the morning we heard Reina's testimony.  We don't know what persecution is in the United States, but this woman was able to stand her ground even with the threat of violence.  It's wonderful to hear in someone's own words how God protects and softens hard hearts.

At Fresh Wind Children's Center, Michele helped the kids with crafts that day.  During much of the week, she continued to work with the kids there and did such a great job.

Michelle and a few of the kids show the craft they made. (Photo from Michele's camera)

Our mission team brought food and other things to give to the mothers of the children who attend the children's center.  Over the next two days, we delivered our care packages to these moms, and prayed for them.

Several of us stayed at the Children's Center and prayed for the staff members.  Many of these people have problems just like us, and to have missionaries come from another country to individually pray for them is a ray of hope for them.  Oftentimes, prayers from us as missionaries carry power that they don't seem to see when they pray by themselves.  I was awed by the stories I heard from these people about things that happened as a result of missionaries' prayers.

After lunch, the older children at Fresh Wind Children's Center presented a skit for us.  I've put the skit in its entirety here, and I know it's a long skit, and it's not in English, but wait it out to the end.  As you watch, you'll recognize God's hand in these kids lives.

That night our group did come together to attend a cell group.  The cell group attends Christian Faith Community Church and meets together at a high school in another part of Medellín.  The church's hope is to bring the love of Christ to the whole city, and so they have many smaller groups meet during the week in many places all over the city.  This cell group was about an hour's drive away from the church.  When we got there, we worshiped with the people, then Jim T. gave a short message, and then we prayed for as many people as we could before we had to leave.

Our group prepares to ride a passenger van to the cell group. (Photo from Michele's camera)

At a Colombian Street Party

(Photo by Jen)

Fresh Wind Children's Center hosted a Sancocho on November 18.

A Sancocho is both a street party and a chicken stew or soup.  As a soup, it has large pieces of meat (ours had beef and chicken) and vegetables in a chicken broth.

In the afternoon, some of our mission team went on the street evangelizing and interceding for the street party.  A couple people from our group helped prepare the meal.  We all came together for a meeting in the evening with several other people from Christian Faith Community Church, (Click here to use Google Translate on their website) which sponsors Fresh Wind Children's Center.

During the meeting, we discussed our plan for the night.  We were going to separate into several small groups and go to the people in the community, invite them to the Sancocho, and minister to them.  We would all meet back at the Sancocho, which was only a few blocks away from the Children's Center.  We would help there and then go back to the Children's Center.

Some of the local Colombians helping with the Sancocho wanted prayer because they were afraid of going out.  After praying they all felt better and we left.

When I went to the travel clinic to get some vaccines before the mission trip, I was told that it was a bad idea to go out at night, but that's exactly what we were doing.  Fresh Wind Children's Center is located in the dangerous neighborhood of Niquitao in the city of Medellín.  The neighborhood is entrenched with witchcraft.  People practice it there and its practice comes with unpredictable results.  We could smell marijuana in the air in most places.  Of course there were also homeless people doing crack or cocaine in plain view.  I saw some people I was pretty sure I didn't want to talk to at all since they might have wanted to just kill me for looking at them.

We met all kinds of people, and they all generally wanted prayer.  I came up to one lady who was holding her head.  Through my translator, I asked if she needed prayer.  She said that she had a headache and an infection on her body.  I prayed for her and the headache went away!  She stopped holding her head, and told us that it was gone.  I encouraged her to see a doctor about her infection.

I asked this woman how she felt, and she said that she felt depressed.  Sensing that there was more to this story, I asked her if she was suicidal, which she confirmed.  I told her that we would pray for this too, but she asked us to pray for her inside her house where there was more privacy.  Once inside, I counseled her, and encouraged her to follow-up with the Children's Center since they could continue to help her and were within walking distance.  But through this, I led her to Jesus.  Although I know God can take away suicidal thoughts, I hope that she goes back to Fresh Wind so that they can help her work through the things that brought her to that place.  Isolation is so conducive to listening to the destructiveness of the enemy.

When our small little group made it to the Sancocho, there were lots of people in line for food.  I helped create a human barricade so that people got their food in turn.  I got pinched a couple times by a little girl who didn't like waiting in line.  Another lady came right up to me to get some food, but was spaced out and reacting to things that weren't there.  I figured she was hallucinating on cocaine.

But there were also some great people there.  Lots of happy people were in the street—both adults and children.  I remember two four-foot-tall ladies in red dresses.  I was told that they belonged to an aboriginal tribe since our Colombian translators couldn't understand them.

Jeff smiles as a fire for the Sancocho is built next to the street. (Photo by Jen)

A couple Colombian men help put the Sancocho pot over the fire. (Photo by Jen)

We had entertainment at the Sancocho.  There were bubbles, face painting, and we made balloon animals. (Photo by Jen)

After the street party, we went back to the Children's Center where we debriefed.  Apparently one of the groups had 35 salvation commitments! In the amount of time we had, I figured they must have just asked a group of people to repeat the sinner's prayer if they wanted to know Jesus.  Another group had around 10.  My group had a few salvation commitments, but nothing like those numbers. 

At the debriefing, one of the Colombians remarked that we missionaries seemed to be unaffected, fearless, to the danger of the neighborhood.  After the meeting, I commented to Tom and Jen that it wasn't fearlessness.  We were just ignorant of how dangerous it really was.

No one got hurt that evening, and we made a good impact in the neighborhood.  Around 50 people came to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.  Our Sancocho was a success.