Hello!!! We’ve been running around doing so many things that we are getting a little bit behind in updating our blogspot and keeping you informed of what's going on in our lives. But we have finally got around to it.
We have settled into the apartment and now that we have a telephone line and Internet we are able to spend more time working from here rather than in the office which is a lot more comfortable for Gabriela and us. It was quite a drama getting the telephone and Internet, we ended up canceling a contract with one company and finally after about 4 weeks of phone calls and letters we are up and running with another company. Things that we take for granted like access to communication certainly can be more complicated here.
We have settled into the apartment and now that we have a telephone line and Internet we are able to spend more time working from here rather than in the office which is a lot more comfortable for Gabriela and us. It was quite a drama getting the telephone and Internet, we ended up canceling a contract with one company and finally after about 4 weeks of phone calls and letters we are up and running with another company. Things that we take for granted like access to communication certainly can be more complicated here.
Ministry wise we were very blessed by the visit of 23 people from a church in Texas, USA. Most of the team had been here before, so it was good to see friends. This team is unique in that it is mostly made up of families with teenage kids. Carlos was responsible for organizing and supervising the activities of the 19 who made up the evangelism team, he also had quite a bit of involvement with the rest of the team who did construction projects in various parts of the ministry.
The construction team built a climbing wall, a Wendy house and some swings for our drop-in centre “The Other Way”. Alex was the first one up the climbing wall, followed closely by Katrina,... the wall past the test. For those of you who don’t know or don’t remember, The Other Way is our inner-city rescue centre. It actually consists of both a house and a nearby auditorium in downtown Bogotá, in a neighborhood surrounded by very needy children, some living on the streets, some in shantytowns and some in the house of prostitutes. The Other Way is a safe place where 30 of these children can play, have breakfast and lunch, enjoy learning their letters, and most importantly, experience God. This construction team also did some maintenance on the playground at our long-term 24 hour care farm.
The construction team built a climbing wall, a Wendy house and some swings for our drop-in centre “The Other Way”. Alex was the first one up the climbing wall, followed closely by Katrina,... the wall past the test. For those of you who don’t know or don’t remember, The Other Way is our inner-city rescue centre. It actually consists of both a house and a nearby auditorium in downtown Bogotá, in a neighborhood surrounded by very needy children, some living on the streets, some in shantytowns and some in the house of prostitutes. The Other Way is a safe place where 30 of these children can play, have breakfast and lunch, enjoy learning their letters, and most importantly, experience God. This construction team also did some maintenance on the playground at our long-term 24 hour care farm.
The evangelism team did their part in the streets where most of our children come from and in a sister organization that works with children (ages 7 to 12) addicted to hard drugs. They also had the opportunity to witness to 50 unevangelised kids that in two groups were at our farm using the playground.
Right after the Texas team left, our ministry bus needed well deserved maintenance. The bus is used daily to take kids from the farm into the city for school, then picks up kids to go to the drop in center as well as the ministry school and does the return in the late afternoon. Carlos spent many days taking the bus from one garage to another to be repaired without paralyzing the functions of the ministry. Over a two week period he got the brakes, the axle, the steering, the speedometer fixed, and some minor things like the steps, handles and tire alignments, and thanks to God the bus passed the warrant of fitness on the second attempt.
Katrina, as a treasurer of our ministry, spent many hours filling out US tax return forms since our organization is now recognized as a public charity by the American Internal Revenue Service and April was the end of the fiscal year. It was hard work, especially since Gabriela demands a lot of attention all the time.
We also started the Children At Risk (CAR) Training School with students from New Zealand, Australia, England, Canada, USA and Colombia, and Carlos has done some translations for them and Katrina is a mentor for 2 students. One of which is another Kiwi. Another Kiwi visitor was James Jordan from Taupo. He spoke at various conferences in YWAM meetings on the Fartherheart of God. For our ministry this was a good teaching as most of the children we work with have a really bad image of fathers.
On the family side, the highlight was Simon’s fifth birthday celebration with his cousins on the 12th of March. He is bonding really well with them especially since three of them are the same age. School wise now that the teacher doesn't make him have an afternoon nap (which is for babies in Simon's opinion) he is enjoying school. He has made friends and plays a lot with Sam, the only boy of triplets.
We are very proud of Alex. School work is very hard for him but he is spending many hours every day completing his assignments and doing his best. He struggles with his long-term memory and finds it difficult to remember concepts so important to perform well in a school setting. He has enjoyed hanging out with some of his old friends.
Gabriela has started to feel secure around anybody. She is very friendly and has a sweet personality. She still doesn’t sleep all through the night so it has been a bit hard to maintain a happy face when we are tired during the day. She has learnt new words in both English and Spanish and seems to understand both languages equally.
We would appreciate your prayers in the following points.
- For Alex, that he finds emotional and physical healing, that both his teachers and us find strategies to help him remember different concepts.
- For Gabriela, that she (and her parents) can rest well at night.
- There are more than 3,000 people that are currently held in captivity (kidnapped) in Colombia. Some of them for more than 6 years. Pray for health, strength, and hope for them and their families and friends.
- For the preparations for a team that comes from YWAM Oxford NZ at the end of May.
Please continue to pray for financial provision so that we can buy a car soon.
With love,
Carlos and Katrina
