Majestic Monday

Today we started with a large planning meeting, the first meeting of the Revelstokians and Ottawa teams together. We were able to do a good and long devotion and then went through the first day's lessons for ESL. This was very good and we now feel as if we are one team.

In the afternoon we were invited by the people of the new church that is being planted, El Redil Sur, in Sabaneta, for a tradional Colombian meal. This was held at the house of one of the new members, Jorge. The meal consisted of fried plantains, chicharron (which is fried pork -very, very tasty) and a tradional soup called Sancocho, with lots of good stuff in, like chicken, potatoes, beef, plantains and more. This was really great! We enjoyed a wonderful time sharing with many of the local people.

This afternoon we had a meeting with the Colombian Facilitators/Translators who will help us with our ESL lessons. This was good as we got to know them and went through our first day of ESL again. Now we feel much better prepared.

Right now, as we are writing this we are having a meeting with Diego. He is going through the planning for the next two weeks.

Please pray for:

1. The start of ESL on Tuesday. Pray for the students. Pray for us as teachers and the translators. Pray for open hearts on both sides as the week progresses.
2. Please pray for good sleep for each member. We are all tired. Mostly still from the travel and the first couple of nights made for short nights. Tonight we all should be able to get a longer sleep.
3. Also for the El Redil church as they plant this new church, and is also involved in a number of other projects, like serving the children in El Pacifico, helping other, poorer churches, even from different denominations.

Rick and Gerald "hanging" out in the Metro yesterday

Riding the Metro-Cable yesterday

Riding the Metro-Cable yesterday

Riding the Metro-Cable yesterday

Poor area of Medellin seen from cable car

City of Medellin

Poor area of Medellin seen from cable car

Dianne from Ottawa getting to know two police ladies

The Christmas lights last night

The Christmas lights last night - and the group

The Christmas lights last night

Part of the lights - water fountain show

Our traditional meal today - the chicharron

Preparing the Sanchocho

Sunny Sunday

Most of us got up this morning between 6:00 and 7:00 am.  Not bad for a late night.  It was sure nice sleeping laying flat  :)  Breakfast was anything from fresh fruit and juice, toast and cereal, and arapeas and eggs and cheese.  There was no shortage of food.  We went to church in El Pablado and met the Ottawa team for the first time.  There were two services, one at 9:00 and one at 11:00, which Rick led, and was translated by Phil Webb, who has been in Columbia for 28 years.  It was wonderful to reconnect with old friends from last year.  (music)

We then had a late lunch after which we went on a walk to the Metro Station to take the Metro Train for a ride through the city, and ride with the Metro-Cable, which is a cable car that serves on of the poorer barios  high up against and over the mountain.

Tonight was also the last night of the Festival of Lights. We took a walk through the streets to see the wonderful Christmas lights that is put up for the season. It is nothing short of amazing. The most lights you will ever see. We will post some pictures tomorrow once we have all the photos downloaded.

Tomorrow we start early with a general meeting to plan for ESL, which will then start on Tuesday. We will also meet the Colombian people who will help us with the ESL lessons and have a meeting and training session with them.

Prayer Requests:

1. Please pray for the meetings tomorrow. Pray that our Father will provide the final insights and ideas needed to make ESL a great success. Keep in mind that we are trying to build bridges, encourage relationships, and that these may eventually lead to live saving knowledge of Christ.
2. Also pray for the Colombian team joining us for ESL and that we will relate to them easily and that the teams will become one in Christ.
3. Also pray for Nicole, one of our team and from Ottawa Green Belt. She has been sick on not feeling well.

Hussled Through Houston, Panting in Panama and Finally Made it to Medellin

Just a short update for the morning. We had a long travel with over 32 hours of travel, if the layovers are counted in. We are all very tired and finally at our host families. We are very grateful for safe travels and just for being here. The people here have already embraced us and received us with their usual friendliness.

Tomorrow morning we shall be up early, likely around 6 AM for most of us, so that we can be at El Poblado church for the first of two morning services. Please pray for Rick as he has been asked to do the sermon at both services. He had little time to prepare, and is, like the rest of us, very tired.

We will write a longer update tomorrow. Now it is time for bed.

Soaring Through Seattle

We have finally made it to Seattle after a good drive through BC interior with good road conditions. However coming into Seattle everything slowed down to a snail pace due to the rush hour traffic.

We had two way radios in the cars and that helped us a lot with navigating while at the same time providing something for good humour and laughs on the way. Some code-names have been given to some people; "Bald eagle", Old Gofer", "Meerkat" to make communications absolutely clear!

Right now we are waiting in Seattle Airport for our flight at 23:50.

Just made it through security...yeah!

Rick frantically looking for something...may his passport?

We made it through too!

Wow! And were we hungry!

Brenda says the food has given her new strength

Los tres amigos

We had a bit of a scare while booking in, as they did not have "tickets" for us. We're not sure what that means, as we had documents indicating that we were booked, but after some stress and praying the lady at the counter was able to help us and we have our seats. Please pray that the rest of our flights and connections work out well.

Also pray that we may be able to get some rest on our way to Medellin.

So far the team members are doing well. Everybody is a bit tired, but in good spirits.

Christmas is past, one week to go!

As Christmas has come and gone and everybody has taken some time to spend with family and friends, we draw near to our departure for Colombia. We continue to pray for a safe trip and for a fruitful time in Medellin.

We have already received great news and one answer to all our prayers:
As we discussed in previous items on this blog as well as in church, there was concern about our use of the conference facilities at the Commercial Center in Sabaneta. This center was sold to new owners and there was significant uncertainty if we would have been able to still use it without cost. God has answered all the prayers! We recently received news from Diego that the new owners has given permission for us to continue using the conference rooms! Praise the Lord, for He is almighty!

This week ahead is our last week of preparations. The final things that needs to be done is really just some packing of bags. This will include many gifts that we use during the ESL sessions, as well as gifts to our hosts and host church.

God willing, on Friday 06 January 2012 we will depart by car from Revelstoke on our way to Seattle. Please pray that God will provide a window in the weather that will allow us to make it out of here safely.

Please also continue to pray for the outreach in general: for salvation to come to many people directly or indirectly through the work that we will be doing there. We may not even meet the people or know that they are drawn to Him, but just being there opens doors for individuals to be reached by the local church in Sabaneta and Poblado.

Also pray for our work and the work of the Colombians in El Pacifico, the poor barrio in the hills on the outskirts of Medellin. This is where a volunteer program is reaching out to local children who live in poor conditions and often with poor parental care.

As you visit this blog, please feel free to join by signing up. This will help us to know how many people are actively following our posts.

Please pray for our team members individually, by name. This includes the group from Ottawa that will be joining us this year. The names are on the bookmarks that were handed out at church, but here are the pictures again (Barb is not going anymore, but will be involved in our weekly prayer group chain, please contact her for information):

Last of the final preparations

As Christmas is approaching we are in our final stages of prep work for our outreach to Colombia. We have several things to do to round off our ESL teaching sessions. We need to build PowerPoint files which will help us do our general lessons. We also have to start packing all the STUFF that has to go with us. This include all the ESL material, several gifts and donations and, off course our own things.

We continue to need lots of prayer for this trip:

There are still concerns about the venue for the ESL. Diego stepped out in faith and sent out advertising indicating that the course will happen at the Commercial Center. He had to do this as people will be leaving on Christmas holidays and there will not be enough time after Christmas to make the event well known. Please pray that the center will be available.

Pray as we all make our final preparations that God will touch us and lead us. Please pray that He will fill us with His Spirit. That He will touch our hearts so that we will be able to hear His voice and that we may walk in His path.

Also pray for the Ottawa Greenbelt team. Pray that our Father will protect them and also help them with their preparations.

Prayerfully consider if you would be willing to join a prayer team to pray for us while we are away. We need people to join in these small groups that will pray on rotation every day while we are in Colombia. The leaders of these groups have been posted in the last blog entry. We still need a leader for the Thursday group and will appreciate your prayerful consideration.

This Sunday during the service we will discuss the prayer groups some more, and we are hoping to find enough volunteer then.

God bless!

We need your prayer

This week we want to start focusing on the power of prayer and how it can support us during our last bit of planning, and also during our outreach to Colombia.

The Colombia Outreach team has been meeting and praying regularly for months now, and we believe with all our hearts that our Father hears our prayers. He promises in His Word that where "two or more gather in His Name, He will hear their prayers".
He also promises us that he will hear our prayers when we pray according to His will. When we pray that he will guide us to the people who need His Word and who need Jesus, we believe that we are praying according to his command in Matthew 28:19-20 to make disciples of all nations. Therefor we are within His will, and thus we claim this promise as our own.

In the next few weeks we will be approaching the church to seek help. We need you to pray for us now and during our trip to Medellin. We are hoping to provide different opportunities for people to pray for us. This can be done individually and/or in groups.

During the two weeks that we are going to be away small groups of persons will be meeting to pray daily. We want to give everybody and opportunity to be able to attend and be part of the Great Commission of the Lord Jesus. If you believe that through faith your prayers can make a difference in Colombia, then please get involved. Remember, the one who sends is as important as the one who goes.

Tentatively the leaders of these groups will be as follows, with the days of the week they will be leading:

Sundays: Prayer in huddles during the morning service
Mondays: Barb Eby
Tuesdays: Noeline Mostert
Wednesdays: Nelli Chikwula and Stoked Youth in the evening
Thursdays: Still open
Fridays: Fred Weatherby
Saturdays: Niki Hills

These groups can potentially meet anytime during the day or evening, and the time will likely be a decision made by each group once they are made up. The length of the prayer meetings can also be determined by the group, but typically should not be more than one hour.

Can you please prayerfully consider if you may be willing and able to pray, not just as an individual, but also in one of these groups? If you feel the Lord leading that you can be a leader of one of these groups, or if you have an existing group that can also pray for us, please let us know.

If you feel that you can be involved, please contact Barb or any of the team members for further information.