Adventures Farther South: Colombia

Back in November, I made a specific request: "Lord," I said, "please give me opportunities to travel to other Latin American countries."

A couple weeks later, my friend Tammy, whom I met at Casa Grande through the Chapel Project (see A Neighborhood Called Blessing) messaged me. "We need an interpreter to travel with our group from Advancing Native Missions for 3 weeks to do a conference for women in ministry in Colombia," she said. "Would you pray about it?"



I did. I also started doing online research.

I learned that ANM is an organization with a vision to encourage and partner with ministry leaders who serve in their own countries, providing training and support where possible. This is something I feel strongly about as a missionary: "foreigners" should do as little of the ministering as possible, providing training with the purpose that they should be replaced by those with fewer cultural barriers.  Cool, I thought. I learned that Ministry Mates Matter, the section of ANM I'd be traveling with, specifically targets women in ministry who may feel tired, overwhelmed, or forgotten. This sounds like something I'd enjoy, I thought. I learned too that we would be doing the conference for the women who serve with Crisalinco, a Colombian mission organization through which pastors and missionaries to the indigenous people of Colombia are trained. Oooh, I thought.

I also learned that "Colombia" is not spelled "Columbia." This has apparently been a matter of online debate and annoyance for quite a few Colombians. Who knew? I thought.

I did not hear a voice from heaven providing direction one way or another. Finally I decided I did have peace about it, and so this probably meant I should just go, seeing as how this seemed like an answer to prayer.


Hit the Ground Running

Aside from Tammy and me and the married couple, Rod and Peggy, our valiant team of 5 didn't know each other before we got to the Bogotá airport. Our leader, Betty, was a brave lady to take us on like that! I was pretty sure that was going to make things interesting-- and it did! Mostly in very pleasant ways as we got to know each other and learned how to work with each other. God's grace is sufficient!

We were met at the airport by Conny and Vicky, these two hilarious ladies who served faithfully as our guides as we passed through Bogotá. They're missionaries with Crisalinco who serve together in an indigenous village in the jungle.

Unexpected pleasure: Vicky and Conny stopped at a coffee roastery
to get coffee for the mission base. Oh how delicious!
They gave us a sample of fresh brewed espresso.

From Bogotá... it was a 4-hr drive on twisty mountain roads to Villavicencio... lots of twists, lots of turns, and incredible views.

The end of the road brought us to Villavicencio...




And more specifically, to La Antorcha (The Torch), the headquarters of Crisalinco.



I was reminded very much of the dormitory/dining situation at Casa Grande. This place is used for training of ministry leaders who will eventually go and serve with the indigenous tribes of Colombia. A few years ago, when Helman and Rosalba (Crisalinco's founders) came back from a trip to the States to see family, they discovered that some of their staff members had actually betrayed them and turned the property over to narcotraficantes, drug traffickers.

Thus began a four-year-legal battle to get their property back. Just four months ago, the drug traffickers decided of their own volition (and who knows under what persuasion) to leave. But when they went, they packed up absolutely everything the base had, from stoves and ovens to furniture, dishes, and light bulbs, and carted that off, too. Looking at the truck as it left with all their possessions, Helman asked Rosalba, "Do you want to fight them for it?" She shook her head determinedly. "The most important thing is that they're gone," she said. Ten days before we arrived, deciding that it would make things clearer legally if they lived on the Crisalinco base itself, Helman and Rosalba packed up their lovely home in town and moved into a smaller, less personal dwelling there on the compound. The house they built together will be rented out for the next year as they decide what the next steps for the ministry will be.


The Eternal Romance of God

We started working pretty much immediately on conference preparations. If we worried at all about the details and presentation, we needn't have. Rosalba is a master of hospitality, and for her the opportunity to make the ladies who serve so faithfully feel special was not one to waste! The classroom where we met was beautifully arrayed and decorated as if it were the banquet hall of a king-- a couple of the girls artistically displayed our conference verse on the chalkboard, and candles were lit on the tables. Ambiance, preparation... ready go!

The ladies came ready to engage with God and each other through both study and worship.

This amazing gal is Nidia, a linguist who has helped translate the Bible
into 27 different tribal languages. She's my hero. Also a worship leader.

We even got to worship together, along with Bellanira.

The teaching centered around the Eternal Romance of God. Betty, our leader,
pointed out that the Scriptures use symbolism to point us to healthy relationships as
earthly couples, yes, but also to show us examples of how Christ loves His church
and how He woos us-- how we can rest on the shoulder of our Beloved. This
imagery really connected with the ladies' hearts-- I know it connected with mine!

Oh the friends we made! These are the strong and excellent virtuous women of Crisalinco!

Long sessions? Gotta take a break! Enough time to pamper each other just a little bit...

And me too!

Sister Loida is the oldest missionary on staff... she's 84, a precious lady,
and she still lives among and serves an indigenous tribe.

Occasionally we had a small but curious audience.

Listening to these ladies' hearts was such a blessing... their walk with the Lord and the depth of their faith, plus what they go through to actually serve, really opened my eyes to the grace that is poured out on those who are dedicated to serve... They are clearly women who walk in the deserts of Miracle Land, who must lean on their beloved's arm to make it through to the other side.

One of the gals was actually preparing to get married, so the theme of the Eternal Romance seemed particularly relevant to her! We got to be part of her wedding and its preparations the following week after the Crisalinco annual Assembly.

Assembly
The assembly was a three-day event, and many of Crisalinco's missionaries came to enjoy fellowship, talk business, be encouraged, and share reports from their year of ministry.

This is Manuel, the first indigenous graduate of the three-year missionary school.
 He led us in worship in his native language.

They asked us to share a song with them in English! So... we did.

Rod had way too much fun switching hats with Andrew. Andrew... wasn't too sure.

I ended up doing quite a bit of the interpretation for the last day of the Assembly as well, which was a lot of fun for me!
English to Spanish, anyway... my listening skills in Spanish need some serious speed drills.

Bellanira's little guy, Juan José, was arguably the most popular attendee at either conference.

This is the Crisalinco family... all of these people are serving the Lord in incredible ways.

Rod spent a little more time here at the Red Cross than anticipated.
Bronchial infection, kidney stones... it really seemed like there was an attack specifically
set out for him. God´s grace was incredibly evident in his patience and attitude
despite his discomfort.

The last day, Helman kinda coerced us into making a pancake breakfast
by announcing to the entire group (without talking to us about it!) that we would.
We were later informed that he has a thing for pancakes. There were
no leftovers! I was truly, sincerely surprised that Ana, the lady in charge
of the kitchen, actually gave us free rein and let us do it! They were surprised, too...
"This is the first time the North Americans have actually cooked for us!"

The Farm

Crisalinco actually got started up in the mountains at the CTC, which is now a farm used to help sustain Crisalinco functions. Fish ponds, agriculture. They even have a recording studio up in these here hills. The primary use for the CTC now, though, is as a 3-year missions training program for crosscultural missionaries, studying linguistics, anthropology, theology, and transcultural issues. It sounds like the kind of program every missionary should go through.

This is Andrew again. He's Helman and Rosalba's grandson. And at 3 he's bilingual. Cute, am I right??

And as long as we're on the topic of cuties... this is Matías, the son of the bus driver, who went with us
on some adventures.

Indigenous
After the wedding we traveled to San Jose del Guaviare, to see one of Crisalinco's training centers and the indigenous villages it reaches out to. This experience impacted me enough I'm actually dedicating an entire blog post just to talking about us, them, and a kingdom mentality. Please, please check that out here!

While we were in San José, though, we got the chance to do a little outreach in the city park. It felt like Casa Grande, just without the truck and sound system! Haha... We made friends with the folks who sold ice cream and sat there to play for them for a while. Super fun.

This is Allison. She and I were bus buddies for our trip! She´s the granddaughter of
Helman and Rosalba, and actually quite a talented singer. So much fun
doing music with her and with her dad, Brandon.

Getting pulled over is kinda the norm. They want to keep track of USAians traveling through.

Let's take a guess... he wants our passports again!

The party bus.

Back to Bogotá

Following our experience in the native villages, we had a super long travel day-- stopping by La Antorcha one last time to say our goodbyes and pick up our bags, then winding our way back through the mountains to Bogotá once again. The following two days we got to do some cultural study and a bit of shopping, too.

Plaza Bolívar, the historical district of Bogotá. It's a Catholic cathedral, then houses of important officials and governmental buildings as well... not to mention an impressive mini-skyline.

Faintly in the distance, we heard a band playing. Vicky, our guide at the moment, lit up. "Come come come!" she said, and led the way down a side street.

We'd arrived just in time for the changing of the guard. And let me tell you, that was IMPRESSIVE. The music swallowed us alive as the guards and musicians marched past just a foot or so from where we were standing.

As the music died away, Vicky led us down the street once again toward the museum district. A few vendors and artisans lined the pavement, selling their wares.

We saw the national library... where you never get to see the shelves of books. But you can check them out if you're a resident! You just have to look for what you want in the card catalog. As a library lover, this made me kind of sad... but Vicky, who educated herself right there at that library, reading in their reading rooms, held this 2-million volume collection in extremely high regard. I can't say I blame her. That's impressive!

This has got to be one of the most random museums in the world.
Seriously. That's a pudgy Mona Lisa we're looking at there, folks.
Everything in that museum was... fat. I was super glad it was a free exhibit.

We also got to visit the national Museum of Gold, which was pretty impressive,
not to mention informative on national history and how shiny stuff has been
part of national development.

You can read about our culinary experiences here!

Home Again, Home Again

I got back a week ago and have been working to catch up ever since. I barely got my laundry done post-trip when I got hit by a stomach virus that set me back by a couple of days this week. Doing better now, and finally going after all the stuff that's been waiting for me!

Thanks for your prayers, your support... I think this trip was a success!


Credit where credit's due: Most of the photos in this post were taken by my teammates, particularly Rod and Peggy Stewart and Tammy Springer. They were doing such an awesome job, I decided not to try taking yet another expensive camera through some of the crazy zones were were passing through.