BMOC (Big Man of Cartagena)

Hello again everybody! Miss me? haha
Anyway, sorry for the lack of update in a while. There's not a whole lot new to be said necessarily except that the English classes have officially started up and everything. We are still looking for more kids though, so that is taking some time. Got to visit 2 more schools today and talk to the administration there about the 144 Program. So thank you for your prayers, but please continue with them! :) Again, the professional team here could use a lot of prayer. More financial problems and other issues that I probably shouldn't go into too much. But just pray :) thanks!

In other news, it's just been really cool getting to know the city better and stuff. It's pretty cool to be walking around and people calling out my name because they all know and love talking to the gringo. haha. And even if they don't necessarily know my name....they know i'm affiliated with the professional team, so they will constantly ask me how the team is doing and so on. It's just nice to finally feel like i'm starting to fit in and get to know some locals. Not to mention some of our favorite restraunts in the area....they know us the best of all. haha. All we need to do is walk in and say "lo mismo" (literally "the same"......or.....the regular) cuz we have our favorite meals at these different places, and they all know them. Oh, and in case you didn't catch the pun in the title of this blog.....BMOC usually stands for Big Man On Campus (it's a college thing, ha).

Anyway, I guess that's all for now. This week is a big decision week for some things with the team, so there are possibly some major changes going to be made. If that's the case, I'll have an update for you. If not....well....talk to you again later! :) Love you all and I can seriously never thank you enough for your continued prayer support!

Hello Again

So wanna know something crazy? I've been here in Colombia for over a month already! Time flies when you're having fun, I guess. :) Anyway, sorry it's been a while since my last update. There has been a lot going on here, but most of it being somewhat political stuff about the professional team which has been pretty tough on James. So while it certainly does effect me (as one of my roommates, a player on the team, has been sent home and is being replaced by another player due to money/other reasons), it has been far more of a battle for James. So he could use a lot of prayer to stay encouraged in this ministry that he's doing.

As far as I'm concerned though - my first English class for the 144 Program is going to be this Tuesday (Lord willing)!!! I have spent the last couple weeks working on all the details of the program and preparing some curriculum for the classes, as well as visiting some local high schools to talk to administrators and basketball coaches about some kids I can work with. So yeah, some more prayer for the program in general and the classes more specifically would be great! :)

My schedule at this point looks pretty much like this....

• Workouts every morning (9-12ish) either with Tyron (a 17 year old 6'9" kid) or with the professional team
• The much-needed siesta every early afternoon after lunch :)
• 144 Program work (Tuesday/Thursday English classes or workouts or prep work) from 4-6 in the afternoon
  
• Either practice or game with the professional team every evening
• Dinner very late after all that
• Sleep
• Repeat :)

Saturdays are pretty similar to that schedule and then Sundays are my day off (with only church and usually the beach scheduled in).
So there you have it. Welcome to my life here in Colombia! It's pretty great. :) Hope everyone is doing great back home. Thanks so much for your prayers, and they will continue to be very coveted. Love you all!