I guess the last time I "talked" to you guys it was while I was in Barranquilla/Santa Marta. Well yes, that trip ended great. We got home Tuesday morning. Tuesday afternoon I had English class. Wednesday was time spent with Tyron. Thursday was Thanksgiving! That was quite the day. I loved it....but really only b/c it was Thanksgiving and it's really hard to ruin a day in which I have both turkey and mashed potatoes. Otherwise, the other details of the day were not so good (only one football game was on TV, it was way way way too hot to do any more cooking than was absolutely necessary, etc...). I know - very small disappointments in the grand scheme of things, but James and I were looking forward to a nice all-American Thanksgiving Day. Oh well. :)
Friday and Saturday were both spent with the kids, doing both English and basketball. Sunday was church and the typical DOR (day of rest). Monday was spent doing a lot of studying and thinking and praying. Tuesday was spent w/ the kids again (English).
Then on Wednesday morning I got up early in the morning and left for the airport to head to Bogotá to meet up w/ James (who had gotten there Monday). That was a very cool trip. It was great to see such a different side of Colombia (not to mention a completely different climate - the weather was perfect). We had the opportunity to meet w/ the director of ECA (El Camino Academy), an English-speaking Christian school, and the only school in Colombia from which you receive both an American diploma AND a Colombian one. Very cool school. We also got to meet with a few of the coaches that James had worked with when he lived in Bogotá before. After hitting up different American restaurants for pretty much every meal, Friday came quickly and we both flew back to Cartagena.
Saturday was once again spent with my kids, but since the upcoming week was going to be my last one there, we made some plans to just kind of hang out and not do any formal practices or classes or anything. [Sunday was a typical Sunday - church and football] Monday we got the guys together and played some basketball and took them out for pizza and just hung out w/ them. While we were eating pizza though, James and I took that opportunity to once again bring up the gospel. As I have mentioned in previous posts, this isn't the first time I've talked to them about it, but we both just felt like we should bring it up again before I head back to the States. Well after we were done talking four of the kids said they'd definitely think more about it and stuff and get back to us on Wednesday about it. Well Wednesday rolled around and we planned a beach day. Unfortunately only one of those four kids showed up (there were others, but not ones that had shown much of an interest in the gospel). However, while we were hanging out on the beach and playing in the water, I took advantage of a little alone time I had w/ Andrés. I asked him what he was thinking about in regards to Monday's conversation. He just responded, "I want whatever it is that you and James have. I want to change my life. I'm sick of doing bad things all the time." So after a little more explaining by me, Andrés (while we were just standing out there in the Caribbean getting hit by the waves) prayed that the Lord would forgive him of his sins, come into his life, and begin to change him. :) Brothers and sisters.....we have a new family member!!
(me and Andrés right after he accepted Christ as his Savior)
(me and Andrés right after he accepted Christ as his Savior)
