Colombian Christian Mission

We all enjoy our natural senses, most of the time with little though or appreciation. The ability to see the beauty around us or hear the giggles of a child are some of the true riches we share in this life. To not have the use of those faculties is something we often do not even think of until we lose them or they are diminished or threatened in some way. The person who is deaf or blind loses out on so many special blessings and even finds the basic necessities of life to be something they struggle with.

Today I drove up to Detroit to be interviewed by the TSA in an effort to enroll in the GOES program, where a person is listed as a trusted traveler and allowed to skip the long lines at immigration when returning to the country. I was up early and took off with plenty of time for arriving there for my 12 noon appointment. I wanted to leave early in case I was caught up in traffic or happened to get a flat tire.

After two and a half months back down in Colombia, I traveled back up to the states for my fall season. For the first time in all of our years in Colombia, I traveled business class. I used frequent flyer miles to upgrade, primarily to be able to haul in more teaching materials and supplies, which had become extremely difficult due to the severe weight and luggage limits. It was a luxury that I was not accustomed to, needless to say, but I must admit it was very nice not to have to stand in the long lines to get checked in and to board the airplane. Plus the food was much better.

I have just returned home after a week at Colegio Peniel. I have been amazed, inspired and filled with complete assurance that God has complete control of our lives. My week at Colegio Peniel has reminded me that God is the only one who has control. He has been holding my hand and guiding me through every up and down, twist and turn in my life. Even though so many times I put forth tremendous efforts not to listen, I could still hear him saying "Be Patient".

I have just returned home after a week at Colegio Peniel. I have been amazed, inspired and filled with complete assurance that God has complete control of our lives. My week at Colegio Peniel has reminded me that God is the only one who has control. He has been holding my hand and guiding me through every up and down, twist and turn in my life. Even though so many times I put forth tremendous efforts not to listen, I could still hear him saying "Be Patient".

With the deaf church doing so well in Bogotá, we began to feel that it was time to move ahead with the next step in the plan for establishing deaf churches in all of Colombia. We had considered for some time the next logical step and the best location for the next church plant. We had looked at different areas of Bogotá and at other cities where we have contacts and works. So one year after planting the first deaf church in Colombia, we began to make our move towards establishing the second one.

I have been in Villavicencio all week working at the school and checking up on the water tower that the work crew started. I have been starting my work day this time at 8 o’clock, instead of 5:30 as I normally do. Plus, I have been quitting by mid to late afternoon. I decided to limit my days to eight or ten hours after becoming quite ill after my last week of sixteen and eighteen hour days. So I work with the school in the morning and then make some calls in the afternoon or I head out to the church camp to see how the water tower is progressing.

For the last ten days, I have been busy nearly every day trying to get my eighteen year old car back into working order and ready to use again. After seeing off the work crew, I took it immediately into the shop. The first problem was a slow leak in the cooling system. That problem turned out to be a thermostat housing that had cracked. But they could not find the part and for several days it looked like the best they could do would be to seal it up with silicon until I could find a new part in the States.

We just finished a great work crew. We had nine people come down to work on a water installation at our camp. There were eight from the Forest Dale Church in Cincinnati and one from the Palmyra Church of Fredericktown. They arrived in late August and stayed through the first full week of September. I picked them up the same day that Sasha, our summer intern left the country. I took them to a hotel for the first night so they could get a good night’s rest and recover some from their trip.