Friday was a busy, but rather typical day for Fridays down here. I was up at five o’clock in the morning and after showering, dressing, and breakfast, I left the house for my seven o’clock class at the university. I have to walk as no bus goes directly there and at that hour of the morning taxis are very hard to catch. I can’t drive my car as I have “pico y placa†which means certain cars cannot be on the road certain days in an effort to reduce congestion. So it is a forty minute walk to the university and I leave about six o’clock in the morning.
The morning class runs from seven to nine and I am usually finished with the students about nine thirty in the morning. I walked back to the apartment and grabbed a cup of coffee. Then I was off to the deaf school. But I could at least drive by this time as the “pico y placa†had passed for the morning. Once there I taught a conference on education and culture to some forty teachers who had arrived from Villavicencio for a conference on how to educate deaf children. That conference lasted till two in the afternoon. By the time everyone had left, it was three o’clock. I jumped in my car and headed back to the university for my afternoon and evening class.
That starts at four o’clock and runs till eight in the evening. It is an Old Testament survey class so there is a lot of ground to cover in the time we have available. That class went well and there was a lot of lively discussion. During the class we are served a light snack usually consisting of sweet bread and coffee. That sits well as I rarely have time for lunch or supper. So normally I pass the day with a granola bar and a bottle of fruit juice. The day is so packed there is simply not time to fit in any meals after breakfast as I rush from one class to the next.
As always there are students wanting to discuss some issue or doctrine after the class is over and so it is usually about nine in the evening by the time I leave the university. Since I am driving it only takes about fifteen to twenty minutes to get back to the apartment. But by the time I arrive after a sixteen hour day, I am exhausted. I usually get something to drink, brush my teeth, and just crash into bed. It is a long and tiring day but a rewarding one.
I try to keep most of my teaching in two days of the week as that leaves me time for preparation and for traveling to visit the other churches in the country on the days I am not teaching. It makes for a very busy schedule but there are so many opportunities and so many needs in the work here in Colombia. I want to make certain I use my time here to the greatest benefit as God has given me this privilege of serving in His kingdom in a work that is doing so well. I thank Him for your participation with me in this ministry. It is exciting and thrilling to see all that God is doing though our joint efforts in the planting of Christ’s church here in Colombia.