Day 78 - A Day of Camp and Travels

So... we are currently without internet, so I am sitting at the local McDonald's enjoying a little taste of home!  I am eating a twix flurry... mmmm.  Delicious.  I really feel like I have been transported to the States, other than the Spanish everything of course.  BUT!  Here, you get to put some of your condiments and toppings on yourself!  So... if you want extra pickles, they have a little table with pickles on it and you can just MOUND them on!!  I am going to have to actually order food next time.  You can get jalepeños too!  This is super weird because every Colombian that I have talked to so far hates spicy food!

Very recently I had the opportunity to visit some fellow Mennonite Mission Network workers who are stationed in La Mesa, Colombia.  La Mesa is about an hour or so away from Bogota.  They are a married couple with two young sons who are teaching English in a Mennonite school.  It was so nice to connect with them and learn about what they have done and hear their stories and share mine as well.  We were able to talk about experiences and I gained a lot of insight and knowledge.  We stayed up late and talked.  Since I am still learning Spanish it is difficult to have truly deep and meaningful conversations with people.  Most conversations are fairly surface level and a little deeper.  It was such a blessing to be able to talk about things that have been on my heart and things that I have wanted to talk through with someone.

After my time in La Mesa, we went to Cacipay retreat center in Cacipay, Colombia.  Here, the Colombian Mennonite Church held their national pastoral assembly.  Generally, MMN workers attend as well.  It was very interesting to meet so many people from all over the country!  It was a fairly basic church meeting.  Over the course of the next three days they discussed finances, committees, prayer concerns, happy times, and challenging times. 

It was an interesting experience being able to see so many different places in Colombia.  I was touched by the amount of hospitality that I was shown over that week as well.  Recently, I was talking to a friend about how much of a blessing it is to be a Mennonite; when people find out you are a part of the denominational family, you are instantly family.  I stayed with so many people that I didn’t know before this meeting, and wouldn’t have known otherwise.  But I was given the hospitality of room and board in two locations because of a connection that we had.  I didn’t need to find a hotel or even feel unwelcome.  It was a wonderful experience.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was finding this nice little watering hole!  Gorgeous!  These rocks were about 10 and... 13 or 14 feet off the water.  People were jumping off them and it was really sweet!

When in Rome...