With full hearts and new expectations we left Panama for our 40 day visit in Colombia. Our time in Colombia can be split into 4 parts- the parent visit, 7 day backpacking challenge, Santa Marta ministry point and Fusagasuga ministry point.
What an immense privilege it was to have some of our parents visiting us on the journey in Colombia. We met them in Bogota and had a celebration dinner where everyone received some gifts all the way from South Africa. Biltong, sweets, cookies and some new coffee plungers. We spent a day exploring the city of Bogota. From Bogota we travelled by bus to the adventure capital San Gill. We had a day to explore the city and from there we took another bus to our final destination, Cartagena. We stayed in Cartagena for about 6 days with the parents. The mornings and afternoons were for exploring and the evenings for sharing with the parents what we learned on the journey so far.
With sad hearts we greeted the parents as they embarked on their journey back to South Africa. Once they left we were given our food and travel money for the next 7 days and were told to split up in groups of 2-3 people and do WHATEVER we want to do. So some of us went to famous Colombian beaches for the entire 7 days, some went to the mountains and some even made it all the way to Venezuela. Everyone got exactly what they needed, whether it was rest, adventure or just some alone time away from the group.
The team met each other again in Santa Marta at Jon and Amanda Howard for our next ministry point: South American Missions. During our time with them we connected with their young adult group Impacto. We shared testimonies and heard some of their stories. We played soccer with them and even got the opportunity to do a drama at their university and share testimonies. We had the privilege of hosting a day at the church where we played with and prayed for kids with cancer. We also had the opportunity to do some children's ministry at one of the local churches.
We greeted the vibey town of Santa Marta and travelled to Fusagasuga, a small town near Bogota. Fusa is a lot higher than Santa Marta, so we were welcomed by nice and cool weather. In Fusa we were stationed at New Tribe Missions' missionary school. We spent the days doing physical labour: digging trenches, helping in the workshop, doing maintenance work, fixing fences etc. During the evenings we learned more about New Tribe Missions, their work, and spreading the gospel to people who have never heard of Jesus before.
Colombia has stolen our hearts! Praise to our Heavenly Father for allowing us to spend time in this amazing country.