Tuesday

Tuesday was absolutely incredible. We started at a Preschool with children ages 2-6. We did our puppet show, sang songs, performed skits, and played duck-duck-goose. The other two rotations played games and taught the wordless books that our 6th grade supporters made us.
Our original schedule changed when the afternoon school cancelled on us. So we asked one of our host pastors to find us a program we could visit. We went up one of the many mountains that surround Bogota to a woman's home. As we drove up the mountain, all I thought was this is where tours of Bogota stop. The view if the city was magnificent but was an extremely poor neighborhood. The lady runs an after school program for children of all ages and has an open door policy for anyone. The children all have chores they must perform. They are fed, but they must wash their own dishes. The children are not separated by age so that the older ones can care for the younger ones and the younger ones learn for the older ones. This in turn creates a strong family environment. Though she is not as organized as other programs, her ministry is incredible.
We divided the kids by age. The older kids watched the dramas and the younger kids watched the puppets. After the puppets, we did the wordless books and the flashcards. This program was so different from all the others we visited. It was a nice change.
Tuesday night we went a church where we had the most amazing service of our lives last year. Since the second school was so far up the mountain, we were running low on time for the praise band to practice. As the band practiced, everyone else met to pray then prayed individually. It was amazing to see the Holy Spirit begin to move through us as the same things were laid upon our hearts to pray for.
About half an hour before service was set to start, we found out there was a miscommunication and we were expected to lead the leadership conference that the church group was scheduled to do next Tuesday. Instead of two of our students speaking, Pastor Rob and Pastor Barry were asked to speak with no notice.
The worship began and it absolutely powerful. You could not tell how little practice they had. When worship was over, Pastor Rob came and lead an altar call for healing. He began his sermon after that and spoke on Elijah. His message was how Elijah was an average man called to do hard things. After all his successes, he began to feel weary and sought refuge in the desert. There God met him and restored. Pastor Rob related it to leaders going through hard times and seeking God for strength. The pastor of the church, Pastor Samuel, has been going through a dry season recently. Rob called him and his family to the front and had us hold their arms up as Aaron and Joshua held Moses' arms up during the battle. As he prayed for them, they were slain in the Spirit.
Then Pastor Rob called all the leaders facing weariness and hard time to come to the front for prayer led by our team. The Holy Spirit was present in a mighty way as many people were slain through the prayers of our team. None of our students will be the same after that service. We went to our faithful pizza place, Archie's, for dinner and fellowship with some local friends from last year.
Today the high school team flew out for a day in Miami. I cannot believe that this is the half way point if my trip. Those of us staying longer have joined the Trinity pastors at a very nice hotel for the next few days. I probably will not blog for Thursday or Friday unless something happens, but expect Wednesday's post soon. Perhaps I will figure out how to post some pics. Thanks for all your prayers. The first half of my trip blew all expectations.



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Location:Calle 100 18A,Bogotá,Colombia