FINAL POST

This is Martha, Jose, and some of their family. I'm still processing everything. What I do know is what a big heart Martha and Jose have for this community and live and breathe it every day. They shared that sometimes they just feel like they are spinning their wheels and wonder if they are making a difference. They are. It's amazing what one couple's dream has done. They continue to dream and make their dreams a reality. They are hoping to build a medical clinic within the school walls soon. I will never forget how much love Martha, Jose, and their staff gave to us and to the people. I can't count how many hugs Martha gave on a daily basis to the children and the parents. They are God's hands and feet. Please pray for their ministry.

Lori

SOME MORE PICS

When coming through town our first afternoon I took some snapshots. Every motorcyclist has to wear a number on a vest. I also talked about the hotel and the park across from the hotel so have a few pics of that. There is a picture of Ida making dinner. There is a pic of the children getting their snack. There is also a picture of the sewing room where women are learning a skill they can market. And I took some pics of the school. To help you envision, the buildings are at the end of the road. The daycare is on the right. On the left is an outside wall with a guard tower and a door that has to be unlocked. They do have someone staying the night guarding the school since it's been broken into lately. When you walk through the door the kitchen is on the left and the basketball court is on the right. Straight ahead is the 3 - story building which is the school. To the right of the school is the church. The high school classrooms were on the top of the church and I took a picture of the devastation b/c of the winds. They were working on that when we were there and were getting alot accomplished in a short amount of time. I will upload some more pics in a couple of days. I will get some pictures of Martha and Jose (husband and wife who founded the school) so you can see what they look like. Thank you for all who followed the blog. The trip was amazing.

Lori

SUNDAY

We have had a hard time getting on the internet and when we do it´s for a short time or we can´t get pics to upload. We are paying for internet time right now at a store.

Church today was very emotional for me. We had people in church who were Colombian, Korean, English, and American. They put words up on the overhead in English and they were songs we ALL knew so just imagine songs being sung in three different languages. It was amazing and very moving. Then our Korean friends did some dance and singing (Beautiful) and they also did the service. In order for everyone to understand scripture and the message first the young man would say a sentence or two in Korean, a Korean young lady translated into English, and the Spanish translater translated it into Spanish. It was a good message. Very good. It took a while to get through it, but it was amazing just to witness cultures getting together to praise God. We had communion, an infant was dedicated, and when there was a lot of prayer. I cried at points throughout the service because I was so overwhelmed with the energy in the room. I truly felt God´s presence.

Then we walked for I´m guessing a half a mile to Martha´s and Jose´s and enjoyed the afternoon with them. She cooked a wonderful meal. They brought out plates and vases the Choco tribe have made and the three Choco girls who live with them brought out necklaces and bracelets they have made. Beautiful artwork. They sell them and give them money back to the tribes. Again, it was wonderful spending time with their family. It was hard saying goodbye today.

There is so much I want to share and will continue to do so when I get home and I have the luxury of the internet.

PICTURES FOR YOU

THURSDAY

I cannot put into words our experience today in the place where the families have squatted. The ¨community¨are huts mostly made of cement and brick. Dirt roads wind between the huts. The roads are uneven and rocky. Trash and horse manure are in the middle of the uneven, rocky streets. We ¨traveled¨the streets in a buggy like a pedicab but only a motorcycle connected instead of a bike. Two sons of Fannie who runs the sewing vocational ed program pulled us. Fannie has a good heart. Her daughter abandoned her children. So Fannie now is responsible for these children and she can barely take care of herself. If I remember correctly, there were four children. Thank God she has the job at the school helping women learn how to sew. It´s hard to describe where they live. See picture.

The huts are no bigger than a bedroom. Families live in these huts. One was a family of 8. I can´t explain the filth and the smell of most of the huts. You just have to experience it.

There are cats and dogs EVERYWHERE in this community. They are sickly. One dog was all ribs. There were so many stories that afternoon. I held a baby about a year and half. He just kept looking at me with his big brown eyes. His daddy was murdered 15 days ago. The mother is very young, has a very sickly mother and four children. See picture.

Dave is going to put together some of the stories that we can share with you. I just know my eyes filled up with tears more than I can count when a little one took my hand or asked to be picked up. One little girl about 8 years old kept taking my hand and looking at my fingers. She was very intrigued for some reason.

There are markets interspersed in these communities. I´m not sure they are very sanitary. Well, I know they aren´t.

I kept thinking of my daughter and desperately I wanted to hold her close. This disease called poverty breaks your heart. I imagine it breaks the soul when God is not in their heart. How do you handle life when you have little children and you are a child yourself and your husband just got murdered.

I just know that Martha and Jose are angels from heaven. The things they are doing to help stop the cycle one child at a time. I do know they are MUCH loved in the community. This trust has taken years to build. Adults and children alike ran up to Martha or hugged her when she got out of the carriage.

Hug your child tonight and thank God for your blessings.

Lori

Hungry? Itchy?

Ok, so someone’s slipping stuff into Lori’s food or something! Or else she’s got fantastic eyesight…eh, no, can’t be that since she said she mistakenly used body lotion in her hair instead of conditioner at the hotel in Chicago (both containers are the same just labeled differently). But she keeps getting bugs and bones and strange looking things in her food. I guess the bug shields hanging in the window of the little restaurant we had lunch on Monday didn’t work so well. I asked why there were plastic bags of water hanging from the security bars (see pic) and was told it was to keep the bugs out…huh? I guess the idea is that as the mosquitoes or flies approach the window they see their distorted and large reflection in the water bags and are scared away. No fooling. We had been talking about security at the school prior to this and Lori wondered if hanging really big bags in the window would scare off thieves…

Everyone except Lori ordered the fish (Lori was the wise one, except hers had bugs). Pastor Aieda went on and on about how good the Mojara fish was and said her favorite part was the head and she especially liked the eyes…ok, too much information. I thought I wouldn’t translate all of that! Sometimes it’s just better not to know. Fish was pretty good although I generally don’t like eating something that’s looking back.

I was here about a year ago and it’s been amazing for me to see the progress in many areas at the I.N. Network Colombia ministry. For example, the pre-school has expanded and now gives care to about 70 kids so single moms and working families trying to scrape a living in this difficult area have a fantastic place for their kids. The staff seem so dedicated and really love the kids. Today they asked us to come over and help with “the campaign.” I wasn’t sure what that meant and then they proceeded to get out a couple of kiddy pools. Ok, it was really hot, makes sense, and they got the hoses out and started squirting all the kids. What fun. Oh, and then they showed us these little packets of medicated shampoo. Ooooohhhhh, now I get it. This is a lice prevention campaign. Jackie and Lori started scrubbing and I took pictures (ok, somebody had to) and translated. Not a tear was shed and the kids loved it. Would be interesting to do this in a pre-school in the States…the whole staff would be probably be in jail! The kids were all in their underwear and I bet there wasn’t a hint of a legal form signed by parents anywhere. Amazing how much the kids loved it all. Very smart these folks.

It’s been kinda an itchy day. What between a few mosquitoes at breakfast, the lice campaign, and several dogs that live at the school that continually scratch, we’re having to keep our hands in our pockets a bit today. I wish we could post a little video I took while we were waiting for the taxi at the end of the day but our internet connection would explode. The three school dogs were in a line and performing a synchronized scratch – was quite entertaining.

It’s been wonderful to see the passion of the staff here to do more and more with such limited resources. God is indeed blessing this ministry.

Dave

WEDNESDAY

It´s terribly hot today. The ocean breeze saves us but I am so sticky and tired. We painted today. We also helped wash little ones hair with stuff to get rid of lice. Yep, Jackie and I helped. The kids think it´s fun! They were put in a little play pool and got hosed down. They laughed and laughed. Then we washed their hair with a certain lice lotion and then rinsed their hair. They were so darn cute. We ran out of water, though. Just ran out. I don´t know why so they all couldn´t get the preventative lice shampoo today. Water is very scarce here.

Lunch was provided for the children, staff, and volunteers. I struggle with eating down here but am really trying my best. It´s just different and the bugs and flies are everywhere. I pull bones out of the soup. I´m thinking after a while it just becomes what it is and is the the norm. I´m just not there yet.

Construction is going on. All the staff is very busy getting prepared for when school starts again the end of July. They are very hard working but always have time to give you a hug as you pass by.

All for now.

Lori