Hey everyone!
Just a quick update:
I´m doing awesome. Our second week we went to the island of Bocachica, where we stayed at the YWAM base. It was awesome there and I got attatched to alot of the kids. I`d really like to go back someday. And the following week (last week), we went to the island of Santa Ana where we stayed at a church. It was a really mellow week and I got a ton of misquito bites.
Now I´m back in the city of Cartagena for this week. But tomorrow, part of our team leaves for Barranquilla where we stay til Monday. And then we stay in Cartagena another two weeks. And then we stay in Santa Marta for the last week and a half. Just a little update on where I´ll be.
Please keep us in your prayers! One girl has to be sent home due to a foot infection/injury, so be praying for her. The rest of us are doing fine.
I love and miss you all SO MUCH! Thanks for readin`.
Love, Jess : )
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Buenos Dias!
Hello on this beautiful Colombian Easter morning!!! : )
First of all, I made it to Colombia safely! It was a loooong journey here (left at 8am, plane took off at 12, landed in Houston at 6, took off at midnight, landed in Bogota at 7am, got to Cartagena at 11am), but so worth the wait!
Colombia is amazing! The streets are filled with CRAZY drivers- I´ve never seen anything like it before! I will try and take a video some time and then show you all when I get home. Unfortuneately, the computers at the internet cafe I´m at won´t let me upload pictures. : (
The city I am in right now, Cartagena, is located on the northern coast of Colombia, so we´re right by the Caribbean Sea. The city has tons of people. Our team is staying at the YWAM Cartagena base (along with another DTS that´s going on here) and it´s located on Manga (an island connected to the city by small bridges). The house that I´m staying at is actually located a few blocks away from the base, so we do ALOT of walking. The weather is pretty hot, but mostly humid. And even when it´s not hot at all, you sweat. I´m getting used to it. : ) Laundry we do outside with a bar of soap and a scrub brush. It´s really fun.
So now on to what I´m doing...
Each day this week, our team has done open-air outreaches. Basically, we go into neighborhoods and tell people about the program that we´re putting on and invite them to come (Our translater tells us what to say in Spanish and we invited the people- I´m learning ALOT!). Our outreaches consist of dramas, teachings, testimonies, kid´s songs, kid´s skits- it´s a blast and the people love it! We´ve got to see alot of cool stuff here happen in people´s lives and it´s only the beginning! (If you´d like to see one of the musical dramas we do, got to youtube.com and type in ¨Lifehouse everything skit.¨ This is the true meaning of why we celebrate today- Jesus´ love for us; it makes me cry everytime.)
On Friday, our team went to a church located in the slums of Cartagena- the poorest part. The things I saw were devastating. The people who lived there had been forced from their towns by the FARCs. The FARCs usually targets small, vulnerable towns, wiping out any form of police and forcing the people to surrender all their land and possessions. The government sometimes provides small areas of land for these people to start over from scratch. I saw houses made of wood, tarps, straw, and sticks. We were able to go the local church in this village and invite people from the surrounding area to come to the Good Friday service. One lady, who was pregnant, asked us to come into her house and pray for her baby. And she accepted the Lord! : )
The people of Colombia are so friendly! Most of the people here have never seen white people (the parts of Colombia we go to aren´t exactly hot tourist spots), but they are always so happy and interested to see us. Yesterday, we had to perform in the street. We had to block off the traffic with big sticks and bricks. Alot of cars, buses, and motorbikes (there´s ALOT of them here!) kept honking to pass through, but the people watching us perform went and sat in front of the cars so they couldn´t pass! It was hilarous! One girl, Mayra, invited us into her house during an ourteach invitation time. She gave us some Colombian sweet food (dolce comida). There, we prayed for her, and she rededicated her life to the Lord! She was the sweetest girl and I gave her my e-mail address, so I hope I am able to keep contact with her. : )
Tomorrow, our team will be leaving for Bocachica and Santa Ana- two island located off the coast of Cartagena. We will be staying there for two weeks, and we won´t have internet, so this will be my last post for a while. I just wanted to let you know I am safe and I´m having an awesome time! Love you all! : )
First of all, I made it to Colombia safely! It was a loooong journey here (left at 8am, plane took off at 12, landed in Houston at 6, took off at midnight, landed in Bogota at 7am, got to Cartagena at 11am), but so worth the wait!
Colombia is amazing! The streets are filled with CRAZY drivers- I´ve never seen anything like it before! I will try and take a video some time and then show you all when I get home. Unfortuneately, the computers at the internet cafe I´m at won´t let me upload pictures. : (
The city I am in right now, Cartagena, is located on the northern coast of Colombia, so we´re right by the Caribbean Sea. The city has tons of people. Our team is staying at the YWAM Cartagena base (along with another DTS that´s going on here) and it´s located on Manga (an island connected to the city by small bridges). The house that I´m staying at is actually located a few blocks away from the base, so we do ALOT of walking. The weather is pretty hot, but mostly humid. And even when it´s not hot at all, you sweat. I´m getting used to it. : ) Laundry we do outside with a bar of soap and a scrub brush. It´s really fun.
So now on to what I´m doing...
Each day this week, our team has done open-air outreaches. Basically, we go into neighborhoods and tell people about the program that we´re putting on and invite them to come (Our translater tells us what to say in Spanish and we invited the people- I´m learning ALOT!). Our outreaches consist of dramas, teachings, testimonies, kid´s songs, kid´s skits- it´s a blast and the people love it! We´ve got to see alot of cool stuff here happen in people´s lives and it´s only the beginning! (If you´d like to see one of the musical dramas we do, got to youtube.com and type in ¨Lifehouse everything skit.¨ This is the true meaning of why we celebrate today- Jesus´ love for us; it makes me cry everytime.)
On Friday, our team went to a church located in the slums of Cartagena- the poorest part. The things I saw were devastating. The people who lived there had been forced from their towns by the FARCs. The FARCs usually targets small, vulnerable towns, wiping out any form of police and forcing the people to surrender all their land and possessions. The government sometimes provides small areas of land for these people to start over from scratch. I saw houses made of wood, tarps, straw, and sticks. We were able to go the local church in this village and invite people from the surrounding area to come to the Good Friday service. One lady, who was pregnant, asked us to come into her house and pray for her baby. And she accepted the Lord! : )
The people of Colombia are so friendly! Most of the people here have never seen white people (the parts of Colombia we go to aren´t exactly hot tourist spots), but they are always so happy and interested to see us. Yesterday, we had to perform in the street. We had to block off the traffic with big sticks and bricks. Alot of cars, buses, and motorbikes (there´s ALOT of them here!) kept honking to pass through, but the people watching us perform went and sat in front of the cars so they couldn´t pass! It was hilarous! One girl, Mayra, invited us into her house during an ourteach invitation time. She gave us some Colombian sweet food (dolce comida). There, we prayed for her, and she rededicated her life to the Lord! She was the sweetest girl and I gave her my e-mail address, so I hope I am able to keep contact with her. : )
Tomorrow, our team will be leaving for Bocachica and Santa Ana- two island located off the coast of Cartagena. We will be staying there for two weeks, and we won´t have internet, so this will be my last post for a while. I just wanted to let you know I am safe and I´m having an awesome time! Love you all! : )
Thursday, April 2, 2009
adios mi amigos!
Well folks,
My DTS experience is drawing quickly to a close. How fast it's gone by! In a way it feels like I've lived here with everybody for sooo long, but it still feels like I just got here.
So, for those of you who hadn't heard yet, I have all of my lecture and outreach fees paid off- so I'm officially going to Colombia!!!!!!! It has been amazing seeing God meet all my needs through people like you guys, willing to support me in what I do. So a HUGE thank you to you all! : )
About 9 people on my team are still trying to raise support. About $18,000 to go! If they are unable to get the money in, they can't join the rest of the team for outreach until they have everything paid for. So please keep them in your prayers. I want everyone on my team to be able to go on this outreach. I really want to see God do a miracle in meeting everyone's financial needs in the next few days before we leave. I have total faith that He can!
I want to let you all know about some different stats and issues going on in Colombia that I researched yesterday (just so you know what you can be praying for while I'm in this country):
-90-95% of the country is Roman Catholic, and 60% say they don't even practice their faith actively. There are also many who practice animism, the worship of animal spirits.
-Over 80% of the world's cocaine is produced in Colombia, with illegal growth of coca plants spreading all over the coutry. When the government tried destroying these crops, illegal armed forces just planted more in response.
-The most common cause of death, after cancer, is drug related crime.
-The FARC (a revolutionary army in Colombia) has been active in the country for many years. Children under the age of 18 make up about 30% of the army. Many are kidnapped or tricked and forced into the army, but many still join voluntarily, to escape poverty or family problems. Of these children many see the FARC as a way to obtain power. Rather than living a lowly life of a farmer with a machete, they want to be free to do with they want with all the gunpower they want.
-Over half the country is below the poverty line. And most Colombians live on only $2 a day.
-Although Colombia is considered well-educated compared to most Latin American coutries, it still suffers from poorly qualified teachers. Many children don't receive the higher education they need.
So there you have it. Just a few things to be thinking about.
Hopefully, I'll be able to post one last time before I leave. My flight leaves at 12 noon on Monday, so keep us in your prayers! Thank you and LOVE YOU ALL! : )
My DTS experience is drawing quickly to a close. How fast it's gone by! In a way it feels like I've lived here with everybody for sooo long, but it still feels like I just got here.
So, for those of you who hadn't heard yet, I have all of my lecture and outreach fees paid off- so I'm officially going to Colombia!!!!!!! It has been amazing seeing God meet all my needs through people like you guys, willing to support me in what I do. So a HUGE thank you to you all! : )
About 9 people on my team are still trying to raise support. About $18,000 to go! If they are unable to get the money in, they can't join the rest of the team for outreach until they have everything paid for. So please keep them in your prayers. I want everyone on my team to be able to go on this outreach. I really want to see God do a miracle in meeting everyone's financial needs in the next few days before we leave. I have total faith that He can!
I want to let you all know about some different stats and issues going on in Colombia that I researched yesterday (just so you know what you can be praying for while I'm in this country):
-90-95% of the country is Roman Catholic, and 60% say they don't even practice their faith actively. There are also many who practice animism, the worship of animal spirits.
-Over 80% of the world's cocaine is produced in Colombia, with illegal growth of coca plants spreading all over the coutry. When the government tried destroying these crops, illegal armed forces just planted more in response.
-The most common cause of death, after cancer, is drug related crime.
-The FARC (a revolutionary army in Colombia) has been active in the country for many years. Children under the age of 18 make up about 30% of the army. Many are kidnapped or tricked and forced into the army, but many still join voluntarily, to escape poverty or family problems. Of these children many see the FARC as a way to obtain power. Rather than living a lowly life of a farmer with a machete, they want to be free to do with they want with all the gunpower they want.
-Over half the country is below the poverty line. And most Colombians live on only $2 a day.
-Although Colombia is considered well-educated compared to most Latin American coutries, it still suffers from poorly qualified teachers. Many children don't receive the higher education they need.
So there you have it. Just a few things to be thinking about.
Hopefully, I'll be able to post one last time before I leave. My flight leaves at 12 noon on Monday, so keep us in your prayers! Thank you and LOVE YOU ALL! : )
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