Bogota, Colombia!!!

I arrived in Bogota, Colombia on March 12th. Before flying out of Quito I had 2 good byes. First with my English students (we went out for a walk and then pizza) and with the Ark and all my friends were invited. It was really fun... with my "sister" (the girl where I lived), my street church friends, some child workers (pre street kids), the kids at the orphanage, the volunteers at the Ark and a lady I had met in Quito. We ate pizza and had cake and made a bon fire.

I ended up going to Quito a day early because one of the volunteer's fathers was returning home and didn't want to go on the bus alone. He paid for my stay at this Christian guest house, which was very nice. I walked around a bunch and discovered a McCafe, which was super nice and had really good frappaccinos!

The flight was nice and short and someone from the YWAM base came and picked me up so that was great. The school has been going really good so far. There are 8 students from the US, Canada (me), Venezuela and Colombia. Monday to Thursday we have quiet time, then devotionals, classes, work duties, intercession, and small groups. Every 2 weeks we have to do a book report and every week we have to do a journal about what we learned, etc. It's the same as my DTS (Discipleship Training School) that I did in the Dominican except the classes are focused on children at risk and there's more ministry time.

On Fridays and Saturdays we have ministry. Today I went to one of the schools called Luz y Vida (Light and Life). I helped in the kitchen washing dishes and preparing vegetables. The school was designed for kids that have trouble in normal schools. Today for devotionals the teacher had asked which kids had tried smoking and drinking and even though they were all under 13 most of them had!

This week was really good. First, we found tons of examples in the Bible of at risk children. I had always wondered why there were such ugly stories in the Bible that concerned children that include murder, rape, slavery, hunger and child sacrifice. God put them there so children can identify with them and find comfort in Him.

Then we learned about the family and how traits are passed down through generations and how relationships with our family deeply affect our development and behaviour.

Last, we learned about child development. We watched some movies about children in Colombia and Mexico that were based on reality. It opened my eyes to what they encounter and have to go through. I had always heard about glue sniffing, but never really understood it. Now after the movie, the book I'm reading and what one of my classmates told me about her outreach, I'm realizing how common sniffing glue is for street children. I also learned about how kids should develop and how they'll behave if they grow up in a healthy family and how kids grow up and act differently when they grow up in a family at risk. It is really interesting to apply this to the kids I know in Riobamba, Ecuador that are forced to sell stuff. For example, I can see how the death of one of the kids' fathers forces the kid to take on the role of the father and start working to provide for his family (even though he's only 11).