Catching up on our week in Barranquilla.

With long and busy days, we want to apologize for not bringing you up to date sooner. --- --- Last Thursday was the “Bullying Seminar”. We did give you an overview of our morning session, so here is the update for our evening session. --- --- Everyone seems to have great discussion around his or her tables. Some needed to translate every word in English due to little understanding of our language, yet it was not a barrier to the understanding of the topic and the great need to find solutions to help those who have been bullied or are still in the midst of this horrific predicament. Young and old, boys and girls, they all related to this and many had great recommendation as they used the language skills we had taught them in the first part of the week. --- --- Amanda shared her story, which related to bullying during her high school years, yet did not share how it was resolved. Three questions were put to the group: --- --- 1. Suggestions for Amanda --- --- 2. Suggestions for the Principle --- --- 3. Suggestions for her parents. --- --- Every person was asked to write his or her suggestion. Then a few were asked to share them up front. All of us were touched as they spoke clearly from the heart. --- --- The evening was a great success and we believe without a doubt that the Spirit of our Lord was surrounding us, as we truly felt lifted up. Every day, we were building relationships with them and we knew that there was only one day left with them. --- --- --- Preparing our last seminar on “Decision Making” was exciting as we truly wanted to communicate to them that the best decision is: “for Jesus”. Made some changes of the session for the morning as the students were much younger than expected. Friday - - - Our last day. --- --- First day that Katie and Michelle can join us in the morning. Katie is feeling much better. --- --- The kids were waiting for us as we arrived. Bus was a bit late! They seemed very happy to see us all. --- ---Throughout the morning the kids were teary eyed, they also felt a tug in their hearts, as they knew that this was our last day. The kids had evolved so much in 5 days. Again, we saw our amazing God work through our lack of skills to communicate with them. How awesome it was to realize that even with a lack of attention thought-out the week to our teaching curriculum, many of them were truly attentive to our gestures and our honesty. Wow! The impact we had was truly a wonderful surprise to us. Just before the end of the morning, a few students from grade 11 wanted to show us a power point they had made of the whole week. “Gracias Por Todo” They had taken pictures of everyone and again, we were touched by the warm and loving gesture they showed us. Other students wrote beautiful letters (in English) and share them with the whole group. Letters, which will impact us greatly, as we remember the week in Barranquilla with the students at this school. It was hard to say good buy to them; they didn’t want us to leave. --- --- We were invited for lunch by Sonia, the principal. Ladies from the church, which also meets at the school, had prepared a nutritional lunch for all of us. It was truly humbling to be served with so much genuine love and attention. Sonia gladly gave us a small tour of the school. (Pictures below of the nursery and younger grades.) The classes were in session for the older kids, so we did not disrupt them. --- --- --- Once back at the hotel, with less than 15 minutes to change, we were transported to our first leisure afternoon of the week. It was great to take a break from the city as Pastor Milton and his wife along with members of the church in Barranquilla drove us to a cottage along the coast. First time at the beach☺ Those of us who made it there were so glad to rest and walk along the ocean. It was not a place to swim; yet there was a swimming pool where some enjoyed greatly the refreshing water, as the heat had been extreme all week. Enjoyable afternoon and it was wonderful to enjoy this time with our Colombian translators and the group from the church in Barranquilla. Before we realized it, it was time to go again to prepare for the evening session. --- --- Similar situation as in the morning, as people arrived, you could feel the sadness from them as they knew this was our last evening together. Many wanted this to continue for another week or so, God is making an impact with ESL here in Barranquilla. --- --- the session started and again great discussion around the table. Amanda shared her God story today. What an impact our God stories have had throughout the week. Near the end of the evening Rick brought a small message about making a “decision” for Jesus. Leading people to speak with the church members or any of the Canadian Team if they wanted. Please pray for those who are “on the fence” as Rick mentioned that we can not stay there. The message was clear, it is time to decide. --- --- --- The evening was wrapped up by Pastor Milton inviting the group to come to church on Sunday and to speak with someone about their decision. People just started to hug each of us and it took a while for some to leave. --- --- After much laughter, tears and hugs, we were driven back to our hotel. Saturday, being our last day in Barranquilla, Pastor Milton had planned a wonderful hike near Santa Marta. We drove to “Parque Nacional Tayrona”. Left early, it is a 2 ½ hour drive to the park. Once there, we walked up and down and were in awe at the beauty that surrounded us. Excellent views on a 2 hour + hike through tropical jungle with beautiful beaches. The group hiked together until we arrived at the first nice swimming beach and had lunch there as well. The group then moved on to another beach called “La Piscina” Nicole stayed behind due to her knee giving her some problems after the long hike. Michelle also needed some rest and decided to stay behind as well. For the hike back, I (Nicole) was able to take a horse ride and what a wonderful experience. Felt like riding the western trails through the jungle and mountains. The horse was very gentle and knew the way. No need to guide him at all, so I enjoyed the view of the jungle, the narrow passages through the rocks. Awesome, I arrived ½ hour earlier and enjoyed chatting with Colombians as they notice my Canadian Flag on my pack. People are curious and so friendly. As the group joined me, we headed back to pack up as we left early Sunday morning for Medellin. What a blessing is was to share this whole trip with all of you and see how God worked in his time for all of us. Written by: Nicole --- --- ---

Still heading home

Team member Nick has made it safely to Ottawa. Hoping he got some rest before starting work today. Team from Revelstoke made it to Houston at 5:41 this morning. Now heading for Calgary. Nicole - Had a great night's rest and hoping to have the morning to re-energize before starting on the plan for the Speaking Centre Conversational Sessions. Claudia mentioned that many are eager to start and plans are to get them going as early as Tuesday. Time for some Colombian Coffee, before I send out the updates for Thursday evening and Friday's activities. Don't miss reading the AMAZING WORK GOD did during our last two sessions in Barranquilla! Buenos Dias Nicole

On our way home!!!

Hola from Colombia, --- --- Left Barranquilla early this morning. So HOT!!! --- --- Arrived in Medellin around 9:00 am. Cooler - nice --- --- As soon as we landed, we had to say our good bye to Nick heading for Ottawa. --- --- Also said good bye to Sara, Jennifer, Jenni and Juan Pablo. Lots of emotions happening at the airport. --- --- Day spent near the Airport. Revelstoke team left around 9:00 pm, more emotions and tears from both Colombians and Canadian Team Members. Left Nicole behind for another 2 weeks. Staying at the Cardona's for the night. Sonya just sent a message - arrived in Bogota 10:39. Please pray for safe travels for all. Nick should be in Ottawa by 1:00 a.m. The Revelstoke team will keep me posted when possible. Nicole

Leaving Barranquilla soon

Good evening, --- --- Just a short version of the past few days. Will be able to write more details when back in Medellin on Sunday. --- --- The last two days in Barranquilla were full of activities and emotions. Students always hate to see us go. It's amazing the transformation that happens in 5 days of ESL as we build relationships with the students, young and old. By Friday, we were all touched by the wonderful send off the students from the school gave us. God truly worked through our weaknesses as we tried in many way to communicate as so many barely spoke any words of English. More stories to come. --- --- Prayer request. --- --- Everyone is flying out in the early morning hours again, back to Medellin. Leaving our Hotel by 5:30 AM and hoping on the plane for a 7:55 take off. --- --- Nick is flying out of Medellin around 10:40 to head for Toronto and then Ottawa. Please pray for good timing for him and also that all suitcases and transfers are done on time. He should arrive in Ottawa by 1:00 am. --- --- As for the Team from Revelstoke and Nicole (who is staying an extra 2 weeks), they will be flying to Medellin as well. (same flight as Nick) going to a church near the airport where Rick is to preach and some will be helping for worship. --- --- The Revelstoke team will be spending the day with the Colombians until they leave in the evening for a long day of travel. Will keep you updated as much as we can. --- --- Praise --- --- We are extremely grateful for the support all have given us and we saw the blessings God showered on us through the week in Medellin and then again in Barranquilla. --- --- Grateful for the teachers at the school as they continue to help the student with English. Sonia, the principal of the school is also the Pastor of the church that worship in the same school on Sundays. Please pray for her as her schedule is packed. --- --- Hope to be able to provide you with updates in the next few day. Everything depends on the internet access. --- --- The team.

Morning Session on Bullying

Greetings from Barranquilla. --- --- This morning on the hour bus ride to teach the children, Brad reminded everyone that there is only 4 days left in Colombia!!! Most of us were completely taken aback as to how time is going so fast. Nicole will be staying for another 2 weeks in Medellin to start the work in the Speaking Centre with Diego and Claudia. --- --- This morning’s session we all noticed that the children arrived quietly and seemed to be more engaged in the lesson than they have been previously this week. It was a complete answer to prayer and an encouragement to us who were feeling a bit overwhelmed during the teaching sessions. --- --- Laura and Jordan did an excellent job with the upfront teaching and it’s been really cool to see Jordan coming alive and being more confident while he’s up front. He’s getting really into it and the kids and adult students really love his enthusiasm… it’s matching Laura’s spunk (she’s amazing up front and is talented at teaching English! We are really thankful for her). --- --- Our translator Sara is doing such a great job at interpreting for us and we are so thankful for her and for all of our other translators…where would we be without them??! --- --- Our talk on bullying went very well, with all of the adjustments (you’d never know we changed it, it went so smoothly). Amanda filled in with a bullying story for Michelle who stayed at the hotel again with Katie. --- --- We are glad to report that Katie seems to be doing a bit better than she has been all week long. However we would still appreciate your prayers for a full recovery. --- --- It is a stark contrast from the morning session to the evening session, as we have written already, but we’d like to emphasize how much we appreciate teaching the night class. The adults are really enjoying what they are learning and for them to be able to practice the English words they already know with us is such a blessing they say. --- --- We have been showing short video clips of each town that we come from (Ottawa, Revelstoke, Vancouver and Vancouver Island) at the start of each class and it’s neat to see the students engaged in where we come from. Our open-ended question time, where they can ask us about ourselves has been really great. (The students get to use the words/phrases we have been teaching them and it’s so great to see the “light” bulb coming on when they figure out words. --- --- Yesterday afternoon we decided to teach our Colombian translators what “Floats” are. We bought ice cream and soda pop and they loved it!!! How sweet to be able to share a wee bit of our culture with them! ☺ --- --- PRAISE REPORTS: --- --- Katie is feeling better --- --- Some of our tables seemed more engaged with us during this morning's session. --- --- The water hasn’t affected us in a bad way (yet… keep praying!!!) --- --- PRAYER REQUESTS: --- --- Full recovery for Katie --- --- Nicole's knee is still bothering her --- --- Continued strength/stamina for our teachers, translators, and people teaching at the tables. --- --- Please pray that Friday as we discuss "DECISION MAKING" that we communicate clearly the truth and are able to share our faith boldly with those we are interacting with at our tables (that is mainly why we are here right?!) --- --- To be able to use our time wisely for the remainder of our trip. --- --- Written by Amanda --- ===

New prayer request

We have changed our lesson for Thursday morning to better suit the students. As we mentioned our topic is on bullying and we would so appreciate your prayers that we would great discussion around our tables. Please pray that we would have the words to say and discernment to know when a student needs to talk with an adult. thanks so much.

Melting Mid Week

Enjoying such wonderful hot weather quite a change from our Canadian Winter! --- --- --- Prayer request --- --- Kaitie still has some discomfort in her stomach and is feeling weak. Unfortunately she has not been able to participate in the morning ESL sessions here in Barranquilla. She did come on Monday evening, but on Tuesday and Wednesday needed to rest. Michelle has stayed with her during this time. Please pray for complete recovery for Kaitie so she can be part of the teaching again and join us in the last few days in Barranquilla. --- Nicole’s voice is getting better. Reducing her chatting and keeping her voice for the session seems to be working well. If you could continue to pray for healing for her knee that would be much appreciated. --- Our morning ESL in Barranquilla has been very challenging. The first few days we found it difficult to even cultivate relationships with the students. It almost felt like we were teaching at an insurmountable wall. It is quite different teaching young students as opposed to adults who desire to be learning English. We keep reminding ourselves that we are here for God and to represent his love to these students. Today, we had a break through. And we know this is only because of God. The students were much more engaged and each of the facilitators at the tables felt like they were finally building relationships with them. We ask that you would continue to pray for us – especially as we make alterations to the two seminars that are left. These are big topics (bullying and decision making) and we want these topics to give us opportunity for good discussion, and ultimately to share the love of Jesus. --- Laura, Eleanor, Nicole & Sarah (our main translator) worked late last night after the evening session to plan and organize the 3rd lesson for the early morning activities. Melissa & Nick also worked together to translate his testimony as he was sharing it on Wednesday - both morning and evening. Nick’s testimony this morning talked about God’s love for him, and that this same love was available to the students as well. We pray that it will have an impact on their hearts. --- Laura and Eleanor were teaching and managed to keep everyone motivated this morning and on track even with the changes. Brad mentioned that his table had more interest this morning and he was encouraged. Nicole has also found that the girls at her table were more understanding and willing to share their thoughts as we taught them how to share their “opinions”. --- We did notice that discipline is a problem and bullying is all around, even as we work throughout the sessions. It will be interesting to see how God will work in the hearts of the young teens as we talk about bullying tomorrow. Both girls and boys are very aggressive towards each other, in words and actions. Jennifer mentioned that: it is important for the children learn from people from other countries and their culture because when they grow up they will remember what they learn when they were young and it could be a motivation to change their future. --- --- PRAISE --- Melissa would like to thank everyone for praying for her interview for Qwanoes. How cool that she had friends in a completely different country praying for her. She is so grateful. --- Sara is very thankful about the prayers for Qwanoes as she also was accepted to work at the camp this coming summer in Vancouver BC. She is really glad to be on this trip because she sees the importance of each part of the body in this team. --- Juan Pablo is very comfortable around the table in the evening session because it is like we are talking between friends. It is really interesting seeing how each and everyone of our participants is eager to maintain a good English conversation with both Nicole and myself. --- During the evening session, Adam found that everyone was happy to talk in English and share willingly. There was a lot of laughter around the table, which really shows the comfort, and building of relationships that is taking place. --- Philip truly enjoys teaching kids, as they are very energetic and fun. They have bonded with him and they are excited because we are from Canada and they feel very fortunate which is encouraging for Philip. They are very curious about him and about the English language even the one who are not so comfortable still want to be involved. ---