Last week was one of the longest of my life. I taught evangelism in the mornings, and I loved doing it. But at the same time I came to have a greater appreciation for sleep and rest. God actually has been talking to me about the value of life and taking care of ourselves while valuing caring for others. Like Oswald Chambers says:
“My worth to God publicly is measured by what I really am in my private life. Is my primary goal in life to please Him and to be acceptable to Him, or is it something less, no matter how lofty it may sound?”
This week all of the students and almost all of the staff are going to the intense camp called NIKO. Ana Cristina and I will be staying at the base to work on Esperanzas de Vida. And seeing as it’s also Holy Week, what better time to get fed from God and really dig into his word? I’m really looking forward to it, I’m even excited about reading Numbers :) Sometimes God just really wants to be with us, you know?
And now for the long awaited ministry update: Ana Cristina had her appointment at the embassy for her visa last week, and she was denied. That’s right, rejected. It was a sad couple of days for us. And so this week we will be forming our plan B. It looks like I will be going to the states by myself in April and May to receive training from Living Alternatives and meet with some churches. Second semester we plan to do some intense investigation in Medellín and next year pull away from the base and focus all our energies in the ministry.
We will have to start with the counseling and emotional support aspect (seeing as we’re counselors and not at all medically inclined) and building a team. The vision is to be able to support women depending on their needs and their crisis: financially, emotionally, relationally, and medically. This includes working with their families and the father of the baby, teaching parenting skills, offering a home in circumstances where it would be best for the woman to live with us during her pregnancy, and someday having our own clinic for the medical side.
Please continue praying specifically for the ministry. It’s a bit difficult when our plans have to be changed, but we are still doing everything we can to learn and make the most of the opportunities we do have.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Peace
I was really glad to be a Colombian today (almost, minus the blondish hair). Our president was in a conference with Chavez and Correa, and Chamorro was present as well. I was proud that our president could handle the situation so well, apologizing to Correa and ending with handshakes and peace again in South America. God, thank you for responding to our prayers and letting peace reign where we thought relationships would be impossible to reestablish. Continue to guide our leaders, protect our people, and end the horrible kidnappings and warfare caused by the FARC. Amen.
Monday, March 3, 2008
WAR
Things are not going too well for Colombia at the moment. Chavez is bad news for us. He is communist, distorts the truth with ease, and he thinks that Colombia and Venezuela should be reunited as one country. (It has only been since 1830 that Venezuela and Colombia were separate countries. That’s why our flags are so similar.) He has been taunting President Uribe and sticking his nose into neighboring countries’ affairs for a while now.
For example, Chavez is friends with the Nicaragua president. Nicaragua is turning more communist, again, and right now there is a weekly inflation on their currency. Things are not in favor of the people in general, only the rich. Added to the bad news, the Nicaraguan president’s wife is witch, literally. She sometimes announces things that come from the mouth of the devil and generally participates in very strange religious practices. Imagine the kind of influence she has over the government. Nicaragua has a bank account (I believe it is in Venezuela) where a percentage of all of their petroleum sales go (business with Venezuela). It is an account to help the poverty in Nicaragua. However, the government does not keep record of any of the flow of money in this account, very few have access to any information about it, and interestingly enough nothing much has improved for those living in poverty. Suspicious.
Saturday a major guerrilla leader was killed by the Colombia military. We were happy about this. However, the actually bombing took place in Ecuador, unwise move on Colombia’s part. So now the good news of the death of the FARC leader is countered by worse news: that Chavez has convinced Ecuador to sever all diplomatic ties with Colombia and investigate what took place on their side of the boarder. One of our soldiers was killed as well, apparently by the Ecuador military. But things get worse.
Chavez also announced that we have some outrageous number of troops waiting on the boarder with Venezuela, all lies. Chavez said he wanted to avoid war, but he will not allow anyone to divide or weaken them. First, it appears that he has given millions of dollars to the FARC. He also has united most of the leftist leaders against Colombia. (Ecuador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Argentina, Bolivia, and to a smaller degree Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, Peru). Colombia would have to enlist men if we went to war. Luckily the UN is keeping an eye on the situation, because things in South America are not looking favorable for Colombia.
As I was discussing this with my friend, he said the real reason Chavez has been so hostile towards Colombia is because Colombia (specifically President Uribe) is so friendly with the states and the states are so anti-Communist. Chavez actually blames the US for the attack in Ecuador and calls the US the master of "sub-president Uribe." But as the elections approach in the US, Colombia’s relationship with the states will likely change. The party elected will also decide if we pass a trading agreement between the states and Colombia. I’m not sure if it would help or hurt our economy to have the agreement passed, but one thing is for sure, our economy will change greatly. Colombia right now seems to be between a rock and a hard place. Please pray for wisdom for our leaders, peace for South America, truth to shine though, and that Chavez by some miracle will not be reelected as President of Venezuela.
For example, Chavez is friends with the Nicaragua president. Nicaragua is turning more communist, again, and right now there is a weekly inflation on their currency. Things are not in favor of the people in general, only the rich. Added to the bad news, the Nicaraguan president’s wife is witch, literally. She sometimes announces things that come from the mouth of the devil and generally participates in very strange religious practices. Imagine the kind of influence she has over the government. Nicaragua has a bank account (I believe it is in Venezuela) where a percentage of all of their petroleum sales go (business with Venezuela). It is an account to help the poverty in Nicaragua. However, the government does not keep record of any of the flow of money in this account, very few have access to any information about it, and interestingly enough nothing much has improved for those living in poverty. Suspicious.
Saturday a major guerrilla leader was killed by the Colombia military. We were happy about this. However, the actually bombing took place in Ecuador, unwise move on Colombia’s part. So now the good news of the death of the FARC leader is countered by worse news: that Chavez has convinced Ecuador to sever all diplomatic ties with Colombia and investigate what took place on their side of the boarder. One of our soldiers was killed as well, apparently by the Ecuador military. But things get worse.
Chavez also announced that we have some outrageous number of troops waiting on the boarder with Venezuela, all lies. Chavez said he wanted to avoid war, but he will not allow anyone to divide or weaken them. First, it appears that he has given millions of dollars to the FARC. He also has united most of the leftist leaders against Colombia. (Ecuador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Argentina, Bolivia, and to a smaller degree Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, Peru). Colombia would have to enlist men if we went to war. Luckily the UN is keeping an eye on the situation, because things in South America are not looking favorable for Colombia.
As I was discussing this with my friend, he said the real reason Chavez has been so hostile towards Colombia is because Colombia (specifically President Uribe) is so friendly with the states and the states are so anti-Communist. Chavez actually blames the US for the attack in Ecuador and calls the US the master of "sub-president Uribe." But as the elections approach in the US, Colombia’s relationship with the states will likely change. The party elected will also decide if we pass a trading agreement between the states and Colombia. I’m not sure if it would help or hurt our economy to have the agreement passed, but one thing is for sure, our economy will change greatly. Colombia right now seems to be between a rock and a hard place. Please pray for wisdom for our leaders, peace for South America, truth to shine though, and that Chavez by some miracle will not be reelected as President of Venezuela.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
