The Road to Bogota Ministries

These past few weeks have been a blur and very, very busy! I think where we last left off I was begging to plan the trip for OHI to visit. Never did I realize how much work was put into organizing these trips. I spent countless hours making sure everything was perfect and even though we had a few things come up the trip was a success. The week before the trip was full of nothing but phone calls and emails and searching the web to make sure we had the perfect restaurants and routes for the bus. Was everything flawless? No not at all but it was part of the "elastico" experience. For those that don't know what that is, it's something only learned in Colombia and your next chance to learn about this will be in June. Keep following and I will get you the dates when I have them. :) Some of the OHI veterans said this was the best they have experienced in their years coming here which was a sigh of relief. Overall the trip was a success. We completed our task of bringing God's light into these homes and not only changing the lives of the children but those who serve them as well. The kids were so excited "the gringos" were here to visit them. A lot of them were excited to meet my mother, who got to spend a life changing week here in Bogota. I was very excited to see my mother after being gone for nearly 4 months but I was more excited for her to experience a week in my ministry. When I left I was very unsure about what exactly I was supposed to be doing and who I was working for/with. I knew I was coming with God and that was it. When the board of OHI arrived they were very impressed with the work of "The Road to Bogota Ministries." I haven't even thought about forming my own ministry but in just doing what God has told me I had formed my own ministry without even knowing it. I have have no idea how to run or organize a ministry but God has taken care of all of that. I just love His children and share His light with them. Now I'm looking at what it takes to make this all official when I get home. I have even been advised by the board that this is a prospering ministry and it needs to be set up and established with more than just a name. They are grateful to be working on the same team as me and vise versa with them. We have both physically and spiritually seen how God is moving here in Colombia and we are very grateful to be a part of the action.

The kids are great. Absolutely precious. Everyday with them is a new adventure and I never know what to expect from them. Some days they just want to play all day; other days we have Bible studies and they ask any question they can think of about a relationship with Christ. We are experiencing a growing interest in Christ now that started with a group of 4 or 5 girls that were just curious. The Bible study in Santa Maria has grow into probably a group of about 10 girls. Every time we visit they ask for study materials or promise cards. These were cards we found that give God's promises with a scripture that we began giving to the girls. Now its something we have to bring every week for the girls. We also have about 12 new girls in the young mothers/expecting mothers class in San Miguelito.  After working with this now bigger group for a few more weeks we have also experienced a growing interest in a relationship with Christ over just religion. We even have a handful of them saying they weren't there when we distributed Bibles and they would like one to study daily. Today I purchased another box of Bibles to distribute to these girls. Oscar and I are seeing lives changing daily and every week we begin seeing new women with more confidence and more strength. We are very grateful to be His hands and feet here and without the support we receive from home this would be a tough journey. Thank you all for your prayers and financial support. With this team we have back in the States this ministry is developing strength day by day and is making a name for the Kingdom! Glory be to Him! Oscar and I are merely vessels of His love that He is using to change lives! Be sure to view the photos on Flickr and if you have not yet been added please send me an email! I will be adding the photos from our trip as I have time, there is a lot to upload but they are getting there! Also The Road to Bogota Ministries is working on a video so be on the look out for that! Love you all very much!

From His Front Lines,

Chris

A New Year in Bogota

Just less than a week ago I sat in my room as we welcomed 2012. Normally, I'm spending time with my family but this year was different, as a matter of fact it was very different. I was staring down Carrera 68. This particular street is full of bars and clubs and as I watched the partying in the street I asked myself, "what am I doing in Bogota, Colombia." As I thought about it, God made it very clear. I am here following my heart as I search for His. I couldn't be more blessed than seeing my children here in Bogota to end 2011 and begin 2012. Already my heart has been stolen left and right by these children. Today I spent the morning with Luisa. She is 12 months and so close to walking. She can take one or two steps and then falls into my arms. The best part of this morning was when I walked into her room of the nursery. She was the only one awake and standing in her crib. As I peeked around the door her eyes lit up and a smile of new teeth appeared. It was absolutely priceless. I had a great morning loving on her and seeing her laugh. When it came time to leave I even got besos, full of slobber but absolutely precious! There is also another little one in Santa Maria that has stolen my heart. Her name is Nicole and she is 6 years old. She is now the youngest and Santa Maria and doesn't mind being "my baby" there. I am greeted by a little one pushing her way to the front to hug me and tell me she loves me and its amazing every time. We also had a group of girls accept Christ as their savior this week in Santa Maria. The months of relationship building have started to bear fruits. We also have another young lady that is very against religion but now has many questions and our conversation this week brought her to tears. I feel in my spirit she is very close to finally breaking down but the Lord will do it all in His time. I have been building relationships with the older girls of this house. These are typically the girls that are overlooked because they are to old to be adopted and in their eyes everyone just loves the "chiqitas" more. We spend a lot of time chatting with them and playing sports or having lunch and other things. It has been very humbling to have some of them share their stories with us. One of them in particular really breaks my heart. I was talking with Cristina Monday and I asked her how long she has lived at Santa Maria. Her answer was only 4 years. In my mind I thought, "only?!?" Then she followed that by saying she has lived in institutions for 17.5 years. Cristina is 18 years old. She also shared that she has 2 younger sisters that have been adopted and live in Atlanta but she wasn't able to be adopted because of her age. Hearing that my heart absolutely broke. She is a beautiful girl that does so well in school, despite her rough life. Institutions are all she knows. She has graduated high school and will be attending a tech school for 2 years to learn English and pursue a career as a flight attendant. I have been helping her with her English and she is beginning to have more questions regarding a relationship with Christ. Other than that I have been extremely busy helping plan the upcoming mission trip for OHI. They will be here next Saturday and we are very excited. I am excited to share my work with the team so they can see my everyday life here as well as see my mother. This has been the longest I have ever been away from family and yes its rough but the Lord gives my new strength everyday. We have a week full of great fun and quality time with the children. If you won't be here next week I highly encourage you to take a look at coming in June. The need here in Colombia is great and the children are absolutely amazing! You will be welcomed with opened arms and leave with memories that will be impossible to forget. Check out our website at www.orphanhopeintl.org Also to see pictures of my work here in Bogota find me on Flickr and I will add you to view the private photos, they are great fun to see! The Flickr page is Theroadtobogota. Until next time, thank you all for your prayers and support! From His Front Lines, Chris