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