Celebrate Colombia!

Visit to Hogares Luz y Vida 

I got to spend last Saturday at Hogares Luz y Vida, the Special Needs Orphanage.  It has been since December since we last visited and I was so excited to go back!  My little friend, Lily, and I got to spend time together.  She wanted me to give her piggy back rides up and down the ramps in the orphanage.  She kept yelling, "Corre!!  Corre!!!  Mas alla!!"  At one point, I was getting so tired I thought about putting her down and stopping.  My legs were tired and my energy level was qickly falling.  Every time I would stop or slow down, she would very enthusiastically shout, "Corre!!  Corre!!! Mas alla!!!"  As I battled whether to stop or to keep on running her around, God sent these verses to my mind from 1 Peter :-)

 "If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides so that in all things, God may be praised through Jesus Christ.  To him be the glory and the power, forever and ever.  Amen."    1 Peter 4:11

I prayed that God would give me the strength to keep on playing with this little girl.  Even though I was exhausted, I was reminded of the joy God was bringing to Lily by having people love on her.  Being in a special needs orphanage with so many kids, she doesn't get that much attention.  God is such a good God to give me his strength to love her and make her feel special.  With His help, we continued to run up and down the ramps at Hogares Luz y Vida - with a very precious and joyful Lily riding on my back :-)

Monkeying Around -  God has been teaching me that being a great teacher is not always about academics.  Sometimes, it:s about joining in with one of your student's crazy ideas.  We have a stuffed animal monkey named Meticulous.  He spends the weekend with the student who is the most "meticulous" with their desk.  A few weeks ago, Brianna brought in a girl monkey and asked if Meticulous could have a wife.  They started to plan and talk about a wedding - and asked if we could have an actualy wedding in class.  Of course, I had to say yes!

All I had to do was say yes, and my students planned the rest. They made invitations, wedding clothes, rings, a Father monkey, a ring bearer, and even kept the happy couple on opposite ends of the classroom until the ceremony. I had my friend, Katie Blaylock, come in and preform the wedding since she is our Bible teacher here at ECA. 

After the wedding, the monkey's had their first dance as husband and wife - followed by some dancing by all of the wedding guests :-)  It was adorable to see the excitement of my students and getting to expose them to an American Wedding. 

When asked who Mr. and Mrs. Meticulous would be spending the weekend with, one student responded by saying, "They both have to go with the same student - it IS their honeymoon!!!"  Even though they ended up spending their honeymoon in 3rd Grade at ECA, Mr. and Mrs. Meticulous are happily settled in our classroom.  Praise God for joyful moments we can have as a class that bond us together :-)

Celebrate Colombia - ECA has two days dedicated to celebrating the wonderful country of Colombia.  This year, each class studied and learned a dance from a different area of the country.  My 3rd Graders learned a dance from San Andres, which is on the coast.  It was fun to watch my students work so hard at learning the dance during Spanish classes.  They thought it was funny when I tried to learn the dance with them one day :-)

Here is a VIDEO - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjjNt6j-FyQ&feature=youtu.be - of them all dressed up in Colombian costumes and their version of the dance from San Andres!  I absolutely loved it.  All of the dances were beautiful. Please enjoy a little Colombian flavor and a wonderful dance by my precious 3rd Graders!
The students were able to talk Spanish in the hallways and at lunch and break time.  I tried my best to talk with my students in their native language - so I could get a taste of how they feel having to talk English everyday.  They thought it was pretty fun to talk Spanish with me.  I loved seeing all of the red, yellow, and blue around school. 

Prayers/Praises:

•  Please continue to pray for my role at El Camino next school year - that God would give me real clarity and confidence of where he wants me to be within the next week or two so I can let the school know.
• That God would show me where to find more time to talk with my student's about heart issues - those are my favorite moments and I desire to have more!  Also, that I would continually surrender my students into God's hands - so that he can mold them into people who love Him.
• Plans for my parents to come and visit me in March during Holy Week - pray for our preparations and for their time while they are here.  I am so excited to have them come and join me in ministry and to be able to show them the wonderful country of Colombia!!!!!

Because the haven't heard,
Carrie

The Orchard EFC and El Camino - The Body of Christ

Fingerprints: The Orchard Work Team
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5

The work team finally arrived on Sunday afternoon after an overnight delay in Houston.  The team included people from each of the three campuses of the Orchard - how cool!  The McCollum's and I were sad they were not able to experience our church here in Colombia, but the team was met with enthusiastic smiles from all of us at the airport.  As we gave the team a tour of El Camino, I was struck by the many fingerprints that have been left here by the Orchard.  Floor tiles in the bathrooms, cabinets in the nurse's office, shelves in the elementary principal's office, a very nice and clean computer lab, a well lit library, a beautifully painted ceiling of the MPR...and the list goes on.  This week, the team left even more Orchard EFC fingerprints as they worked on gardening and landscaping projects and also managed to install a new security system for the old building. They also were a huge blessing to the missionary teachers at ECA as they went around to our apartments and fixed miscellaneous things that were broken.  Tino and Tyler were able to fix a clogged drain and repair the futon in my apartment.  As an added bonus, they even cleaned our wood floors!!! (after accidentally leaving the window open in my apartment, it started to downpour and I arrived home to a very wet apartment :-)

The team also had the chance to experience two of the ministries that the ECA students support: Barrio Egypto and Hogares Luz y Vida (special needs orphanage).  Hearing the stories of how they were able to experience one of the ministries that the Lord has given me a passion for was really amazing.  God is so good!! 

Here is a link to the team blog if you would like to read about their stories and how God worked through them and in them while serving at ECA - http://colombiateam2013.blogspot.com/

 
Introducing Miss Rachel - I had the privilege of having my friend, Rachel, spend a day with my 3rd Grade class.  She taught them a Bible lesson on the Israelite's trust in God as they marched around Jericho and made the walls come tumbling down.  I love this story - it shows God's fun side and that he accomplishes His plan in the most unique ways.  My 3rd Graders were so excited to have her in our class.  Pray for Rachel - as she is praying about coming and teaching at El Camino in the future!

I had the privilege of having the three women from the team (Rachel, Shealyn, and Ronnie) over to my apartment for dinner on Thursday.  God gave them them the opportunity to not only have dinner with a few teachers from ECA, but also with some Colombian women who had traveled in from Cordoba (near the coast) for a teaching conference called OBED.  We all had fun getting to eat veggie pitas and getting to talk with our Colombian sister's in Christ.

One of our favorite places to eat dessert in Colombia is at Crepes and Waffles, a restaurant that only hires and supports single moms.  The women and I met the rest the of the team for dessert after our dinner together at my apartment.

Monsserate: Even though it was cloudy and rainy, we traveled up Monsserate, which is the highest point in Bogota at 10, 642 feet.   Praise the Lord - the clouds started to clear and you could see part of the city below.  The sun started to shine through the clouds, which created these beautiful rays against the backdrop of Bogota.  Here are some picture with me and some of the team members at the top  How beautiful is God's creation!!!

Blessings:  Far apart, but united by God's love.
 "For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.  So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."  Colossians 2:5-7

Words cannot express how thankful I am for not only the financial and prayer support from the Orchard Evangelical Free Church, but also for 10 people taking time to come here and experience life in Colombia first hand.  The verses above in Colossians really sum up how I feel about all of you back home - and especially those who I got to see in person this week.  Before this week, I only knew three of you.  I now have 10 new friends for life!  Now that the team has gone back home and we are again absent from each other in body, we are always united in spirit because we are united in Christ.  Thank for investing in the ministry here at El Camino - especially in me - and also for being willing to be used by the Lord.   Having my home church come and join me in ministry was the most amazing gift from God that brought encouragement, love, and a feeling of community with my church back in Chicago.

For the sake of the gospel,
Carrie