Colombia

So here we go again… I can’t believe in a couple days it’s going to be May and that means camp season starts and that makes time even go faster… SO CRAZY. But before we get into camp, one of my girls, Wendy (yes I am using her real name) is in Argentina doing a DTS (discipleship training school).  SO CRAZY.  Growing up in the prostitution neighbourhood, filled with gangs and drugs and darkness, all the way to Argentina.  How cool is that.  It was so fun taking her to the airport.  She was so nervous.  So was her mom and everyone else that came with her.  It was the first time in a airport for every single one of them.  Not just the first time on a plane, but the first time in an actual airport.  I explained step by step what she needed to do and what was going to happen.  She had a little lay over in Lima, which made me a little bit nervous, but she made it in one piece.  Other than being cold (it’s colder there then here in Bo...

So I tiny little update before I get into the story of the title of this blog.  My schedule has changed a little bit this year since my girls have graduated and aren’t coming to the school four times a week.   So this year I have an extra day a week to do camp stuff, and still give my girls some support and help them with the things they need to do for their missions school (updates a little later on in this blog) and hopefully can find time to start looking at some land for camp…. CRAZY… And two days a week I am up in Cazuca (the slums area where I was and still am on Friday’s), helping with a teen girls group (a lot of these girls have come to camp in the past).  This has been a lot of fun.  Over the past few weeks we have been going over the Easter Story.  So that has been my life that past few weeks. Now unto my girls.   The one that has been working has already saved up $200, which is HUGE, for the population I work with, to save up $10 is...

So here we go again a new year to see and experience God in new way and another year to be part of what He is doing here in Colombia.  I have to say I am so excited for this year, especially for camp and the big things that God is going to do this year, I am so ready to have my socks knocked off. Since being back in Colombia after Christmas, I have just been busy up in Cazuca (the slums) getting things ready for the kids this year and getting a head start on camp stuff. This little update will be mostly prayer requests as we start off this new year. I have met with my girls a couple times and please remember them in your prayers.  One is working and saving up as much as she can so she can go do her DTS (Discipleship Training School) in Argentina.  She is hoping to go in April.  She is super motivated and super excited and maybe a little bit scared. Another one wants to go to Argentina as well (a different school) but has had a hard time finding work ...

It’s always hard to decide where to start when I update my blog, especially after a crazy amazing week at camp. Maybe I will start with Esperanza.   She is going to school and has more determination than ever to finish and has more determination than ever to do a Discipleship training school and has way more interest in knowing God.   When camp was getting close I asked her if she wanted to be a camper or if she wanted to be my helper, thinking maybe she wouldn’t really want to share with the other girls seeing as her mom just passed away.   She chose to be a camper and it brought tears to my eyes seeing her laugh and play and even be a little crazy.   I know God is going to do amazing things with this crazy, beautiful, talented girl and I can’t wait to see what it is. Now I guess its time to update you guys on camp.   First off I have to apologize that I won’t be posting any pictures.   First of all and didn’t really have any extra...

Not to sure really how to start this blog… I don’t know if I start with the good news first or the bad news first… I guess since I always like to end on a good note, let’s start with the bad news. I did e-mail some of you to pray, so this is now old news to you but I guess I can update you on the situation.   One of my girls, I think I referred to her as Esperanza in other blogs.   But she is the one whose mom has always been really sick and in and out of hospital, for what seems like forever.   Esperanza is the one who has wanted to drop out of school in the past and start working just incase her mom passed away she would be able to support herself.   Well September 18 her mom did pass away from a heart attack.   My immediate concern was that she would drop out of school with only a couple months left and where would she live as it was just her and her mom, and of course for her heart.   I offered her to come and stay with me for a few d...

Only 39 more days till the last Camp Gozo of the year.   It’s CRAZY how fast this year has flown by and I know, with my growing list of things to do before camp, that those 39 days will be here before I know it. I did want to share however a little bit about what I do with my time when I am not eating, sleeping breathing camp (which I love to do by the way.) Well some (most) of you know that for the past almost four years (again crazy how fast time flies) I have been disciplining teen girls.   This has challenged me and grown me and pushed me so far beyond what I thought possible.   It has been incredibly hard at times, there have been many times that I have been ready to pack up and move back to Canada, not wanting to face another day.   It has been also heart breaking, better said, heart wrenching and also so incredibly filled with joy, laughter and amazing memories.   Through different circumstances (this is where the heart wrenching ...

So it has taken me awhile to write for a few reasons.  At first it was mostly because how was I ever going to sum up five camps.  How was I going to condense all the memories, all the laughter and everything God had done in the lives of these kids.  And then it was because I was feeling a little discouraged.  Thursday night a couple of guys on a motorbike popped the hood of my truck and stole three parts, right out of the hood.  And right then and there it was like my joy was stolen.  And when I got to thinking if of it more, that is just what the enemy wants to do is steal our joy.  And he has been at it from even before camps started.  With lost and stolen cell phones and the discouragement of truck shopping (until we found one).  During the camp with broken and shattered bathroom sinks during a game of mission impossible (still not to sure how that happened), to having to get my overheated truck towed back to Bogota and th...