Second Week in Bogotá

Hello from Bogotá.  It's a beautiful day here.  The sun is shining brightly and the sky is a beautiful blue.    We are glad for this because without the sun the temperatures seem quite cool due to the high elevation.  Yesterday was a cloudy/rainy day and we were cold all day long.  Houses don't have heating and air here, so we are planning to purchase a few space heaters today.

Today is a day that the government has designated for no cars to be on the streets.  The only vehicles allowed are public transportation vehicles such as busses and taxis.  They do this to show what a difference there is in the pollution level without so many vehicles on the streets.

Because of the ban on cars today, the kids are out of school.  They are also out tomorrow, as the school has designated it as a "virtual day" where they will have assignments given to them on the computer to complete at home.  The kids are glad to have a pretty light first week of school.  You can't beat being out for a month, going to school for 3 days and then having a 4 day weekend!

We think we have found an apartment.  We are just waiting now to process the paper work and see if their time frame for moving in is in line with our time frame.  We hope to move in no later than Feb. 20th.  Between now and then, we will be purchasing furnishings, appliances, etc. to be able to live.

This past Sunday, we attended one of the 12 Baptist churches in Bogotá. That's right..... there are only 12 Baptist churches in this city of almost 10 million people, and the majority of these churches are very weak.  We were told the church we attended on Sunday - "El Camino" is the strongest Baptist church in Bogotá.  The church has a team of three pastors, all of whom are professionals in the city.  Last night, one of the pastors stopped by for a visit.  It was good to share with him some of the vision that God has put on our heart, and to hear his vision for his church and this city.  It just so happens that his daughter is a classmate of Preston's.  We are hoping to get to know him and his family better before too long.

Things are going well for us, but I would be lying if I said we were not facing some culture shock.  Life is very different here from life in Panamá, and of course our life in the U.S.  The climate is different, the monetary system is different and prices are higher, there are fewer familiar products in the grocery store, much less English spoken here, no base of friends for the kids, and we miss John Robert greatly.  We are here because we believe God has called us, not because it's easy.  Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we find our place here in this city.  Pray that God will give us divine contacts as we strive to serve Him in every aspect of our lives.