Reunited and It Feels so Good!!!

John Robert arrived in Bogotá last night.  We are so thankful for a new friend who allowed him to fly on a buddy pass.  What a blessing!!  He will be here for a week while he is out on Spring Break.

It has been a wonderful day having the whole family together for the first time since the rest of us left the States.  We slept late, enjoyed a nice breakfast at home and then Charlotte cooked a great lunch.  After that, we headed out to show John Robert the city.  We have been wanting to go up on the mountain - Monserrate - to see the whole city, but waited because we thought this would be a good thing to do as a family.

Monserrate was breathtaking.  We went up the mountain on a cable car.  It was overwhelming to view this massive city.  As far as we could see there were buildings.  It is amazing to think of all the people who live in this city, and to know that God longs to have a relationship with each one of them.  We realize what a massive task we have here in Bogotá.  Please pray that we can impact the lostness here as God is drawing people to Himself everyday.

After going up on the mountain, it was getting late so we decided to try a hot wing restaurant called "Wingz."  It was a good ending to our adventure in the city.  The kids all enjoyed the buffalo wings which were served with "He Man Sauce"  (extra picante buffalo sauce).

Here are a few pics from the day!

We even saw a billboard advertising the show Duck Dynasty here in Colombia!  We really got a good laugh out of that!

Cawthon News

We've now been in Bogotá just over four weeks.  Yesterday was a bit of a sad day for Charlotte.  She learned that her uncle in Mobile, Alabama passed away.  These are the times when it hurts so bad to be so far away from home.  Please keep Charlotte's family in your prayers during this time.  Her father is grieving the loss of his brother which is the second brother he has lost in just over 7 months.  We are rejoicing that her uncle was a Christian and lived a full and meaningful life here on earth and now he is in Heaven.  He was 85 years old and still working.  He was planning to go to work yesterday, but God had other plans.

On another note, we are now in our apartment (without furniture).  It feels good to start to get settled and we are hoping to receive our furniture on March 8 which is the same day that John Robert will arrive in Bogotá for his Spring Break.  We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of John Robert - and hopefully our furniture - but we are more excited about seeing John Robert!

We are now in the process of planning our first church planting conference here in Bogotá which will take place in April.  We are making contacts with local pastors who have expressed interest in being a part of it and are training some pastors who will be helping to teach the conference.  We are excited to see what God will do through this conference.

Cawthon Update - Week 3

It's Sunday morning.  We are up and getting ready to attend our third church in Bogotá.  Tomorrow will mark 3 weeks that we have been in Bogotá.  It's been an adjustment but overall, we are doing well.  We are still in the mission guest house.  The first apartment we found did not work out, but we found another one this week.

We will start to move in on Tuesday. I say "start" because initially we will just have mattresses and appliances and our personal belongings.  We have ordered furniture directly from the furniture makers.  This is a little stressful and a little exciting as they will be custom making the furniture for us.  It was also a great savings for us as we realized that in going to the furniture stores, they then go to the furniture makers and it still takes 3 weeks to get the furniture.  They said we will have the furniture in 3 weeks.  Hopefully, we will love it!  But in the meantime we will be living in a basically empty apartment.

Last Sunday we attended Central Baptist Church.  It was in the central part of the city and seemed to be a strong church.  They welcomed us with open arms, and we had several members offer any assistance we might need in our ministry.  We also met the pastor after the service and plan to meet again with him at a later time.

We had two other great meetings this week.  One was with a friend of ours whom we met several years ago through another mutual friend.  His name is Mauricio Rozo.  He is a pastor in another city - Cali - and also Vice President of the Colombian Baptist Convention.  We met for lunch and shared with him our plan for church planting in Bogotá.  He was excited and offered to help, mentioning that the convention is also emphasizing church planting to reach this massive city and country.

The next day Mauricio set up a meeting with the leadership of the Baptist Convention.  We again shared our strategy in reaching this city.  They too seemed excited and wanted to be a part of what we are doing.

God is orchestrating some great meetings and also is giving us random opportunities to share.  Some people are just curious as to why we are here.  When they ask, it gives us a great opportunity to witness to them and share that we are here because we are following Jesus in our lives.

Thank you for continuing to pray for us.  We are still in the midst of so many transitions.  We all need your prayers everyday and need to be reminded of our calling. We were in a large store this week and heard the song "Sweet Home Alabama" on the sound system.  At times like these (and others) we miss our "sweet home Alabama," but have to remember the reason we are here:  God has brought us here and He desires to have a personal relationship with the people here.

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.

We Have Arrived in Bogotá

We have arrived in Bogotá.  We are living temporarily in a guest house owned by the mission until we can find permanent housing.  The last few days have been spent on processing our paperwork to keep us legal here, finding our way around, and just trying to adjust to our new life here in Colombia.  Everyone that we have met has been very kind and has made us feel welcome.  We are easing back into a life of speaking Spanish everyday, everywhere we go.... and we are finding (Praise the Lord!) that it is coming back to us!

We are starting to look at permanent housing options, but have not found just the right place yet.  We are praying that God will put us exactly where He wants us.  Friday we will be visiting the school that Christian and Preston will be attending.  We need to finish up the admissions process so that they can start school on Monday.  Their long, extended Christmas break is quickly coming to an end.  They are looking forward to it with nervous anticipation.

Please pray that they will make friends quickly and settle into their new school and life here in Bogotá.  Pray also for John Robert.  It doesn't seem right to be so far away from him.  Things seem to be falling in place for him to come visit over his spring break which is only 5 weeks away.  That has helped us deal with him not being here with us.

We are anxious to get the necessary details done so that we can begin the true work that God has led us to do.  Pray that God will put the people in our path that He wants us to impact for Him.  We are excited to see just how his plan will unfold.  It's exciting to have this blank slate to allow Him to work amazingly here in Bogotá!

Signing off from the U.S.A.

This will be the last time I write from the U.S.  We are in the process of packing and moving out of the mission house we have called home for the last 6 months.  What a blessing it has been to stay in the Oasis House of Eagles' Landing First Baptist Church.  We feel refreshed and ready to start the new ministry that God has ahead for us in Bogotá, Colombia.  We will be flying out of Atlanta early Monday morning.  We have a short layover in Miami and will arrive in Bogotá around 4:30 Monday afternoon.

We don't know how God will work in this new phase of ministry, but are trusting Him to guide us and show us how he wants to use us in this mega-city.  He is already connecting us with Colombians both here and in Bogotá that want to be a part of our work.

Please keep us in your prayers.  Pray that we will be bold in witnessing and sharing the good news of Jesus!  Pray also for the adjustments we will be making such as finding an apartment, making it feel like home,  making friends with new people, the kids adjusting to (yet another) new school, leaving John Robert here in college....  and things we haven't even thought of.   Most of all, pray that we will be faithful in following the Lord's guidance each day to do and be what He wants.

As we return to the field, I will be more diligent in writing weekly to let everyone know how to pray and also to share how we see God working.

Changes Ahead

It's hard to believe that Christmas is less than a week away, the end of the year is only 11 days away and our stateside time will be ending in just over a month.  We are getting everything in place to move to Bogotá, Colombia around January 26th.  More changes, more goodbyes, more hellos on the other end, more getting used to a new culture, more settling into a new home.....  and more getting to do the work that God has called us to do!  Oh, the life of a missionary family!

This time we will be leaving John Robert behind in college.  This will be very hard, but we are trusting God in this.  We are believing that we have equipped John Robert to live on his own with God guiding him each day.  Please keep us all in your prayers as we make these changes.

In Bogotá, Cavin will be the MegaCity Strategist for this city of 10 million people.  It is much larger than the "small town" of Panama City, Panama which "only" has about 1.2 million.  In the beginning, we will be prayer walking, making contacts with pastors, visiting the Baptist churches there, and meeting other people that God puts in our path.  We are excited to see what God will do in this next step in our ministry.

We are also grateful for the time that we have had in the States to reunite with family, friends and churches, to share what God did in Panama and what He is continuing to do in our lives, to disciple people that God has put in our lives here in the U.S., to help John Robert adjust to college life while we were only a short drive away, to allow our kids to experience school in the U.S., and to eat at Chick-Fil-A anytime we wanted!  The past few months have also given us a time to step back from our work in Panama, renew ourselves in the Lord, and gain an excitement about our next step in this journey - our work in Bogotá.

This will be our first Christmas in the U.S. since 2008.  We are excited to spend it with family, but most of all we are thankful for Jesus coming as a baby, living a perfect life and dying for our sins on the cross.  Let's keep that foremost in our thoughts as we celebrate Jesus this Christmas!