Small Group

We have always believed if you were going to teach something, you should also be doing it.  We strongly believe in the importance of having a small group in our home.  We have now started a group that meets each Sunday at 5:00 pm.  It's been great to see new people coming in excited to hear and study God's word.  Please pray for God to put people in our path who would like to be part of this group that will hopefully grow into a church.

Churches are Needed!

Yesterday we had a special breakfast designed to share with pastors and other church leaders about our plan for church planting in Bogotá.  We had a great turn out and those in attendance seem to very interested in church planting.  We shared with them some data about how many Christians there are in the city.

By the data that we have obtained, there are approximately 8.8 million people who live in Bogotá, and of that number approximately 7 million do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ.  What a great need there is to start churches here.  There are only 13 Baptist churches and about 2000 evangelical churches.

That may sound like a lot of churches already in existence, but with the number of people in the city and the number of lost to be reached, we believe there needs to be 2000 more churches started.  In addition, there are certain parts of the city, that the government will not allow a church's membership to be more than 100 people.  Remember, the church is not the building.  It is the people - the body of Christ.  Churches can be started in houses or strip malls or anywhere people can come together to put into practice Acts 2:41-47.

We are planning to start the first Church Planting Course here in Bogotá the first week of June.  It is a 14 week class which takes a deep look at church planting through the study of the books of Acts.  Pray for God to call out church planters to reach this city for Christ.

Here are a few pictures from yesterday's meeting:

On the Radio....

Yesterday Cavin had the opportunity to speak on the radio about church planting here in Bogotá.  What an awesome day he had sharing his ministry on this Christian radio station.  Friend and pastor, Fredy Ontibon, was with Cavin sharing as well.

Below are a couple of pictures from the day!

A New Month of Ministry

We have now completed two months here in Bogotá.  I won't lie and say it's been easy.  It's been hard going through transitions with all three of the kids. Yes, when I say "three," I'm including John Robert.  It's been harder than we ever imagined to leave our child in the States and move to South America.  Christian and Preston have also made huge transitions.  This is the 4th country that they have lived in since 2009.  Just writing that makes me want to cry a little for them.  Yet, God has been faithful.  He has been with us and never left us.  He has given us the strength to face each day, even when we didn't think we could.  He has given us opportunities to see Him at work forming friendships and relationships in which He can be glorified.

Yesterday as we celebrated Easter for the first time here in Bogotá, we were reminded of the high price Jesus paid for our sins.  He is why we are here.  He is why it's worth it to put ourselves and our family through change.  He paid it all for me - and for you if you know Him as Lord and Savior.

This week we are excited because we have several conferences planned for pastors where we will be sharing our vision for church planting.  We are excited to see what God is orchestrating and what He will do!

We are also excited to have two missionary couples joining us later this year to work with us on our church planting efforts here in Bogotá.  One couple will be arriving in June and the other in September.    As we learn more about the city and the magnitude of the lostness, we are overwhelmed.  It will be great to have these couples to walk alongside as we reach out to this city to start churches.

Cawthon Update

John Robert left Sunday night to return to the States.  We had a great visit with him and were sad to see him go.  We had fun showing him around Bogotá and letting him see what life is like here!  He has a few weeks left in this semester and will also go the Summer Semester.  Then he plans to take off the Fall Semester and come back to Bogotá to work with us for about 4 months.  After that he will only have 2 or 3 semesters left to complete his degree.

Christian's 15th birthday was Monday (March 18).  For her birthday, we surprised her by finishing decorating her room.  She was surprised to come home from school to a "brand new" bedroom.  We intertwined the theme of New York and fashion, and it really turned out great!

We are hard at work preparing for a Church Planting Conference which will be held the first weekend in April.  We have had some great meetings as we are identifying pastors and others who have a heart for reaching this city through church planting.  Please keep this conference in your prayers that God will use it in a great way.

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.