The last time I physically saw these friends was July 17th, 2013 when I left their apartment in Bogotá, Colombia to head to the airport with my two sons to finally bring Juan David home to Texas. They had graciously let the three of us stay with them for the final week of Juan's adoption process when our AirBnB rental time ran out after 5 weeks.
Now here we are close to ten years later, dining together at New Song Mission. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that this actually took place. I'm absolutely in awe at how God connects His people across the miles and even continents and uses His church body to provide and care for one another anywhere they go.
Zayde and Alvaro worked with us at El Camino Academy in Bogotá in the summer of 2012. They lived in the same apartment complex where we stayed, so they got to know Julian really well. They took us to church with them, invited us on many adventures, helped us get to know Bogotá, vacationed with us, and helped us find medical care when we needed it. When we went back the following year for Juan's adoption, we ended up renting an apartment almost an hour away from them, but they still took the time to come out to us to go swimming, go to the movies, etc. We took a trip together to a well-known tourist area, giving Julian and Juan David a chance to spend a weekend together. They also helped us find medical care when we found ourselves in another emergency.
Their daughter moved to the United States in 2018 to study as a foreign exchange student at a Christian school in Tennessee. She was able to stay until she graduated, and then she continued to stay for college. Zayde came to see her in February of 2020 and ended up stuck here with her for 3 months during COVID. During that time, though I was far away, I was able to get her connected with several adoptive families wanting to learn Spanish, and she started a virtual Spanish tutoring business. That business has done so well that there are even agencies that are recommending her services now. She has a heart for helping others, and now God has given her a special heart for adoptive families.
They came to visit with their daughter recently, and they found themselves very drawn to the mission at New Song, just a few hours from where their daughter goes to college. So they spent a couple nights with us and a couple nights at New Song, volunteering, sitting in meetings with New Song's founders/directors, talking about possibilities to come on board with us (all depending on visas and immigration at this point), and even helping out with my Spanish class for the kids by teaching them about Colombian culture, food, and games. They taught them a few phrases they can use in Spanish and we also had a cooking demonstration to give the kids a little "taste" of Colombia.
Only God knows what He has planned, but what a privilege it was to serve alongside them this week at New Song Mission, to host them in my home, and to accept their invitation to dinner in one of the homes at New Song where they stayed and volunteered. God has them on quite the adventure, and I'm excited to see where it goes.
Coffee, of course.
Dinner in Columbus at 4th Street Bar and Grill
Staying up late playing games and drinking coffee.
Hanging out in downtown Columbus.
Teaching the kids how to make arepas.
Tasting the arepas we made.
Alvaro teaching the kids how to play RANA, a Colombian game.
It took him at least 3 hours to make this game the night before.
Teaching my students about Colombia.
Zayde on top of the hill, taking in the beauty of New Song.
Alvaro teaching a student about flying paper airplanes.
Our first and last meals together were both at Chick Fil-A.
Sounds pretty appropriate to me.
When God made it clear that He was guiding me to New Song Mission, this sweet reunion and now ministry connection with my dear friends couldn't have been any further from my imagination.
Only God.
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