Daniel + Jennifer Mee » Daniel + Jennifer Mee

Growth...

Jen — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 16:13:00 -0700

As I write and think about these dear people, there are tears in my eyes. I recognize again that it is God who builds his church. The only one of these people that we met personally and invited to the church was Don Victor. The rest were sent to us by other friends or pastors... and we marvel at how God is working in each of their lives to bring them to a closer walk with Him. We are humbled by the love and joy we share as we meet together as the body of Christ... and we are encouraged in the work He has given us to do. Thank you for your faithful prayers. You too MUST rejoice at this: the evident fruit of your faithful prayers and support!

In case I haven't mentioned it yet, we decided on a name for the new church: Iglesia Bautista Gracia Abundante. Abundant Grace Baptist Church. In April, we began to see more attendance as the Lord sent several new families to our group. Some are Christians and come from varying backgrounds, but several are either new believers, searching, or unsaved. It has been exciting to see almost every space in our living/dining area filled! We have started moving the dining table (it ends up upside down on our bed) to make more room for the much-needed chairs. We are so packed in our small apartment that there is hardly room to walk! What a blessing from the Lord. Generally speaking, we have at least 15 for Sunday morning service, but we have had as many as 25 (counting children and babies.) Thank you all for praying for us as we are praying and making decisions about the next steps to take in this church plant.

As for the people, Olga is faithful on Sundays and wants to continue the discipleship Bible study, but her work schedule and finances (as far as bus fare) are hindrances. Her daughters also continue to express interest, but do not attend our services.

Victor continues to struggle in his new faith. Pray that the Lord will continue to strengthen him to fight his old nature and see victory. He is also facing major changes - as his cafeteria is about to be closed down due to the renovation of the gas station. We continue to pray for him and for his wife, Gloria, who is Catholic and has no interest in attending our services.

Wilson and Irene are the new Christian couple with four teenage boys. All six of them have been attending faithfully and are eager to help and serve.

Others I will just mention by name. Please pray for Marlen and her daughter, Andrea, who has a two-year old son, Samuel, and a new baby on the way. Andrea's husband, Andres, is Catholic and does not attend. Oscar and Zulema and their three children, Natalia, Natan and Shaielle live the furthest away but come when they can.

Jairo, Campo Elias and Pedro Leon are all friends of Victor's... some of which are currently residing in a rescue mission and are looking to the truth of God's Word to help them gain victory in life.

The Hope Project

Jen — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:19:00 -0700

FEBRUARY UPDATE

The big event of this month was the special lunch and evangelistic video we showed on the 26th. Thank you
all for your prayers for that event. We had an American-style turkey dinner (with corn casserole, stuffing, gravy & mashed potatoes!) and we showed this video: http://www.thehopeproject.com/

Bogota Bulletin 14

Again we faced cultural challenges and learning experiences as we invited nearly 50 people (who would never
have all fit into our apartment) and planned food and seating arrangements for 25-30 (who still would
have been very crowded) and actually received 9 Colombians and 4 missionaries (ourselves included.)
The cultural challenge comes when trying to figure out who to invite and if the invitation will at this point
in the relationship actually help or hinder their desire to come. The learning experiences come when
nearly all 50 people assure us (even emphatically!) that they will be there—because they don’t want to
tell us “No” and disappoint us. Learning to read “between the lines” and pick up on cultural signals
can be very difficult for the more direct American. We were thrilled, however, with the nine who came.
Bety brought two people, two of Daniel’s guests came and Olga (our recent professing believer) brought her two grown daughters and grand-daughter. We look forward to seeing the church grow as those who accept Christ bring in family members and friends that they have a life-time of influence with. Their outreach will in many ways be more effective than ours with only a few months of influence.

LIFE IN BOGOTA

Just a little refresher course for those of you who may not remember… life here is so very different than it is in the states. Rush-hour traffic is like nothing you’ve ever seen (although I’m told India is even worse). And just for a minute imagine if all those people who are stacked five-to-six wide trying to cross that pedestrian bridge all had cars on the road instead of taking the public transportation! We thank you for your prayers for us as we live and travel in this busy city. The Lord has kept us safe… we were rear-ended at a stoplight, but no real damage done. But aside from safety, please pray that we have patience as we deal with the traffic that causes trips to the Dr, to take five hours or a grocery store run to take 2-3 hours. We do need patience.

Thank you for your faithful prayers!

Love in Christ,

Daniel & Jennifer (Eliana & Elijah)

New Church Plant

Jen — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 10:25:00 -0700

Thanks so much to all of you who were praying as we started up the new church plant. Johnny & Susan Bolin are working with us to start the new church and help lead. They have about 30 years of experience in church planting. We are so grateful to be working alongside them and learning from them.

On the first Wednesday night we had several people come. A local pastor came to bring some contacts he had that lived near us. His church is much further away and he believed they might be able to come more regularly to our small group. The first meeting went well and basically set the tone for what our small group meetings would be like. We sang, shared praises about what God is doing in our lives, shared a few prayer requests, had prayer time and finally the bible study. As we have continued to meet, the meetings have had as many as six visitors (other than the Bolins and us) and as few as none. We continue to reach out to these people, knowing that it is God who draws them, not us.

Please pray specifically for Carlos and Ganesh, Sandra, Cristian, Olga and Adriana.

Thank you so much for partnering with us in all of this!

Spiritual Warfare

Jen — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 22:26:00 -0700

So many of you are fighting with us. You are upholding us with your prayers. You are continually bringing us before the throne of God, asking that He give us strength, wisdom, perserverance, and faithfulness as we fight the spiritual darkness of Bogota.

Tonight was just one example, but such a good example that I feel I must share it with you. As many of you know, we work to build relationships with people and look for the opportunity through those friendships to share the light of the Truth. One such relationship is with a man named Edgar. Edgar approached Daniel at a park a few weeks ago and began to speak (faltering) English to him. His main interest was to develop his English language skills, but as they continued to talk, Edgar became interested in our faith. He has visited the church a couple of times on Sundays but tonight was the first time he attended a Wednesday evening prayer service. He had spent about two hours that afternoon with Daniel, talking some in English, but mostly discussing Catholocism and the other religious interests that he has. Namely the Moonies and the DaVinci Code. (If you can call that "religion.")

You can imagine the stir that was caused when he stood up after several men of the church had prayed and asked if he could say a prayer. Not knowing what he intended, no one stopped him. Edgar began to pray to the Virgin Mary and the Saints! After a moment of shocked silence, the deacon stood and interrupted him and started right into the bible lesson. I believe Edgar thinks that he did not do anything wrong or offensive. He says that there should be "tolerance" for different religious "opinions." We continued to talk after church for about 30 more minutes. While we continued to state and reiterate that we base everything we believe and do on what the Bible says, Edgar kept referring to his heart and his feelings. When we pointed out that the Bible doesn't teach that Mary is a part of the Holy Trinity (which he does believe - although I'm sure trinity refers to only 3 persons, right?), Edgar interrupted and actually said that Mary is his co-redeemer.

We are spiritually exhausted from this conversation. It is good for us to defend our faith, but we want Edgar to know that we love him even though we disagree with him. We need to be more ready to give that answer for our faith and we need to have God's word on the tips of our tongues because it is His words, not ours, that can pierce the heart.

Please pray for Edgar and all those here in Bogota that he represents who are so spiritually blinded. People who believe that they should follow their heart. People who believe more in philosophers or priests than in the Holy Word of God. People who base their total faith on things that are mere custom and man-made tradition with little or no scriptural basis. People who recieve "direct revelations" from a god that cannot be our God.

Praise God that we have an effective Advocate before God the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.

Things Lost... and Found

Jen — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 21:07:00 -0700

Life here has been so very crazy lately. We have been juggling many things... and trying to manage it all!

To begin with, we have been hunting for an apartment. There have been several apartments that we have been interested in and even made "offers" on. (The monthly rent is usually negotiable.) But so far we feel that we have just been running into closed doors. Over the weekend we both felt that we should pursue one apartment that we originally did not have peace about. Once we contacted the office, we were told that the apartment had already been rented. Within an hour or so the agent who was showing the apartment called to tell us that the paperwork fell through on the guy who had tried to rent it... so would we like to see it again? Our emotions went from up to down to up again within 24 hours. Let me pause this story to tell you about the things lost...

We've been very blessed to have a lot of visitors lately! Last week Daniel's grandmother (Joyce Wyatt) and sister (Karen Mee) came and spent several days with us. It was so fun to spend time with family. Eliana especially loved the extra attention. Then this weekend we had a visit from Laura Carter and her daughter Makayla. They were involved in a gymnastics meet here in Bogota and had come to our house to stay. I was so busy baking and enjoying all that hostessing involves... and then came the phone call from a friend to tell me she had found some free stuff (in another post I will tell you all about my free "blessings" from the Lord!) So I jumped in the car with her and we rushed off to find the treasures... and then I had to rush back home to host 10 missionaries for lunch... and then when everything finally died down we realized that I didn't know where my wedding ring was. Lost.

Last I could remember I had taken the ring off while I was rolling the dough for snickerdoodle cookies. Very messy. And I remembered placing the rings on the counter. But we searched and we searched and I kept feeling more and more sick to my stomach. We even went through two large trash bags of kitchen refuse, making sure it hadn't accidentally gotten thrown away in a napkin. (Like my retainer did about 10 years ago.)

At one point between sobs and tears I asked Daniel, "Is God in control of little things like lost rings?" He assured me that yes, God knows exactly where that ring is. God uses trials like these to test our faith... and I was reminded of that woman Jesus told about who lost one of those coins (probably from her wedding veil) and how she swept the whole house looking for it... and when she found it, she rejoiced and told all her friends.

Well, we had to stop looking for the ring because we had another appointment to see that apartment. This time, we looked past the things that needed repairing and thought of all the good assets, and we started to get really excited. Until the realtor told us that the price was not negotiable and that the landlord would not come down. Again my emotions plummeted. Daniel reminded me on the way out to the car, that God works through things like this too. Since we are begging Him to show us where He wants us to live, He will lead us there. He already has people lined up that He wants us to know and build relationships with and tell about Him. He knows we are seeking Him and His will with our whole hearts. He will not let us get the wrong apartment. So if the landlord really won't come down just $25 more dollars a month on the rent, then perhaps that's God's way of keeping us from making a mistake. And if the landlord changed his mind, then perhaps that's the open door we've been looking for.

So we arrived back home with saddened hearts (reminding ourselves to hope in God) and troubled minds (where could that ring be!!!) and an overtired, hungry, cute, but oh-so-whiney baby.

After praying together, eating a bite, putting the little One down for the night... I began to straighten up the house we are staying in, praying as I picked up items and put away the folded clothes. I straightened up the back patio where I had been sanding and staining some of the free "blessings" from God... and when I moved an unused piece of sandpaper... there was my ring! My heart stopped. And started again. And I said, "Thank you, God!" I had taken it off so that it wouldn't get wood "sand" or stain on it.

We are still anxious to hear from the realtor tomorrow... but I am reminded that God knows, doesn't He? He knew where my ring was. I believe He led me to it... and He knows where the apartment is that He wants us to live in. He knows and has plans for us that are good. We will find Him when we seek Him with all our heart. (Jeremiah 29:11-14)

Thanks for your prayers!

Jen

May Newsletter 2011

Dan — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 17:09:00 -0700

MAY UPDATE

During the month of May we have continued to work on building the relationships we spoke of in the last prayer letter. Thank you to so many of you who responded to that letter, encouraging us to continue building those relationships and assuring us of your prayers and support! Truly, our work here would not be nearly as effective were it not for the prayers that you offer up on our behalf.

Click here for the full newsletter with pictures

Probably the biggest event in this month was our trip to the coast to visit two of our “team” missionary families, the Boyds and the Carters. The Carters invited us to stay in their home for three nights. We were able to see the church plant they are starting there in Santa Marta. They have a small group that meets Friday nights and then they have started holding church services on Sundays in a rented building. It was very interesting to be able to see both of these aspects of a new work. We were also able to spend time with both the Carters and the Boyds, asking questions, getting advice, and learning anything they would share with us about their experiences with this new church plant.

After spending four days with them, they helped us to find a rental apartment where we could stay for the next few days. Because it is the “low” season there in Santa Marta, we got an amazing price (and an even more amazing view—see picture above) and spent the next three days celebrating our 3-year anniversary! Oh, and did we mention that Santa Marta is HOT? I think it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say we took up to three showers daily! While there, we enjoyed eating some interesting foods (see “Cultural Cuisine” below), listening to street music (an accordion, guitar and maracas) until all hours of the night, (actually, we were trying to sleep!) and just spending some much-needed “us” time together.

MINISTRY

Daniel has continued to have many opportunities to preach and teach. He especially enjoyed speaking at the singles retreat out at the camp in Tenjo. The theme was rescuing the young person from mediocrity. He used his ruler illustration to show how short our life truly is and to emphasize the need passionately invest our lives in things of eternal value. He is also preparing to teach a two to three month Sunday School class on Jeremiah as well as a block class in the seminary. Such teaching opportunities are very exciting as our desire is to make disciples and equip people to serve God all over Colombia. We would certainly appreciate your prayers as the challenge and responsibility of teaching God’s word to nationals in a different language can be overwhelming. Praise God that his word is powerful and effective despite our weakness.

APARTMENT HUNTING

We are now beginning to look for an apartment closer to the area we hope to minister in. We have already spent hours looking for ads, calling and making appointments and viewing apartments. Please pray for us as we are in desperate need of God’s wisdom. There are so many things to consider: visitor parking (for new church plant, studies, etc.), easy access to public transportation, secure neighborhood and specific budget. We also need you to pray that we have wisdom and discernment to know when we are being told the real price or the “gringo price!”

CULTURAL CUISINE While in Taganga with the Carters, we enjoyed some fresh fish. I’m almost sure I saw this guy while I was snorkeling only about 30 minutes before I ate him! Later that week in Rodadero, we shared dinner with the Carters. Despite the name, it was really good pizza! When you come for a visit, we’ll take you there!

Prayer Requests:

Pray for Sergio. God is obviously working in his heart but he is hesitant to surrender. We will be starting a Bible Study this week on Mondays.
Pray for God to use the preaching/teaching opportunities at a youth camp, Sunday School, and the seminary.
Wisdom for where we will live and start a new work
Salvation of Emiliano, Juan, Freddy, Julian, Alfonso, Robinson, and Sergio.
PRAISES

God continues to work in our lives and the lives of Colombians for his glory.

PLEASE NOTE:

We absolutely LOVE getting letters and packages from the states! However, figuring out the mail system here has been difficult. We have found that it would be best to let us know if a package is being sent our way along with the customs number, so that we can be on the lookout for it here, as well as track it if necessary. THANKS SO MUCH!

April Newsletter 2011

Dan — Fri, 13 May 2011 10:20:00 -0700

APRIL UPDATE

As we shared with you last month, we are now involved in the ministry at the church in Pontevedra. Daniel has had several opportunities to preach and will begin teaching a two-month block on Jeremiah in the Sunday School hour. We have enjoyed deepening the relationships with the people in the church. We try to have at least one family over every week.

I have been able to start a bible study with a new member of the church and her mother. It is a blessing to see spiritual growth and a desire to learn more.

Click here for the full newsletter with pictures

IT’S THE RELATIONSHIP

Changing up our usual pattern of news, we want to dedicate this newsletter to sharing with you the importance of relationships here. In Foreign to Familiar: A Guide to Understanding Hot– and Cold-Climate Cultures, Lanier explains that learning the “temperature” of the culture is vital to reaching the people. She describes “hot” cultures as those that place more value on the individual person whereas the “cold” culture is often dictated by time, convenience, etc. Colombia would be described as a “hot” culture. People greet each other warmly with kisses on the cheek or hearty embraces. If someone has an appointment, but meets someone on the way, he will stop and chat with the friend, asking how the family is and how things are going… because the person is infinitely more important than the appointment. Although this can be a source of chagrin for the busy, time-and-schedule-oriented American, we see the need to try to slow down and seek to reach out to the Colombians in ways significant to them.

How do we do this? Remembering that our ultimate goal is to reach these souls for Christ, we have begun to see strategy in our everyday tasks. For example, we try to go to the same fruit and vegetable market where Andres and his friend are the owners. We stop by the drycleaners (and get 3 suits and 9 ties cleaned for $5) where Andrea and her husband work (she is 6 months pregnant). We make frequent runs to the corner bakery about five blocks away where Diana and Olga work (they love to see Eliana.) And our daily routines often take us past the little jewelry repair shop of Juan de Dios (who made a precious pair of tiny emerald earrings as a gift for Eliana) and the guard shack around the corner where Santiago always greets us. Each day as we meet these people, we attempt to show them that we care. We want to show Christ’s love to these lost souls. We often have opportunity, as the relationship deepens, to share why we are here and what we are doing. It may be that spending a few extra minutes talking with them, showing them that we care will be the key to opening up their heart to the gospel.

Some of these relationships have deepened and have reached the next level. Freddy, who owns a bike shop and with whom Daniel goes biking every other week, wants to begin studying the Bible with Daniel. Alfonso, who came with his little boy to our Resurrection Sunday service and then to our house for brunch, has already started reading and studying God’s word with Daniel. Emiliano, who is teaching Daniel guitar lessons, has conversed with Daniel about his disillusionment with the Catholic church and his desire to know truth. Julian, the university student who wants to practice his English, started the Bible study with Daniel and was thrilled with it. He also brought a friend who was excited to study!

We remember the joy it was to see both Guillermo and his wife Janet (in Costa Rica) come to know Christ. We first built a relationship with them that was followed by their interest in our “work” which led to the Bible study through which the Holy Spirit drew them to Himself.

We are reminded that we can do all we know to do but we can never bring conviction to the heart of anyone.

Psa 127:1 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Our ministry right now is building these relationships that we pray will lead to souls saved and the beginning of new churches. Our ministry would be completely futile without the work of the Holy Spirit and your prayers. Thank you for praying for these souls we are seeking to reach. Thank you for praying that we have courage and boldness to always speak the truth of the gospel.

Prayer Requests:

That God would make us worthy of his calling and fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power 2 Th 1:11
That God would give wisdom for several teaching/preaching opportunities coming up.
Wisdom for where we will live and start a new work
Salvation of Emiliano, Juan, Freddy, Julian, Alfonso, Robinson, and Alejandra

PRAISES

God continues to give open doors for ministry in the NU and here in Pontevedra
God is clearly moving in the hearts of several with whom we have been building relationships

Some things are just different...

Jen — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 17:13:00 -0700

When we were in language school in Costa Rica, we felt as though it was a stepping stone into the spanish-speaking culture. Each of these countries in Central and South America have differences unique to them. For instance, in Costa Rica, everyone says, "Pura Vida!" (Good life! or more loosely translated, it's just their way of saying "It's all good.") But in Colombia, everyone says, "Chevere!" (We would say, "Cool!")

At the language school, the teachers and mentors told us multiple times, "It's not wrong, its just different." While I have to mention that there are times when cultural differences cross the line into moral issues, there are times when, as Americans, we tend to think that the way we do things is THE right way.

I've been wanting to blog about some of these differences... so here is a random list of some of the things we deal with every day.

In Church:

Everyone greets you with a cheek-to-cheek kiss. And then they say goodbye with the same. Sometimes multiple times. Definitely requires bursting the American "private space" bubble.

Because pianos are very expensive and churches are generally packed into small buildings, guitars are used in most services. The Colombian guitar chords and rythms are totally different from the American sounds. Daniel has had to learn new fingering and strumming patterns.

Around Town:

We can't turn right on red. We can almost never make a left turn at all. If we need to get to that store on our left, we go past it one block, turn right, right and right again, cross the road we were just on and hopefully arrive at the store.

We pay our water bill at the grocery store. Any grocery store will do.

We can have just about anything delivered to our house on a motorcycle. Fast food, fresh vegetables, meat, light bulbs, you name it.

Because mornings and evenings are cool (around 55 degrees) it's common to see Colombians in winter coats, scarves, gloves, and ski masks. There are times when we are in t-shirts and the Colombians look like they are expecting a winter storm. (But it never snows here.)

Home Entertaining/Polite Manners:

We serve drinks on trays. I mean that when someone comes to our house, to just hand them a glass of pepsi would be rude. On a tray is the acceptable way.

When we invite someone to our house, they are the ones who indicate when they are ready to leave. Any kind of American-style, "Well, we've got other things to do this evening..." is considered very rude. So, when we invite someone to lunch, well, they just might stay the whole day.

Oh, and it has something to do with the pipes and sewer systems not being the greatest, but we have to put our toilet paper (used) in little trash cans by the toilet.

Those are just a few of the differences we have had to adjust to. As you can see, none of them are "wrong." Even if it's not the most convenient, or the fastest way to do it, or the most efficient, it's just different.

The Bike Story

Jen — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 16:00:00 -0700

Really I think it should be Daniel telling this story, but I'll do my best to get all the facts somewhat straight. So this is the story about how Daniel met the guy who USED to own his bike...

It was actually two weeks ago that Daniel had plans to meet a guy at the National University for a Bible study. The guy cancelled last minute. (We found out later that he was most likely just trying to keep Daniel from being on campus that day as some students were "demonstrating" and protesting.)

Daniel was a bit discouraged that the guy had cancelled and decided to head out to the campus anyway to spend some time hopefully meeting more students. However, along the way he was stopped (very politely) by a nicely dressed man who said, "Excuse me, but... where did you get that bike?" Daniel had purchased the bike a couple months ago at a used bike place. He told the man that. The man said, "You know, that looks just like the bike that I had... and it was stolen from me." Daniel said, "Oh no! I am so sorry." The man said, "Yeah, it is that bike. The only thing different is the back tire and the pedals." Those were the things Daniel had fixed.

To make the long story short, Daniel told the man that he had the papers that the "owners" gave him when they sold him the bike. Daniel asked the man if he wanted to report it to the police. The man said "No, I just want to know where those guys are so I can check there if another one of my bikes gets stolen." The man had a bike that was worth 10 times the amount of the bike Daniel had bought (that used to be his.) The man introduced Daniel to several of his bike-riding buddies and they all laughed at how he had "found" Daniel and his old bike.

Now Daniel has a new friend... and had the opportunity to share the gospel with this man. Oh, and later he found out that while he was meeting and talking with that man, there were riots and potato bombs and other things happening on the campus. Neat how God literally guides our steps (or our bikes) to keep us from danger and to lead us to souls He wants us to meet!

Busy Days...

Jen — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 16:55:00 -0700

I really must apologize to all my readers for the lapse in recent blogs... Let me sum up some of the past three weeks' events: First Eliana started teething! We had a rough couple of days with fevers and general grumpiness. Just when she was feeling better, she caught a nasty cold bug. It stayed with her for almost a week, resulting in nights with a humidifier and mommy in the room to try to help her breathe and sleep and exhausting clingy days. Thank the Lord she is all better now. Three teeth are showing every time she grins.

We have finished the visiting phase of our orientation process...

having visited all of the churches in the federation. Daniel had the opportunity to preach in several of them. It has been a blessing for us to get to know the national pastors and see the works they are doing. We have so much to learn from them concerning how "church" works in this country. Many things are different from our churches in the states. Learning things that work best in this culture helps us adjust more quickly.

Also, we now have friendships in the churches and good relationships with the pastors. This will be very helpful to us as we seek to work with these churches in planting new works.

One of the exciting new developments is the possiblity of working with a campus ministry as part of our strategy for church planting. The National Univerity is here in the heart of Bogota. Nearly 70,000 students are registered from all over Bogota, different parts of Colombia and even foreign countries. To our knowledge, there is no gospel outreach to these students. As we are looking to possibly rent a home near the university, we began to wonder if the Lord would have us work on building relationships with some of these students. We know of several students who are members of the churches in the federation. We are hoping to start some sort of Bible study with them that will encourage them to invite unsaved friends. We pray that God will give us wisdom in this. So far He seems to be opening doors to us. We met a Christian lady who is an English professor at the university. She invited us to come watch a presentation her class is giving and then to come again and speak in one of her classes. As we walked across the campus the other day, both of us felt our hearts being moved by the need. Smoking, drinking and doing drugs could be seen everywhere. Too much intimacy and not enough shame is rampant. The campus itself seemed jaded with communistic or revolutionary messages graffitied all over the campus walls. Even inside buildings along the classroom walls you could read the angst-driven words. Apparently every Wednesday there is some kind of riot or planned demonstration that sometimes gets out of hand and teachers and professors have to evacuate. Just this past Wednesday the riot got out of hand... something about students being upset about surveillance cameras being placed all over the campus... and the angry students donned masks and hoods and started throwing rocks and even stopped, stoned and smashed up a local transit bus. We saw one of the snack shop windows that had been smashed in by the rioters.

As you can see, there is a lot of need in this area. And there is a lot of need for wisdom on our part to know what the Lord would have us to do to build His church. Please pray with us concerning these developments. If He would have us to start a small group here in this campus, it would need to be done carefully and wisely... and it could have an amazing impact. Most of the students are from Bogota... and will graduate as professionals who could help us in starting new churches in different areas of Bogota. Others are from outside of Bogota, who could take the gospel back to their hometowns and cities. Please, please pray for us as we seek God's will in this matter.

Getting lost in Bogota...

Jen — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 18:55:00 -0700

Just so you don't worry throughout the entire blog, we did make it home safe and sound. Otherwise, I wouldn't be writing this blog!

Just four days ago on Wednesday night, we went to visit the church in Castilla. Because it was "missions emphasis" night, the pastor had invited Daniel to preach. We had already visited the church once before on a Sunday, so we knew how to get there. We arrived on time, Daniel shared his sermon, we fellowshiped with the people of the church and said our goodbyes. As we left, I sat in the back with Eliana since she was sleepy and a little fussy.

We easily found the main highway that we were supposed to take that would go right by our house. After about 20 minutes, I looked out the window and realized that I didn't recognize anything. Daniel was sure we were still on the right road because we hadn't turned off... but something was wrong. We started looking for street numbers (street signs can be rare and what there are tend to be miniscule) and the numbers were correct. But things looked "wierder" and "wierder." As the city lights began to diminish and the road took us by numerous factories and continued to climb up the side of a mountain, we finally realized that we had taken the main highway correctly - but in the wrong direction! Instead of heading north, we were all the way in the south of Bogota - almost leaving the city! Since there are no highway signs indicating if it's north or south, it's a fairly easy thing to do. In confirmation, we noticed that the street signs said "south" in very small letters on the bottom of the signs.

For those of you who know Bogota, you know that the further south you go, the more problematic the city. As we turned around, and headed back home, we thanked the Lord for keeping us safe. He kept us from getting a flat tire, or running out of gas, or getting into a fender-bender, all of which would have been very bad situations at 10:00 at night "on the other side of the track" if I may use that terminology.

We arrived home and breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Thank you all for your continued prayers for our safety!

And now we pay more attention to the side street signs... when we can find them.

Our "stuff"

Jen — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 15:06:00 -0700

Not knowing exactly what you will need when you get there, or what you might need before the shipment arrives, how do you know what to pack, what to store, what to keep, and what to get rid of?

Well, I'm sure there will be moments in which I smack my forehead in dismay saying, "Why did I pack this junk?" followed by groans of "Why didn't I keep or pack such and such?" Nevertheless, I am very eager for our 32 boxes to arrive. In them we have some household items, some sentimental things, clothes in the next few sizes for Eliana, some toys for Eliana and lots of books for Daniel's library. It has been an ordeal to ship the things here. In fact, we know of some missionaries who were headed to S.A. (South Africa) and their shipment ended up HERE in Colombia, S.A. (South America)! Somebody really should figure out how to re-label the two "continent/countries" without such confusion! Our stuff almost went to South Africa, but we were able to correct that mistake before it shipped.

Apparently the government was planning to impose some new tax on the truck drivers, so the drivers all banded together and went on strike. From what I understand, the strike was in the whole country of Colombia. Here in Bogota on Highway 80, they abused their permission to demonstrate peacefully and created a traffic block with their trucks across the highway! From what I heard, nearly 50 drivers were arrested. One driver who refused to join the strike was pulled from his truck after the protesters had set it on fire. He was badly burned.

So our stuff has been waiting in Cartagena for the strike to lift so that it can be transported here by truck.

I can't express to you how it feels to live here - in a country where the people seem to have so much power. I know the US is a democracy in which the people have "power," but this is a raw, lawless "power" that is frightening. I never realized how safe and secure I felt in the states... and I know I haven't experienced anything that others have. I haven't been in my home when robbers entered. I haven't had a gun pointed to my head. I haven't had a loved one kidnapped or killed. But these things have all happened to missionaries here. I took for granted that the deadbolt on my US apartment was enough to deter theives. I even left it unlocked several times by accident! I took for granted that the police would maintain the peace in my neighborhood and that the armed forces would keep my country safe.

I find myself reminded that no matter where I am, only my God can truly be my source of security. No person or government or system of public protection can be my security. But God is so much more! He is ultimate security. I do face a lot of fear here, but as I deal with it daily and as I learn to venture out in His strength and protection, I remind myself:

Isa 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Psa 18:2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Psa 56:3 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

Psa 56:11 In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.

January 2011

Dan — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 16:38:00 -0700

“Withal, praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ… That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.” Col 4:3-4

This is our desire! Pray fervently for us that God would use us daily to spread the gospel and to bring glory to His name!

Clik here for the full newsletter with pictures

January came and went in a blur. We have begun to settle in to the house we are renting from some missionaries. We are enjoying the house and its closeness to the seminary and some of the other missionaries… but we did experience an attempted break-in. Thankfully, the robbers were unsuccessful and we were not at home when it happened. For the full story, check out our blog!

We both have begun to meet people and share Christ with them. Daniel has started a Bible study with Robinson. Pray that as they continue to meet several times a week, God will convict Robinson’s heart with his need for Christ.

I have met several ladies in our neighborhood. Pray specifically that I will meet them again and get to talk with them about Christ. Alejandra is one lady with a young daughter who I met in the park.

WE HAVE A BLOG!

Be sure to check our blog! I have started chronicling the events of our new life here in Bogota with the hopes of sharing some of those everyday details with those of you who are interested. Keep up with our latest news and help us through our everyday struggles with your prayers. You can find our blog on our website:

www.prayformee.com

Feel free to leave comments or email us with any questions, advice, encouragement, etc.

We believe that God has called us to Colombia for life. Because of that, it is vital that we lay a good foundation for future ministry. In between getting settled and doing all kinds of legal paperwork (for cedulas, driver’s licenses, etc.) we have had the opportunity to visit some of the churches here and meet the pastors. We want to learn from the Colombian pastors how to “do” church planting in the Colombian culture. Daniel has had the opportunity to preach in a couple of the churches.

Pastor Omar & Gisella with Eliana

We have enjoyed meeting the pastors and building relationships with them. We hope to encourage them in their ministry work and to learn as much as we can from them.

Please pray as we plan and prepare to plant a new church in an area of Bogota that has great need of gospel witness when Jonny and Susan Bolin return from stateside assignment. Please pray for wisdom.

Prayer Requests:

God’s grace & strength in our new environment
Cultural keys to unlock the hearts of the Colombians
Future Home-currently renting a missionary’s home… will need to find a new place in the next 6-9 months
Shipped luggage to arrive safe, sound & hassle-free
Robinson—Bible Study
Alejandra—developing friendship

PRAISES

We arrived safely in Bogota
Have already had many opportunities to share the gospel
Eliana is learning to be flexible with time schedule, etc.
We have a great team of missionaries that have done so much to help us get settled.

Email: dan.elliotmee@gmail.com

Stateside Address:

Daniel & Jennifer Mee

c/o Oak Ridge Baptist Church

1451 Bethel Valley Road

Oak Ridge, TN 37830

Colombian Address:

Daniel & Jennifer Mee

A.A. 85060

Bogota, Colombia S.A.

Attempted Break-In

Jen — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:07:00 -0700

Some of you may know what its like to experience a break-in. Some of you may have had things stolen. Some of you may have an alarm system on your house. But I'm sure that the majority of you just have one door with a dead-lock on it. And you feel safe in your house....

First let me describe our house. Or rather, the missionary's house that we are renting. The front yard is about 6 feet of grass stretching from the house to the sidewalk. The yard is completely surrounded by a white wall. Our house touches both of the houses on either side of it so that the only way in is through the front gate. The front gate has a lock and a padlock. The second gate (into the carport) also has a lock and a padlock. Once inside the carport, you still have to open the one or two locks on the door into our house. So, you've had at least five locks to open before you can get into the house. (Better hope you don't have an emergency or need to use the restroom really bad!)

There is a back patio, but the walls of the patio stand above 6 feet tall and are connected to the other patios of the other houses around us.The only way in is through that front gate.

We stepped out Sunday evening to go to the breadstore for some fresh bread. On our way back, it was almost dark. As we rounded the block to our house, we heard a siren or an alarm. It sounded kind of like a house alarm. My first thought was, "Someone's breaking into our house!" As we neared the guard shack (There is a "guard" on every street.) We saw two men, most likely a father and son, run up to the guard shack and talk excitedly, gesturing down the street. We passed them and walked on to our house. The alarm was coming from across the street. Just as we let ourselves into the second gate, those two men came up to our gate and told us what had happened. They had seen three young guys jump the wall into our yard and then try to break into the second gate. They set off their own house alarm by pushing the emergency button and this scared the guys away. This all happened only seconds before we got home. We weren't sure that someone hadn't jumped on the roof and climbed to the back patio, so Daniel "secured" the house while I waited.

I'm sure something like this will happen again. It seems like everyone here has a break-in story... and this was just an attempt. But pray for us... that we will be wise and careful, that I will trust in God, the One who keeps me safe, and that I will be able to sleep even with the alley cats tumbling on the roof in the night!

Ministry...

Jen — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 14:47:00 -0700

It has been a busy week. We are currently in what our field team calls "orientation." This process includes a lot of practical things like getting our cedulas (Colombian identification cards), driver's license, processing the things we are shipping, etc. All of these things take a lot of time, a lot of paperwork and a lot of patience...

Orientation also includes learning things about the culture here. Learning how to get around the city, whether by taxi, bus, transmillenio (kindof like a really fast above-ground metro/trolley bus), or car. We are learning how to interact with our neighbors and people we meet.

The best part of orientation has been the ministry side of it all. We get to visit several of the churches that have been started by our mission team. So far we have visited a work in Tunal, Tenjo, Pontevedra, Molinos and the church called Nueva Vida. We enjoy meeting the pastors (all of these churches have national pastors) and their families. We are spending time with the pastors and families when we can and doing our best to learn from them about Colombia, the culture, the needs of the people and how to interact without offending! At almost each work we visit, Daniel is asked to come again and preach. Our schedule of visiting and revisiting is quickly filling up!

On the neighborhood side of ministry, we have been praying that God would open doors to us with our neighbors. So far, Daniel has met several people that he has been able to build friendships with. One is the owner of a bike shop! Of course Daniel can find a lot to talk with him about, but their conversation has also led to the gospel. Pray for him that Daniel might be able to lead him to Christ. Another person God has sent Daniel to is his barber! Daniel met Robinson for the first time during his haircut. The conversation they had led to Robinson sharing that he felt God wanted him to learn more about Him and to be a "better person" this year. Daniel was able to start a Bible study with Robinson and they have met three times already. Pray that God will continue to soften Robinson's heart and that he will accept Christ as His Savior.

I haven't met as many people as Daniel has... I have to take care of Eliana and the home. But I have met another young mom named Alejandra and her little girl Mariana. I first met her while taking Eliana for a walk in the park. Alejandra and I had a neat time talking. Please pray that I will continue to meet her in the early afternoons and that I might build a friendship that will lead to gospel conversations.

Pray that the hearts of the Colombians will be open and tender to the Holy Spirit's leading. Pray that our own hearts will be tender... to know when to speak and whom to speak to.

Experiencing...

Jen — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 19:49:00 -0700

Cheese in your hot chocolate? Toilets without seats? Full steak dinner for $8.00? So many different things we are experiencing, learning, and enjoying!

Today marks two weeks in Bogota. We are now in the house that we will be renting for the next year or so. This way, we help the missionaries who are back in the states by caring for their house and they help us by renting the house to us at a lower price. I was expecting tile floors, but there is carpet throughout the house! Apparently most houses in Bogota have carpet to help keep the house warmer as the temperature is an average of 50-70 degrees in the daytime. Eliana is enjoying being able to scoot (not crawling yet) around on the floor with her toys.

Last Friday we were invited to a meeting concerning the summer camp program. It was neat to be able to fellowship and observe how they conducted the meeting and the different things they talked about. Half-way through we were served little plates with two croissants, a slab of white cheese and a cup of hot chocolate. You can imagine my surprise when the lady next to me started breaking off pieces of her cheese and dropping them into her hot chocolate! (If any of you do that, please let me know!) When I asked her about it, she commented that it was just “delicioso” and all the Colombians eat/drink their chocolate/cheese that way! And yes, I did try it. It was kind of like some gooey cheese in hot chocolate. There’s really no other way to describe it. I’m not sure why they love it that way, but maybe I will learn with time.

We have found that Bogota is a very nice, clean city. There is a perfect mix of old-world and modern. You will see new buildings right next to a very old building with chipped paint and old windows. We visited a mall last Saturday night, looking for a bookstore that might have a map of Bogota. As we tried to figure out the three-floor mall, we found the kiosk that tells where all the stores are. It was actually a computer screen with touch-screen options. When we selected “bookstore,” it gave us a virtual tour detailing how to get to the store from where we were! I’ve never seen one like that in Knoxville or Greenville. You can imagine my surprise at the contradiction of technology and facilities when I discovered that the bathroom toilets had no seats! Suffice it to say that we are learning Bogota!

We have discovered a few neat little restaurants and cafes where the food is absolutely delicious! Lunch is the big meal of the day here. You might get a large steak with potatoes (baked, boiled or French fried) and salad, or you might choose the traditional “ajiaco” soup that has corn, potatoes and sometimes capers in it. Both of those dishes can be around $8 or $9 including your fresh fruit drink.

I hope this gives you a little picture of what our everyday life here is like so far… I will keep you updated as life continues and next post I will share a little of what our ministry life looks like.

December 2010

Dan — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:21:00 -0700

We left the states on January 6th. I know this is the December newsletter, but surely you will forgive me for including a few of the events of the past week and a half. We said tearful goodbyes to all our family members and lots of friends and church family. It is hard to think that when we return, Eliana will be 3 years old!

We arrived in Bogota late Thursday evening. Again, having a little baby in a Latin culture can be very advantageous. We were escorted around 300-some passengers right up to a counter for customs. It took us hardly 15 minutes to get our visas stamped, get our bags and exit the airport! We were greeted by some of the missionaries on our “team” here in Bogota. We have spent some time with them over the past few days as they have shown us around the city. We have a lot of things to learn here. It can be an overwhelming thought to think of all the new things we have to learn like cooking at a 9000 ft. altitude, shopping in markets and new stores with different foods, finding doctors, getting documents and paperwork done, learning how to drive in a place where the road and traffic laws are different but you’re responsible for them even if the road isn’t marked, and just life in general. Pray that God will give us grace and strength as we learn all these things.

Also pray that we will be able to find the cultural keys to unlock the hearts of these people so that we may develop relationships that lead to friendships, opportunities to share the gospel and ultimately, discipleship.

For the past two years you all have sustained us with your prayers throughout the pre-field process and language school. But that was just the beginning. Now more than ever we need your prayers, your encouragement and your support. Thank you so much for taking part in what God is doing here in Colombia!

Click here for the full newsletter with pictures

WE HAVE A BLOG!

www.prayformee.com

Feel free to leave comments or email us with any questions, advice, encouragement, etc.

P.S. The blog says that it is “by Dan” but it’s actually by Jen.

Thank you all for praying for our visa process! Because we needed to get that done in Atlanta, we “had” to come home during the Christmas holidays! Thankfully, as you already know, our visa process took us one hour! We were able to enjoy the rest of the holidays with family. It was wonderful to spend time with family and friends. Eliana enjoyed seeing her great-grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins for the first time! She loved seeing her grandparents again also. We spent a lot of the time packing and preparing for Colombia. We are shipping some bins of our household necessities to Bogota. We would appreciate your prayers that everything arrives safely and without too much hassle. The biggest hurdle will be to get it all through customs… we’re thinking we might take Eliana to help speed up the process like it did with the visas!

In short, the month of December included: graduation from language school on December 10th, flight to the U.S. on December 10th, application and receipt of visas for Colombia on December 13th, time spent with family in South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee, meeting with our “boss” Jonny Bolin on December 28th, packing up all our earthly belongings in our spare time, and a few snow days as well! It was a great time!

Prayer Requests:

God’s grace & strength in our new environment
Cultural keys to unlock the hearts of the Colombians
Transitions—currently living in seminary upstairs… will be renting missionaries’ home in 2 weeks
Shipped luggage to arrive safe, sound & hassle-free

PRAISES

We arrived safely in Bogota
Have already had several opportunities to share the gospel
Eliana is learning to be flexible with time schedule, etc.
We have a great team of missionaries that have done so much to help us get settled.

Email: dan.elliotmee@gmail.com

Stateside Address:

Daniel & Jennifer Mee

c/o Oak Ridge Baptist Church

1451 Bethel Valley Road

Oak Ridge, TN 37830

Colombian Address:

Daniel & Jennifer Mee

A.A. 85060

Bogota, Colombia S.A.

Sunday

Jen — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 20:18:00 -0700

We awoke to a drizzle... not really a "sun"-day. We were picked up by the Trouts in their little red 1980-something Chevy Spirit and we visited the church out in Tunal, about 30 minutes from the seminary where we are staying. The church, which meets in an old theatre building, is pastored by a national pastor. Bob Trout, our field director, was invited to speak in their services. When we drove up, the first thing I noticed was the "salmon" and "aqua" paint job. (Some people might just say "pink" and "blue.") The next thing I noticed was that there was no parking lot. We just kindof parked on a sort of sidewalk area right in front of the building. Most of the 300-some congregation walks to church, so there is no real need for parking! Inside, the building was large and neatly kept, also with the same aqua and salmon decor. The chairs were the white plastic type most Americans use on their back porches. The chill and the draft didn't seem to deter the faithful. Most of the congregation simply wore their coats, scarves and gloves throughout the entire service. The worship service began around 9:45. Around 10:45 we had a break in which women came around with steaming plastic cups of what I think was Chamomile tea. The second service (all the people stayed for both services) had more singing and anouncements and then the preaching again. This service lasted until a little after 1:00. Because it was the Sunday after the Day of the Kings (the day the wisemen brought gifts to the Christchild) we were served Christmas Tamales wrapped in banana leaves accompanied with hot chocolate. We enjoyed meeting the people, who were all so friendly and the pastor and his wife. This church was started by a missionary who was killed 15-20 years ago. The pastor who is now pastoring the church was being discipled by that missionary at the time of his death. It is so neat to see how God has blessed this church.

Eliana is definitely our key to relationships here. Please pray that God will continue to use her sweet smile and blue eyes as an open door to building relationships that will develop. Everywhere we go whether to church, the market, the store, or just walking down the street, she invites comments like, "Que belleza!" or "Ay, que linda!" (What a beauty! or Oh, how cute!) Pray that as we get to know the people in the market and in the bread stores, etc., we may have conversations that lead to sharing the gospel with these people.

Colombia is beautiful! The room we are in right now is cold. (But we now have plastic and some tape to cover the high window in the bathroom that doesn't have glass or a screen.) We are comfortable (in layers and sweaters) and at times lonely for home. Really, there is everything here that we need in order to survive... and comfortably. Of course we miss family and friends, but as we catch glimpses of the work that God is doing here in Bogota building His church, we feel the fire of excitement kindling inside of us and we can hardly wait to see where He will have us fit in to His work here. Pray that we will be faithful, that we won't give up or give in, that we will love Him more than anything else.

Waking up in Bogota

Jen — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 21:41:00 -0700

I woke up this morning to the soft, hazy sunlight peeking through the crisscrossed iron bars on the windows. The air was nippy and my nose was cold as I got up to face the first day in Bogota.

We arrived last night around 10:00. Our flights were smooth with no delays and no fussing baby. Eliana slept through almost all of both flights. This time there were no blow-outs, no spit-ups and no scream fests! On the almost-five-hour flight from Houston to Bogota, God had arranged for us to have an empty seat next to us, so Eliana got to sleep on the seat for no extra charge!

In Bogota, as in most Latin countries, families with small children get extra-special preferential treatment. So, we sailed past the snaking line of maybe 300 passengers waiting to go through customs and were escorted right up to a window. After we found our four suitcases, we juggled them and our three carry-ons, diaper bag and baby as we exited the airport. There was another stop where they review your customs entry form and supposedly inspect your bags. Again, we were just waved on through.We praise the Lord for allowing us to have such an easy experience this time.

We were met just outside of the airport by the Wheelers, their son Josh, our field director Bob Trout and Heidi Gott, a single missionary. They brought us white roses and welcomed us like family! We arrived at the seminary building and unloaded our luggage. We fell into bed thanking God for bringing us here safely and for allowing us to begin the next phase of our life here.

So after I figured out where I was when I woke up this morning, Daniel and I shared our first breakfast in Bogota together. The seminary building has a kitchen downstairs that we are able to use. As I drank what I later discovered to be not orange juice but an orange-flavored soy drink, I looked around at the tile floors and the cement walls and the chipped paint that is so characteristic of a Latin country, and I felt strangely at home. Things here are different and often far-removed from the easy comfort of the American lifestyle, but I resolve not to constantly compare but rather to revel in the beauty of the small things, like the gorgeous wooden roof in our room that looks like it should be the flooring not the ceiling! Or the delicious fruit drinks (the ones made from real fruit not soy) and fresh yummy bread.

Thank you all for praying for us and being a part of our ministry in this way. I know He hears your prayers. The ease of our travels yesterday can only be explained by your intercessory prayers for us. Please pray that as we adjust and learn about the cuilture here that God would cause us to love Him more and more. Pray that He would be the sole reason that we are serving here, so that when we get tired of the food or we miss American things or when we get frustrated with the culture and certain behaviors, we will continue to serve faithfully... because we love Him more than the food or the people or whatever.

November 2010

Dan — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 16:32:00 -0700

NOVEMBER NEWS!

This was our last full month here in Costa Rica. We have had no “fall” weather here and no colorful leaves. Everything here remains lush and green year round. When it came time to celebrate Thanksgiving, we felt odd that it was warm outside and the leaves were still green! We did enjoy turkey for Thanksgiving with our American friends and about 10 unsaved Ticos who were invited to join us. We pray that our time together was one of testimony and example to those people. (By the way, we had class on Thanksgiving Day since it is not a recognized holiday here!)

Click here for the full newsletter with pictures

On the day after Thanksgiving, we took our big tests. One is an oral test called the ECO and the other is a three-hour written grammar test. We both made A’s on the written test and we scored Advanced Medium and Advanced High on the oral proficiency test. Thank you for your prayers for us during this time at language school. It has been a blessing to be able to focus on language acquisition. (As you can see our little one stole our teachers’ heart!)

GRADUATION DAY!

This past Friday, December 10th, we were able to graduate from the Spanish Language Institute in San Jose, Costa Rica. We both received our diplomas. We are sad to leave the friends that we have met and formed bonds with here in Costa Rica, but we are also excited to move forward to the next step God has for us in Colombia. We feel that we have learned much in Costa Rica that has helped to prepare us for Colombia.

What a privilege it has been to be here in Costa Rica for the last 8 months! We have become better equipped to share the most important message accurately in Spanish. We have learned extremely important lessons of culture and ministry through national pastors, being involved in the local church, relationships with Ticos, and little aspects of everyday life. Thank you for your support and prayers that have sustained, strengthened and allowed us to be here.

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS!

Thank you for your prayers for Don Guillermo and Doña Janet. Janet had asked if we could meet to study God’s word.

We were able to get together Monday afternoon for three hours! I was able to share the gospel with Janet and to answer several of her questions from God’s word. Near the end of our time together, she asked me directly what she needed to do to have a relationship with God. Later she prayed and put her faith in Jesus Christ. We cannot express the joy we feel to have seen her make this life-changing decision.

We had dinner at their house on Tuesday evening in celebration of our graduation. It was a good time of fellowship and the joy in Janet’s face was so incredible. Both Janet and Guillermo came to our graduation on Friday. The speaker was a pastor from a good, nearby church. We were able to introduce them and encourage them to begin attending that church. Please pray that the pastor and our friends that we have left in contact with them will be able to disciple them and help them to grow in the Lord.

COLOMBIAN VISAS!

Thank you all for praying that we would be able to obtain our visas. We arrived at the Colombian embassy office in Atlanta today and turned in all the paperwork. The lady was very kind and surprised by all the paperwork we had together. Praise the Lord for giving us favor in her eyes… she gave us our visas just an hour after we turned in the paperwork! (Taking Eliana helped too!

How You Can Pray For Us:

ü Travel plans… arriving stateside Dec. 10th… arriving in Colombia Jan. 6

ü Pray that God will provide for the deficits in our outfit and passage budget and in our regular support.

ü neighbor Guillermo & family

Praises:

ü Eliana has all her paperwork!

ü Language studies are finished!

ü Juan Randazzo a certified translator served us by translating all of our documents!

ü We received our Colombian Visas on December 13th!

ü Doña Janet Ramirez—accepted Christ!!!!