Our Christmas break is over, it was a wonderful time of relaxation and being refreshed both physically, mentally, and spiritually. Here is an overview of our break.
Santa Marta. We started off on a trip with a school family, a couple ECA students and some ECA graduates. We used some of our personal savings to cover the cost of the trip. We flew to the coast to scuba dive and stay with an ECA missionary family. It was fantastic to see God’s creation underwater. The diversity of species were fantastic! Steve got scuba certified and Marlayna worked toward increasing her certification. Our exploration of the city took us to the oldest cathedral in South America, to a couple parks, and a beach. We spent Christmas with the missionary family and experienced a ‘Colombian’ Christmas. The family gathered late Christmas Eve, with a lot of music, food, and conversation. At midnight they exchanged some gifts.
Once we were home in Bogota, we laid low for a couple days, recovering from ‘something,’ something we probably ate. So we used the time to read. Over break, we each finished three books; the books were either for pleasure, personal growth, or to implement with the students we disciple. Steve finished: Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands by Paul Tripp, Teaching Preemptively by Donavan Graham and Treasuring God in our Traditions by Noel Piper. Marlayna read: Living the Cross Centered Life by JC Mahaney, Dandelion Dust by Karen Kingsbury, and Treasuring God in our Traditions by Noel Piper
Upon feeling better, we started to explore our city. We visited three different parks and successfully made it to and from the parks without getting lost on the public transportation. The first park was a petting zoo, which we actually met-up with other ECA families to see the animals. Elleazah did rather well with the animals. She was a bit timid with some of them but really enjoyed others. The second park we went to was similar to central park in New York City. It was a large green area with many paths to walk on. A botanical garden was next to the park and we loved the tranquil environment of the garden. The ‘jungle’ portion and the rose garden were our favorite parts. The last park we went to was Parque Jamie Duque, which was a cultural history park with a zoo. There were many monkey exhibits, which were our favorite area, but we also liked how close you could get to some of the large cats (tigers, pumas, etc). Lastly, we had to chuckle when we saw the squirrel exhibit, but the Colombians LOVED the little rodents! The squirrels were some of the smallest squirrels we had seen! It was such a blessing to go; a relative from a school family owns the park and admits ECA workers into the park for free! It was so good to get out and enjoy the warm, sunny weather of the season, especially after the rainy season we had up until the end of the semester.
But now we are getting back into the school routine with our discipleship continuing, both one-on- one and in small groups, and preparing for class lessons.
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