Mission Colombia

Well, I learned of something that infuriates me more than I could have imagined. Hail. Torrential hail. Friday afternoon we had hail. Hail of the mammoth proportions that I have not seen since I lived in Texas. According to our neighbor this hail happens once every 4 years about. I happened to have been in Potosi at the time of the storm, so I was only to see the residue and the destruction that this hail caused and which specifically affected me by crippling my communication. The hail on the roofs here caused flooding in our house and in my apartment, thus damaging my computer and keeping me offline for a couple days, thus I apologize for the lack of communication but as in the immortal words of John Malkovich, "It was beyond my control."

This was actually one of my lesser stresses. Lately the poverty of the area has been pushing in on my gleeful state. On Thursday morningI went in to church early and saw a girl who was doing recycling. By that I mean that she was wandering from garbage basket to garbage basket along the street taking what she could bring to the recyclers for money or drugs. Her mode of transport was a rickshaw style cart which is rather popular here and is about the size of a compact car. This girl was in front of the church and had overburdened her load. She could no longer pull the handles down far enough for her to pull the cart even with all her weight, which couldn't have been more than 100 lbs. I walked over to her cart and pulled it down for her and was then able to see that her sister was asleep on top of the pile of cardboard. I nearly broke. This girl has been haunting me in this past week as I've driven through the rain and seen the foot of hail collected on my porch.

It has been her dirty face that I've thought back on when I feel the petty nothings that annoy me. This computer fiasco is NOTHING compared to sleeping in the freezing cold to wake in the predawn before the garbage truck passes. My car had a broken clutch, nothing. I just can't help feeling utterly useless in the face of such palpable need.

So, after cleaning the house and airing out the bedding which was eventually to be my damp repose I passed out early in preparation for the Saturday rush. Saturday was a hoot. I spent the morning helping out a friend from church who owns a restaurant. I was introduced to the mad wonders of the plaza wherein one can find just about anything, especially on a Saturday. The place was Brownian motion unsettlement in a most particular degree. My spirit felt molested after leaving that place of sensory overload. We then picked up some tables from a rental joint and headed back to the restaurant where Geena's family was in full swing for a 80 person meal. I was put in charge of meat ( yum) and felt like Mel (y'know, the cook on Alice).

There is a certain allure to the insane industry of food service and I had a most frabjous time cooking and serving after which I raced off to Potosi. I am confident that the group at Potosi will be a delight to work with as they have so much heart for what they do in a place where they are of the dust caste. It is a danger to leave a car unattended for 5 minutes here. The pastor, Mario, has purchased purchased

Alright, if there wasn't a loud enough plea for a laptop here's one. I need a laptop. I can't keep up with the blog well since I'm only at home for a couple of hours waking. I spent all the day yesterday finishing the invitation to the 200+ pastors who we've chosen for our mailer. I almost got something done in a day. I had the help of one of the church elders for several hours, but I still had to wake up at 5 to get everything finished. I made off to the embassy today and forced them to take my ballot. I arrived at the embassy to find that my car windows no longer functioned, a major security issue in the car crime capital of Colombia. I raced to my electrician's office and found out that my clutch was blown. I drove around for a while without a clutch by turning off my car at stop signs. Car ownership is annoying to say the very least. I have to get up again in the morning before "pico y placa" which starts at 6am, so I have another early morning.

Laptop please.
ttfn

Ok, so I nearly was in a coma. Sunday was an exhausting blur of lifting, eating and sad moments. The bazaar was a hit with all sorts of foodalicios delights. Unfortunately, I was so tired from the experiences of Friday night that I had to steal a nap at church for a skosh. I might have eaten something that was bad. Today my left lymph node in my neck is apple sized and tender as a stolen moment. Went to bed earlier than I've gone in a while. I'm rather sure I'm sick and presently closer to full exhaustion than I've been. Spent the day in the office again and this evening went to the associate pastors house. A friend brought by another who is suffering at this point in her pregancy. Must sleep. ttfn

Long day. Friday thru Saturday. Exhausted am I. Friday I went into the office in the morning to lend computer assistance to a fairly large project. We are sending out invitations to the churches of Bogotá to learn about the rehab program so that they might have some resources in combatting this horrendous issue. There are 670 registered churches in Bogotá. None of them are in an address book. We located an excel file containing names and addresses of the pastors, but due to special characters in the spaninsh language, transfer into the address book was quite a bear (as Mr. Lozano would say). At the end of my "office space" incarceration, the principal and pastor from Potosí School came into town to meet with me at 5 and discuss my scheduling. Tuesday and Friday I'll be teaching english and systems at the school. Every 15 days on Saturday I'll have a music class before my rehearsal with the worship team at Potosi.

Then I had youth group from which I left early to prepare Mauricio's feast. Mauro turned fifteen on Thursday. The party was great. There were at least40 people here till 1 am. A smattering stayed the night here downstairs from my apartment in the old office of the Bogotá Mission Committee. Now it is the Youth Group room. They were still partying away till 3:30 in the morning. I have a commission which I pay daily at 5 am. An hour and a half of sleep was not enough to prepare me for today. I made breakfast for 10 in the morning for the few who had been able to get a couple hours of sleep.

I was to pick up my car today at 9:30, but it wasn't ready. Instead, Arturo and I spent till 2 walking about the neighborhood where my car was being prepared talking to the afflicted. The addiction problem here is EVERYWHERE. Hanging out with Arturo was amazing. He was stuck on drugs for about 13 years but was liberated after going through the program. He has no problem now just stiking up a conversation with the filthiest of sketchiest looking person on the street. They carry aroung recycling on their backs usually to take to a local depot. At the recycling center they can either be paid in pesos or in "bazuko" (sp?). This is the drug of choice for the majority of these wretched refuse.

Bazuko is made from the slough of the cocaine production process. When cocaine is being refined, there are a large number of impurities that are removed from the white death powder. This run-off is collected and dried. It varies in color depending on which acids were used for the coke production. This gum is mixed with any whitish powder from drywall, cooking supplies or best of all ground up bone, often human. This is then smoked and, according to Arturo, it is instantaneously addicting. The drug using community of Bogotá finds crack too expensive and not nearly as "buzz"worthy as bazuko which eats away the body like a demonic and acidic parasite. Some of the guys we spoke to had no teeth left and all their faces were sallow mockeries of human forms with eyes bulging and cheeks sunken in. We took a lunch at 12:30 and I just cried.

At 2:30 my car was ready and we quickly made off to our meeting with Pastor Jurado at Unicentro (big mall!). We were handing out fliers for the drug rehab program. I learned about flash bangs. They are small handheld explosives used to drug people in the street and thus rob them of their belongings. To get close enough to the victim's face, the assailant will often hide this small package in a stack of fliers, thus no one will take a flier from you in the street unless you shove it into their hand.

A better alternative, while slightly more dangerous is to wait at the red light and then walk from car to car that has an open window. It is best to show both your hands and hold out just one flier at a time, this way the drivers know you aren't carrying a gun. The people are much more friendly and actually say "thank you" since you've just given them something to while away the eternity they'll be spending at that stop for free! In this manner, I quickly went through my handouts and then took off for church.

We drove to Soacha at 4:30 and made it there by 6. It is 30 miles away, but as usual traffic here is ridiculous. We had a wonderful time with the youth group there who were celebrating their day of Friendship and Love. It's kinda like Valentines day without the Saint, and it seems to be celebrated on an arbitrary basis. For instance, we celebrated it 2 weeks ago at Normandia. I don't get it really. Culture shift. The youth group there really is a youth group comprised of 13-17 year olds. We all drank mulled wine and had some great noodles and cake. We played a number of games which were par for funny large group icebreaker type games and then we just hung around and talked. This church works with the displaced populations from farms taken by guerillas.

We tried to get home at 8, but Monica directed us in the wrong direction during a switch back while trying to get out of the standstill traffic. We ended up in a part of town where we could no longer see the city lights and the roads were no longer paved. We headed back the way we came and were in sight of home quickly once we went up the Avenue of Americas. Even with me dropping off every one of my passengers home, I still made it back within 10 minutes of Mauricio who took a bus from Soacha. Traffic is insane.

Ok, I got church tomorrow and a bazaar afterwards. I will be comatose by Monday.
ttfn

Dancing a little Irish/Mexican jig all day today. I gotta ca-ar, I gotta ca-ar. Yeah, sorry must seem fairly petty in light of the tragedy and desparate need with which I'm surrounded, but I think Beatriz is right in her statement that a man is only complete once he has his car. I remember as a kid how exited I was when I bought my first car. My mom helped me find a 1975 Buick LeSabre, Bessie. At 22 feet long she was an epic occasion that flowed over streets and was drunk with her consumption of gas. One truly felt like royalty in a ride of such tremedous proportions.

Andres loves cars. We hung out at his auto shop for most of the day. His friend from elementary school is a third generation car enthusiast and pro mechanic. We had a great time figuring out the alarm system and putting on new tires. I bought the car for a low price but it does need some work. Latin Americans put shut off switches in their cars. It is usually a switch in the car that shuts off the ignition, but the thing I find obvious about that is that just about every modified car has one. I asked Richard to install a button into the door disguised as a screw head. Pretty hilarious.

Cows. Since no one is asking I'll tell you a little. At the Suesca farm we'd like to develop a dairy so that the program can become more fiscally autonomous. I'll be asking the Trinity Covenant to do a Krispy Kremes drive to buy a dairy cow. This kind of sponsorship would be a God send as we are running out of funds for some of our other areas of ministry.

The TV show which is broadcast in Colombia on channel 1 has run out of working funds, so we can't produce any more until we come up with some more revenue. The show doesn't have enough commercial sponsors for it to run on its own. The testimony for the show is tremedous. A prostitute who was tricking had her TV turn on at the max volume and she couldn't help but listen to the show. She is now at church every day trying to dissolve the vestiges of her former life. That was last week. This Sunday at chuch 11 people came to Christ during an altar call. 6 of those people were at the church because of their exposure to the TV show.

Awed and amazed am I. I am Jack's sense of uselessness.
ttfn

I bought a red Wrangler and I hope to send photos soon, if I can only find a person who'll sell me only what I want. Worked on the paper work for the car today. The lady who found the car waived her usual finders and negotiation fee and instead asked me to pray for her at 5 every morning.

A couple of things that annoy. Light switches on the outside of rooms. Milk that comes in one litre bags. Filth and noise everywhere.

The garbage truck smells like limes. There are so many different things here. I often end up laughing at stuff that is so new to me. Parking spaces for the handicapped and the pregnant. The pregnancy signs are great. "For sale" painted in spray paint on the side of houses. I find the Colombians looking at me in humor from time to time for something that I just can't stop laughing about.

We went to a poorer part of Bogotá today and that has left me pretty raw. I gots to get to bed. Too tinered.
ttfn

Maybe we've got it! So much scouring about for the right car. Found one that is a yucko red. I hope with this color it won't be attractive for theives. Max is sick and we couldn't get to the vet in time to bring him home. He threw up yesterday and this morning his back legs wouldn't work. I hope he's ok. I love my morning and evening walks with him. I would be pretty bummed if we didn't have him around anymore.
Tired. I think I might be fighting what the Bunches have been afflicted with. I have been groggy the past couple of days. It's interesting to see Andres get worked up about stuff, he uses hyperbole like sugar for coffee.
to bed. ttfn

Mordecai made it back. Hung out with him for a while today and he relayed to me all his adventures in the north of Colombia. It was quite a pleasure to share some time with this very graceful man. Everyone at church has been asking about his health and travels. It is a shame that he could not stay a time longer with this family who has been praying for him so faithfully.

Today may be the day. I have two appointments for car examination. The one I had been originally looking at turned out to be a dud in the engine, so I only hope that one of the many which we looked at on Saturday may turn out to be a winner. Wranglers are the order of the day. So cool.

I may be able to send some more pictures to y'all soon but that remains to be seen whether the means will become available. ttfn.

In the morning my computer sings "I can see clearly now". Today was one of those days. Unfortunately, something is up with the weather. The weather was totally breathtaking, but something must be up with the pressure in the air. One of the guys who came out of the program invited me to lunch. His mom owns a restaurant and they bring home all the extras which were yummarific. Before and after the meal, we were all pretty tired, but afterwards, we fell asleep on the livingroom furniture. The rest of the youth group came over, but I couldn't get ungroggy. Four of the folks from youth group were also pretty tired for the duration of the get together. It was just a little weird with everyone in a odd torpor.
ttfn, must sleep.

Another adventure tonite with the dudes. More car shopping this morning. We went to several abouts and found a sweet looking beige Wrangler. Yummy. Then we had a wedding of a couple of pastors which was most wonderful. Pastor Andres talked about the choice of love vs. the feelings of love. It got me thinking about our will and God's will for us, I began to mull the sweetness of being chosen and how that is the same sentiment God desires, to be chosen. He who is big enough to bend a heart like pharoah, is big enough to bend all our hearts. I found it beautiful. We had rehearsal till 7 after the wedding, and then I took directions from a bunch of people who don't drive to a Christian cafe. They had some great music, but when somebody would start dancing, they'd stop it. We went out front and danced, but I'm not planning on going back. I don't plan on sitting on my duff in the great hereafter listening to music and humming along with the chorus from time to time. I think heresy comes in different flavors and I ain't gonna stomache forced ignorance.

Another busy day of car shopping. Arrgh. It turns out that the way money is routed to the banks down here is far from fool proof. Lana sent funds from Chicago, but somehow they ended up in Medellin. After three hours everything was ironed out, but now I've got to ensure that the Wrangler I'm looking at doesn't fall apart. Wow, so frustrating.

Talked to Glenn Kopang about sending down a container of clothes for the program. It would be an enormous blessing to have that come through. The guys get cold up there in the mountains. Also, Andres met with a lady from the church who has gone to prostitution. We're trying to obtain new clothes for her, so she's not always slutty looking.

Hung out with the kids at youth group, but I was fairly knackered. to be ttfn

Well, the adage is holding true, "Nothing happens in a day in Colombia." My cell phone lady hit another blockade last night and found that the service plan they want to put me on requires that I've resided in Colombia for three months. ARRGH! These people love the red tape. I signed and thumbprinted at least 8 sheets. I gave them two photos of me. I gave them two work contracts from both parts of the Church, the Foundation (drug rehab) and the Church (school, church). I don't understand why this is so hard.

Ardent and intelligent. I am amazed at what I've been translating for y'all. Most of the report cards from the kids to the foster parents in the US are put together by the teacher, but I have one here that I have to share

Sister,
I salute you cordially desiring that this letter finds you in the best
health. I address myself to you to thank you for the collaboration
that you have entered into with me.

Sister, I promise you I will not disappoint you. At school I
endeavor to be a good student. My name is Laura XXXXXX and I am 11
years old.

I am confident in the Lord that I will continue being a good student with the
help also of my dear mother and the teachers.

May God bless you forever,
Laura

Talk about intense. I never wrote like this when I was ELEVEN. Yikes. I tell you these people are so passionate about how they live their whole lives.

I've got rehearsal tonite. Must bring earplugs. too freakin' loud.

Bill Bensink is right. Nothing gets done here in a day. I went with the neighbor, Hector, to check out his car. His sister is a missionary in the United States. He used to work as an economist for a major supermarket chain here in Colombia. He is now retired and that might be part of why we took all day in getting the car checked out by mechanics. It's an old Wrangler hardtop with the 4 wheel drive linkage removed. We left the house at 8 and he dropped me off at church at 2:30pm. I had a meeting with my cell provider and I should have a cell by today.

All the Bunchs are sick with some kind of flu. Maybe I've seen "At Play in the Fields of the Lord" one to many times, but I can't help but feel that I've brought some super-virus with me from the US. I feel great, I look great and Jesus loves me.

Max and I are heading out to the park that is adjoined to the neighborhood we live in. It's a couple of miles long and is kinda dark at night. It's good having a dog to hang with. Max really was in a gang at one point so he has occaisonal violent tendencies. He is trainable, but it's taking a lot of repetition.

J&K: I'll be sending you a newsletter this week hopefully. Thanks ya'll.

Oh, btw, I don't mind getting e-mails.

Wow! The lightning here in the Andes is incredible. Holy guacamole. It is so intense in its volume and proximity, you feel the power. Actually, I'm kinda worried about blowing out my computer so I'm probably shutting this down soon. Well, yesterday was a rather long Sunday. Two services and the bass players were both out of commission so I had to play. They have such an energetic service. They jump and dance and ... wow. So, we were in church till nearly two and I found out shortly that I had invited the youth group to my apartment to watch movies. I had 20 folks in my dinko apartment till 9 watching "Espinaza del Diablo" and "Stuck on You". They made a ginormous mess of the place and ate everything. I slept in this morning a little later than usual with this perfect 12 hours of dark and light. I keep waking at the dawn. Today I looked at a Jeep Wrangler which I plan on purchasing for my time here. I had a few meetings today with Andres and with my cell provider. Worked at church for a while on the computers and then went for a walk with Max (labrador retriever) in this torrent. The two seasons here are wet and not so wet. Remind you of anywhere?

Well, I'm out folks. Got some oblivion to visit.