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Wednesday, January 9th
This morning we met the people from the Ultralight Club...they are sooo nice! We talked with them, they showed us their airplanes, and we were able to share testimony with them. We decided not to worry about our situation, and just enjoy the people God had placed in our path. Cristina doesn't have an Ultralight, but she runs the office, so she travels with them from time to time. She loves the Lord a lot...she told us that she doesn't have any family, but the family of God has taken her in! We also talked a lot with Daniela...she's making one last trip with her dad before she goes off to school!! Her dad's Ultralight was one of the ones that crashed yesterday...everyone else headed out this morning, but Daniela decided to stay with her dad...to spend a little more time with him. It was a good morning.
By the time things settled down, we went back to talk to Cande. We don't have a way into Colombia, nor a stamp in our passport, but we know God's going to work something out! All of a sudden these guys from Capurganá said they'd take us for $20. We don't pay for transportation, but the Ultralights had given us $20 specifically for transportation. So we hurried to pack our bags...we weren't sure if it was right to go with these guys or not because they were pretty rude! We just prayed as we packed that God would close the door with them if we weren't supposed to go with them. Packed and ready, we headed back to immigration...just to the Panamanian office in hopes that they would stamp the exit without having to go through the Colombian office. Well, no...we had to go to the Colombian office. The consulate’s secretary was much more rude today than yesterday. There was no way she was going to stamp our passport. We went back down to the Panamanian office...that guy was nicer, so we just kept praying...the office was closed. (Apparently, the schedule posted on the door is only a suggestion.)
Chris and I decided to take a picture outside the closed door because we know God is going to open the door. Romans 4 talks about Abraham and how he believed God. Verse 17 describes the God of Abraham as"...the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were." Then verse 20-21 gives us an example to follow..."Yet he [Abraham] did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised." Praise God for His Word...it is such an encouragement!!! We continued to pray, talk to Daniela, and wait outside the closed door. All of a sudden out of nowhere, a group of tourist came walking over the bridge. The first one to greet us was Gabriel. We just had to smile. They explained that they were all from Medellín, Colombia, and they were on vacation. They were on their way back from spending the night in the San Blas islands. They asked what was going on with us, and we told them of the problems we were having. The Panamanian immigration agent walked up about this time. Ivon quickly spoke up on our behalf, but the agent firmly told Ivon that we had to have something proving we were going to exit Colombia. That's when we learned that Ivon speaks English. He asked if there was internet in this town because he had an idea. We showed him where it was (remember this town has only had internet for a little over a month), and he went to work. He was on the phone and on the internet. He called his travel agent and had her make reservations for us that he would cancel in a day or two. Within 30 minutes, he had the print out in his hand, and we went back to the Colombian office. It was closed. We found the Panamanian agent and told him we had what we needed. He didn't even look at the paper!!! He just stamped the exit for us. The Colombian office was still closed. They told us that they were taking us with them to Sapzurro, Colombia right then. No more waiting around in Panama!! Wahoo! Praise God!!! From there, we could walk to Capurganá and get our passports stamped!
When we got to Sapzurro, they asked us to stay with them!! We couldn't believe it! The guys have been friends since high school, and now they are all in their 30s. None of them are married or have any kids, so they all get together for vacation every Christmas and usually one other time of the year. Of course, all of their girlfriends come along as well. So one extra couple was no big deal! We were soooo excited to take a shower even though it was COLD water! It's been so long since we've had running water--a little more than 6 weeks. After we were cleaned up and settled in, Gigio, a professional photographer, and Daniela, his girlfriend who is studying environmental law, started talking to us. We learned that Ivon and Guayava (whose real name is Gabriel) are the owners of 3 of Medellín's hottest nightclubs. Apparently, we are staying with the "owners of the party" in Medellín. God has a purpose in this too...not sure what yet, but certainly trust God's plan!!
Little by little we met the rest of the couples...Juliana, Ivon's girlfriend who sells wine; Nana...Guayava's girlfriend who is just finish high school; Kike who works for a huge TV station in Medellín and his girlfriend, Mariana who has US citizenship...she speaks perfect English, and she owns a pet store where she sells Persian cats; Mauricio who works in publishing and his girlfriend, Juliana who does the research for a women's TV program; Mauricio and Melisa we didn't get to know very well; and Jaime who is a professional photographer in Milan, Italy. Quite a group...it was a long night too! We are used to getting up between 5 and 6 am and going to bed by 9 pm!! We finally had to just give up...and go to bed. We couldn't make it any longer. Tomorrow should be interesting...
Thursday, January 10th
Chris and I were up long before the rest of the crew...it gave us a good length of time to pray about what we needed to do today. Once everyone was awake, Yenny came over. She's from Sapzurro and is cooking for this crew while they are here. I was all too excited to see her prepare arepa con huevo that we had heard so much about. It's a thick corn tortilla with a fried egg inside of it...needless to say, I wrote down a couple of new recipes!!
The group was planning to go to La Miel, Panama. (La Miel and Sapzurro are actually the border towns between Panama and Colombia, but neither of these towns have immigration in them. You can walk the trail back and forth between the two towns really easily.) I was concerned about walking on to Capurganá to get our passports stamped. I didn't want any more trouble!!! Ivon wanted us to stay and go to La Miel with them and go to Capurganá tomorrow. Yenny's cousin had just stopped by for a visit, and it "just so happened" that his good friend works in the immigration office in Capurganá. So he called her, and she said that we had a 48-hour grace period to get our passport stamped.
So after lunch, Chris and I headed out to La Miel with the group. We swam, snorkeled, and chatted with them most of the afternoon. It was a pretty good afternoon all in all.
When we got back to the house, two new guys were there. We still aren't sure who they were...it was really weird. After chatting most of the afternoon, no one spoke to us for an hour or more. Chris and I walked out on the pier to look at the stars and to pray. We just asked for God to give us an open door either to stay or to leave, but that it would be clear. A little while later, we went back up to the house and sat in one of the hammocks. Almost immediately, Ivon came up to us and said, "God sent you here for a purpose." So we stay for a little while longer.
We had supper with the group, and soon afterwards, it was as if everyone wanted to talk to us. Such a change from earlier...no idea what happened. We especially spent a lot of time talking to Gigio, Daniela, and Jaime. We managed to go to bed a little earlier tonight even though the rest of the group was still going strong.
Friday, January 11th
Today we woke up again long before the rest of the group. We spent some time seeking the Lord, and then we decided to walk on to Capurganá. God had not released us to head out yet, so we left our stuff at the house.
We weren't completely sure about how to get to Capurganá, but God sent several guides along the way. The last one was Hernan who also invited us to his house to see the view of Capurganá from up high. It was beautiful. The overlooks of both Sapzurro and Capurganá are incredible...I'm afraid that these pictures don't do the view justice, but you can get a taste of it.
As we walked into town, we tried to make a plan...passports first, change some money...we have no pesos, eat, and try to find an internet cafe. We asked God to go before us...and walked on.
When we got to the immigration office, Yenny's cousin was waiting on us! He had already shared our story with his friend, and we had no problems getting the entrance to Colombia stamped. BUT she only gave us 60 days on our visa...in all of Central America they gave us 90 days every time we entered a new country. The countries in Central America are tiny in comparison to Colombia. God knows what He's doing. We'll just trust Him...we still have a long way to go to get to Turbo though!!
We changed a little money and went back to a restaurant that we had seen earlier called "La Fe" (The Faith). As we walked in the door, we saw an open Bible on the table. We were in the right place. We talked with Hna Mercedes, the owner, for quite some time. She shared of the struggles that they have had in this community. Many Colombians can't travel outside their own country to vacation because of the bad reputation that Colombia has, so they have to vacation within their own country. The coast of the Chocó is the hot spot for people from Medellín to visit. The guerrilla attacked Capurganá in 1999 and tourism ended for a time. Many people had to leave Capurganá because tourism is the only way that they make money. Plus they feared for their lives.
So it's been difficult economically for this small town, but it's a very dark place spiritually as well. They have a Catholic church that next to no one attends, a church that doesn't believe in the Trinity, and one Assembly of God church with 7 members that has experienced several divisions. People aren't interested in living for God or knowing Him according to Hna Mercedes. She's a member of the church with 7 members...they are struggling...they just want someone with some training to come and teach them from God's Word. Many of the people in the community can't read, so they can't learn from God's Word on their own. We learned from Hna Mercedes that there are no churches in Sapzurro. God has definitely burdened our hearts for these two communities!! Oh, how we will be praying to come back and to share the Gospel on a regular basis!! We prayed together with Hna Mercedes, and then began our journey back to Sapzurro...praying the whole way!
We quickly got showers before the rest of the crew got back from their day at the beach. We were able to chat with quite a few of the group tonight. Nothing profound, but at least the door was open for communication. We had supper, and went to bed earlier!!
Saturday, January 12th
We woke to seek the Lord early again this morning. Still no clear idea of when we are supposed to leave. We thought that we would be able to go with some of the group as they headed back home. Several of them actually invited us, but there weren't tickets available on the boat. So we continue to wait on the Lord for guidance.
Jaime left early this morning. Then we had breakfast with the group and washed our clothes...finally!! Still washing by hand, but I'm getting a lot better at it! Ivon and Juliana left this afternoon. The rest of the group went to the beach, and Chris and I stayed at the house to write a little bit. We are sooo far behind on our journals. We won't even think about e-mail! It was good to have a little break and get a little work done.
We had supper with the group, and they took us around town so that we could see some of the sights that we hadn't seen. Sapzurro is completely dependent on tourism. So the people of this community have to make their living 3 months out of the year. The rest of the time they live off the land and the sea much like the Kuna. Sapzurro is also interesting because it's a haven for artist. It reminds me a lot of Asheville, NC. They too suffered an attack from the guerilla in the late 90s. The entire town emptied out. People started coming back about 3 years ago. Our hearts have been touched by the stories people have shared with us. The people of this country have suffered a lot!!
We are hoping to find a church or have our own service tomorrow…we’ll have to see what happens…still no clear idea of when we should leave. We’ll be in touch again soon! We love you! God bless you and keep you!!
Wednesday, January 9th
This morning we met the people from the Ultralight Club...they are sooo nice! We talked with them, they showed us their airplanes, and we were able to share testimony with them. We decided not to worry about our situation, and just enjoy the people God had placed in our path. Cristina doesn't have an Ultralight, but she runs the office, so she travels with them from time to time. She loves the Lord a lot...she told us that she doesn't have any family, but the family of God has taken her in! We also talked a lot with Daniela...she's making one last trip with her dad before she goes off to school!! Her dad's Ultralight was one of the ones that crashed yesterday...everyone else headed out this morning, but Daniela decided to stay with her dad...to spend a little more time with him. It was a good morning.
By the time things settled down, we went back to talk to Cande. We don't have a way into Colombia, nor a stamp in our passport, but we know God's going to work something out! All of a sudden these guys from Capurganá said they'd take us for $20. We don't pay for transportation, but the Ultralights had given us $20 specifically for transportation. So we hurried to pack our bags...we weren't sure if it was right to go with these guys or not because they were pretty rude! We just prayed as we packed that God would close the door with them if we weren't supposed to go with them. Packed and ready, we headed back to immigration...just to the Panamanian office in hopes that they would stamp the exit without having to go through the Colombian office. Well, no...we had to go to the Colombian office. The consulate’s secretary was much more rude today than yesterday. There was no way she was going to stamp our passport. We went back down to the Panamanian office...that guy was nicer, so we just kept praying...the office was closed. (Apparently, the schedule posted on the door is only a suggestion.)
Chris and I decided to take a picture outside the closed door because we know God is going to open the door. Romans 4 talks about Abraham and how he believed God. Verse 17 describes the God of Abraham as"...the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were." Then verse 20-21 gives us an example to follow..."Yet he [Abraham] did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised." Praise God for His Word...it is such an encouragement!!! We continued to pray, talk to Daniela, and wait outside the closed door. All of a sudden out of nowhere, a group of tourist came walking over the bridge. The first one to greet us was Gabriel. We just had to smile. They explained that they were all from Medellín, Colombia, and they were on vacation. They were on their way back from spending the night in the San Blas islands. They asked what was going on with us, and we told them of the problems we were having. The Panamanian immigration agent walked up about this time. Ivon quickly spoke up on our behalf, but the agent firmly told Ivon that we had to have something proving we were going to exit Colombia. That's when we learned that Ivon speaks English. He asked if there was internet in this town because he had an idea. We showed him where it was (remember this town has only had internet for a little over a month), and he went to work. He was on the phone and on the internet. He called his travel agent and had her make reservations for us that he would cancel in a day or two. Within 30 minutes, he had the print out in his hand, and we went back to the Colombian office. It was closed. We found the Panamanian agent and told him we had what we needed. He didn't even look at the paper!!! He just stamped the exit for us. The Colombian office was still closed. They told us that they were taking us with them to Sapzurro, Colombia right then. No more waiting around in Panama!! Wahoo! Praise God!!! From there, we could walk to Capurganá and get our passports stamped!
When we got to Sapzurro, they asked us to stay with them!! We couldn't believe it! The guys have been friends since high school, and now they are all in their 30s. None of them are married or have any kids, so they all get together for vacation every Christmas and usually one other time of the year. Of course, all of their girlfriends come along as well. So one extra couple was no big deal! We were soooo excited to take a shower even though it was COLD water! It's been so long since we've had running water--a little more than 6 weeks. After we were cleaned up and settled in, Gigio, a professional photographer, and Daniela, his girlfriend who is studying environmental law, started talking to us. We learned that Ivon and Guayava (whose real name is Gabriel) are the owners of 3 of Medellín's hottest nightclubs. Apparently, we are staying with the "owners of the party" in Medellín. God has a purpose in this too...not sure what yet, but certainly trust God's plan!!
Little by little we met the rest of the couples...Juliana, Ivon's girlfriend who sells wine; Nana...Guayava's girlfriend who is just finish high school; Kike who works for a huge TV station in Medellín and his girlfriend, Mariana who has US citizenship...she speaks perfect English, and she owns a pet store where she sells Persian cats; Mauricio who works in publishing and his girlfriend, Juliana who does the research for a women's TV program; Mauricio and Melisa we didn't get to know very well; and Jaime who is a professional photographer in Milan, Italy. Quite a group...it was a long night too! We are used to getting up between 5 and 6 am and going to bed by 9 pm!! We finally had to just give up...and go to bed. We couldn't make it any longer. Tomorrow should be interesting...
Thursday, January 10th
Chris and I were up long before the rest of the crew...it gave us a good length of time to pray about what we needed to do today. Once everyone was awake, Yenny came over. She's from Sapzurro and is cooking for this crew while they are here. I was all too excited to see her prepare arepa con huevo that we had heard so much about. It's a thick corn tortilla with a fried egg inside of it...needless to say, I wrote down a couple of new recipes!!
The group was planning to go to La Miel, Panama. (La Miel and Sapzurro are actually the border towns between Panama and Colombia, but neither of these towns have immigration in them. You can walk the trail back and forth between the two towns really easily.) I was concerned about walking on to Capurganá to get our passports stamped. I didn't want any more trouble!!! Ivon wanted us to stay and go to La Miel with them and go to Capurganá tomorrow. Yenny's cousin had just stopped by for a visit, and it "just so happened" that his good friend works in the immigration office in Capurganá. So he called her, and she said that we had a 48-hour grace period to get our passport stamped.
So after lunch, Chris and I headed out to La Miel with the group. We swam, snorkeled, and chatted with them most of the afternoon. It was a pretty good afternoon all in all.
When we got back to the house, two new guys were there. We still aren't sure who they were...it was really weird. After chatting most of the afternoon, no one spoke to us for an hour or more. Chris and I walked out on the pier to look at the stars and to pray. We just asked for God to give us an open door either to stay or to leave, but that it would be clear. A little while later, we went back up to the house and sat in one of the hammocks. Almost immediately, Ivon came up to us and said, "God sent you here for a purpose." So we stay for a little while longer.
We had supper with the group, and soon afterwards, it was as if everyone wanted to talk to us. Such a change from earlier...no idea what happened. We especially spent a lot of time talking to Gigio, Daniela, and Jaime. We managed to go to bed a little earlier tonight even though the rest of the group was still going strong.
Friday, January 11th
Today we woke up again long before the rest of the group. We spent some time seeking the Lord, and then we decided to walk on to Capurganá. God had not released us to head out yet, so we left our stuff at the house.
We weren't completely sure about how to get to Capurganá, but God sent several guides along the way. The last one was Hernan who also invited us to his house to see the view of Capurganá from up high. It was beautiful. The overlooks of both Sapzurro and Capurganá are incredible...I'm afraid that these pictures don't do the view justice, but you can get a taste of it.
As we walked into town, we tried to make a plan...passports first, change some money...we have no pesos, eat, and try to find an internet cafe. We asked God to go before us...and walked on.
When we got to the immigration office, Yenny's cousin was waiting on us! He had already shared our story with his friend, and we had no problems getting the entrance to Colombia stamped. BUT she only gave us 60 days on our visa...in all of Central America they gave us 90 days every time we entered a new country. The countries in Central America are tiny in comparison to Colombia. God knows what He's doing. We'll just trust Him...we still have a long way to go to get to Turbo though!!
We changed a little money and went back to a restaurant that we had seen earlier called "La Fe" (The Faith). As we walked in the door, we saw an open Bible on the table. We were in the right place. We talked with Hna Mercedes, the owner, for quite some time. She shared of the struggles that they have had in this community. Many Colombians can't travel outside their own country to vacation because of the bad reputation that Colombia has, so they have to vacation within their own country. The coast of the Chocó is the hot spot for people from Medellín to visit. The guerrilla attacked Capurganá in 1999 and tourism ended for a time. Many people had to leave Capurganá because tourism is the only way that they make money. Plus they feared for their lives.
So it's been difficult economically for this small town, but it's a very dark place spiritually as well. They have a Catholic church that next to no one attends, a church that doesn't believe in the Trinity, and one Assembly of God church with 7 members that has experienced several divisions. People aren't interested in living for God or knowing Him according to Hna Mercedes. She's a member of the church with 7 members...they are struggling...they just want someone with some training to come and teach them from God's Word. Many of the people in the community can't read, so they can't learn from God's Word on their own. We learned from Hna Mercedes that there are no churches in Sapzurro. God has definitely burdened our hearts for these two communities!! Oh, how we will be praying to come back and to share the Gospel on a regular basis!! We prayed together with Hna Mercedes, and then began our journey back to Sapzurro...praying the whole way!
We quickly got showers before the rest of the crew got back from their day at the beach. We were able to chat with quite a few of the group tonight. Nothing profound, but at least the door was open for communication. We had supper, and went to bed earlier!!
Saturday, January 12th
We woke to seek the Lord early again this morning. Still no clear idea of when we are supposed to leave. We thought that we would be able to go with some of the group as they headed back home. Several of them actually invited us, but there weren't tickets available on the boat. So we continue to wait on the Lord for guidance.
Jaime left early this morning. Then we had breakfast with the group and washed our clothes...finally!! Still washing by hand, but I'm getting a lot better at it! Ivon and Juliana left this afternoon. The rest of the group went to the beach, and Chris and I stayed at the house to write a little bit. We are sooo far behind on our journals. We won't even think about e-mail! It was good to have a little break and get a little work done.
We had supper with the group, and they took us around town so that we could see some of the sights that we hadn't seen. Sapzurro is completely dependent on tourism. So the people of this community have to make their living 3 months out of the year. The rest of the time they live off the land and the sea much like the Kuna. Sapzurro is also interesting because it's a haven for artist. It reminds me a lot of Asheville, NC. They too suffered an attack from the guerilla in the late 90s. The entire town emptied out. People started coming back about 3 years ago. Our hearts have been touched by the stories people have shared with us. The people of this country have suffered a lot!!
We are hoping to find a church or have our own service tomorrow…we’ll have to see what happens…still no clear idea of when we should leave. We’ll be in touch again soon! We love you! God bless you and keep you!!
1 comment:
Chris and Rachel, This is all SO amazing. I'm so thankful to read all this! Tom and I have decided to visit Peru around September/October. We hope to spend about half the time in Trujillo with the Elliots and then go to Cuzco and Ayacucho. It would be so awesome if you guys were there at that time. We shall see. Love you guys much!
Love,
Amy
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