So for those of you who do not know, my trip to Colombia was 100% God's work. I just remember one Thursday evening, before Winter break, I attended our InterVarsity(Christian fellowship on campus) group meeting and afterward I wanted to say hello to a woman I had met through friends, Denise. Denise is such a wonderful person, btw. Anyways, I kind of just poked my head into her conversation and became part of it, she and others were talking about their trip to Colombia over winter break and I was just asked what I would be doing and I said not much, and I was invited, just like that! Some would say that was sketchy, but I figured if I could raise the money then I should go because there's a reason for me to go. Thank you, Christmas, I was able to raise my money.
In Colombia, we stayed in this ranch-style place called Monte Sion which was run by evangelists. It was such a beautiful place, I knew I wanted to climb some kind of mountain while I was in Colombia and my first day there I did, in Monte Sion's "backyard," that's how beautiful it is there! It was very surreal, I felt so blessed. You could say that my reason for going there was to evangelize. I knew when I accepted to go that I would have a difficult time with the whole evangelism part because I didn't know how I felt about it. I have always taught myself to be respectful of people's beliefs and not to push anything on anyone.
I remember while I was there, I journaled about these feelings and struggles I was having. I do have to say that God was faithful, in the upcoming days, people very casually answered my questions or offered a reply in random times. It was crazy to see God work through them. I was really thankful to meet the people I did, everyone seemed to inspire me in their own way, especially the people I met that were close to/ my age, there. I think in terms of meeting people, it was very humbling to meet people who were so welcoming, so many people offered to take us out and show us around. While on our campaigns, we got the chance to talk to people, the day before our last day there Josh, Daniela, and I spoke to this cery young family about God and it was nice to see a family who was together and accepted God into their lives that day. Family was huge in Colombia, which may have prompted a breakdown over mine one night, but that's just more to pray about.
I think the trip definitely strengthened my faith and just made me continue to volunteer and travel, to get to know people and different places. There's nothing like it.
I'm sure, I'm forgetting a bunch of stuff in this post, but I can always blog about it more. If you have any questions, please ask :)
Back here on campus, I'm starting to feel more like myself and I'm also feeling blessed to have the friends that I do have here. I definitely don't have thousands of friends but I have the ones I need, which I appreciate. They're always there for me and spent so much time trying to cheer me up. :) Love you guys.
P.S. If you know anyone, who would be willing to donate to me, I'd like to send some money back to Monte Sion for letting me stay there for 11 days. Let me know! :) I have plenty of thank you cards I'd like to use. Love you all.
Here are some of my favorite pictures:
We made a fire and had an intimate/ fun conversation under a very starry sky.
This was in Sopo, such a beautiful little town, well at the top of a mountain, can you spot the person parsailing?
Lights in Chia, a city close to bogota, in the background, the little green dot is a Cathedral in the mountains.
This was during a campaign, the "youth" were dancing, at the end, Josh's hand is still in the air :)
Ajiaco: typical Colombian dish, self-explanatory. Nom nom nom.
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