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I want to share some things with you that have happened in the past week. The first thing is that I had my first doctor experience here in Colombia. I am lucky that Abi teaches some doctors and so I was able to see a doctor specific to the problem, which was ear ache and dizziness. We arrived and after a 2 minute wait, went to the doctor's room. She was really friendly and spoke slowly and clearly for me. She checked my nose, eyes, mouth and ears and when checking my mouth put pressure on the inside of my jaw, which did hurt. She said that I had wax in my ears and tight jaw muscles, which was the cause of the ear ache. She said it could also be part of the dizziness but not necessarily and I should consider having blood tests if nothing changes. She then proceeded to syringe my ears clean with water to remove the wax. The wax came out and no joke it was literally like a dead bee in my ear…well both of my ears had this! Absolutely vile! Sadly Abi and I were too shocked to think of taking a photo…maybe it was best we didn't! She prescribed me a muscle relaxant as well to take for 3 weeks. She thought the cause of my tight muscles is teeth grinding at night, but I think it's because I have the bad habit of chewing my nails…no more of this! So there you go, first docs experience was a success and I was very impressed with the professionalism and her knowledge. Hopefully I won't have to go back though. I do think though I will need the blood tests once I come back to England. Sadly, I am still having dizziness, some days worse than others. Boooooooooo!
I was also reminded last week of how we should act towards one another. I have been struggling with a few things and was feeling a bit pent up and annoyed. I read this passage and realised how I had been and how it wasn't acceptable and wanted to change my behaviour. This is the passage "1 Peter 1:22-25New Living Translation (NLT)22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart. 23 For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. 24 As the Scriptures say, People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field. The grass withers and the flower fades. 25 But the word of the Lord remains forever." And that word is the Good News that was preached to you". I was also reminded of how I haven't craved God much for a long time, and read this passage from 1 Peter 2:2 "Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment."
At the weekend I had the opportunity to apply both of these passages at the 45 year celebration of the project that I am involved in here. It was all weekend including the Bank Holiday Monday. Friday morning I really didn't want to go. I was feeling overwhelmed and just anti-social; plus I didn't think that I would understand anything. I helped with getting things to the retreat house and preparing the rooms (putting the names on the front of each door) with Lorenzo. As usual, we were running late, as we had driven in and around Bogota for about 3 hours collecting things! Anyway we managed to finish as people starting arriving at the retreat house. In total there were 80ish people staying. I then helped locate people, as the house was a bit of a maze and not easy to navigate at first. The programme was starting that night with introductions, logistics, etc and I was surprised that when I concentrated I understood the majority of things said. Throughout the weekend we had Bible studies, devotionals, testimonies, group discussions, the celebration, worship, a farewell to Grace as she is leaving her position as general secretary, getting to know the new general secretary, and a concert from a man named Santiago Benevides and his band. He is a Christian song writer/ singer who is linked with UCU and who I met in February for the first time. He recognised me which was cool and we had a bit of a chat. The theme of the weekend was "The mission of God", looking at the authority of the Bible and Mission, the town of the mission, the great God of the Mission and the field of the mission.
On the first full day (Saturday) we stuck to the programme and things ran pretty much on time…after that, well let's just say time went by the way side, as did the programme. We had a time of reflection this day and it was good to reflect on what God has done since I've been here. I wrote that He has sustained me, provided for me and taught me new things; without obedience I would not know God as I do now, I would not trust in Him as much, and I would not understand what faith is and that now He is calling me back to England and even though I have no idea what I will do, I know that I need to be there for now. The concert of Santiago was on the Saturday night and it was great. The band played some brand new songs that haven't been played before and the atmosphere was awesome.
On the second day (Sunday) after the worship and Bible study they gave time for reflection. As people started to reflect, some started to cry, and I was one of them. I can't explain why I was crying because I'm not really sure, but I felt that my heart was being cleansed of whatever it was that was hurting it. I was sitting next to a girl that I had met a few months before. She was really crying and I knew that I had to pray for her. I put my hand on her arm and started to pray in my head, but God made it very clear that I was to pray out loud, in Spanish. Even though I have been praying in Spanish, and a few times out loud, it is still a hard and nerve racking thing to do, but I knew that I had to do it. I prayed for her out loud and I know that it wasn't grammatically perfect, but I said what I knew God wanted me to say.
That afternoon after lunch we had the celebration of the 45 years. We had a time of worship, a bible study, and then a toast with some champers. I was looking forward to the champers but it wasn't all that great…sad times! There were also two huge cakes, which we had for our pudding…I had 3 smallish portions haha….it was sooooooo good! Abi came to this celebration, as she has been involved with UCU through me and when Jen and Megan were here. It was really nice to be able to introduce her to people that I had met and nice for her to catch up with some of the UCU people that she knew. The rest of the day passed fine, but everyone was exhausted so when the programme finished for the night, most people went to bed, including me.
On day 3 (Monday and last day), the programme went as normal; worships, testimonies and Bible study, with a time for reflection afterwards. During this reflection there were a lot of tears. The Holy Spirit was at work in a lot of people's hearts, once again in mine to. The students were asked to get in a circle at the front (as it is a student movement) and the professionals behind to pray for them. As we prayed, more people cried and let out what they needed to let out. People began to speak in tongues, and others praying in Spanish out loud. It was a powerful experience, which is not an uncommon one for me, and I realised that practically the whole time I had been praying in Spanish without having to consciously think of the words. This went on for some time, but after this the students then prayed for the professionals. Two of my friends prayed for me, and as they did the tears just fell down my face uncontrollably. So why was I crying? Well because I feel slightly scared about coming back to England because I have no idea what I will be doing. All weekend people had been asking me what I would be doing when I return and all I could say was, I don't know. This had caused me to get really anxious about it, but as I cried I felt the fear go. I know that I don't have to worry because God has it all in hand. I also think though that I was able to feel some of the pain in other people's hearts, as the tears that fell, I don't believe represented how I felt (I didn't feel that much fear or pain in my own heart), but I'm not completely sure.
Later on that day I reflected on that day and this is what I wrote. "I have seen the power of God here, the love the people have for God, the fear that we are not being good witnesses for God, the desire to do God's work and the pain felt for those who do not yet know God personally. There is longing to know God more and surrender to Him more. There is a desire to share the good news with others, but without the fear of rejection. I have seen the doubts in their hearts of their ability to do what God has called them to do, and I have seen the broken hearts of Christians. How can we have hearts like when we love God? If we have hearts like this, how are the hearts of those who do not know the Lord?"
I also think I cried because I suddenly saw what UCU is and this is what I wrote in this reflection. "I have seen who UCU really is and have seen the love there is for the movement. I have heard testimonies of how UCU, as a family have helped people come to know God. I saw that UCU is a family. I have felt so much love for the people that I have met; have made friends and I envy those who get to stay here with UCU. I have finally seen and understood the UCU movement and have seen the real fire in people's hearts to share who Jesus is". Saying goodbye to certain people was hard to do. I know that I have another family here for life and I hope friends to. I don't feel that when I go this will be the end of my time in Colombia, I feel it is a break. I can not forget how I have been welcomed into this country, and how I was welcomed at the celebration. I feel that my confidence to pray out loud in Spanish is increasing and that I am more confident to speak in front of more people to. I felt truly blessed by this experience and am so glad that I went and faced the fear instead of trying to run away. I could write a lot more about the celebration, but I won't. God is moving in Colombia through those that really know Him and I believe that He will continue to do so.
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