3 weeks later...

Wow. It's been a long time since I've written on this thing. Earlier this week I got sick with fevers and diarrhea and had to come home from the farm, and next week I will be here as well because my eye surgery is scheduled for next Tuesday (if the second exam on Monday goes okay), so I've been having/will have a lot of opportunities to use the Internet (not that that's necessarily a good thing).

I suppose a few updates are in order...

Most importantly, although some of you with whom I've communicated privately already know, Andres Felipe has returned!! He actually returned quite a while back, so this isn't new news, but that doesn't make it any less exciting. A very big THANK YOU goes to everyone who prayed, because I'm certain that prayer played a part in his return.

I have actually been starting to feel a little homesick of late. I still love it here, but I'm also eager to get back home, see people, fix up the camper, move to the Hunsuckers' land :-), work at Oak Forest, be with my small group, and get started on what God's got planned for us/me! Oh, and I've been having some major Don Juan's withdrawals...that will be the first thing on the agenda when I get back in NC, so my flight(s) better not be late. But anyway, pray that I will stay focused on what God wants me to do here even though I'm also looking toward the future.

As you read earlier, I have decided to do the eye surgery! I've been to the doctor for one exam, and felt completely safe and secure. The doctor who performs the surgery studied in the US, speaks English, and has performed thousands of surgeries over the past twelve years. I have another exam on Monday, and if everything is okay, I will have the surgery Tuesday. No, I'm not nervous (yet...I imagine that won't be until the morning of).

There are three new boys at the farm!!!! *joy*

Now, a few "highlights" from the past few weeks...

The first weekend I was at the farm after I wrote the last blog, I spent a lot of time painting (I think I might refuse to ever pick up a paintbrush again after this trip). That's actually why I went over the weekend...they had some kind of inspection coming up and a lot of painting had to be done ahead of that. I went up with Fernando, Sergio (a guy that works for the Foundation), and Montes (a guy around my age who volunteers a lot with the Foundation and is hard of hearing). There's not really much to say about the painting part, but other great things happened that weekend. There's a girl my age (no, it’s not going to happen) who just recently started working with the foundation (about the time I arrived in Colombia) whose name is Bibiana, and she, along with Veronica, were at the farm that weekend. We hung out together, prayed together, shared the Word together, etc. One night, Veronica wasn’t there and something ridiculous yet entertaining (and parts of it full of happiness) happened, but before I share that, I need to share something about Colombian culture that I find quite disagreeable.

People are obsessed with romantic relationships here. Everyone is expected to get married. Everyone needs to have a “novio” or “novia” (boyfriend or girlfriend). When I tell people that I am happy single, I’m not looking for a girlfriend, and that I might be like Paul and not get married, they don’t understand why (and sometimes bombard me with questions). It’s fine for them…if they want to get married, then God can give them a great gift with that. I just wish they would quit bugging me about it (although a few cases of this, like the one I’m getting ready to share, are somewhat entertaining).

Bibiana is a pretty girl (again, like I said, it’s NOT going to happen), and the fact that she’s my age makes matters worse. Veronica is 36 (yes, I know she doesn’t look it at all), so there haven’t really been any problems there. Anyway, it started when I was painting with Montes and he asked me if I was in love with her (as though I could be after having barely talked with someone). I told him no, that we were just friends, and then he kept talking about how beautiful she was, blah blah (it got slightly annoying, yet still entertaining). Anyway, Bibiana wasn’t there then. In the evening, Bibiana and I were sitting on one of the benches outside at the farm, and about four or five of the younger boys were with us, some sitting on our laps, some beside us, etc. They started asking if we were boyfriend/girlfriend, if we wanted to get married, etc. and Bibiana started to get really embarrassed. I wasn’t embarrassed; I just thought it was funny. Marlon was like, “He’s a rich gringo, you need to marry him” (except with his speech impediment, he said “glingo,” which made it even funnier/cuter). Then some of them were trying to touch my mouth and then touch her mouth. Marlon (and I think maybe one or two others) started calling us Mama and Papa. She continually got more embarrassed, I was mainly laughing. I got most of it to end finally when I told them I’m going to be single forever…not that I necessarily plan on that, but it shut them up. My favorite part of the whole evening (not because it was funny, but because it made me extremely happy/sad at the same time) was when David (Marlon’s older brother) told me he didn’t really have a father and asked if I would be his “padrino” (godfather). I told him that I would be happy to.

Friday the 24th was a really good day, minus the fact that I got a monkey (their name for a pulled muscle in the neck) when I was lying back down in bed in the morning. It was Yerson’s birthday, and I was able to take him to the store nearby and let him pick out some junk food to eat. He seemed kind of overwhelmed when I told him twice that he could pick something else too. On the way there and back, we talked a lot. He tries to use the few English words he knows whenever possible. He told me that his dream was to learn English, go to the US and become a pilot, and to bring his family out of poverty. He lives in a neighborhood called “Popular 2,” where, according to him, there is a lot of *makes an impression of a machine gun* and drugs. I asked Katherine about the neighborhood, and she told me that she went there once with YWAM, and that in the short time she was there, there was shooting (and that she feared for her life). Of course, I want all of these kids to come back to the states with me, but I think the best thing I can do for them now is to pray for them, be an example to them, and support the Foundation.

On that same day, most of the boys, a few tutors, and I went on a long walk/hike...through hills, across creeks and bridges…some of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. It was a blast. You can see a few of the pictures from it on my Photobucket page, before my memory card became full. One of the tutors loaned me his memory card, but now nobody can seem to get the pictures off of it…which is extremely frustrating, because there are some GREAT pictures on there. If anyone has any suggestions for what to do let me know…I’m wondering if it’s because we switched the card from one camera to another. Anyway, even if we never get the pictures off, I suppose I will still have the memories to dwell on.

I’ve now officially started English classes with Carlos and Yilmar, and I think they are going very well. They’re already learning English from other sources, so I’m kind of just supplementing them. The first week we learned the parts of the body (I learned them all in Spanish as well), and they’re learning the scripture Matthew 5:38-39 in English, because it has “eye,” “tooth,” and “cheek” in it. The next lesson will be about clothing, and we will do verse 40, which has “shirt” and “coat”…and then finally distances, measurements, and movement verbs, with verse 41, talking about going “1” or “2” miles. After that, besides a week where I’m going to do some miscellaneous grammar and let them try to translate a letter that a friend of mine sent to the boys at the farm, it will be time for me to come home! I regret not being able to do more to help with English, but fortunately, Laurie (the American woman who came earlier on in the trip) is planning on coming down here to live, and her work with the Foundation is basically going to be just to teach English, which will be awesome. It will help the boys so much in the future with jobs if they are bilingual.

Oh, and I also think I’ll be teaching a little bit of piano to some boys as well. Ummm…yeah. Short paragraph.

Anyway, after this VERY long blog, which I hope makes up for my long absence, I think it’s time for me to end. Like I’ve said before, I wish I had the time/capacity to write more about details and my interactions with the boys, but I just simply am not able.

If anyone wants to know how specifically to pray…first, give thanks that my sickness has all but gone away. It was pretty rough, but it gave me time to relax, so there were plenty of reasons to praise God in the midst of the cold chills and diarrhea, haha. The things for which I’ve asked for prayer in previous blogs, please continue. Also, as I mentioned earlier, pray that my focus will not be diverted as I begin to look forward to coming home (four weeks from today). Pray for my eye surgery on Tuesday, for the financial situation of the foundation, and, obviously, for the boys at the farm…that they would come to a real knowledge of the Truth…that they would really understand what it means to love God and others (particularly their fellow farmmates).

Thanks for reading!