Closing thoughts on Barranquilla

Okay...so I've been home for almost a week now and I'm still trying to process everything from last week. Getting home on Saturday night has not left me much time to think about, much less write down, what I witnessed last week in Barranquilla, Colombia.

This was my second trip to Barranquilla and once again, it was incredible. It would take me a long time to write out the things I saw, felt, got to do, etc....so I've spent the last few days just trying to process a few of the major takeaways that God showed me on this trip. Of course there are the little things like being thankful that I live in a place where the bad traffic and crazy drivers are nothing compared to Barranquilla. They're not rude drivers or anything.....it's just that lanes do not matter, stop signs do not matter, tiny little taxis are everywhere, and people drive so close to each other that you could literally reach out and slap the person in or on the taxi/motorcycle next to you. But what are a couple of the bigger, spiritual takeaways?

One....I saw this last time, and even more so this time. These believers know what it looks like to come into a worship service with a heart of worship. In most cases there are no multi-media shows, air-conditioned classrooms, multi-million dollar buildings equipped with everything for our comfort and enjoyment. Some of them have bands, very good ones I might add, and sound systems, but for many it may be a singer, a conga, and nothing else....but it doesn't keep anyone from lifting their heart in worship. There is no attitude of, what are you
gonna do to impress me today? Or...I hope we're out on time. Or...what's in this for me. It's all about what I'm bringing into this service as a sacrifice and offering to God. And they just let it go. Whether it's in the street, inside a house, or wherever the "meeting place" may be......it is a place of worship and that is what is done.

There were some similarities in our church culture and the church culture there. My team was in an upscale neighborhood one day. The people in this certain area had much....nice houses, personal cars (which is much more a luxury there than here), nice things in their houses.......very comfortable lifestyles. What we found in these areas was an attitude of complacency and contentment. Many of the people saw no need for Christ because they already had everything they needed to make life comfortable. The pastor we were working with that particular day had been struggling to reach this neighborhood since he had moved there 7 months ago. We see this same attitude in our churches, if not in our own personal lives, here in the United States. It is much easier to depend on God when we have nothing than when we have much.

On that note....I heard several stories of healings and miraculous interventions of God from people in Barranquilla. Most of these stories came from people who had nothing to depend on but God for the needs in their lives. It made me wonder about the miracles of Jesus that we read about in the new testament. I would have to do a little study, but off the top of my head, many of Jesus' miracles were performed for people who had very little personal wealth to depend on for their rescue. How many times do we lean on our own abilities, personal wealth, etc..rather than place our faith in God for guidance and direction in life. So it was no surprise to find the people living in poor neighborhoods much more receptive to the message of Christ than the people who had the means to get what they "needed." That hits pretty close to home.

I am so proud of the students we had on this trip. They really stepped up, and many stepped way out of their comfort zones. The impact they had on people's lives is matched only by the impact the people of Barranquilla had on them. They learned a lot from the people we worked with, and the people they interacted with in the barrios.

It was a great trip! That's an understatement, but I don't know that there are words to describe what was seen and experienced. I'm hoping this trip becomes a staple of our student ministry summer for years to come. The relationships that were formed are key to continued ministry. This was not a trip in which a couple of humanitarian projects were started, completed, and then everyone goes home. There were relationships established between our people and the people of Barranquilla. Relationships with pastors, church members, new believers, etc...young and old, rich and poor. And relationships are a must if we hope for discipleship, and outreach to impact any community of people.

I'm happy to be home, but I look forward to my next visit with the people of Colombia. In the meantime.....taking what we learned from the churches of Barranquilla and working on my own personal attitude towards worship and keeping my heart and mind focused on Him will be how the people there continue to impact our lives here.

I'm out.....

Last Day in the Field

Today was our last day out in the field. We were back in the same barrio as yesterday, but this time we actually go to go into the "dangerous" areas. The principal of the school allowed their 7th graders to leave class and walk with us through the neighborhood. They were going to houses and getting the people in them to come and listen to us. It was great! This neighborhood was full of kids! It was crazy!

I had the chance to sit down with one family that was really funny. The mom has 3 kids..two teenage daughters and an 11 year old son. She said her teenage daughters drive her crazy because they are always going places and they think they know everything....sound familiar moms and dads? At that moment the grandmother spoke and said....but i carry a big stick....literally (you can see it in the pic below). !

The younger lady in the pic told me an interesting story about leakage from her breast that made things rather uncomfortable but my translator handled things very well. Yesterday I had a lady breast feeding in front of me as I spoke to her and her husband. Kind of strange but I just maintained lots of eye contact with the husband.

The school we have been basing out of the last two days has been great! Today one of the teachers, Carlos, took me on a brief motorcycle tour of the city. AWESOME!!
The traffic in Barranquilla is crazy and the drivers are even crazier. It's a place where lanes do not matter and everyone is just jockin' for position, ignoring stop signs, squeezing into spaces......crazy. Better than any roller coaster i have ever been on in my life.

This was a great barrio. We saw over 300 people give their lives to Christ in two days. Of course part of that is us getting to speak to an entire school, but still. These were some of the nicest people I have ever been around.

The Firewheel students have been doing great! They have got lots of stories to share when we get home so just be ready. I'm going to let them talk Sunday night at Amp'd. They have each had the opportunity to speak in front of their churches along with speaking to individuals all week long. They have done an incredible job! I am really proud of the way that they have stepped out of their comfort zones and responded to this call. I am certain they will want to return the next time.

Tomorrow is our off day, so we're headin' out to a beach and a market place. And then we cap the day off with our Victory Service. Each barrio our team has been in is invited to attend so it should be pretty big.

It has been a great week, but I miss my family. Most of the others do too. I'm looking forward to the trip home and getting to tell all the stories from an incredible week.

Moment of the Day:

*has to be the look on my translator's (Laura) face when I asked her what the lady had just said when she was telling us about her breast leaking. She really didn't want to translate that info.

21 Days till Cowboys kickoff.....

I'm out

Day 5......

Day 5...another school! My team's day started in another school. This time it was a school run by a christian principal and a faculty made up of all christians. They put each of our team members in a classroom. By 10:30am we had seen over 130 kids give their life to Christ. We ended up seeing 269 people give their life today! Our team alone! Crazy!

The neighborhood we were in was a really bad barrio. We had to have a police escort and three local gang members (as pictured below) lead us around the neighborhood so that we didn't go into the "wrong" houses. Needless to say we stayed pretty close together. The people were incredibly receptive and generous. So different from the very upscale neighborhood we were in earlier this week. People who had nothing, willing to let us in and give up the best seat in the house for us to tell them about Jesus. People with everything...not even opening their gate for us. In some ways it sounds very similar to the culture we live in back home.

I'm learning that there are certain constants in this world. For instance...people who have much feel they need very little. People who have little are willing to give all for a glimmer of hope. McDonalds tastes the same wherever you may be in the world...and in this setting it has been a welcome site at times.

I'm hearing great stories from everyone else on the team, and we've got lots of pictures to share. You can look at a lot of them on my facebook page. Check them out.

Moment of the Day:

*Justin Spann got a marriage proposal from this little Colombian chica who thinks he looks like Harry Potter.

22 days...you know!

I'm out...

Day 4 in Barranquilla

It was a different day today in a much different barrio. After being in an upscale neighborhood yesterday where complacency had set in, we went to a mission of that church in a very poor barrio. Mary McElyea, 3 of our translators, and a team of nationals were in the neighborhood all morning and did an incredible job.

Thanks to the pastor's wife being a teacher....she got myself, Tye, Elizabeth, Justin, Maria (our translator), and the other Maria (a national) into a school. We were able to share the gospel with more than 150 kids and saw 137 of them give their life to Christ.....in class! It was awesome.

Each of the students shared with the students, Maria (our national) shared her testimony...Incredible! And kids were just zoned into every word out of our mouths. It was a great experience. The teacher sounded a lot like some teachers I know back home. She teaches religion and ethics, but cannot be biased because it is a government/catholic school. But she can bring people in as guests and they can teach about their specific beliefs. So we did... and they responded.

The afternoon was cut short by a huge thunderstorm but it gave us the opportunity to sit with the people of the church we were with and just hangout. We sang worship songs..they would teach us one is spanish ...and then we would teach them one of ours. Old classical guitars with cat gut strings...so awesome!

The pastor shared with us that his church needed encouragement, so we met and talked, prayed, and worshipped together for a while. It was great.

Tomorrow we go to a different church and start working a different barrio. This is a neighborhood that I was in back in October so I'm looking forward to seeing some old friends.

Moment of the Day:

*Lauren McElyea told a group that Jesus died for all of our fish. The word for fish and sins is very similar and she just got a little mixed up. Funny!!

22 days till Cowboys opener!!!

I'm out...

Barranquilla Day 3

First day in the field went well. The students were all pretty nervous, but they had a good day. My team was in kind of an upscale neighborhood which resulted in many people being quite unreceptive.

I guess things are much different than at home. When we get comfortable with our surroundings and situation it is much harder to see the need for God. The people here are such gracious, welcoming people, but in this neighborhood there was just a sense of complacency. We'll be in another barrio tomorrow and we'll see what happens.

That being said....we saw 50 people give their life to Christ in our group alone. The people at the church we were at today are awesome! My prayer is that they will be able to disciple and go forward with what is started. I want these new believers to get plugged in and find a church home that will teach them and disciple them as they start their new walk.

The kids are doin' great. They are all excited about tomorrow now that they have a day under their belt.

Random Moment of the Day:

*why did the guy serving breakfast have a chef's uniform on (including the really tall hat) when they were just serving corn flakes?

23 days till Cowboys v. Raiders....

I'm out....

Day 2 of Barranquilla

Today was long...but productive. Just a lot of meetings and stuff that have to be done to cover everything that needs to be covered before heading to the barrios tomorrow.

We went to church this morning and my team was actually in one of the churches I was with when I was here in October. Pastor Edwin and his wife Rosy are great....and what a great group of people. The encouraging thing was that back in October there was probably about 50-75 people in their church. This morning they had apprx. 150 people there. Incredible!!

Their band was slammin'! Last time we were there...they had one speaker and the piano, guitar, and vocal mic were all plugged into it. They rocked it out this morning!

You know....the thing that still amazes me about church here is that the people are there to worship and there is nothing that is drawing them in except for the desire to meet with God. No fancy buildings, no "creative elements," no a/c, no multimedia presentations......just worship! and a lot of it!

We met our translators and nationals that we will be working with this week and they are great. I love our translators.....funny group of kids that are pumped about being here! We'll have more on them later.

Taxi rides are still the thrill of the day.....lanes don't matter and horns are used a lot! It's great.

Well.....no random thoughts but I thought I would share what is perhaps the funniest door hanger sign in the history of mankind. And yes...I'm bringin' it home with me.








I'm out!

Back in Colombia

Well....we're back in Barranquilla. Last time I was here was October and we had a team of about 70 people from all over the country. This time I'm here with team of 29 from Firewheel, half of which are students. We arrived safely around 5pm after a long day of waiting and walking through airports in Dallas, Miami, and Barranquilla.

The students are excited to be here and loved the bus ride from the airport to the Hotel Majestic where we will be staying this week. Riding through the streets of Barrnaquilla can be a thrill ride like none other. Lanes don't matter, horns are used constantly, while driving next to a Ford F150 there may be a donkey and cart on the othe side and a cow running down the road. All of them dodging the countless number of jaywalkers. CRAZY!!!!

We will be in church tomorrow morning with some of the pastors and nationals that we will be working with throughout the week. Then it's a little training and prep time tomorrow evening before hitting the field on Monday morning.

Everything today went very smooth and the kids are beat. Excited.....but beat. I don't think they'll have any problems going to sleep tonight.

I'm rooming with Tye Polk. That should provide some interesting updates as we move through the week.

We are going to have a great week and I am excited to see what God has planned for us here in Barranquilla. Lives will be changed forever.......ours inlcuded.

Moment of the Day:

I say to the students......don't try to use your phone unless you want to pay thousands of dollars in roamin' charges. To which Madi Polk replies...how much is that in american?

25 days till Cowboys v. Raiders...How bout them Cowboys?!

I'm out!

Control

Wow!! Summer is half over! It's crazy to think that school starts back up in just over a month. My oldest will be a senior this year! She makes sure to remind me of that every chance she gets.

I remember my senior year. Baytown Sterling High School...Class of '86! Seems like forever ago, but yet seems like yesterday. There's no way we can all be this old.....41 use to sound ancient. It doesn't sound so old now.

Where does time go? What is it we do with our time here? How do we impact lives around us? Things change so fast and our window for influence is small sometimes.

I'm afraid I spend too much time worrying about things due to my attempts at controlling stuff that God should be in control of anyway. Or getting ticked at people for mistakes that I have made myself many times before. You know...the kid at Taco Bell is just trying to earn a few bucks to put giant wheels on his Honda Civic....he didn't screw up my tacos on purpose. He's just got other things on his mind.

What is it that I really do control? I think if I start with controlling my relationship with Christ, and prioritizing His direction and influence, then perhaps the need to control everything else would begin to subside.

Jacob tried to control things his entire life. It wasn't until he wrestled with God and realized who he was that God was able to start a work in Him and do great things.

My prayer....that God would continue to help me realize who I am in Him and all of the other Dougs would take a back seat. Some things just push my buttons, and life happens daily. Control is part of our selfish nature and surrendering it is part of a growing, mature relationship with Christ.

Well....lots of stuff goin' on this week. VBS up here at church, leaving for Colombia, student minstry stuff......our children's pastor has me wearing a crocodile suit all week, walkin' around vbs. My name is Croc O'Dile...pretty funny.

You know how my mind works....so here are a few random thoughts:

1. so Bret Michaels of Poison and Rock of Love fame.....where did he find the people on this
seasons show that failed to realize that this is season 3 of finding his one true love? he's being
called a "romance revolutionary".......seriously?

2. why does my daughters summer school speech teacher require them to do current events on
colored, decorative paper? and by the way, the current events are not presented to the class
as a speech....go figure.

3. T.O. on the show Superstars....losing miserably to Julio Iglesias Jr......PRICELESS!

31 Days till Cowboys v. Raiders....how bout them Cowboys?!

I'm out.