Day 3: Walk on the Water, Too.

"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-Jews or Greeks, slaves or free-and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' that would not make it any less a part of the body..." 
 I Corinthians 12: 12-16

Day 3 started with a visit to Tierra Linda, a local church in Bogota. Going in,we recognized some of the tunes of songs we have sang back in the US in our churches. Our missionary friend Gere talked to us about the church before the service. He told us that family life in Colombia is falling apart and the church is overworked trying to meet many people's needs.

We were expecting to sit in church and listen despite language barriers. Thankfully, Glenda volunteered to translate the sermon for us- which turned out to be about Communion. We met so many wonderful people at the church, who hugged us, gave us their contact info, and shared their stories.

I knew today would be a day of firsts for me and I was nervous. I sang myself Britt Nicole's Walk on the Water throughout the day. We took four siblings from the church with us as we headed downtown to hand out blessing bags. These are such great kids- they are silly, kind, and respectful. On the bus ride I talked to Laurena through broken Spanish. She asked about my "I am Second bracelet." I told her, "Jesus es uno, mi es dos" and I gave it to her. The smile on her face was something I will never forget! "Caren!" she called to her sister. "Regalo para Deanna!" These are the moments when I know following Jesus is the best way I could live my life.

Downtown we saw many homeless individuals. The goal was to hand out two for each team member. It was raining- people were under bags on benches, a woman fell crossing the street, and people got word we were handing out bags and came up to us asking for a bag. I didn't know how much it affected me seeing all this until I had a real breakdown that night. Despite the struggles we saw, God provided not only safety, but friendship and opportunities all week.