Today was another great day in Bogotá, though Colombia is currently behind 2-0 at the half of the Copa América semifinal game.  It has been so much fun for me to be back "home" at least for a week.  One of the things that I have missed the most about Colombia is service.  At El Camino Academy (ECA), the school that I used to go to here, there is a huge emphasis on service.  Each grade at the school has their own ministry for the school year that they work with throughout the year, building relationships with the people at that ministry.  That is why today was so special to me. Today, instead of spending an hour or two with the children at the ministries and then leaving probably never to see them again, we were able to build real relationships with the children from Hogar de Paz in Lijaca.  Spending the whole day riding the bus for hours and touring downtown Bogotá with the kids allowed us to spend a lot of time with them and really get to know them on a much deeper level.

I actually got to get to know two different kids today.  The first kid's name was Heiden, a feisty and energetic boy who wanted to run everywhere and have me spin him around.  While it was exhausting chasing a 7-year-old at 10,500 feet above sea level for an hour and a half, he was actually a very sweet kid who loved playing with slinkies in the shops at the top of the mountain.  It was also very cool because as we were walking up from the tram on the mountain, we passed the stations of the cross that are along the path to the top.  I asked if he knew the story of Jesus' crucifixion and he said no, so as we passed each of the stations I was able to share the gospel with him.  Later on in the day, Cal and I switched partners to give both of us a break, so I spent the rest of the day with a girl named Jessica.  We had a blast eating lunch, doing piggyback rides, and running through the garden at Simón Bolivar's house.  It was so much fun getting to spend time with her, but it made it extremely hard to say goodbye, especially because she came back 10 different times saying that this was the last hug and that we could leave now.

Getting to build relationships with these kids really reminded me of the importance of investing in service and ministry.  While short-term mission trips are good, I was really challenged to invest in a ministry long-term when I get home, just like we used to at ECA because investing in relationships is one of the most powerful ways to share God's love with someone.

- Kaitlyn McCollum