June 20, 2016-- El Camino Academy and Host Dinner

In all honesty I was completely unsure of how this trip would pan out. Whether we would be staying in a stranger's home or if I would get lost in Bogotá, I had no idea. My biggest expectation (and something of a prejudice) was that all of the ministries would be impoverished and dangerous, although what I have seen so far have been a testament to how incredibly blessed I am at home. Regardless, the welcoming environment that I've experienced here has developed a foundation into the way I'll view the world from hence on.

Today was spent at El Camino Academy (ECA), where our group had some familiarity thanks to the McCollum's. Although I never found an issue with interacting with children, I felt today there was a special connection I had with them, which I believe can be accredited to God and prayer. Anyways, there were two specific girls today, Karen and Sharon, who were probably the sweetest Kindergarteners I've met. And the best part was that we didn't even speak the same language, which probably furthered our relationship. 

When I say that these girls were attached at my hips, that's far from a figure of speech. Their excitement in playing House with me and constructively criticizing my Spanish was such an encouraging moment for me and something I think will be a cornerstone in the way I view the rest of this trip. It broke my heart when I saw them crying outside my bus window, waving as we slowly became only a cloud of dust down the road. 

To end the day Taylor and I got to spend an evening with a local family with ECA alumni to have dinner. That was intimidating, especially since I had no idea whether or not I'd be making dinner conversation with someone who's language I hardly knew. I couldn't have been more wrong with that idea. The Gomez family was extremely welcoming and it probably didn't hurt that they were fluent in English either. We learned tons about Colombian culture, especially the emphasis on relationships.

I hope my path will cross with that of Karen and Sharon, or the Gomez's further down the road of this trip, but whether they do or not I speak with no hesitance when I say that today completely changed the way I not only view missions work, but the world itself. Thanks for reading my piece, and your continuous prayers help in magnificent ways.

-- Michael Dix

June 20, 2016 - Monday

We had an early start today, waking up at 6 for breakfast at 6:15. We all rushed to the kitchen, eager to eat the great food and hot chocolate that Berta (an amazing woman that cooks breakfast for us) had prepared for us. Afterwards, we all got everything together and headed out on the bus to ECA (El Camino Academy).

On the bus to ECA, we all played the game "Contact" and laughed our way all the way to the Academy. We were part of an English Immersion Day for the ECA Summer School/Camp, and we taught the kids all about Washington D.C. and Abraham Lincoln. There were about 30 kids there ranging from 1st grade to 8th. There were three separate stations for the kids to go to in rotations, an information session about D.C. and Lincoln, a crafts station where the kids were able to show a little creativity about D.C. and a game station where the kids could have a break from the rest of the stations and blow off a little steam.

For the information session, Shannon put on a tophat and a beard and pretended to be Abraham Lincoln. While being Abe, she educated the kids about the different monuments in Washington D.C. such as the Lincoln Monument, the Washington Monument and many more. Shannon also educated the kids about the presidency of Abraham Lincoln and how he fought for civil rights and equality through things like the Gettysburg Address.

For the crafts station, the kids sketched and cut out bald eagles for their own personal craft. They also made some tasty little cookies in the shape of presidential faces out of vanilla wafers and some icing. The kids had a great time and enjoyed eating their cookies, even though one kid said "Wait... So we have to eat the presidents??" The kids were great in the crafts station and had a lot of fun being creative.

In the game station, kids had a ton of fun playing with each other and trying to get each other out. For the groups of younger kids, we played Four Corners and Heads Up 7-Up. The kids enjoyed Heads Up 7-Up so much that when we asked them if they were bored of the game and if they wanted to play another, they all screamed "No! No! We like this game!" For the older kids, we started off playing Death Hack, which is an American game where kids stand in a circle and juggle a ball (usually a soccer ball) using anything but your hands, and if the ball is hit by two people without hitting the ground, the ball can be caught and thrown at people in the circle to get them out. The older kids loved that game, but after a while, they were getting a little bored so we decided to play Capture the Flag. The kids ran around, screaming with pleasure as they raced to get the flag back to their base without getting tagged by the other team.

We also worshipped with the kids, both before and after the stations. We taught them some different VBS (Vacation Bible School) songs with hand motions and some other songs that were a bit less energetic. The kids loved doing motions with us, especially when we all got up front and started doing the motions where all of them could see us.

After the day was over and the kids left, all of us leaders decided to have a little fun and play the game of "Toss Up." The goal of the game is to roll colored die until you get a hundred, cashing in and stopping when you want to or risking it all for more points. Stephanie got in 1st with 103 points, Sam got in 2nd with 102 points and I got in 3rd with exactly 100 points. After the game was over, we all cleaned up our separate areas, bid everyone goodbye and got on the bus.

We traveled to a location where our host families picked us up and took us to their homes. My group of me, Stephanie and Sarah walked around Colombia, going through the mall and over a bridge in order to get to our host family's home. At the home, we were served a dish of homemade spaghetti and we played "Bibleopoly." The game is basically Monopoly but with a Bible spin on it, the cities all being cities from the Bible. I ended up winning the game just in the nick of time before we left. In the car, Sarah, Stephanie and I had a little jam session and sang our hearts out until we got back to the guest house. All in all, it was a great day with lots of fun for everyone.

--Jeremy Solsman