A Free Morning, Lunch with the Gomez Family, and Church Ministries

While the guys had an early men's meeting at the church, the ladies had a leisurely morning. A little past noon, we headed for the south section of Bogota, the poorer part of town, and one that is known for its gang activity. Mike's good friend, and former elder of Noroccidente, Sergio Gomez, has moved to this location with his family to begin a church. This has been a vision of Sergio's for many years, but it is only in the last couple of years, that the dream has materialized.
Sergio and his wife Olga, warmly welcomed our families, who, with his own, filled the small living/dining room. They prepared a favorite meal, called arripas, which are small, thick corn tortillas, that are split and filled with ground beef, shredded chicken, chihuahua cheese, and a type of 1,000 island dressing. Muy delicioso! We also had our choice of sweet iced tea, water, Tinto (hot black coffee with sugar) or fresh peppermint tea from their garden!
Sergio shared how he came to know and serve Christ, and then his sons talked about their schooling and future. Later on, I chatted with Elaine and Olga, mostly with hand motions, a few Spanish words, and lots of translated sentences, thanks to Elaine! We were treated royally, and felt extremely welcomed and loved.
Then, it was on to the church for kid's clubs, youth group and couple's class. It's an outreach to the community, and, since it's all held in one afternoon, families can participate together. A slide show of the 3 day children's camp that was held the weekend before, was enjoyed by all.
We took a short trip to a shop in the downtown area that sells only hand made items from Colombia..three floors worth! One small clay sculpture of a bus had a sign on it assuring the buyer that it was NOT made in China! We found that humerous... I was able to find quite a number of souvenirs for others at this "market".
We picked up the kids, and headed home for a simple meal, and a relaxing evening. More mañana...