Nothing says cultural experience like local street food. So I asked one of the Colombians to take us on a little tour. Meat on a stick, empanadas, little yummy cheesy bread balls, coffee milkshakes ... and I’m happy to say that none of us felt sick afterwards. Part of this tour included taking 2 of my teammates, Terri and Jackie, with me to see the family that I stayed with 4 years ago during. There we had the best homemade coconut ice cream in the world, flake pastry cones filled with arequipe (caramel spread) and “arepa con todo” which is like a thick corn tortilla with butter, meat and cheese. Needless to say, I’ll be hitting the gym now that I'm home. See the family was wonderful. It was great to be able to chat more clearly having a lot more language under my belt. The girls, Yuri and Jenny, who were 13 and 14 back then are now out of school with jobs and boyfriends and even the pastor I worked with is getting married soon. Honestly, just to see them again made the whole trip worthwhile.
It was also great to make some new friends. We were blessed to have a wonderful lady, Liliana, who helped us with meals. I'm pretty sure she wins the award for most servant hearted person in the world. We also had a bunch of youth stay with us at the farm on and off and the best part was that they were able to come to many of our work times. A large majority of our goal is not to go and work alone, but to equip others to work with us. It amazing watching the mentality of the Latin church shift from inside it's 4 walls to the people around them.
Sandra and Margarita, 2 girls who bunked with us are 2 who have begun to understand this very concept. I had a long conversation with Sandra where she talked to me about her passion to meet the needs of the people around her. She is currently studying social work at university and working to see how she can practically apply her education and beliefs in her city. That's incredible.
Nothing says cultural experience like local street food. So I asked one of the Colombians to take us on a little tour. Meat on a stick, empanadas, little yummy cheesy bread balls, coffee milkshakes ... and I’m happy to say that none of us felt sick afterwards. Part of this tour included taking 2 of my teammates, Terri and Jackie, with me to see the family that I stayed with 4 years ago during. There we had the best homemade coconut ice cream in the world, flake pastry cones filled with arequipe (caramel spread) and “arepa con todo” which is like a thick corn tortilla with butter, meat and cheese. Needless to say, I’ll be hitting the gym now that I'm home. See the family was wonderful. It was great to be able to chat more clearly having a lot more language under my belt. The girls, Yuri and Jenny, who were 13 and 14 back then are now out of school with jobs and boyfriends and even the pastor I worked with is getting married soon. Honestly, just to see them again made the whole trip worthwhile.
It was also great to make some new friends. We were blessed to have a wonderful lady, Liliana, who helped us with meals. I'm pretty sure she wins the award for most servant hearted person in the world. We also had a bunch of youth stay with us at the farm on and off and the best part was that they were able to come to many of our work times. A large majority of our goal is not to go and work alone, but to equip others to work with us. It amazing watching the mentality of the Latin church shift from inside it's 4 walls to the people around them. 
Sandra and Margarita, 2 girls who bunked with us are 2 who have begun to understand this very concept. I had a long conversation with Sandra where she talked to me about her passion to meet the needs of the people around her. She is currently studying social work at university and working to see how she can practically apply her education and beliefs in her city. That's incredible.
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