Dear Friends,
Thank you very much for your prayers, finances, logistical and moral support as the case may be. I'll give a brief run down of our Medellin leg here and then I'll post subsequently re: the Bogotá portion. We were 'relieved' of the burden of carrying our camera in Medellin, so we are sans photograhic memoirs at this point. A few dear friends will be forwarding us some of their pix which we will get up shortly, though. I'll give overviews of our time in both cities first and then we'll give brief close-ups on specific details afterwards.
In Medellin, we had a wonderful time meeting new people and learning about other cultures and lifestyles. We visited a
school, a
soccer outreach, a
Compassion program, a
boys' home and various
churches, in addition to some tourist places as well (Pueblito Paisa, la Feria de las Flores, el
Metro/
Metro Cable,
Botero Plaza) and of course shopping districts and a couple restaurants:
Crepes & Waffles and Hatoviejo.
The core group of people that we were in contact with throughout the Medellin leg was a collection of young leaders from throughout the city that worked with youth in some form or another. Our team hosted a weekend retreat with them and we were able to spend some quality time
cultivating relationships. Thanks to Facebook, we're able to keep up those friendships in spite of the distance.
One thing that stood out to me among others was how the youth workers bridged so many 'lines of demarcation' to network together on a regular basis (i.e. social class, location, affiliations, etc.). It seems that the norm in the American Midwest is to find a cozy spot, develop your circle of trust and then structure your life so you never really have to interact with those who have significantly different lifestyles, values or goals.
While this is not news in and of itself, our time there was was a stark reminder of how powerful and encouraging it is to exchange ideas and experiences with those who see life through a different set of lenses.
We're still organizing photos and what not - as you know we've been quite busy as of late between the tech issues, the hospital visits and my new job. We are still formulating our thoughts and are eager to share with you our next steps relating to Colombia and our vision for the children there. Stay tuned for detailed updates in the near future. Thank you again for being a part of our journey.
Much love,
Jason, Jennie & Jocelyn :)
