Life of FUNNN

Hey everyone!

So I’m currently writing this while standing in line at a super market. Yes, lines here do take long enough that I can write a 1000 word blog before I check out. 

I actually want to write about today. Today was one of the best days I’ve ever had in Colombia. 

Nine people from our team decided to go hiking with our off day. We went with a Colombian man (Javier) and a guy from Amsterdam (Michael). We took the public metro, which was sketchy because Corona virus. We met up with our two guides and got on a bus. The next hour turned into the most interesting bus ride I’ve ever been on. We were on windy mountain roads that look too small for a regular car to fit on. For about 20 minutes it was so tight that there were leaves coming in both windows. Then we went up a hill so steep that it was like going up the first part of a roller coaster. We finally made it to this lonely bus stop at the top of a mountain where the road stopped. There was a tiny village of just a few houses and that was it. 

Our guide told us that we were about to enter into tiger territory… what?! Sadly we didn’t see any tigers, but he told us about all these times that he sees pumas, tigers, and bears. We went straight into the Jungle Book! The trail we were on was made by the indigenous people and connected to trails all the way to the coast- that’s over 100 miles away. It used to be the only route through that jungle area. 

You could see a structure on top of a mountain in the distance. When we asked what it was, the guide didn’t really want to talk about it. We found out from Amsterdamichael that the structure was the prison that Pablo Escobar built for himself. The area we were in was completely controlled by him not too long ago. We were in his old stomping grounds. The people don’t really like to talk about him much. He grew up in this area as a kid and has been here his whole life. From the moment he was born to now, he has constantly been dealing with trying to survive during his reign, and now trying to help the area recover. He told us about how his parents were oppressed by him for so long just because they lived in the area. It was cool to see the prison at a distance, but I never thought about the ways that people were actually affected by him. 

We hiked along a river for a long time. It was pretty slow moving because of the constant ups and downs and large rocks. I found one spot deep enough to jump in and swim a little bit, so of course I did it! This long walk did provide some great opportunities to minister though. Amsterdamichael asked me what my tattoo meant (by the way- mom and dad, I got a tattoo… hope that’s okay! Love you!!!) This gave me the opportunity for me to tell him all about Jesus. Through out the rest of the day, he would ask me questions like “what is the Holy Spirit?” I got to talk to him for so long about how He is and what He can do. Even if that’s the only time someone comes closer to Christ because my tattoo- it was still worth getting it. 

We found ourselves eventually at a HUGE waterfall. It was over 100 feet for sure. Javier and a small group of us went to the top of the waterfall. I’ve done some cool things (even paragliding last week), but this was awesome!!! We had to get up a rock wall that was about 20 feet high, so we grabbed onto a vine and climbed up it like a rope. There was a big drop off in the trail, so we grabbed a root and swung across to the other side. Not gonna lie- I felt like Tarzan. At the top of this +100 ft waterfall was another 50 ft waterfall. At the top of that, there was a big clear pool. We swamp around in this tiny pool for a while and found a small waterfall to go off like a water slide. Eventually we ran back down the cliff (because it wasn’t deep enough to jump it) and caught up with the rest of the group. The water was freezing cold. I climbed up part of the wet rock so I could stand at the bottom of the waterfall and feel all of the water dumping on me. It felt like I was at a water park, but a lot more water. 

From there, we left by going through the country side. It was so green and grassy. Everywhere there was either a cow or cow poop. We had to go under a couple barbed wire fences before we got back to a trail. From there, a lady invited us into her home to eat lunch. On her back porch, you could see the entire city of Medellín- which is huge. She made some authentic Colombian food- beans and rice!!! She was such a nice lady. The metro back was so tight that I had to physically pull one of our teammates off because she was stuck between two people. Such a great day!!!

Today was supposed to be our “off day” away from ministry. We went out into the Amazon forest and swam in a waterfall, yet our mission was still there. Today was one of the most fun days because We got to minister at the same time we had fun. Ministry doesn’t take an off day. Even Jesus healed on the Sabbath. Always be prepared to share the love of Jesus with people. Even on the fun off days, you are still the salt and light of the world and Jesus is still living inside of you. He is just so good all the time. Well it’s almost my turn to check out of this supermarket. 

Have a great day!!!