A History Lesson

Kay, this thing is in Istanbul. It's the "Obelisk of Theodisius," a huge pillar erected in 390 AD... which I knew nothing about 'til I looked it up (go google!) Anyway, it celebrates an Egyptian victory on the Euphrates River.
Hadrian's Gate is in the old city wall in Antalya, erected by the Emperor Hadrian in 130 AD...
This is the tile floor in the ruins of Perga. There's information about Perga in Acts 13 and 14 if anyone is wondering.
The Roman baths in Perga are someof the most well preserved and this was the wall on the far side of one of them.
This is a fountain honoring some goddess or famous Roman woman, used to channel the river water through the city walls and into Perga.

The Mona isn't in Bogota anymore...

So here are a few Turkey pics, with more to come shortly. It was interesting, but I don't think I want to do it again anytime soon. I dreamed I was on an airplane last night. Sigh.

I didn't have many opportunities to interact with the Turkish people because of the language barrier, but this young woman, Melis, is a sweet testimony of God's grace at work in the Turkish church - and of great effort in learning English!
Sir Francis Drake thought it was beautiful too. Antalya Bay - historically Attalya (sp?)...
10 lyra ($7.50). It wasn't really that exciting.
The free appetizer at one restaurant. It's mostly bread, but it's a lot!
The "Eye of Sophia" is the big building behind me. Once a church of the Ottoman Empire, it's the perfect example of the architecture in the many mosques that followed, and was actually used as a Mosque for a while, a church again later, and now a museum (in Istanbul).

Good-bye Bogota...

                           From the marvelous Colombian families....

                             To the beautiful testimonies of God's grace in the lives of real "street kids..."
                                From the laborers of love
                                              to the little ones in this family oriented ministry...

                           My own "familia Colombiana," though maybe not all Colombian!
                          The little boy who grew in wisdom, in stature in favor with God
                          and man....
                                Equipo Luz y Vida...
                                  And all the "monos" (hey, the word literally menas monkey!)...

All of these I will, as they say in Spanish, carry with me in my heart....

...A Few of my Favorites

The salt cathedral - constructed ENTIRELY out of the original materials in this old salt mine... it's Colombia's first and foremost wonder, but pictures don't say too much....

Then we have Parque Neusa (sp?), complete with a lake  - but 

COLD country, not hot.

Follow that with classic Latin America - crowded streets, vendors everywhere, and lots of excitement...

And last but not least, I must share a bit of Botero art. They say there's a whole museum of fat sculptures and paintings. We just liked the horse outside the park by our house!

Keep praying for Luz y Vida...

For "Dia del Niño" we were able to "make a cow" (put money together) to take the kids to "Crepes and Waffles," an experience they'd never otherwise have - fun placemats, visits with the profes, and ice cream.... Mmmm...

 

 Pray for the hearts of the children to be softened to the things of the Lord, that they may grow in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man. 

Pray, too, for the volunteers who remain, for strength, joy, and patience... especially pray for more Latin long-term volunteers to come.

To say the least, leaving was hard on me!

I have the camera more during free time....

We celebrated Resurrection Day with a nice big breakfast, followed by church, and visits with ministry parents..... 

And are you surprised? We love to eat and therefore we love the kitchen!

Well, the "tejo" mud was just as much fun as tejo itself... The game involves throwing heavy clay disks at these mud pits with the goal of setting off a firecracker buried deep inside...

And this is the last "tierra caliente" picture. I discovered swimming is much more fun when the water is warm.

Random things from the ministry...

So this is the team - or most of it. The picture was taken the day of our "despedida" - the good-bye party for two of us who leave this month..

And this is my "patrona," my much-loved director from Luz y Vida - and she really is Colombian!

THIS is why we needed to fix the roof in Luz y Vida.

Does he not look like a different person? Maybe it's the changing of the guard in caregivers or maybe just the effect of 6 months of growth...

Hot Country

We went to Tierra Caliente.... I liked seeing the mountains, the clouds, the cows.... 

:-)

Check out the trees. The only place I could get a really good picture, but... the bigger tree is a coconut tree, the smaller platano (except not yet fruit bearing). And yes, the water slides at the motel were awesome!!!

And here's about half of those who went... 

Saturdays in CaZUca

At the end of the day... I find myself falling in love with yet more kids, esp. the 3 on this end. What a sweet, sweet family.

I've had the privilege of going two Saturdays to help with these sweet, needy kiddos. Take a wild guess and I bet you can figure out which day we did Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and which day we did salvation bracelets...

We haven't forgotten the childrens!!!

Ministry life does go on in the midst of all our fun. I'm not working in the Other Way anymore, but these pictures are too precious to not post! Now, the last two pictures are my little darlings....

My little "curso" has 5 if they all come - that is a rare day... the Lord knows what I can handle and there are days when 3 are a handful even if I happen to have the unusual blessing of an assistant! About the picture... let me add that the most peaceful moments in my room are when we are reading a story. They love the pictures, the story, sitting together, and correcting my bad Spanish.... :-)