Leaving Colombia

As most of you know by now, Jorge and I are taking a sabbatical year during 2014.  We actually left a bit early so that we could participate in our nieces' Quinceañera (15th birthday) Party which is a very big deal, especially for most Mexican families.  But I'll share about our sabbatical and the party in a later post.

Leaving Colombia wasn't easy...in more ways than one. 

First of all it was just a lot of work in the physical and practical sense of packing up our house and trying to tie up loose ends with personal and ministry belongings and responsibilities.  Second of all, dealing on an emotional level with knowing we were going to be leaving our friends, staff and the new baby.   Add to that equation the fact that we unwisely (in retrospect) got our dog spayed just a few days before we left.  If she would have healed normally everything would have been fine.  But she didn't!  Let's just say that I was a real cry baby for the last 2 weeks before we left!!  My emotions were all over the map!  Uuuggghhhh...it was heart wrenching!


Our last group photo together...first one with Moises!

Our trip leaving Colombia went great!  Until it didn't!  But really, it did! 

On October 12, the beginning of our trip was sweet... saying our airport goodbyes with our closest friends and getting in those last few squeezes with baby Moises, while sad, were also comforting and helped us to say goodbye to Cartagena on a high note.  Arriving to Bogota we had the joy of meeting up with Alexandra (former staff member/dear friend) who came to the airport with her mom and niece to see us off!  That was also a sweet time that we really appreciated!

Alexandra with her mom and niece at the Bogota airport.

Everything went great checking into our flight..no problems with luggage or anything!  We had plenty of time and were browsing through one of the airport gift shops before we headed towards immigration and security.  As I was looking around a funny thing happened to me. 

A video came to my mind that some friends had posted on Facebook.  It was a cute little video of their almost 3 year old little girl belting out a worship song at the top of her lungs.  She was singing with all her heart and soul, "Tu eres Todo Poderoso, Eres Grande y Majestuoso! Eres Fuerte! Invencible!  Y no hay Nadie como TUUUUUUUU!!!!"  The song declares how our God is All Powerful, Grand, Majestic, Strong and Invincible and there is NO ONE LIKE HIM!!!  Well, this video and the song were just totally stuck in my head and I could not resist the urge to sing... out loud!!  I don't normally do that in public, especially in the tight quarters of an airport gift shop but I really did not care one bit if anyone looked at me strangely... I just sang!!  And smiled!!

We mosied through the airport making our way to the international departure area and into the Immigration line.  I just kept singing the whole way.  I remember when I walked through the doors to Immigration I was struck at that moment at how tangible I felt God's Presence with me.  It was one of those special, goose bump moments where out-of-the-blue, I just became very aware of His Presence!  As I waited in line I pondered this in my heart and just enjoyed the moment.

Seconds later it was our turn to get our passports checked.  Jorge and I didn't have a care in the world.  The officer stamped Jorge's passport and then looked and looked through mine.  He kept flipping the pages and going back and forth.  I wasn't even really paying attention...I was still singing (in my head, anyway).  The officer asked me if I had another passport.  I explained that I had some expired passports at home but I didn't have any of them with me.  I was clueless.  Then he asked me if I had a more recent passport.  I was still without a clue and just looked at him strangely and said no.  Then he finally spelled it out for me... "Ma'am, your passport expired 5 1/2 months ago.  I can't let you leave the country."

My mind went totally blank!  I couldn't think straight.  I couldn't, wouldn't believe him until I saw it with my own eyes!  How did this happen????  I was frozen and just couldn't believe this was happening to me.  They passed us to another immigration officer and he tried to help.  "Do you have a Mexican passport?"  "No."  "How about a Colombian passport?"  "No."  "Well if you were traveling to the USA I'd let you leave because they won't deny entry to their own citizen, but you are going to Mexico.  They won't let you in.  I'm sorry ma'am but I can't let you leave the country."

So literally in a matter of minutes we had to make some major decisions.  What were we going to do?  Would Jorge stay with me and we'd find a place to stay until I could get a new passport?  Should I just buy a ticket to the USA so I could leave then and there...but that would be crazy expensive!  Or should Jorge just leave as scheduled and I would stay behind by myself in Bogota?  The last option was the one that made the most sense.  There was no point in loosing two tickets.  My mind was swirling and I was feeling overwhelmed and emotional, choking back tears, trying to stay calm but feeling very anxious. 

And then as I stood there crying out to God to help me, He reminded me of something.  "Weren't you, just seconds ago, singing about how great and powerful and majestic and invincible I AM?!  Didn't you just FEEL My Presence WITH YOU?!"  In an instant I was able to take a very deep breath and let it all go!  "Yes, Lord, I KNOW You are with me and YOU will help me!!  I am not alone and I have nothing to fear!!" "None of this is a surprise to you."  "Thank you, Jesus!!"  "Everything is going to be just fine!!!"  And His Peace just flooded over me and all my anxiety was gone!!!  I even felt a sense of expectation to see what He was going to do... how He was going to work this all out.

So from there Jorge and I went back to the airline counter and explained the problem.  Jorge went off to try to make some phone calls.  We no longer had our cell phones or any of our phone numbers with us because we had left all of that in Bocachica.  So we had to play an interesting game of phone tag... he called so & so and asked her to call so & so, so that he could call so & so, our friends in Bogota, to ask them if they could pick me up at the airport and give me refuge for a few days. Everything was up in the air but Jorge had to leave so he gave me all the coins he had left in his pocket so I could use the pay phone and I urged him to leave so he wouldn't miss his flight.  Then I was there all "alone" but with God by my side!! 

In order to cancel my flight I had to re-book my departure before my original flight left so basically I had about one hour to decide what day I wanted to travel.  It was a Saturday and Monday was a holiday so the offices wouldn't be open again until Tuesday.  I had no idea how long it took to get issued a passport at the local embassy. But I had to make a guess.  I booked my flight for Wednesday and paid around $200 dollars for the fine and the difference in the tickets.  Once I had that settled I headed to look for the pay phones and was able to get in touch with Samy in Bocachica who told me he had already spoken to our friend Pedro in Bogota and he was on his way to the airport to pick me up! 

It took a couple of hours to get my luggage back (which we had already checked on the plane) and for Pedro to come but as I waited I felt God's presence with me and I was very grateful to Him for the way He was taking care of me! 

Our friends Pedro & Elsa welcomed me into their home!

In the end it turned out that I had a great weekend in Bogota.  I got to go to church with my friends and visit some other good friends who just happen to live a few blocks away.  I felt totally welcome and at home and couldn't have asked for a more enjoyable and  refreshing time. It turned out to be a blessing to be able to transition from the hectic and emotional time of leaving Colombia so that I could arrive to Mexico a with my batteries recharged and ready to start out the next chapter.  See photos here.



Our friends, Jairo and Vilma, spoiled me for a day and totally blessed me!

I was within walking distance (a good long walk but walking distance nevertheless!)  of the U.S. Embassy so I was able to go back and forth really easily which is a huge blessing when you are in a city of 7 million!  I was able to get an emergency passport issued all in the same day so I was ready to travel again by Wednesday morning!  Perfect timing to get my flight to Mexico.  Thank you, Jesus!

 

 

Look Who's Here!!

MOISES DAVID CRUZATE REYES

 
Samy and Marley had their baby on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 7:50 am!  Marley was just starting her 37th week of pregnancy so we weren't expecting him for another 2 to 3 weeks yet and his early arrival caught us all by SURPRISE!!  But it was a wonderful and welcome surprise indeed!!  Marley had a really great birth experience and we could see God's favor shown to us in so many small details!  We are so thankful and feeling very blessed!!

It all started on Tuesday at 2:00 am when Marley was feeling some strong contractions.  Once she realized they were coming steadily she had Samy time them and they were every 5 minutes with each contraction lasting about 1 minute.  This went on for the next 2 hours and at 4:00 am they decided to wake us up.  We heard Samy at our window and when he told us about the contractions our first reaction was that it was probably a false alarm.  But once I heard that this had been going on for 2 hours already I quickly got up and brushed my teeth and got dressed to go upstairs to see how Marley was doing.  We all just giggled with excitement and amazement because we couldn't believe this was happening so soon!!  So we decided to get the first boat that leaves Bocachica each morning around 5:30 am.  The timing of Marley's labor was just so perfect because we didn't have to run around in the middle of the night trying to find a boat and we didn't have to go in the middle of the day when the heat is unbearable.

We woke up Blanca and Alexandra to let them know what was going on and we all 6 huddled in a circle and prayed as a family together before heading out.  Jorge and I left the mission with Samy and Marley and walked to the dock. Bocachica was silent and I could still see the stars in the sky and there was lightening off in the distance lighting up the clouds.  Marley was very calm and she handled the situation like a pro!  We got to the dock at 5:15 am and we had to wait about 20 minutes for the boat to fill up with passengers and then we took off for Cartagena.

Once we arrived to the city there were no taxis around so we had to walk about 4 blocks before we were finally able to find one.  As we got in the taxi the Colombian national anthem was playing on the radio so we new it was 6:00 am on the dot (the national anthem plays every day at 6am and 6pm).  We heard the first verse which says something like, "Oh unfading glory! Oh immortal joy!  In furrows of pain... goodness germinates now!"  We just looked at each other and laughed at how appropriate the lyrics were for that moment! 

So we got to the hospital and were put in a room at 6:30 am where they checked her vital signs and got a brief history.  At this point we were thinking that they might send us home to come back in a few hours or something like that but we at least wanted to get her checked first.  Then they took her to another room where the doctor would examine her.  The first time that they checked her was at around 6:50 am and she was already 7 cm. dilated!  They put in an I.V. and told us they would take her upstairs.  Samy was in the waiting room with Jorge and I was with Marley.  They said that I could be with her until the moment that they took her into the delivery room.  We were thinking that we might be there a couple of hours or so until she fully dilated.  But we were in for another surprise!  The wheeled her up to the 2nd floor and I was tagging behind, trying to keep up and then they went through a set of double doors and the man held up his hand and told me, "this is as far as you can go!" and they zipped into the delivery room and left me outside practically with my mouth open, wondering what had just happened!

I found out later that as soon as she went in they checked her again and she was already 9 cm dilated!  Then a couple of minutes later she was 9+ cm.!  So the doctor got her ready to deliver and after only 5 pushes the baby was born at 7:50 am!!  (The total process lasted less than 6 hours!)  I was out in the waiting room trying to get some things that the nurse had asked me for... clothes for the baby and a diaper and some other things and once I got everything I sat down to wait, thinking I'd be there for a few hours at least.  I heard the baby's first cry but I didn't think it was him.  I assumed that there were other women in the room giving birth and that Marley still had a few hours to go.  I never dreamed that it would happen so fast!  Just a few minutes before 8 am I went to the nurses desk and asked them if they were going to be able to give me some reports every now and then to know how she was progressing.  The nurse said to me, "Oh, are you with the girl who just went in?... well she already had her baby."  I couldn't believe it!!  So, I could go on and on telling about it but I'll stop here and just say that God showed us much grace and favor, Marley did a great job, and Moises was born strong and healthy weighing 6.6 pounds and 19.6 in. long.  He is so adorable and we are all so happy and thankful and are reveling in this joyous occasion!

YOU CAN SEE PHOTOS OF ALL THE FUN HERE!

So precious!

PS:  I just wanted to share, for those of you who don't know this, we were asking God to bring little Moises a little early so that we could have time to enjoy him before we have to leave on sabbatical on Oct. 12.  We were hoping for a week or maybe 2 weeks if we were really fortunate.  But God in his generous mercy and grace has given us a whole month to enjoy this precious little gift!  We are so thankful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


 

Unless You Change And Become Like a Child...

  On May 25th our friends, Archie and Jessica Edenfield, from our Mercy Ships days, had to say goodbye to their 4 year old little boy, Silas, who went home to be with Jesus after fighting a cancer battle for about a year and half.  Silas was diagnosed with stage IV Hepatoblastoma, a rare liver cancer that affects about 1 in a million children in the United States each year.  You can learn more about Silas' story on his Facebook page: Praying for Silas .

Archie and Jessica asked their friends to share their own personal stories of how Silas' life touched them and what they may have learned in the process.  So, I've decided to share mine.  The following is from a journal entry I wrote on April 19th of this year:

Thinking about little Silas, on the brink of meeting Jesus face-to-face and my first thought is: "How fortunate and lucky (I don't really believe in "luck", it's just a word that comes in handy sometimes)  Silas is to get to meet Jesus while he's still little and innocent and clean in heart and mind and spirit!"  He gets to run wildly with open arms and his head held high to embrace Him and receive His embrace.  He's not worried about the years he lived here on earth and how he failed Jesus; disappointed with himself because of his sin and mistakes.  He's not plagued by thoughts of all that he could have done but didn't do for Jesus.  He's not hung-up on his unworthiness.  He's only 4 years old.  He's just thankful to get his new body and ready to be with Jesus! 

I was feeling a bit envious and a little sorry for myself and the fact that I do have all those disappointments and regrets and hang-ups.  Why can't we all run to Jesus with our arms opened wide and our heads held high?  I want that too!  But then Jesus reminded me of what He said in Matthew 18:3:  "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."  And all of the sudden, thinking of Silas, I understood what He meant and I realized that I have definitely NOT been doing that! 

Silas is an innocent little boy but he's also a sinner, unworthy of God's love - we all are.  We are born that way.  But Silas is so young and innocent that He's not over-analyzing God's promises of love and forgiveness and giving us His Righteousness.  He doesn't try to figure it all out and prove it or disprove it in his mind.  He doesn't fret about whether he's going to pass or fail.  He just accepts it as a fact and receives it with excitement and thankfulness.  

With that image in my mind, of Silas running into Jesus' arms, I realize that is how Jesus wants ME to come running to Him as well!  He doesn't want me to come with my head bowed down, in shame and regret; hesitant about approaching Him; hung up on all my regrets about how I lived my life here on earth.  He wants me to be like a child.  While yet a sinner - still innocent and wide-eyed, excited, grateful, accepting and believing in HIM and His promise of love and forgiveness and clothing me with His Righteousness; making all things new and innocent again!  

His incredible grace and mercy is such a HUGE, UNFATHOMABLE GIFT that we find it hard to understand and grasp.  That He can or is willing and desires to take all our sin and failures and mistakes and regrets and make us clean of them all and free us from that bondage and the weight of regret and guilt and give us HIS Righteousness as a gift!  A gift we don't deserve and could never earn - it's just His love-gift to us.  So when God looks at us He doesn't see our unrighteousness; He sees Jesus' Righteousness that covers over our multitude of sin.  That's why He can receive us into His Holy Presence - because we've been forgiven and set free.  

But oh, when will I learn that I don't have to wait until Heaven - while that hope sustains and strengthens me - I have this gift here and now on earth, in my every day life.  I have accepted His gift of salvation and grace and forgiveness and freedom!  So, I don't have to over-analyze and fear and regret because that would be to throw away this precious Gift that Jesus gave me.  That would be like if someone gifted me with the finest meal at the finest restaurant on earth and I just decided to go to McDonald's instead.  

It's completely my choice.  God has already given me the gift.  The ball is in my court.  Do I really believe Him?  Do I accept His Gift - not just in word but in deed?  Do I come to Him like a child - all dizzy-happy in my innocence - that sweet innocence that He gave me - with my arms opened wide and my head held high; running into His arms; loving Him freely and boldly; receiving His love, receiving His forgiveness - His grace and mercy...His Gift of Freedom?  

Do I receive it and LIVE IT... or do I choose to stay in bondage and regret and worry and anxiety and disappointment?  

It's my choice...

...and only I can choose.

The Chile Diaries

A little over a year ago we got back from a trip of a lifetime to Chile.  We were invited by our dear friends, Guillermo and Pili.  The two of them were planning to tour the southern region of their beautiful country and they invited Jorge and I, along with our mutual friend and coworker, Erika, to join them.  I've already shared about our trip in earlier posts but this time I just wanted to share some excerpts from my journal entries during those days.  I want to remember and share some of the things God spoke to my heart during those special days.

Jan. 27, 2012; Santiago

Woke up this morning - first morning in Chile.  Undeserved generosity, grace gifts from God.  The answer to my "Why?" lies not in ME, but in YOU: My loving, generous, gracious, "Because I love you!" Gift-Giver!  But that leads me to more "whys" ... why are you so good and generous and loving and gracious and forgiving and merciful and patient and unconditional?  Why?  The answer I hear in my ear: "Just because, that's Who I AM!"     

The Great I AM , JUST IS!

Jan. 30, 2012; Santiago

You are my everything.  I am/have nothing without You.  You are my hope for love, acceptance, peace, security, restoration ... second, third, fourth and fifth chances; for starting over and anew with each new day.  You are my hope for and the fulfillment of being understood; for being known, truly known, without preconceived notions or misinterpreted perspectives ... free of error; Being cherished, accepted and loved in spite of the truth.  In You I find freedom ... rest for my soul ... absence of striving ... safety and security ... assurance for tomorrow.  Help me, teach me, show me HOW to live in each moment with You.  I need to!  I want to!  Not a moment is worth living if you aren't with me, in me; working through me, in spite of me.  I love You!  I need You!

Feb. 4, 2012; Puyehue

When you are in the midst of a forest, all you can see is what is right in front of you; what scares you, troubles you, challenges you.  But, when you are out of the forest, looking back at it from a distance, you can see the beautiful patchwork creation of God; the beauty, the awesomeness, the grandeur ... the Glory of God!  I must learn, when I am IN the forest, to look UP and AROUND and SEE THE GLORY!  If I can't see the beauty of the forest for the trees, at least I can KNOW that is IS there and that I will soon be out of it and able to look back at it and see the beauty; the Glory of God!  

Jesus, your face outshines the brightest sun!  Your eyes blaze like burning fire!  Jesus, You are Glorious!

Feb. 7, 2012; Futaleufu

 

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic and glorious is your name in ALL the earth!  You have set your glory on the heavens.  When I view and consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained and established, What is man that you are mindful of him and that you care for him?  O Lord, our Lord, How excellent, majestic and glorious is your name in all the earth! (from Psalm 8)

Feb. 13, 2012; Chile Chico 

(Note:  When we arrived to Chile Chico that afternoon the sun was glistening on the lake making brilliant shades of blue and green shine through.  The next morning when I went out to sit by the lake, everything was dark and dull; it looked like a totally different place without the sun shining on it!)

  Even your beautiful creation depends on You to make it shine.  The clear blue waters of Lake General Carrera aren't clear blue this morning.  Your sun isn't yet shining on it to make it shine brilliant.  The beauty of the rocks are dull without your sun! 

Without Jesus shining on me, any beauty He has made in me will not be evident to anyone else.  Jesus is my LIGHT source!  Jesus is my LIFE source!  Without Him it all dulls and wanes and fades.

Feb. 15, 2012; Frutillar

"Then said the Lord to me, Go again, love the same woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins [used in idol worship]."  

(Hosea 3:1)

In spite of our unfaithfulness, lack of faith, belief, trust; inconsistencies, selfishness, pride, etc ..  HOW HE LOVES US!  How HE LOVES ME! ... in spite of it all!  Undeserved, unmerited, unconditional love and grace and mercy and forgiveness and restoration.

Feb. 26, 2012; Back home in Cartagena

I am learning that friendship and intimacy with God doesn't come easy.  I have to want it bad enough to fight for it.  Not because God plays hard-to-get; but because I am so easily distracted by everything around me and am so quick to forfeit what I most need and what I most value for what I want in the moment ... the fleeting moments.  We criticize Esau for selling his birthright for a bowl of stew.  But don't we do the same thing every day?  We trade time with God for what our flesh most wants ... to veg out, to watch TV, to surf the net, to play mindless games, to socialize.  We are no different.

Surrender [to God] and win ... Die [to self] and live!

My Heart for Turkey

I bet you didn't know that Monday, April 18th, is the Global Day of Prayer for Turkey!  Maybe you wonder why I care so much about Turkey?  It's not my doing, really.  I dare to say it is God's!

My connection with Turkey started when I was 13 years old.  At my church youth group one evening we were told about an opportunity to become pen pals with someone from Turkey and I eagerly signed up.   I was assigned a 14 year old girl named Fatma and I'll never forget how excited I was the first time a letter arrived with a stamp postmarked  from TURKEY!!!  From my perspective at the time, Turkey was a far-away land, on the other side of the world, and I never even dreamed or imagined that I might go there some day. 

I remember in one letter Fatma told me that she hoped one day I could come to Turkey to visit her.  My mom and I just laughed at how absurd that sounded to us!  I remember saying, "Bless her heart, she actually thinks I might go there some day!"  I loved receiving Fatma's letters but it was difficult to understand the broken English and I'm sure it was even harder for her to try to understand my letters.  After about a year the letters ceased and we lost touch.  Even though we weren't corresponding any longer, I still thought of her often and prayed for her.  And Turkey continued to hold a place in my heart as the years passed.

Fast forward 6 years.  I had just turned 20 years old and was on a short-term training program with Mercy Ships on board the M/V Anastasis.  We were sailing through Europe as the ship was on a PR tour, raising funds, donations and personnel for their first African outreach in Togo.  Soon, I learned that there was a possibility that my team would be sent to Turkey for an outreach!  I remember my heart pounding and my mind racing as I immediately thought of Fatma.  I still had the same old address book from back then so I decided to send a postcard to that old address I had, not sure if Fatma and her family still lived there or not.  I wrote a short note telling her that I had never forgotten about her and that I MIGHT be coming to Turkey in a few months and IF I did, I would look for her!  There wasn't much more I could say because at that point I had asolutely no details.  I didn't even know if I would be assigned to the Turkey team or not.  I mailed the postcard from somewhere in Europe and hoped it would find its way to Fatma's hands.

Eventually I was thrilled to find out that I had been assigned to one of the 2 teams that would go to Turkey.  I loved the team I had been designated to and we began our training together and bonded quickly.  We later found out this team would be going to Diyarbakir, in the southeast of Turkey.  At some point in the process we began to hear rumblings that they might switch 2 team members between the two teams.  I just KNEW that they were going to ask ME to switch teams so I started to avoid our school leaders because I didn't want to give them the opportunity to ask me to be the one.  In hindsight I know God was preparing me so that when the time came, I would have the right response.  And, sure enough, one day they popped the question.  Would I switch teams to help accomodate the other team?  Reluctantly, I said that I really didn't want to but was willing if they needed me to do it.  And that's how I got assigned to the team that would go to Eskişehir, in the northwestern part of Turkey, the opposite region of the country!

A few months later, after a short stay in Istanbul, my team and I rode a bus, crossing the Bosphorus Bridge that connects Europe to Asia and several hours later arrived to the city of Eskişehir where we checked into the Hotel Şale.  As we walked into the reception area I noticed a huge, wall-sized map of Turkey on the wall.  I made a bee-line for the map and started looking for Fatma's town.  I had never seen a map of Turkey before that moment and I honestly feel that my eyes were supernaturally guided because in a matter of seconds I found exactly where we were and exactly where Fatma's town was!  Then I looked for Diyarbakir and I felt like I would cry.  All of the sudden I realized that all of the "switching teams" business had been orchestrated by God.  Fatma's town was only about 3 or 4 times closer to Eskişehir on the map than Diyarbakir was!  I realized that if I had gone on the Diyarbakir team as planned, I would have had zero chances of finding Fatma!

The three cities circled from N to S are Istanbul, Eskişehir and Alasehir, the cities I visited in Turkey.

One of my roommates, Angie, in our hotel room.

After we checked-in to the hotel we were famished so we ventured out to find a place to eat.  We had learned in our orientation that Turkey had segregated restaurants (I don't know if this is still true.)  Since restaurant after restaurant that we found was for men only, we had to continue our search for a "family restaurant".  We had noticed there were two guys following us around the whole night and we were a little freaked out by it.  At one point we had walked ourselves into a dead-end and had to turn around to go back the way we had come in and we ran right into these two guys!  Little did we know that they had seen us earlier when we were leaving the hotel and they decided to follow us to see if they could befriend us and practice their English!  Were we ever relieved!  So Hakan and Ergun took us to a family restaurant that night and fast became our friends/hosts/guides in Eskişehir!

Ergun and Hakan on the left and my teammates on the right:
 Tim, Sylvie, Dick, Clara and Angie. 

It was Hakan's birthday and we threw him a little party on top floor of the hotel.

At the movies with Hakan and Ergun.

I soon told Hakan about my quest to find Fatma and he helped me to send a telegram to her old address and day after day I waited to see if there might be a message left for me at the hotel.  After several days with no word I became discouraged and tried to be realistic and told myself not to get my hopes up too high.  One day when I was feeling sad about the whole thing, we walked in to the hotel lobby and the reception guy called me over and gave me a piece of paper with a phone message!  It had Fatma's name and telephone number and a note asking me to come visit her!! 

The guys who worked in Reception at the hotel.

I was ecstatic!  But first I had to get my team leaders permission to leave.  I think I was so naive that it never even dawned on me that they might not let me go!  As a matter of fact, looking back, I can't believe they DID let me go!  I have since talked to them about this and they agreed that although the circumstances seemed absurd, God gave them a great peace about letting me leave the team and travel to see Fatma.  As soon as I could recruit Hakan's help we went to the bus station and he helped me to call Fatma.  I remember hearing her voice answer the phone (I assumed it was her) and I said in a questioning voice, "Fatma?!".  She answered, "Karen?!" and we both squealed for a few seconds and then I had to pass the phone back to Hakan so he could have an actual conversation with her!  So, the two of them worked out the details of the trip, Hakan helped me buy my bus ticket, put me on the bus and told the bus driver where to let me off.


The bus was very nice and comfortable and I felt safe the whole time.  I was on cloud nine, I just couldn't believe that I was really going to see Fatma in person!  About 7 hours or so later the bus pulled off on the side of the road and the bus driver motioned to me that this was my stop.  It was dark already, around 8pm.  I got off into the night, the bus quickly unloaded passengers and luggage and continued on its way and I just waited for someone to claim me.  Finally after everyone had cleared away there was only a young girl and guy standing at a distance so I looked at them with my eyes wide as they shyly approached me and then the squealing and hugging began. "Fatma?!"...."Karen?!"  It was indeed Fatma and her brother, Ali.  From there we took a train for about an hour until we arrived to Fatma's town.  I later found out that there had been a misunderstanding about my arrival time.  They thought I was arriving at 8AM not 8PM...so they had been  there waiting for me the whole day!!  Oh, and by the way, I also found out that she did get the postcard!

Fatma and her brother, Ali.

Sharing a meal with Fatma and her parents.

Special days with Fatma.



I met aunts, uncles, cousins and friends!

 Fatma and her mom.

Fatma's grandma, in the middle...she was a fun and fiesty lady!

I spent that weekend with Fatma and her family and it was a dream-like, surreal experiences that forever marked my life! I will close this story for now but my Turkey story doesn't end here.  There are more stories, special people and memories but at least now you know how it all began!

If you would like to see more photos from my time in Turkey just CLICK HERE.

Goodbye Luchito

Luchito from Karen W. Silva on Vimeo.


Well, I am very sad to share the news that Luchito didn't make it.  He was doing so well and showing improvement every day!  It was so fun to have this little guy with us and to take care of him each day!  After bottle feeding him every 3 hours for 2 weeks, I am really feeling his absence!  I'm not really sure what happened to bring him back down again but it seems that he had some kind of a respiratory issue at the end and it did him in.  The day he died (April 2), in the morning, I had a bad feeling that he might not make it.  He was listless again and refused to eat.  Jorge and I had to go out for dinner that night with some friends and I remember saying to God that I didn't want to leave him because I was afraid he would die and I didn't want him to die alone.  That afternoon I just held him a lot and tried my best to help him.  He was suffering...it was hard to watch!  Then at 5:20 pm as I was holding him and searching the internet about his symptoms to try to figure out what to do I felt him pee on me and looked down and realized he was gone.  Jorge and I buried him in the back yard.  We miss him!

Luchito's Life So Far

Luchito's story begins with his Mama.  That would be Kitty Baby who arrived at our house about a year ago when she was just a tiny kitten herself.  I had been out on the island for the week with a team and when I came home she had claimed our home as her own.  Unfortunately, Kitty Baby gave new meaning to the term "Scaredy Cat" as she wouldn't let anyone near her for many months.  She didn't want to be near us but she didn't want to leave us either.   Even to this day, she will just barely let us pet her...but always on her terms.



Last Fall Kitty Baby started looking fat...like she was pregnant, but I wasn't sure.  I went away for a few days in October and when I got home she didn't look fat anymore so I thought it had just been my imagination.  Not too long after that we started to notice that Kitty Baby would climb up and into the roof of our next door neighbors.  It was a funny sight to see her squeeze herself into the hole between the roof tiles until all we could see were her little hind legs kicking until she finally slipped all the way in.  We still didn't think much of it since she has always been a loner, we just figured she had a new hang-out.  Until one day we got a call from our neighbor telling us he could hear a baby kitten up in his roof.  All of the sudden it all began to sink in...Kitty Baby HAD BEEN pregnant and had given birth in our neighbors roof while I was away in October.

 

That brings us to Smokey.  Since Smokey spent the first month and a half or so of his life in the roof, he wasn't too keen on us humans the day his mom brought him down to meet us.  Unfortunately Jorge and I were leaving for vacation to Mexico the next day so we didnt' have much of a chance to make friends.  Smokey is still around and while he's not exactly a people kitty...he has warmed up to us more than his mom and will let us pick him up if need be.

So to make a long story short, Kitty Baby got pregnant again.  I know, all you critics out there are thinking, why didn't I get her fixed?!  I do have a few excuses I could offer but I won't since you would probably only tell me that I was just making excuses!  :)

This time she had 5 kittens...on March 5th.  Here they are when they were 3 days old. 

From left to right: Tiger, Ping, Panda, Lola and Luchito

I just had to throw this one in there...is this pitiful or what?!  Smokey joining in with his new siblings for some breakfast!  And Kitty Baby thinking, "Lord, have mercy!"

Here is Luchito on the left and Ping on the right at 6 days old.  As you can see Luchito is normal and thriving.

 Luchito (far left) is the same size has all his brothers and sisters but something happened while Jorge and I went away for our anniversary.  When we got home four days later Luchito was in big trouble!!  We assume that somehow he had not been able to get enough food, fighting for nursing time with all the others, so he started to go downhill fast.  When we returned he was totally limp, couldn't hold his head up or move his limbs and when I held him up to his mom to nurse he wouldn't even open his mouth to grab on.

So, we started to feed him with a syringe and the following days he just seemed to be hanging on by a thread.  Every moment I expected to find him dead.  I started investigating on the internet to figure out how to help him but I wasn't feeling very hopeful.

I read that mamma kitties will sit on their sick babies to smother them to death to put them out of their misery.  One day when I went in to check on Luchito I couldn't find him!  I counted 4 kittens...I looked at Kitty Baby and demanded, "Where is he??!" and she just looked at me with a blank stare!  I slipped my hand underneath her and sure enough, she was sitting on him!

So again, to make a long story short, I was able to get him to the vet on monday to get some good advice on what to do and buy some needed supplies and now I am trying my best to nurse Luchito back to health and have been bottle feeding him every 3 hours for the last 4 days.  He has had many set-backs and I honestly was convinced he was going to die but no matter what happened he kept hanging on to life!  He was fighting so hard to stay alive that I was amazed and perplexed!  He even survived his own mom trying to smother him to death!  That is why I named him Lucho.  Lucho is a nickname in spanish for men named Luis but it also is a word that mean to fight, struggle and wrestle! 

 One thing the vet pointed out to me was that Luchito was not showing any respose to pain or any movement in his hind legs and while his front legs were limp and weak, he did at least respond to pain.  So I watched him the next few days and was sure that he was a paraplegic, possibly from damage done from when his mom sat on him. 

But today has been a very good day!  He's had lots of "firsts"... signs that he is improving like:

big, open, alert eyes

wiggling his ears

faint purring

licking/grooming his paw

AND... moving his hind legs!!!!!

Luchito on the right and his sister, Lola, on the left.  Poor Luchito is still limp and can't support the weight of his own body...even his own head...but his eyes are alert and his ears are perked!

 Lola is a little chunk and Luchito is about 1/2 the size of what he should be.

I'm thankful for his progress so far and that when I wanted to give up, Jorge urged me to keep fighting to save Luchito. 



An Angel named Juancho

This morning Jorge started the overwhelming task of trimming trees, raking leaves and cleaning up the back yard.  It is way too much for one person to try to do...exhausting work.  We have lots of trees and lots of leaves! 

Our neighbors have a family member named Juancho who lives with them.  Juancho takes care of all the yard work and maintenance on their house.  What a blessing, huh?!

This morning Jorge and I were talking about the overwhelming task at hand and we mentioned a few names of young guys we sometimes call for help with the yard.  For one reason or another none were available.  I said to Jorge,  "We need a Juancho, don't we?!"  He raised his eyebrows and looked at me as if to say, "I wish!!"

So, I went my way to the office and he went his way to the back yard, each one about his business.  Less than 30 minutes later I hear Jorge talking with someone and go out to check.  Juancho!  A Godsend!  Jorge's angel for the day!  God sent us a "Juancho" for the day...just when we most needed it and least expected it!

Juancho was on his side of the fence, heard Jorge working and peeked over.  Jorge mentions his task and Juancho offers to help.  God heard our "prayer"...our cry...our plea.  God sent an angel to help Jorge today...an angel named Juancho!

Cachaco´s Story

Nearly a year ago I received a message via the comments section of our blog from Claudia, in New Jersey, who had stumbled upon our blog when she was Googling ¨Bocachica¨. Claudia is an American-born Colombian and her husband, Giovani is from Bogotá but moved to the USA when he was 9 years old. About 3 years ago they were in Colombia on vacation and they came to Cartagena for a few days during their trip. Unfortunately their experience in the Jewel of Colombia (as many Colombians refer to Cartagena) was not all that great and for different reasons they had no desire to ever return! There was one experience, however, that they couldn´t get out of their hearts and minds. One day on a tourist outing their boat made a stop in Bocachica for lunch. Their day had been pretty horrible so far and they were just counting the minutes until their boat would finally leave to take them back to Cartagena. They were already planning to cut their trip short and leave this city ASAP! During their wait in Bocachica, they came across an 11 year old boy who´s nickname is ¨Cachaco¨ (that is the word that people in Bocachica use to refer to white people or people from the interior of the country). Cachaco was different from the rest of the crowd because he wasn´t hounding them about buying something or asking for money or anything like that, he just wanted to hang out with them and be their friend. After about 20 or 30 minutes with Cachaco, he had stolen their hearts. It was time for the boat to leave though and as they were loading up, Giovani wanted to find some way to help this kid so he pulled off his sneakers and gave them and a pair of shorts to Cachaco. They assumed they would never see this kid again and off they went. Too make the story a little shorter I´ll jump ahead about 2 years or so later. After all that time Claudia and Giovani couldn´t get Cachaco out of their minds and one day Claudia was Googling ¨Bocachica¨ on a whim to see what she might find. Well, lo and behold, she found our blog and couldn´t believe her eyes! So she wrote me and told me her story and asked if there was any way we could find this little boy for her! One good thing in Bocachica is that pretty much everybody knows everybody so I was pretty sure it wouldn´t be too difficult! With the help of some of our teenage helpers at the mission, I was able to find him without any trouble. I wanted to be sure it was the same kid though so I just told him a tiny bit of Claudia´s story and waited for him to fill in the blanks. As soon as I mentioned that I had heard from a couple from the USA, he immediately got a huge grin on his face and started to tell me the whole story, just as Claudia had told me in her email. It turns out that these past 2+ years or so he couldn´t get them out of his mind either and he would tell his mom and the rest of his family that he JUST KNEW that those people were going to come back some day to see him! His family just told him he was dreaming and he might as well forget about them! Over the last year I have been sending emails, photos and video´s back and forth between Claudia, Gio and Cachaco and it has been fun being a part of their reunion story. About a month ago I got an email from Claudia again, telling me that they were considering using part of their vacation time to come to visit Cachaco in Bocachica and sure enough, last week, I was able to host them and help reconnect them with this boy (who´s not little anymore) that stole their hearts 3 years ago! It was so neat to see them with him again, meeting Cachaco´s family and they were able to take him to the city for dinner and a movie. I believe that their ¨conincedental¨ meeting 3 years ago was no conincedent at all...God has neat things in store for Cachaco and his relationship with Gio and Claudia. They are looking at ways to sponsor Cachaco through our sponsorship program at the mission and hope to be able to help him by giving him the opportunity to get an education and learn a profession. I am excited to see what will become of this. Cachaco really is such a sweet guy, a wonderful boy who loves his family and wants to make something of his life and it is an awesome thing to see how God has orchestrated all of these events to help make that happen.

Giovani, Cachaco and Claudia (he´s bigger than they are now!)

At Cachaco´s house with his family.

Martin and I with Gio and Claudia

How Colombia became HOME

The night before we left the USA to fly back to Colombia, a friend asked me if I felt like I was LEAVING home (USA) or GOING home (Colombia). It was an interesting question, because I was having a mixture of feelings about that myself. My answer was that while I’m on my way there, I feel like I’m leaving home… but once the plane starts to land, I feel like I am going home!

On the trip back the ¨going home¨ feelings started sooner than I expected. In Miami, when I got in line at the Avianca Airlines counter to check in for the flight, I started to hear all the different Colombian accents from the other passengers in line around me… people from the Coast, others from Medellin, and others from Bogotá! I immediately felt like I was transported to Colombia and all of the sudden I wasn’t LEAVING home anymore… I was GOING home!

I believe that this phenomenon is a GIFT that God gives a missionary. In my case, it didn’t happen right away. As a matter of fact, I would say that it didn’t happen until after about 3 years of living in Cartagena. During those first 3 years I knew that I was in Colombia out of obedience to God, I had no doubts about that! But I knew that I lacked the feelings in my heart…a love for the land, an acceptance of the people, an appreciation for the culture, etc. I prayed for three years that God would put feelings in my heart to go along with what I knew in my head.

It happened one day, totally unexpected and out of the blue. I think it was January 2000. Jorge and I had been in Mexico on vacation with his family and as usual I had a certain sense of dread as we were saying our goodbyes at the airport, getting ready to return to Colombia. I wished I could just stay there with them in Mexico! But I felt the same thing every time I returned to Colombia so I knew that it was part of the transition process and I learned not to pay too much attention to those feelings.

Usually the sense of dread got stronger as the plane was about to land in Colombia. Kind of like when you’ve been on vacation and you dread the first day back to work (maybe some of you can relate?) But this time something different happened that I have no explanation for other than to say that God decided it was time to answer that prayer of mine.

As the plane started to land, I was looking out the window and got a peek of Cartagena from above. I could pick out Bocachica, our apartment complex in Cartagena and the YWAM elementary school in the poor barrio of San Francisco. All of the sudden I started to feel butterflies in my stomach… I was excited and I had this deep sense in my heart that I was HOME! The feeling just got stronger as I was in the airport, and then in the taxi on the way to our apartment. I was so excited to see all the familiar sights along the way, even to smell the familiar smells (good and bad)! I had a big knot in my throat and tears welling in my eyes and all I could do was thank God for the miracle he had done in my heart because I knew it was a GIFT that He had given me! I knew that he had answered that prayer. I had always expected it to be a gradual process but for me it happened very suddenly!

Ever since then, when I fly to Colombia, I am going ¨home! ¨ Now that I am on the other side of that time of testing it’s easy for me to understand why God allowed it to happen that way and I am thankful for it. I’m sure the lessons I learned from that will carry me through many other tests and trials. There were many lessons to learn along the way but the main thing was about PERSEVERENCE! Not giving up, not turning back, and hanging in there even when my feelings and my flesh only wanted to look for the nearest escape route! God is so gracious and merciful and patient with us as we learn these lessons in life.