Nueva Vida en Colombia

2009-01-23T10:48:00.000-08:00

Hello to all of you. I hope you all had a merry Christmas and a happy New Year and gearing up for a gleeful Groundhog's Day. Life has been quite adventurous the past few months. Some major changes have been made to the orphanage (from now on it will be called The Beehive). About 3 months ago, Catherine and I decided that it would be best for the orphanage and for us if we moved back to the States. For work reasons we decided I could best serve the orphanage by moving back home and fundraising part time, while Catherine and I find work and begin a new phase of life in Portland. The following will catch you up to date on what is happening with the Beehive and our transition back to the States.

The Buzz
The girls in The Beehive had a wonderful Christmas break, starting with a series of Novenas (which is a Latin American tradition), which included two nights of festive parties with singing, dancing and eating traditional Colombian Christmas food. The motive of the parties was to invite people (many of whom were representatives from big businesses) to the orphanage to meet the girls and get involved in supporting the orphanage. We choreographed songs and dances that the girls performed (pic to the right is of the girls striking a pose in their festive outfits) and I made chocolate truffles for the guests. There were about 4o guests between the two nights and many expressed interest
in getting their businesses to help sponsor the orphanage during 2009. The night after we had our Christmas party with the girls and they were so excited to open their presents. I think it was the first Christmas anyone of them had spent in a warm home with presents and food and no drunk relatives. (The pic to the right is of a very excited Nataly and Sarita, who fell asleep in Santa Claus's arms.) Thank you to the Timberview Church small group for donating money to purchase the gifts.

One of the changes that will come about is that we will be adding 8-10 girls to the orphanage over the next few months and this will be an adjustment not only for the volunteer staff but also the girls who are currently living in the house. We continue to rely on God to provide for these wonderful little girls as he continues to surprise us with the people he brings to us.

My work with the church and the orphanage will continue but will take on a different role. I will be visiting churches and speaking with people about our plans to developing the orphanage into a self-sustaining home. If you would be interested in hearing about the orphanage and how we are working towards self-sustainability please write me at grady.jacob@gmail.com

Seeing Colombia

Before Christmas Catherine and I went on our long awaited trip through northern Colombia. We had been planning this trip for months and due to both our demanding jobs we had seen very little of Colombia. The church paid for our tickets to and from the coast as a wedding gift, which was a huge blessing. We had a wonderful time first spending a week on a remote island in the Caribbean called Providencia (the first pic) and then traveled up the coast passing through Santa Marta, Taganga, Cabo de la Vela, Parque Tayrona (second pic) and then ending up in Cartagena (the third pic) where we first fell in love... aaaaaaaah, I know 'how sweet'! It was a wonderful trip and reminded us both just how beautiful Colombia really is. I would encourage anyone to travel through Colombia; in my opinion, Parque Tayrona is one of the most beautiful places in the world (oh, and there is a 17,000 ft peak that comes right out of the ocean, which is breath-taking that close to the ocean).

Starting Over

The familiar chatter of people discussing relationships, politics or classes fills the coffee shop in north Spokane. Despite that everything is in English and it's freeeeezing outside, its the little things that remind me most that I am no longer in Bogota, Colombia. For starters: searching for the trash can in the bathroom and then remembering its totally acceptable to throw the toilet paper in the toilet. I also notice how everything is so much bigger (roads, cars, houses, people etc.). I was at a gas station the other day and instead of getting back a handful of colorful bills, they were all green and much longer. Oh, and the smallest cup at the station's soda fountain was 24 oz. (again, everything is so much larger).

It's good to be back though, and life continues to be a wonderful adventure. One thing I have been thinking a lot about since being back is how I am going to keep the orphanage fresh in my mind. How I continue to remember the girls in the orphanage and maintain the passion to work for the orphanage while dealing with my pressing current situation of starting over again, finding a place to live, starting a business and on and on. Both Catherine and I are committed to working with the orphanage for 15 years or longer if God desires, but what that will look like when my job isn't exclusively working with the orphanage, is something we have yet to discover. However, two days ago I read the following passage in My Utmost For His Highest, and it reminded me of the very important lesson I learned while working in Colombia, that still applies to me today.
"If I am devoted solely to the cause of humanity, I will soon be exhausted and come to the point where my love will waver and stumble. But if I love Jesus Christ personally and passionately, I can serve humanity, even though people may treat me like a 'doormat'."

I will continue to update this blog and keep you all informed on what is happening at the orphanage. Thank you for taking time to read this and being apart of this ongoing process of transforming lives.

Construction & Business

2008-10-16T09:48:00.000-07:00

These past few weeks have been quite busy as progress on the church construction continues, work with the business picks up (the Detail Difference: restoration business) and the orphanage starts to take in more girls. For those of you who stay up to date on the blog, I will include a part at the end that deals with Juliet (the girl, whose father was murdered two weeks ago). Enjoy this blog as it will fill you in on the progress being made and the ways you can get involved with the work going on here.

Construction

Several of you have been very generous in donating time and money to help with the orphanage and church building. As I have explained in the past, the church is comprised of basically one large room for the sanctuary, three bathrooms, and two small offices (one that is mine, which is really a converted bathroom and the other that serves as office/classroom/youth room/library...etc). We began building the third floor (the second floor is just a small balcony/mezzanine). Thanks to several generous people and churches, we have been able to build the third floor and now have finished the fourth floor structure. The third floor has finished walls and floors and we just poured the columns and beams for the fourth floor. This is so exciting because we are desperately in need of space. The fourth floor space will not only be great for classrooms but also we plan on using it for a day care during the day that could generate a small income for the different ministries at the church.

Unfortunately though, with the good news comes bad news. We are currently in the rainy season and the rain continues to cause damage to the inside of the church. Everyday I come into my office to find puddles of water on my desk, computer (with a bag over it), floor and pretty much anything uncovered. The water continues to damage the paint on the walls and stain the carpet we have. In fact, Steve Hillis from Milliken carpets has donated a 1000 yards to the church but we cant even put it in until the church is closed in (i.e. have a roof and sealed walls).

The water is destructive but not the worst. Already twice this week, we have had thieves break into the church, risking their lives scaling the thirty foot brick facade to climb into the third floor windows. We have plywood over the windows, but twice, the thieves have broken in and almost made off with tools and anything else of value. We have at least two people spending the night every night in the church to ward off the thieves, though I think it would be more effective to have 110v running through the bars on the 2 floor windows.

In any case this has presented us with several urgent needs to prevent further damage or the possibility of being robbed. Our needs to close in and secure the 3rd and 4th floor are (prioritized):

Metal roof $10,000
brick and block to close in 4th floor $8500
Fence around the church, windows and bars to protect windows $20,000
Plaster (cement and sand) for inside and out $6,000

For information on donating to help with these needs or those of

the orphanage, the end of the blog explains what you can do.

(Pastor Daniel and the architech Arturo, mapping out the changes for the new roof, also, the outer concrete beam of the fourth floor is being poured. Second: the almost finished entry way of the third floor thanks to Tom Murphy)

The Business: making sustainability a reality

As many of you know, a year ago, our good friends Brian and Sue Templin came down to Bogota with my parents and trained a few of us to start our own business, The Detail Difference. The idea was to provide a good job to some hard working people in the church as well as create a business that could financially back the orphanage. Carlos, Aida and I all worked part time for a year and then finally this September, Carlos to the step of faith to work full time and take on this opportunity as his career. Carlos has worked the majority of his life with a dairy company loading trucks and working delivery

routes. Despite his struggling financial situation and long hard hours, he always has a smile on his face and is the first to help someone in the church, fixing anything they might have. Two months ago he left the security of a steady job, though horrible as it was, to work full time with The Detail Difference. Carlos and I committed to taking the first half an hour of our day to pray and ask God's direction for the business. With his family of five's welfare on the line, he is determined to make this business work.

(Right: our work bikes out in front of the church. We put all the tools in the box on the black motorcycle)

It is with great relief and thanks to tell you that God has continued to provide us with constant work these past few weeks and this Friday we were called by a 5 star hotel to do $3500 worth of work and began working Saturday. It is really hard to explain how great a blessing this is without knowing Carlos, his character and the challenges he has had to put food on the table. So I ask you to continue to pray for Carlos and I as we work. If you want more info on the business go to (www.thedetaildifference.com) to see what the business is about.

Expanding the Orphanage

Life has been a little crazy at the orphanage these past few weeks (see the blog entry below), but its amazing at how resilient children are. Friday night Catherine and I spent the night at the orphanage and woke up early to make breakfast for them. All the girls were running around in their little pijamas playing and brushing each others' hair. Jennifer and Natalie ran up to me and gave me a hug, "good morning Uncle Jacob" they said, and then off again to play. These are the same two girls who witnessed their dad shooting and killing their mom less than a month ago.

Last month's blog shared about Juliet, who's dad had been shot in front of her. Sadly to say the slow moving government is leaning towards giving custody to one of Juliet's neighbors, who is without a doubt in it for the welfare check she'll get for taking custody of Juliet. The government would rather give custody to an individual (despite having nothing to offer Juliet) than our orphanage. This is not set in stone yet, but its been discouraging for all of us especially Ruth Herrera, the director, who has spent days working to bring Juliet back to the orphanage. Please continue praying for us as we deal with this.

The more time I spend at the orphanage the more I realize how God has perfectly orchestrated the creation of the orphanage and fulfilling the needs of these little girls who have been abandoned and abused. While our needs to pay rent, groceries and utilities continues to be a reason for worrying, one only has to take a step back see how faithful God has been these past few years to see that this orphanage and these girls will be taken care of.

If you have any ideas or would like to get involved and help out with the orphanage or church construction please email me at (grady.jacob@gmail.com). The following is information for those of you who are willing to donate to the building or orphanage.

Write checks to, Timberview Christian Fellowship (my home church), and put Bogota orphanage or Bogota construction in the memo line. Timberview's address is,

15511 N. Howe Road
Mead, WA 99021

If you have any questions please email me and I would be glad to help. Take care and stay in touch.

Pray

2008-09-28T17:43:00.000-07:00

The following isn't the most fun or cheerful bit of info I've had to share with you all but without a doubt just as important as any news of progress. As I have mentioned many times before the orphanage takes in girls from abusive impoverished backgrounds, which many times includes the worst of human behavior. The past week has been a troubling one as we have had several examples of this behavior that have hit several of the girls hard.

Last week an older woman (in her late 50's, but looked much older) walked into the orphanage house with a younger woman and two little girls. The older woman introduced herself as the grandmother of the two little girls and the other lady as a close friend. Ruth H. (the director of the orphanage) talked casually with the women about how they had heard about the orphanage, and then the two little girls were dismissed to go play around the house with the rest of the girls. The grandmother went on to tell us that the previous week the two little girls had lost their mother. It turned out that their dad had come home to their small shack and in a fit of rage shot their mother in front of the older daughter (7 years old) and that now he is in prison for 18 years. The girls were living with their uncles and grandmother but she has very little to support them with and their uncles are just as unstable as their incarcerated brother. So with no one to turn to, the girls have come to us until they are 18 years old.

This Friday evening, Catherine and I went over to hang out with the girls and play with them. Friday night is one of the most hyper times for the girls because not only is school out for the week but many of their parents/caretakers come and pick them up to take them for the weekend. In the middle of playing ninja with them (which involves me defending myself again 6 or more attacking ninjas) the doorbell rang. "Its my mom" one girl shouts. "No, its my grandma, she said she'd come this week" says another girl. I ran down to open the door and saw that it was William, Juliet's father. William is a single dad who is a carpenter who does odd jobs where he can get them. He raises Juliet's older brother (12 years old) alone and has no idea where his promiscuous ex-wife is. He has been consistent in coming and picking up Juliet for the weekends. When she came running down and saw him, her face lit up and ran over to give him a hug. He asked me briefly if she was behaving well and then took her by the hand and walked off. This morning as I was walking into church, Ruth Ramirez (the caretaker that lives in the orphanage) took me aside. She had tears in her eyes when she told me that Juliet's dad had been killed last night and right in front of her. It was sort of hard to believe at first and then Ruth went on to tell me that Juliet was always praying for her dad because he was always getting into fights. Well, it turns out that a neighbor heard the commotion and called the cops and took Juliet in for the night. That was late last night

and when Ruth H. received the call this morning, she left immediately with her husband, Isaac to go get Juliet. The danger now is that the government will take Juliet away and stick her in one of their huge state run orphanages (which resemble a more run down version of the projects).

Juliet is the girl in the green dress, second from the left.

As I said, this isn't the most uplifting news I've had to share with you, but it is equally if not more important. I am reminded time and time again that this orphanage is not built with bricks, new clothes, food, donations or even volunteers, but with prayer. I am absolutely convinced that without prayer, I am simply filling time, at best. Life change is not brought about by food, shelter, new clothes or things, not even loving attention. Real change is made through diligent and constant prayer. So I ask you, the reader, to please not let this pass by as just another bit of news. Please stop, take 5 minutes to pray for these girls. Pray that God would protect them and provide for them. Pray that those of us working with the orphanage would give them Christ's love. Please continue to take time everyday to pray for these girls, and please pray for the Thomas family as they deal with losing Mitch to cancer. Prayer is much more important than any donation we could receive from you so please take time, make time to pray for the girls here.

September Salad Bar

2008-09-02T08:36:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!!! I must say sorry to start off with because this blog is long overdue and I have been doing a poor job updating you all on what is happening here. Today's salad bar includes two new personalities from the Beehive (what we call the orphanage) and some interesting bacon-tid-bits on some changes in my life. Grab a fork and dig in....

The Beehive

As I had mentioned in my previous blog, the girls in the orphanage have been going through a process of transformation in which many of them have/and are leaving bad habits behind. There is still much work to do (parenting is never a seasonal job) and each girl has her own problems to overcome. With that in mind lets meet Karen.

Karen came to us in the second wave of girls that came to the orphanage. She is one of the lucky two or three who has both a mom and dad. When talking with her father he told me that they lived in the barrio Soacha (where many of the girls come from) and that everyday he goes to work as a security guard in the north side of Bogota (an almost 2 hour commute). He told me that his wife works sporadically in cleaning people's homes and that his daughter stays home all day. They struggled financially to care for Karen, yet it was apparent that they loved her, which was refreshing to me after seeing so many parents indifferently hand over their kids like they were an unwanted dog. Karen's biggest problem, which was quite obvious from the beginning, was that she had never gone to school in her life and was absolutely terrified of social situations. At 10 years old this was no longer just a little problem with being shy. She didn't know how to read or write and the idea of being in a room with more than three people made her go running for her room. When all the girls had arrived and were living in the orphanage, she would spend the activity times in her room.

Almost five months later you cant find Karen in the house when all the girls have left for school because she too is in class. Despite still being behind academically, she is reading and enjoying school a lot. In the mornings she works with Liliana on reading and mathematics and in the afternoon she goes to school with everyone else. She also has blossomed into quite the socialite and partakes in the fun with the rest of the girls.

Speaking of socialites, the next character to meet is Daniela. One must not be misled by the stature of this little girl, she is a giant in terms of personality. Daniela is a little sparkplug who always has something witty to say and is never lacking in expressive gestures that emphasize her clever comments. When she arrived she was much more reserved and was very argumentative. Although she has always been a loveable little girl, it hasn't been until recently that she has learned how to forgive.

Several weeks ago during the nightly prayers Daniela began to open up. That night's talk was about forgiving others and how Jesus has forgiven us. Without prompting, Daniela began to share about how her mother had beat her and how different people had hurt her. She then began to talk about how she was mean to other girls and to Ruth (the lady who lives there). Daniela told those she had hurt that she was sorry and asked for their forgiveness.

Although she is one of the youngest girls in the house, she was one of the first to speak up and her confession sparked a wave of more stories and forgivness. Many of the girls came out with stories of family members abusing them and they asked God to help them forgive those who had hurt them.

Life Changes

As many of you know I had quite the exciting July. Catherine and I flew back to Spokane June 30th and had a nice week at home relaxing before we left for Portland, OR to see my sister Erin, Andy (bro in law), and new nephew Wes, who is chubby and awesome (maybe the only time in your life when those two words go together). Afterwards we went to San Fran to see some friends get married and toured multiple chocolate boutiques as well as an interesting new chocolate company on pier 17. We then spent some great time camping with our good friends Justin and Heather Tillery in Cannon Beach, OR.

We got back in time to finish our last minute wedding planning and had a wonderful time hanging out with our close friends and family. The rehearsal dinner in my parent's backyard was one of the most fun and meaningful times of my life and it was so great to share it with such great friends and family. All the wedding activities went great and especially the ceremony, which Catherine and I really appreciated. We had our pastor from Bogota (Libni Gasca) do the homily and a good friend led the ceremony and vows.

We went off to BC, Canada for our honeymoon and it was awesome how God provided for us. I was a little worried going into July about having enough money to go out to eat and do activities on our honeymoon, however, God took care of it little by little. Friends of ours paid for our rental car that got us from Seattle to north of Vancouver. When we arrived at our luxury camping suite (www.rockwatersecretcoveresort.com) we learned that for some reason we got 50% off, so Catherine was treated to a massage and we were able to eat out which was a lot of fun. However, the honeymoon was really only 4 days long as we had to rush back for my little sister's wedding. Again, it was great to be with such fun and loving people and my sisters wedding went off w/o a hitch and I was able to catch up with a lot of people I missed at my wedding. Ahhh, how relaxing you might think (maybe)....no, the following morning after the wedding, Catherine and I were up at 5am to catch our flight back to Bogota. Its safe to say we were a bit in shock (especially Catherine) as she went to work the following day.

The shock has worn off though, and life is great here in Bogota. I have quite a few balls up in the air and am in the process of deciding which ones to catch and which ones let fall. I was recently reading my old pastor's blog and was really convicted on the need to be in prayer. I am a doer and getting busy is what I do best, but I constantly need to remind myself that the most important thing in my life is to be spending time with God. How can I make good decisions apart from knowing Jesus? In order to know him more, I realized I need to be taking more time out of my day to tell him my thoughts, ask for wisdom, give thanks for answering previous prayers...etc. It was a good wake up call for me.

Alright, enough for now. Take care all of you and please write to tell me how you are doing.

Progress with the Girls

2008-06-11T11:18:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading the blog of a good friend of mine and realized I haven't been doing a good job keeping up on my own. Partly its because I have been really busy and partly because updating my blog tends to be the last thing on my weekly checklist. However, a wave of inspiration just hit me and I am going to ride it out as far as I can.

Growing

The girls have been in the orphanage (or as I like to call it, The Beehive) for 2 months now. My last blog talked about what type of backgrounds these girls were coming from and the 180 degree change has had its growing pains. Being 5 years old and living with 3-5 siblings you learn how to survive, not just physically but emotionally as well. One thing each of these girls has in common is that they all have been neglected and crave attention. Many of these girls lived completely unsupervised with their siblings and thus picked up bad habits of manipulating, lying, or stealing to survive. Well, to put it lightly in some instances, there has been several adjustments made and many more that are still in the process. Despite the challenges these girls continue to grow and learn that their old habits wont work or be tolerated in the house. Even in the short time many girls have really made progress and its so encouraging for us to see progress being made.

I want to introduce you all to the girls but would like to do it by spotlighting a couple girls at a time. Because we are talking about change I would like to introduce two girls who have come a long way since they first came.

Yeimi (pronounced Jaime) came with her sister the first weekend we took in girls. She was one of the first girls in the house and came from a family of 7 with 5 siblings and a single mom. When filling out paper work I had to help her mom complete the forms because she couldn't read. Not only did the mom not know her own birthday or those of her 6 children but she didn't know how to spell their names. She must have been 14 or 15 when she had her first child. When Yeimi (7 years old) arrived she was really hard to understand when she spoke due to a serious speech impediment. Being one of the youngest in the family she was a spitfire from the very beginning. Hitting and shouting was the only way she knew how to get attention or get her way. Recklessly running around her new large house, she would bulldoze anyone in her way with her little 60lb body and when corrected she would spit out some sort of jumbled reason why it wasn't her fault. Now, fast forward two months, 40 days of speech therapy and countless timeouts. She is one of the more obedient girls in the house and has turned into quite the delightful affectionate sweetheart with not just the volunteers in the house but with her fellow housemates. When another girl is crying in the house she is one of the first to console her and tell the adult in charge that such n' such is feeling sad. This is the same girl who was close-lining her roomies two months ago. I remember the first few days playing with her and when I said I had to go she ran up and hit me and as I turned around to say “we dont hit”, I was shocked her to see her stick out her tongue and flip me off. I almost busted up laughing. That was her in the beginning, and though she continues to have the occasional outburst she is doing much much better.

Mayerli (sister of Yeimi, 9 years old) arrived with her little sister the first weekend. While Mayerli wasn't as out of control as Yeimi, she was a typical older sister and had a real mean streak of bossiness. She was quick to pound on or socially isolate anyone who didn't go along with her program. We would try to rationalize with her why you cant treat others like that, but we might as well have been talking to the stove. Like several of the other girls, she had assumed a motherly role for her younger siblings due to her mother's absence in the home. Its not hard to imagine why she acted the way she did. However, like her sister, she has made big steps in thinking of others first. She has been more agreeable to doing her homework and obedient to house rules as well as showing more grace to the other girls.

Little by little, small victory after small victory these girls are learning how much they are loved and how to love others. As I stated in a past blog, this is so much more than just offering food and shelter. It is taking a little girl out of an abusive environment that only offers an early pregnancy, prostitution or life of poverty. It is showing Yeimi that she is loved not just by us at the orphanage, but by God. From that foundation, Yeimi learns that she is capable of loving others. She will go on to get a College education choose a profession and raise her own family on the vary principles she is learning now. While there are only 14 girls (with 6 yet to come), that is 14 less in prostitution and 14 more with a college education. What's more, their impact will reach farther than any of will live to see. I ask you the reader and your family to be praying for these girls, that God would continue to change their hearts, that they would learn how to show love to others, and lastly that we would be able to provide for their needs (physically and emotionally).

They're Heeeeeerrrrre!!!!!!!!!!

2008-04-21T13:42:00.000-07:00

That’s right, the orphanage house is filling up with busy little bodies, running around and playing with their new toys. There is so much to share with you all, but I will try to keep it short and give you all a great update on what is happening with orphanage. I guarantee that this is well worth the 5 minutes of reading.

Arrival

The past four months we’ve been trying our hardest to get the government to help us find the girls for the orphanage. We knew the need was there and we met the right people but everytime our hooks came back empty. I relate this to fishing because its like standing in a stream with your pole in hand and watching fish jump all around you but you have no idea what they are biting on (for those of you who don’t fish, bare with me). You make contact with the right person so it seems, but when it comes to reeling in the catch, nothing. It’s a mix of lacking trust and sheer laziness. However, Ruth had the great idea of going directly to the area where all the displaced people are. I must say that Ruth has been a huge blessing to us as she has taken on all the paperwork, bureaucracy and phone calling. For those of you who don’t remember Colombia has the world’s third largest internally displaced population of over 3.5 million people due to 40 years of on-going civil war in the countryside. El Tiempo (the biggest newspaper in Colombia) noted that there are over 500 displaced people who arrive daily in Bogota, the majority of which are women and children.

This last Saturday we went to Soacha (the southern most part of Bogota and by far one of the poorest areas) and arranged to meet up with Pastor Emiro and his wife Janet (who are apart of our church leadership). Emiro showed us around and we went up the hill to the poorest parts of the barrio. Fortunately everyone knows Emiro because he had a church there and so we were welcomed warmly. However, the cases we came across were anything but warm. Though I had been there before and have had plenty of encounters with extreme poverty; brokenness, abuse and hopelessness is never something I have ever gotten used to. Two sisters (11 and 12) prostituting themselves for a coke or a few dollars. Parents openly telling us in front of their kids they hate their daughter and that they don’t want her, or hearing about 6 year old girls who are beaten and raped by their stepdads or just some random neighbor. It’s the type of thing you don’t want to hear, see or even repeat but unless you hear the brutal reality you cant begin to address the problem. We met many parents who were interested, and even more children who ran after us wanting us to persuade their mom/dad/caretaker to let them come and live with us. Having loving parents (myself) it was really hard for me to see the interaction between these children and their parents. Drunk or sober, 99% of the parents who were interested in our program showed absolutely no interest or love for their daughters. It was like they were deciding whether they were going to give up a dirty old shirt or not. Basically the only thing that held them back was whether they had to take a bus to the orphanage or if they could just hand over their daughter right then and there.

We didn’t take any girls home with us Saturday but we set three appointments at the church for Sunday. The caretakers of the girls showed up (one couple, a single mother, and a single dad) and we gave them a look around the house and then interviewed them. Meanwhile the 2 daughters of the single mother and the daughter of the single father had their medical reviews with a doctor from the church. The single mother had to be in her mid 30’s (she didn’t know her birthday) and she was a mother of 6 kids (20,19,11,9,8 and 5 years old). She didn’t know how to read so I read the contract to her and she gave me what answers she could come up with, however, she didn’t even know how to spell her daughter’s name. The single father was the same, didn’t know how to read nor did he know any info about his own daughter. I had a mix of emotions because I always expected that we would get the girls from the State from some foster program, but to see a parent happily hand over their child was so sad for me to see. Upon leaving his child the single dad asked his daughter if she would like to stay at the home or go back with him, and without missing a beat she eagerly replied “no, I want to stay”. All the parents agreed that they will come on a regular basis to see their daughters, but that the girls are to stay until they are 18 years old. So we now have these three little girls, Mayerli (8 years old), Jeimi (5 years old) and Julieta (9 years old). Tomorrow (Tuesday) 3 more girls will come and then another 4 later on this week. We anticipate that all 20 spots will be filled in the next 10 days to 2 weeks.

A Prolonged Miracle

I have received wonderful encouraging emails from many of you and I am very thankful for them. However, I must tell you all that I receive far more credit than I really deserve for this orphanage. Believe me this is not false humility, this is me telling it as it is. A year and a half ago I arrived here in Bogota and we had nothing. I mean nothing, nothing. Actually, I take that back, we had an estimate at how much it would cost to run an orphanage for 20 girls. The amount was and still is BREATHTAKING and the probability of raising that much money MADE ME WANT TO LAUGH AND CRY at the same time. It was like imagining the task of pushing a car up doomsday hill (for you bloomsday runners). I remember vividly though, when after looking at the estimate, Pastor Libni turned to me and said,

“you have a unique opportunity Jacob. You are here, you know the costs and needs for this project to work and you will see how God answers prayer. This orphanage will be a miracle that only God can do. Many people in the US will say, ‘no, Jacob you just worked hard, its not a miracle its just hard work’, but you and I both know the costs and difficulties that they don’t see’”

There isn’t any better way to put it than that. This project is and will continue to be impossible without God’s grace and working hand. I can call people to raise money, but I still need to get authorization from the Government. I can run all the errands and with a little bit of luck get the government to comply and give me a license but I still need to get the girls. I can spend months looking for girls who need a home and not have enough money to feed and clothe them. I can fundraise more, start a business and earn money for food and clothing but the girls still have enormous emotional needs. We can get the best child psychologists and spend lots of time with the girls, but in the end they are still children, rejected by their parents and relatives. Its not until I am exhausted from pushing, that I realize I cant do this on my own or even with the help of others. God and God alone can provide for these girls. In the end its only God that can restore a rejected abused little girl into a person capable of forgiveness, love and knowing just how much God cares for them. So, again, I want to emphasize this is not false humility but simply diverting the credit where it is due.

STAY TUNED…..

My lovely bride to be, Catherine, is working with Ruth to develop a registry with Target for the things that girls need. The only things these girls have when they come is the clothes they have on, which are falling apart. We have some clothes here, but we still need clothes, shoes, and of course help with food (especially as food prices have risen recently). In any case, I will be sending out another group email with all that information and we have friends leaving Spokane, Wa to come down here in the end of May so they can collect the items and bring them down here.

Pushing Ahead

2008-03-31T12:21:00.000-07:00

Well it’s been way too long since my last blog update and for good reason. Life has been busy but progress has been slow. There are so many things going on but as for progress with the orphanage, things are slow and I will explain why. However, do not be discouraged as this update packs in plenty of good news and will surely leave you in a chipper mood, and now without further delay…..I bring you The Blog….

A Snail, a Sloth and a Colombian Government Worker
“Take your positions” yells the announcer. The gun fires and they’re off. The snail slowly but consistently inching itself one slimy centimeter at a time, has the slowest start of them all. In lane two, the sloth is mid stride of his second step and seems as though he’ll never complete it, let alone finish the 100 meter dash. Then in the third lane, a short stumpy elderly woman dressed in a floral moo-moo (which reminds me of my elementary art teacher) takes the lead with two short steps. Hours pass and the snail and sloth are almost tied approaching the one and a half meter mark, only 98.5 meters to go. Meanwhile the Colombian Government worker (social worker to be exact) is sipping coffee and explaining in detail the difficulties of her job to a sideline referee. Weeks pass into months and the steadfast snail is only inches from the finish line with the sloth closing with every intentional and well thought out step. Ninety meters back towards the starting line, the stumpy social worker sits on the track glued to the screen of her handheld TV immersed in one of primetime’s over-the-top dramatic soap operas, when she realizes that the race is almost over. Not accustomed to moving she staggers clumsily towards the finish line but it’s too late. The sloth stubbing one of his 3 toes loses his balance sending himself stumbling over the finish line.

Such is the reality of working with the Government in Colombia. After a 4 month process that by Colombian law should’ve only taken 4 weeks maximum, we have our license to open the orphanage. However, don’t despair as we have made good use of the long time and have made contacts with women who work in the red-light district and they are very excited about what we are doing. We will be getting our first girls in the next few weeks as we are working directly with the moms or caretakers (as opposed to working with the gov. to get the girls). Several women have mentioned to us that they will gladly leave prostitution if they can get someone to watch their kids during the day time or during the week days and nights. We have talked with several organizations that say starting off part time, taking in girls for the week days and having their mothers or caretakers take them for the weekends is the best way to begin. Generally what will happen is the mother/caretaker will end up abandoning the girl with time because he/she can’t or doesn’t want to care for the child. The other possibility is that the mother leaves prostitution and is able to find a job that can eventually sustain her and her child, as in the case of Marie, a 28 year old mother of 5 who has been working in prostitution for 9 years. She recently approached us with the proposition of caring for her two little boys (3 and 5years old) during the day so she can take a factory job and leave prostitution.

The Detail Difference
For those of you who don’t remember from past blogs, The Detail Difference is the company that was started by our friends Brian and Sue. They brought all the supplies and know-how down to us last October and trained two people from the church and myself. We have been working on finding our niche ever since and doing work in restaurants, car dealerships and hotels. God has been really blessing us and after doing $1000 in repairs (including some leather and marble work at an Embassy Suites), we have found ourselves in the negotiation process for several large contracts with two other formidable hotels here in Bogota. As just a quick reminder to those of you who don’t remember what it is that we do, we are specialists in repairing basically any detailed surface damage (leather, wood, porcelain, marble…etc) and restoring it to new. For more info please go to the site (www.thedetaildifference.com). What’s been so exciting is that our customers (mostly 5 star hotels) are really happy with our work and realizing they can save a lot of money getting us to restore their damaged areas as opposed to replacing items (sinks, wood floors, tile, leather chairs…etc). Also, my work partner Carlos, who currently is working part time as he has been working with the same milk distributor for the past 10 years, is thinking about working with the business full time. One of several big problems in Colombia, is that hourly wage is extremely cheap and businesses work their employees into the ground. Carlos just recently got a raise after working 9 years in the same position making $250 to now $400 a month at almost 60 hours a week. If we are able to land a few of these large contracts he could easily be making $600 a month, working fewer hours and we would still be able to comfortably hit our 30% donation to the orphanage.

It has been a huge blessing from God because as anyone who has ever started a business knows, it’s a BIG risk and especially in a different country and market. With this recent breakthrough I am confident that this business could financially back the majority of the orphanage costs in 2-4 years. However, I don’t want to get ahead of myself, so I ask you, the reader, to be praying that we are able to get these bigger contracts and that God would bless our work.

Construction Project
As if there wasn’t enough going on already, the church is starting its building project for the third floor. With the orphanage filling up, we can no longer use that as classroom space for the numerous classes and meetings that the church has planned during the week. Space is of absolute importance as our church is growing and we are developing more and more programs for our community. So after a long long loooooong process (similar to our orphanage license, but a year and a half long) we have our building permit. Thanks to several generous donations we have 90% of the structure for the third floor covered. The structure includes extending the 16 columns that are 9 ft high, pouring a concrete slab (reinforced with steel beams and rebar) and then enclosing the floor with steel enforced cement, block and brick walls. We have negotiated both the steel and concrete contracts and they will be arriving in a week, as well as the workers who will be building the columns. I will be building the wood forms for pouring the cement in the columns, and be helping out with some of the manual labor of mixing and hauling cement, but apart from that, its mostly skilled professionals that will be doing the construction.

The whole church is really excited to have classroom space and many people in the church are volunteering to help in whatever way they can. In fact we held a meeting for volunteers for the orphanage the other Sunday and 50-60 people showed up to sign up for different jobs (cleaning, cooking, helping with homework, putting on activities…etc). Again, just another great example of what it means to be in community. Everyone serving in the best way they know how. In the past few months I have found myself a little burnt out at times and it is always refreshing to see others get involved. However, more than just seeing others help, returning to the basics of centering my life around love for Christ and love for others is something I have to do daily or I easily get so involved that I forget what its all for.
As always, I appreciate hearing from you all, so please write.

A Great New Year

2008-01-05T12:37:00.000-08:00

Wow, it has been like 3 months since my last blog and I am really sorry for such the long wait. Now your countless days and your restless nights of waiting for this blog are over. There is a so much to share with you all, so grab a snack (left over turkey, mom’s cookies, or a chimichanga) and let’s get started.

The Orphanage
We spent the month of November preparing the house and checking every box on the long list of requirements that the Government gave us. We had 50-60 people from the church come and help clean the house and get it ready for the health inspector. We received our health department license after jumping through many a hoop. In the meantime, I was especially busy finishing the bunk beds and making some alterations to the kitchen. Now, because we are renting the house (which is connected to the church) we are trying to minimize our investment into the house, and instead invest in things we could possibly move in case we buy our own house some day.

We have yet one more visit which is the final visit right before the girls arrive. In order to have this visit we need six months of operating costs in the bank ($30,000); we have $25,000 in the bank right now. We also need to have the house detailed down to the very last sheet, spoon, and toothbrush. So Pastor Libni and I will be going out this Tuesday to buy these things. The church here is covering some of these costs; however, there are a lot of little things to buy, including 20 mattresses ($100 a piece). Many people have been extremely generous in giving and we are so blessed by their willingness to be apart of such a life-giving ministry. For those of you wondering how you can be involved or how you can give, I will explain in the next chapter what things you can do to help.

Coming home or something like it…
A day before Thanksgiving I boarded a plane north-bound to NYC with Pastor Libni and his wife Natalia. We spent three days in NYC with Natalia’s brothers and family (which she had only seen once in the past 10 years). Then we left to Batavia, NY to speak at Northgate Church. Jeff Harmon (the church administrator) had been kind enough to invite us to Northgate, where we were warmly welcomed. Libni preached and I translated, and despite the fact that I had chicken pox and an eye infection, the services went well. Needless to say, I looked like a poor down-trodden missionary, which really wasn’t the intent but you got to go with what you got. Our last day in Batavia we got to see Niagra Falls, and later got involved in a Monopoly game with Jeff. Before the night was out, I was making payments on my own watch and felt like a three-year-old playing Donald Trump.

After a long cross-country flight we arrived in snowy Spokane, Washington. Instead of taking the familiar South Hill exit to my old house, I headed north to see my parents' new house for the first time. Coming back to Spokane after a year and a half abroad had its own adjustments, such as staying in a new house. However, the adjustment went really quick as I took to improving my pool game in between seeing friends. We spoke again at Timberview Christian Fellowship (my sending church) and at New Community (my college church). We also spoke for the college group at Lifecenter Church which went really well. During each one of our opportunities to speak, we were amazed at how God spoke to people in specific ways…sometimes very different than what the sermon was about. A special thanks to my parents and Jerry Sittser (new father-in-law, read on) for hosting dessert parties, so that we were able to speak to smaller groups of people interested in the orphanage.

Throughout all our many conversations about the orphanage and the great work that God is doing in Colombia, we were amazed at how generously people gave and how much they truly wanted to be a part of what is happening. This might not sound shocking to you, but for me, I was reminded how generous Americans really are and how important a role the international church body will play in Bogota.

After several suggestions, I was persuaded to arrange some sort of catalog for those of you reading that might want to support the orphanage financially. As you might guess, orphanages are costly and like any business the big expenses come in the first year or two. Sustainability is our goal, and an attainable goal at that, not just a wish. However, with your help we can create a comfortable living environment for these girls and be a part of changing their lives forever. Our needs (in order of greatest to least) are:

1. Support per girl (which covers rent, utilities, food, clothing, school supplies…etc) $250/child
2. Mattresses (Long lasting thick foam with waterproof cover, with 8 year warranty) $100/mattress
3. Dish set (Plate, Bowl, Silverware and Cup) $10/set
4. Sheet set (bottom sheet, top sheet, blanket and pillowcase) $60
5. Towels (cleaning, bathing and cooking) $350 total

Several of you have given generously and every cent of it is going towards preparing this house. However, I know many of you have wanted to give but don’t know how or who to give to. The following are our present tangible needs; any help is welcome. All checks should be written out to Timberview Christian Fellowship (for tax purposes) and in the memo line write Bogota, Colombia Orphanage. Please send checks to 5424 E. Stoneman rd. Spokane, Wa 99217.

I am not one to plug giving a lot, but I have seen several examples of how God blesses those who give generously. A great example of this is a woman named Erlinda in our church. She is a beautiful black woman, who has had a really hard life. In spite of having an abusive ex-husband and working 70+ hour weeks cleaning houses to feed her three children, she is always smiling and thankful for her blessings. A year ago she was granted a full time position cleaning at Caracol (a big T.V. and radio company). After receiving her new position she told Pastor Libni that she wanted to give more than just her regular tithe in thanks for what God had blessed her with. Throughout this year she has continued to give more than what one might think was fiscally wise and it has been a challenge for her to do so. Two months ago, her boss surprised her with a house. That’s right, a house. The company gives away a house every year to one of its several thousand employees who is financially challenged. Her name came up in discussion and she was chosen as this year’s recipient. All this to say, we are a blessed people and no matter where we live or what we do, giving is something we can all do more.

A Helicopter, A Ring, and an Engagement
How do these all relate?!!! Well, I’ll tell you. About a month into dating Catherine (last February) I knew I had to marry her and that if we didn’t screw anything up, that’s where our relationship was most likely headed. Though she lacked this same prophetic insight for the first 6 months of our relationship, I was quietly set on marrying her. I had my doubts as anyone does, but when things worked out so perfectly for her to come down to Bogota to teach, I was reassured that she was the woman for me. We talked about marriage throughout the fall and even looked at rings online, but I kept her guessing and wondering what the future laid in store. Meanwhile, in early August I called Inland Helicopters (a heli charter business based out of Felt's Field in Spokane) and began brainstorming and bartering. My plan was set around early September; however, she knew nothing. After asking Jerry for Catherine’s hand in marriage, I drove to Seattle with David and John (Catherine’s bros) to pick her up at the airport. Four days later she arrived at my house to pick me up to go out to eat with our good friends Justin and Heather. My dad called right when she entered the door (all planned) saying that he needed me to drop a couple packages off at Felt's Field for his business because they needed to ship to Seattle that night. After some well-scripted arguing, I agreed to do so despite Catherine’s agitated gestures indicating we were already late to meet our friends. We arrived at Felt's Field (an old small airport in the middle of nowhere) and I went in with the two boxes. I went to the top room which was a small observation deck with windows on all sides. I set up pictures of us as kids up through our college years and lit the room with little candles. She was a little impatient due to the long time it took to set up and almost saw everything before I called her up, but fortunately she had no idea what was about to happen, so it went off without any major hitches. I proposed and she said yes and we talked for a little bit. I told her we had a few more things planned and that she needed to pack the pics up in the boxes, put them in her car, lock it, and meet me back inside. With a puzzled look, she gleefully scampered off and met me back in the lobby after she had parked the car. We walked out the door onto the tarmac and she asked why we weren’t taking the car. “Well, the roads are pretty icy tonight so it's not safe to drive,” I responded. As we started towards the heli pad she laughed and called me ridiculous. We got in the chopper and hovered over Spokane, got a tour of Coeur d' Alaine Lake and its Christmas lights, and landed in a parking lot next to the resort. Upon entering the restaurant at the resort, we were greeted by our families and friends.

We will be getting married on July 25th, so put the date on your calendar.

Last Words…..
I was reminded of something so very important a few days before I left the US. I had a wonderful conversation with some family friends who reminded me of something I had forgotten in the busyness of holidays and work. Coming from pure hearts, they reminded me that Christ is and should always be the center of my life. One can easily dismiss such statements as cliché, token Christian phrases, but this simple reminder fell heavy on my heart. I had been feeling tired, exhausted by appointments, and the idea of getting back to work in a few days was an overwhelming thought. I was convicted of how much of my life I live without praying or spending time with Christ. The ironic thing is I get all jazzed up about helping others (starting the orphanage or hearing about great people helping the needy) and I get all emotional when I hear a story that portrays the power of grace and forgiveness. Yet the very being that perfectly represents all these characteristics and promises to draw near to me if I would only give him time, I shun or relegate to a 10-minute session in the morning. It seems like such a no-brainer, but laziness and busyness complicate what should be my first priority of everyday. Jesus, stay close to me and give me the wisdom and strength to draw close to you in busy times and relaxing times. Thank you for your faithfulness.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and please keep me up to date on your life. Take care.

One Year and Great Expectations For The Next

2007-10-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

One Year…..Wow, where did it go?
This blog has been really, really late in coming due to many things going on here but now your long nights of staying up and looking for it in your email, or fasting until the next blog can finally stop. The salad bar of this blog contains great news and a start (yes a START) to the orphanage, a new business, carpentry, my parents and some good family friends kickin it in Colombia. But enough of this tom-foolery, to the blog we gooooo….

Por Fiiiiiiinnnn…

For those of you who no habla espanol, that’s “Finaaaaallly”. The house next to the church is ours, and ready to be inhabited by 16-20 little girls, whose lives will never be the same. It is so so exciting to see things moving and thanks to the many generous donations and support of you who read this, the orphanage, is taking physical form. We worked out a contract with the owners of the house (to rent) and they have taken the past 2 weeks to clean it up, paint, remodel…etc and the house looks great. Generally when people think of an orphanage in a third world country they think about a concrete block building with 4 layer bunk beds and a tin roof resembling Auschwitz. Unlike that idea or model of what an orphanage typically is, our house is beautiful and roomy by even US standards. These girls may come from some of the poorest parts of Bogota, with no family or material possessions to leave behind but they will be walking into a spacious family styled home with a whole church to take them in as their family. I will send pics soon. The next step is that the health and sanitary dept will be stopping by to check out our facilities and then the social care dept to assign us the girls (who will most likely be 4-8 years old). After a year of making phone calls, sending emails and planning, this a blessing to watch this project take form.

Speaking of taking form and the house, I have been plenty busy building bunk beds. However, first let me back up and tell you about a wonderful visit I had from my parents and some good family friends. They came in on the 4th of September and came with the idea to help equip the orphanage with furniture and art and start a business. I will get into the business part a little later. I will admit I was a little nervous how my parents would take the whole new culture thing and not knowing anything about the language. I had my hands full of translating all the time but it went great and my parents and our friends were great with all the changes. Two culture shocks that were a little hard on my dad was that Colombians, like many Latinos, aren’t that punctual so we ended up getting our ordered wood a week late pushing our furnishing project back considerably. The second shock to my dad was when I took them to the local burger joint, which is famous for its monstrosities, which contain just about anything you can squish between two sesame buns. I have had 5 or 6 of these guys and its one of those foods that looks like a great idea in the beginning but half way through its sheer guilt of wasting food that keeps your jaw chewing, which places the A-bomb of a burden on your stomach to digest what look like 2 eggs, 4 pieces of ham, tomatoes, lettuce, hash browns, and an all bee…um…an all dog/cat/whatever got hit out in front of the store that day….patty. Well that little $1.75 warhead put my dad to bed rest for 3 days and after some antibiotics, an IV and some sleep he was good as new, but unfortunately had to leave the following day.

(yeah!! get it daddy!--->)

That left me with 9 bunk beds to make and I have to say despite the load, I love it, because I really do enjoy wood working. I should be a regular Bob Vila in a week or so. Thanks to the generous donation of some Southwestern Booksellers and a Timberview offering, we were able to buy the wood and tools to make the beds, tables and some storage boxes. Oh, and without forgetting my mom’s contribution, she painted three beautiful murals, including one that was of mountains and a stream, which I believe will add a nice touch to our Latino home (maybe next to a poster of the currently running mayor as that seems to be a funny Latino thing).

Oh, and they got to witness my host dad, Octavio’s, 70th birthday party which included mariachis. Another distinguished guest for that party other than my good looking girlfriend (uh huh) was the one and only Danielle Wegman, in from Chicago.

The Business

Ok stay with me, not much more. Brian and Sue Templin (family friends) came with my parents with the intention of training and planting their business (The Detailed Difference) which restores and repairs damages to common surfaces. The business not only employs two people from the church but will provide financially support to the orphanage. They (and now WE) fix anything from leather furniture, wood floors, porcelain sinks to wall paper that are found in hotels, nice restaurants, offices, homes…etc. So basically wherever the first impression is important we make the small fixes that would otherwise be the eye catching flaw that downgrade a facility. I like the idea of restoring and since it really helps those whom we do the work for it’s a blessing to be handed such a great idea. However, this isn’t exactly slapping putty on a hole in the wall, what we have come to learn is this is a fine art in which we have a lot of mediums to master. Brian and Sue have spent the past 10 years finding the best tools and products throughout the US and Europe to really deliver a quality and lasting repair. It was sort of all words to me before they came down and after a few days I was really blown away by how much studying and work has gone into this, from the special German lacquers and waxes to the top of the line air-brushes and so on, it wasn’t the maintenance box of wrenches I was thinking of earlier. The day after they arrived, Aida, Carlos and I started training and it was great to see how excited both the Colombians and Americans were for the business and for each other. Aida, a single mom and business savvy woman will be doing the sales and administrative part. Carlos, a hard working kind man (who works nights stacking milk in trucks outside of Bogota at $300 a month to support his family of five, including a 3 week old baby) will be the one who does the repairs. I am wearing both hats and doing both sales and repairs, until the time comes when I can pull out and they are managing everything.

Door-to-Door AGAIN?!!!! Ha ha ha, wow, the last thing I would have guessed when I was in College was that I would still be selling door to door after College and in COLOMBIA at that!! No, but really I can say with the utmost sincerity, I am so so thankful for my bookselling experience with the southwestern comp. during my college years. I would be utterly lost had I tried to start this thing without that experience. So in my summertime selling manner I hit the pavement today in the restaurant district. With my leather bound pre-approach binder I began knocking, approaching, going through my Spanish sales talk and had to laugh at my current situation (sales is sales, whether in NY suburbs or Colombian barrios). At the end of 4 hours I had talked with a 20 or so restaurants and had three appointments set up for next week so it went well, but there are lots of hard knocks still to come.

Well that’s it for now, and I know there are some things I could still talk about but this has been really long so I bid you farewell. I would love to hear from you all so please respond or if you have some good advice to give, I am all ears. Chao pues.

Catch Up

2007-08-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

Its been almost 2 months since my last blog entry and I feel bad for having neglected to write. These past two months have been slow and mundane in some ways and life changing in other ways. The plans for the orphanage and drop off center continue to evolve and move forward. Just when life seems like it might be getting a little repetitious or stagnant, God throws in a challenge or an exciting element to keep me driven and focused. In comparison to my other blogs this will be on the short side so read ahead and enjoy some tasty Colombian coffee while your at it.

The Slow and Mundane
Let’s start with the slower, not as exciting news first, shall we. During the past month Pastor Libni and I have been looking for a place to rent in the red light district of Bogotá for the drop off center. We unfortunately have not come across any good places to rent and most are overpriced for what you get. This delay allows much unwanted slack in an already long chain of chores that need to happen for us to open the drop off center. We must get a place first and then get it ready and up to par with government regulations to ask for a government visit to our facilities. Once approved, we can start our drop off center right away. What seems like a fairly simple process that can be summed up in a few quick sentences, is neither quick nor simple in a 3rd world country. Latino punctuality combined with a strict, inefficient Colombian government makes for a drawn out process for even the littlest steps. Unfortunately the government doesn’t share the same zeal they have for making laws as they do actually caring them out or processing all the legal matters that come with the many laws. However, never fear, as things continue to evolve and problems continue to be solved.

New Changes
Bob Dylan said, “the times, they are a-changing” and right you are mr. tambourine man. Things have begun to change with the orphanage and drop off center. Instead of having to rent a place in the red light district (drop off center) and a place next to the church (for orphanage), we can most likely combine the two and have a house next to the church. What changed was that Pastor Libni remembered he knew someone who was in charge of a large state run beneficiary (? the English translation) that had mentioned to him a year ago that she was willing to help the church with the orphanage project. She said that if we get the place ready, she has hundreds of kids who need part-time care (children of prostitutes, orphans with temporary housing…etc) and fulltime care (orphans or abused children who need fulltime help). So what this means is we can have one place where we can work with both the drop off center kids and orphanage, thus saving on rent and all the furnishings that we would need for a second place. We have gone ahead and struck a deal with our neighbors (of the church) who are good friends and will be renting their house which is connected with the church. The location is really important because the government requires 3 sq. meters per child and having the house and church connected will give us sufficient space to manage a large group of children.

In my last blog I wrote about answered prayer and though much of that had to do with the orphanage, a part of that had to do with Catherine Sittser (my girlfriend, novia and what not). Through many prayers about her future in Seattle and Bogotá, she landed an amazing job with a high end prep school here in Bogota and moved here almost three weeks ago. I could go on about all the details of how the littlest prayers were answered and then some, but I don’t have that kind of time. Maybe you could dismiss it all as a series of events that all occurred by chance, but it was much more than a “simple twist of fate”. Having her here has been really great, not without its challenges, but wonderful nonetheless. It’s not an easy transition when moving to another country and learning another language but having your first year of teaching on top of that is quite the adjustment. Please be praying for her as she handles all these challenges and adjustments. In the meantime I am plum-happy to have her here.

Another change on the horizon is the business that we will be launching in less than two weeks. I mentioned this business several entries ago and now we are taking off. The fact of the matter is the orphanage and drop off center are expensive and require a lot of initial investment to get going but also a lot of money to maintain. This need has given way to some interesting business and sustainable ministry ideas. This business will not only employ two people from the church (who need work and are well qualified), but also has the capability to generate a serious amount of financial support for the orphanage. The past month or so has been spent planning with my dad and family friends (the Templins) who have franchises of this business in Spokane and Seattle. Via skype planning and some generous donations, the Templins and my parents are able to come down and will be here in less than 2 weeks to train us how to do the repairs, market the service and run the business. While we are training with the Templins, my parents will be helping furnish the house for the orphanage/drop off center by making tables, bunk beds and wall murals. I am excited and nervous for this opportunity because starting a business is no easy task and though I have a lot of experience in sales, I am nervous about selling in Spanish. We could really use your prayers for this business and that God would use it to bless the employees, customers and the children in the orphanage/drop off center.

Alright, that was a little long, but not too bad. I always enjoy hearing from you all so please write me and tell me what’s going on in your lives.

Great News

2007-07-13T13:21:00.001-07:00

Great Things are Happening

In the past two weeks, we have had several amazing breakthroughs with the drop-off center and the building construction. After three months of governmental bureaucracy and Latin American punctuality we got our license and go-ahead to start the drop-off center. On top of that, this last week we got the permit after almost 9 months of waiting to start construction of the third and fourth floors of the church. We hope to have both the construction and drop-off center up and running by the end of the month.

Drop Off Center

Over the past three weeks, I have been going to community centers in several neighborhoods in downtown Bogotá. Since prostitution is legal here, the state requires that the people (mostly women) take a personal health and safety course offered in these community centers. I have been going to these courses and handing out questionnaires that ask what needs these women have (i.e. would you need help watching your kids while you work? what times do you work? etc). Half way through the first meeting I was really taken back by how normal these women are and how wrong the stigma of what a prostitute is. These are women from 21 to 40 years old who parent a wide age-range of kids, but when it comes down to it they just want the best for their kids. In fact, if they were wearing some Gap capris and a button down shirt, they would be your average soccer mom. Since I began these surveys, one thing I have heard over and over again is that they are in prostitution because they have no other options. They can either choose to 1) prostitute themselves so their kids can eat, or 2) let their kids go hungry. Several have told me, “If I had any other option, just one chance, I would leave prostitution for good”. The price these women pay to provide for their children is far greater than what most moms and dads who work in corporate America sacrifice for their children. The bleak reality is that most of these kids have nowhere to go while their moms are working, and therefore many end up as victims of sexual or other physical abuse as well. It is such a common tragedy here that it is almost accepted. Unfortunately, words on a computer screen give such a shallow picture to such a deep and desperate need of these children.

Answered Prayer

The past 3 weeks have brought about many answers to prayers I have been praying for the past 4 or 5 months. Prayer often is an overlooked aspect in my life since it is much easier to focus on tangible checklists. In fact it is quite easy to discount answers to prayer by saying it was “just chance” or “I willed it to happen”. Many times I am quick to write off answered prayers, but there comes a point when it is difficult to give all the credit to chance and not actually God working. Unfortunately, critics of prayer don’t reach that point because they rub their “God lamp” and if no answer comes within a week, it is lost time. On the other hand, those who see prayers answered and recognize them as such are the ones who are consistent and believe that God truly listens and acts.

I have heard of a church in North Korea whose members commit themselves fervently to prayer. They actually built rooms into the mountainside near their church to be used solely for praying. This church treats prayer like the original Christian church. Their needs and very existence depend on spending time with God and faithfully taking time out of their day to be in prayer. Somewhere along the line in history, our western culture has pushed this important aspect out of the focus of our faith and relegated it to convenient corners in our schedules. There are numerous examples throughout the Bible of people spending days in prayer, including Christ himself who spent 40 days in the desert to pray. I ask myself how can something that our very Savior put so much emphasis on be reduced to short mealtime or bedtime prayers? Ever so subtly, being a Christian for me became a comfortable title and lost its demanding and priceless call on my life.

It is easy for me to pray through my list of wants in 10 minutes and count that as quality time. However, lately I have been challenged through work, relationships, and by the pastor to really take time to be still, quiet, and focused. It is not natural, and unfortunately I often use this as a reason to avoid doing more of it, but prayer brings about results. But even more importantly, dedicated prayer adds color, depth, and an almost tangible dimension to an unseen God. If we approach prayer like a sculptor approaches a block of marble and were diligent to chip away at it everyday, I am convinced we would become so in touch with an overwhelmingly real God that we would see the Church transform and meet the needs of the world like never before. This transformation needs to happen, but only through consistent prayer and dedicated faith, not a “health and wealth gospel” or a spiritual self-help program.

Salad Bar

2007-05-17T09:44:00.000-07:00

The rainy season is coming to an end and so is the eighth month of my time here. I can't believe how fast time has passed, and while there is much time left, I am starting to feel more of the rush to get things moving. This update will be a Golden Corral styled salad bar of updates, thoughts and observations (however, it's not all you can eat and there’s no band-aid in the casserole). So without waiting any longer let's get going.

A New Idea

I just wrote a long blog earlier this week that explained our new idea and progress on the orphanage, but it was conveniently erased by this blog site. Anyways, the new idea which has taken root is that instead of raising money to buy a house, which is costly due to rising land value, in addition to raising money for the church's third and fourth floor, we are combining the two projects. The idea came up in a conversation with my dad several weeks back and after further review it seemed like a very practical solution. The house we were considering to buy for the orphanage has jumped $10,000 in the past 4 months due to some new laws being passed in Bogotá. So, pastor Libni and I asked the state welfare department (the people who will assign kids to our orphanage and approve our project) if we could use the fourth floor for the orphanage. They said it would be unlikely that they would approve the girls sleeping there, but liked the idea otherwise. So here is the plan:

The church has been working on a building plan for almost a year now due to space shortage. The only classrooms/offices that we have (excluding the pastor's office, which is used for everything) are located in the kitchen, bathroom, and closet, all of which serve dual purposes or have been converted into work space. For instance, the upstairs office is a bathroom and while going to the bathroom and getting work done simultaneously is an efficient use of your time (I think that’s just a guy thing), the urinals sort of detract from the ambiance during prayer. The seminary and the children's and youth ministries badly need classroom space. Thus the standing idea is that the third floor will be used for classroom space and for a couple of offices. The neat thing is that I will be able to use the classroom space for my English classes, which currently are bringing in $400 a month, money that goes toward the orphanage.

The fourth floor, however, will be used as the main living area for the girls in the orphanage where they can return after school to take classes, do homework, attend counseling sessions, eat dinner, and hang out. We would use the income from the English classes to rent a floor of a house behind the church where the girls would sleep and eat breakfast. However, the majority of their time would be spent in the church. Not only is this $150,000 we don’t have to raise, but it’s a better way to integrate these girls into the church community. This said, we just received a generous $20,000 from Northgate, a church in NY, which will immensely help our building progress.

Latino Quirks

On a different note, I’ve been making some funny and interesting observations about Latinos. Three weeks ago I organized an obstacle course for the youth group and though there were several successes it turned out to be a good learning experience for me. I learned that if there are more than 3 or 4 instructions to an activity, they would quickly get antsy and bored while listening. Long instructions or anything that might take some strategy and explanation turned out to be a failure. I was sitting there confused by why they weren’t getting it when someone proposed the idea of tag and the whole room erupted in joy. People from 15 to 26 years old were running around like it was recess time back in elementary school. A week later I was hanging out with the youth leaders and proposed the idea of playing cards--specifically hearts--but then remembered the lesson I learned earlier and was eventually out-voted by Uno. We played that for the following hour and a half--with never a dull moment.

This is what I’ve learned: Latinos can be serious people but at the chance to play a game, they revert back to 3rd graders and love simple old-fashioned games. Another example is that practically every business (from car manufacturers to grocery stores) has a small soccer field or court set up for their employees. Unlike U.S. workers who generally go out to eat or pack a bag lunch and talk during their lunch break, Latinos grab the soccer ball and spend their break playing soccer. It’s like corporate recess. I look out my window during lunchtime and I always see all the nearby construction workers out playing in their boots and overalls. Screams and laughter are heard from the nearby mini soccer court as the workers (generally tough, macho guys) play as if they were little kids laughing and rolling on the ground. I was really moved; so much so that I almost ran out the door to get a ‘butts-up’ or a four-square game going, but I decided against it, realizing that ‘black magic’, ‘holdies’, and ‘cherry bombs’ might be hard concepts to translate…..maybe another time.

In other news, the Colombian senate voted yes 65 to 43 by way of a ‘heads-up-seven-up’ count for ratifying new labor laws.

Community

I have had several visitors these past two months and each one has been impressed with the quality of people that surround me. I don’t think I can say enough how thankful I am for the community I have, and I realize more now than ever that strong Christian community is priceless. Often in the U.S. we elevate independence and individualism as if it were a fruit of the spirit, or an honorable value. While I believe autonomy and being independent is good, it has it's place and it's limitations. We were created to be social beings and I can’t think of any better way to be in community than with others who share love for Christ and in turn love their neighbors. I have been blessed by my community here and I wish I could share it with all of you.

Well that’s the end of my random thoughts. I am currently working on several projects that deal with fundraising and orphanage development…..but I am never to busy to read your emails, so write me back. Take care and enjoy a game of freeze tag.

Jacob

Vision

2007-04-27T12:34:00.000-07:00

Not Exactly a Building Project

It was the winter of my senior year in college when I first heard about coming to Colombia. The idea of starting an orphanage excited me and I envisioned myself raising money for a house, playing with the kids, and being like a big brother to the children in the orphanage. After the first month of being in Colombia I realized there was a lot (understatement) that needs to happen before the fun of playing with kids is an option. I wasn't completely ignorant of the hard work it would take before I came; however, I think I came in with a short term mission mentality (the same mentality that one might have as they go to build a house in Tijuana, Mexico). It's not necessarily a bad mindset, and if your goal is to construct a building in a week, it’s the right mentality to have. However, starting an orphanage is hardly a building project or even a soup kitchen. What hit me first was the amount of money that one needs to start and operate an orphanage. The first couple months were sort of depressing when I would look at the excel spreadsheet of costs. I felt like a little kid again, shaking my piggy bank to guess how much was inside. However, this time it’s not the cap gun I had my eye on, its more like the brand new Porsche 911 with insurance and licensing that I would need to pay for. Shake, shake....yeah just a little shy of $100,000.

The other thing that hit me was the responsibility I was taking on. It wasn't like I was showing up and putting on a vacation bible school, playing soccer with some kids and then taking a lot of pictures of them. I am involved in building an institution, a home where kids will come and live, expecting and needing food, love, and care. In January, when Henry Bedford showed up with his friend Phil, I started to get a taste of the influence this ministry could have. Being a 23 year old, I don’t have a tendency to think 15 or 20 years into the future, in fact it’s really hard to think that far ahead. However, Henry has had experience with things similar to this and was able to project what the orphanage could be in 15 years and how it will go beyond just providing food and shelter. Thus began the thought process of what this might be some day and how it would impact lives.

Future, Near and Far

During the past few days God has really been showing me the extent of the orphanage through the process of developing a website. In a short while, we will have a website that will be linked to the church’s website, that will describe in detail the process a child will go through, starting in the drop off center and then in the orphanage. Half way through a meeting with Aida and Elsa (the child psychologist who is helping lead this) I was amazed an the enormity of the project. However, unlike previous feelings of being overwhelmed, I was amazed at the potential of the ripple effect this will have on generations to come. When I told Aida that it was difficult for me to think 20 years down the road, she replied "Jacob, this isn't some little two year project that we are doing, we are answering Christ's call to be light to those who don't know him, and just a little candle won't work". She said it as only Aida could, passionate and with clear resolve in her voice. She went on to say that the Church around the world is used to doing one or two year projects. However, to make a real difference we need to establish projects that don’t have end dates, ministries that don’t stop but are passed down to following generations, sustained by nationals, supported by volunteers and businessmen alike, and driven by Christ's love for those in need.

Like I said earlier, we have been working on a website where people can directly find out everything that’s happening with the orphanage (in English and Spanish). This site will hopefully link more people to our orphanage, giving them an idea of the great need there is here, as well as providing them an opportunity to get involved (by donating and volunteering). Other than that, two weeks ago a house came on the market that is just 2 houses down from the church. The house needs a little bit of work done to it, but on the whole, would serve our needs more than the other house we were interested in. It’s also $25,000 less than the other house (for $115,000) and bigger. The owner is selling it so cheap because he just wants to get his money and get out, so there are several interested people in the house. We have some funds but are still waiting and praying that God would lead some serious donors to help us buy this house. As for the drop off center, we just received our corrected application from Bienstar (the social arm of the gov't) and with a few modifications we should have our license to open the drop off center in 15-20 days. Please be praying for a good spot we could rent for the drop off center.

Thanks for reading this and taking time out of your day to learn about how God is working around the world. It’s easy to discount this as just another program that has needs in a world full of needs, but there are plenty of money and resources to meet these needs, especially when well applied. I pray that each one of you reads this and is moved to act in any way to simplify your life so that you might be able to help share and greatly impact another life. I am always ready to help and hear how you are doing, so please contact me at grady.jacob@gmail.com .

Jacob

Semana Santa

2007-04-03T12:20:00.000-07:00

Dearest family and friends I have neglected to write for close to a month now. Life has been busy at times and slow at other times. I have been waiting for several things to happen before writing but there is always something to wait for. So here is a short up date on life and what is happening with the orphanage. As always this blog is a salad bar of thoughts and events so pull up a chair and enjoy.

Waiting

If there were several words that would epitomize Latin America, "waiting" would be one. Whether it’s for an appointment, a line at the market, or in our case the government, waiting is a way of life like drinking coffee in the morning. Governments generally aren't known for their efficiency and even less so in Latin America. We have to apply to Bienstar (the social work arm of the gov't) for a license to open up our drop off center (phase one of our orphanage project). There is a long list of qualifications that one has to meet and when one finally does meet them, it could mean 3 weeks to a month before the Government even gets back to you to say that you have everything in line for them to start to process. Once the process of authorization has begun who knows how long it will take. The best possible outcome is that we call in a month to find that it’s been authorized and they just forgot to tell us. The worst is we don’t have everything exactly right and they take the application fee and reject us. In case of rejection, we will tweak the problem and then re-apply. In any case, we are waiting to hear from the government and could use prayer for a good and quick response.

My Role

Just as the orphanage project has changed and been modified to meet the needs here, so my role in working with the project has changed as well. Like I explained in the previous blog about the orphanage, I have moved out of policy making for the orphanage and focused on connecting people who have the heart and means to help our project. Elsa, the child physiologist, has just finished the technical and theoretical plan of how we will conduct our social work and has turned it into the government. Pastor Libni has been working with a Lawyer to get our plan polished for the government, as well as working with the other legal paperwork that goes along with starting such a project (including formalizing the paperwork of our foundation).I also have begun to focus more on starting businesses that would be used to support the orphanage. There are days that I look at the cost it takes to maintain an orphanage and I am overwhelmed by the need. However, I find comfort in learning about others who have raised much more than we need for causes far less worthy than investing in a child's life. I find strength in the fact that Christ showed special interest in the children of his time and that God cares for not only his creation but especially for his young children.

Surface Repair and Hot Chocolate

I am working on two business ideas right now. The first one is a surface repair business that is actually a working business in Spokane, Washington. "Detailed Difference" is the name of the company and the owners, some family friends, have had great success with it in Spokane and are looking to franchise the business in other parts of the US. It has been quite a blessing because we both have the same vision and passion for business and missions. The idea is that we would open a franchise in Bogotá (8 million pop.) and use the business as a means to employ several people in the church as well as help cover operational costs of the orphanage. The repair business can repair practically any surface damage on any surface (wood, marble, carpet, tile...etc). My friend Aida, and I have been doing research with what hotel's repair needs are in Bogotá, as well as finding out what we need to do to open a franchise in Colombia. This is a slow process, but we both believe it will prove to be a great resource for helping operational costs of the orphanage.

The second business idea we have been looking into for the past month is exporting a traditional hot chocolate, which is commonly drank in the countryside of Colombia. Hot chocolate is a very common drink here, and whoever started that tradition, may God bless their soul a hundred times over (it is sooo delicious). We aren't talking about that swissmiss junk. The typical hot chocolate we drink here comes in bars of raw chocolate (mixed with sugar and some preservatives, but not many). However, the hot chocolate that we are interested in is quite different. Chucula, is what it is called, and it is completely all natural with no preservatives. It is made by grinding and mixing toasted corn, wheat, a few types of nuts, cinnamon, cloves and cacao (raw chocolate beans). The end product is in powdered form and when added to boiling water and milk (optional) and some sugar, the drink has a semi-sweet chocolaty taste with a slight taste of roasted grain. Not only does it taste great (and it really does), but the nutritional value of one cup is far greater than any slim fast shake or power bar. We are investigating what it takes to export and import a food product to the US as well as getting connected to a cacao dealer down here. Despite the newness and huge amount we have yet to learn with this new idea, I am really excited about this product and believe it could be very successful in Whole Food styled stores. If you are familiar or know someone who is familiar with importing food rules for the US, please contact me at grady.jacob@gmail.com . If you have any input about any of these ideas, or just want to offer another idea please contact me and I will be sure to get back to you.

Semana Santa Salad

Well its Holy Week here which means several things: a race to consume large amounts of alcohol before Thursday, millions of plastic figurines of Jesus on the cross, shocking displays of penitence and lots of family time. Colombia, being a dominantly Catholic country, really goes all out for Holy Week, maybe even more than Christmas. Shrines of Mary and Jesus on the cross are sold by hordes of venders in downtown Bogotá. People pack their local bars and dance in their houses and streets enjoying their vacation time before they have to start fasting from meat and thinking about penitence, starting this upcoming Thursday. Speaking of penitence, there is a famous cathedral (Monserrate) that sits on top of the mountain range that overlooks the east side of Bogotá city. This cathedral has a long rocky and steep stair path that leads up to it. During Holy Week thousands of people will walk up these rocky stairs and fight through the gauntlet of shrine vendors to go to mass. Some of these people will climb the rugged steep one mile trail on their knees and some will carry a cross or heavy weight to pay their penitence for their sins. All I can say is "thank you God for grace". If I go, I will probably take the grace gondola to get to the top. I don’t know what the family plans are for me, but many people go to the parks and spend time playing with their families.Well, a very blessed Passover and Easter to you all. I hope you enjoy time with friends and family over this holiday and that you take some time to reflect on its meaning and its call on your life. My prayer is that you all would be filled with joy and moved to act in love because of God's grace.

Jacob

Finally some Pics

2007-03-08T19:47:00.000-08:00

This is an epic pic from this past summer. Its the "inner che" in me. ha ha ha.

The pic to above is of a barrio south of Bogota where many of the displaced people live. Speaking of which, Colombia has the second largest displaced population in the world of 3 million people.

Working Girl: I met this little girl in the same barrio as she was bringing some tools to her dad. She helps with his odd end jobs.

Siempre Adelante

2007-02-21T10:03:00.000-08:00

Family and friends, I write this exciting update to you from my apartment in Bogotá. Life has been really crazy as of late and things don’t look like they will be slowing down anytime soon. Before I get started I want to ask each of you to take a couple minutes and pray for Catherine Sittser, who was involved in an accident this last weekend and is recovering in the hospital in Quito, Ecuador. I would really appreciate your prayers as would she and her family.

The following news is of great pleasure to share with you guys and my prayer is that this blog will push you to think of new and creative ways you can be involved with our work here. This long blog, so buckle up and read it all. As always I will break this blog up into a multi course meal, with two entrees; the orphanage, and business ideas. I then will end with a tasty Golden Corral styled salad bar of thoughts and insights. So grab your comfort food (steak, cabbage, tofu hotdog…etc) and get reading.

The Orphanage

The past three weeks have been spent by Pastor Libni, Elsa (a child psychologist) and myself working to create a defined plan of how we are going to start this project. After visiting with several foundations that are working with high risk children, our little team of three has put together a plan that has two phases (I know, everyone always has three phases, I will look into making up another phase). The need that we have identified from talking with the foundations is that there are many children growing up in neighborhoods that are known for their violence and prostitution, that do not go to school or have nothing to do after school. More often than not they are children of prostitutes. With very little parental care these kids learn the ways of the streets and are subject to abuse (especially the girls). The hard thing is that the prostitute moms would rather give their kid to a distant relative than let their child be instituinalized. To this we are in agreement, we have no desire to separate families; however these women need serious help with their kids. Thus the first phase will be a drop-off care center located in this community, where the kids will be cared for, helped with homework and taught (how to share, give, tell the truth, responsibility…etc). There are two reasons why we are starting with this phase and not just jumping to the orphanage. One, is that this is a great need and it will better prepare us for our orphanage. Two, is that we still don’t have enough money to the buy the house (despite the $30,000 we received a month ago) and that this project will not take much money to operate.

All this said, the orphanage is still our final phase, which will fill the urgent need for full-time caretakers for abandoned kids. The second phase goes as follows: house, personnel, and then children. We have a good start on buying the house (as you can read about in the previous blog), but we still are lacking a good portion of the cost to buy the house. The personnel we have and Pastor Libni has organized a list of church members who have volunteered their help and expertise with working with the kids. Once we have the house and the personnel ready we can apply to Bienstar (the social care arm of the government) for the children, which there is no shortage by any means. However, the good recent news on this topic is that this past weekend we were blessed to have visitors Pastor David from Chile and Jeff an administrator of a large church in Batavia, New York. Pastor David (I’m leaving last names out intentionally) is the Latin America mission’s director for the Free Methodist Church. Jeff made plans to come to Colombia two weeks ago after praying about it and receiving a unanimous decision by his church board to send him here. Both were a ton of fun and were very supportive in our projects. What was so great was to see Jeff take hold of our vision and take ownership of helping with the orphanage. God willing his church will be able to help the orphanage become a reality.

Oh, and one more important thing to note is how our church will be involved. Something that I enjoy about Latin American culture is that the idea of family is so important and being hospitable comes naturally. We have had several people offer and I suspect many more who want to help mentor or be a support for the women and their children whom we will be working with. Thus the idea of creating “adopted families” has come about. Many of these prostitutes have been rejected, labeled and cast out by those closest to them (despite the strong cultural family ties). The Church (on a broader note) was designed to be a supporting family that should always seek to redeem those who have been hurt or rejected with the grace and love that Christ showed. Clearly, there are many churches that don’t do that, but there are many in the world that have not lost this original idea of Christian community. So the plan is that each woman who comes to drop off her child will have a family, couple or person in the church to connect with, befriend, or go out to eat with once a week. This to me, is love, redemption and exactly what Jesus was talking about when he said “love your neighbor as yourself”.

Business in Church

No, I’m not talking about money changers or selling stuff in church (that was cleared up some 2000 years ago). What I am talking about is the great need for businesses that work alongside the church. The 21st century was one of great prosperity and even in the past three decades, affluence (especially in the US) has grown exponentially. What I am saying is that lots of money is being made out there and there are creative entrepreneurial ideas popping up everywhere. Where is the church’s position in this context? Well many churches have opted for the new building, sound system or something bigger and better. While I am not completely against getting the latest “bells and whistles” I am against it when not everyone has a bell or whistle to blow. There are huge needs around us and an endless supply of social projects (orphanages, food centers, homeless shelters, educational skill centers…etc) that need support. The charge I have for businessmen is where is your money going? Newer church office furniture or teaching a skill to an uneducated single mom that would get her a paying job. We call this holistic development and it has recently become more popular. However, there is still a great need for Christian businessmen to work alongside the church. After all, you can teach an ex-prostitute how to sow and get her good work, but if she continues to keep that self image as a means to some else’s end, you have just improved her economic status. However, if business were to work alongside the church, than this woman could see herself as a cherished child of God who is capable of loving others the way Christ loves her. This is no new idea of mine; just something I am becoming more and more passionate about.

We have several business plans in the works right now and I am spending a good bit of my time doing a research on the hotel market in Bogotá. Fortunately I share this passion for business with the Pastor and Aida (an elder in the church and a business savvy lady). Aida and I have been working together to find out what it will take to start a business and get it going in Bogotá. A good portion of the money earned by the business will go towards operating costs of the orphanage. The business will also be a possible outlet for prostitute moms who want to get out of prostitution and be able to support their kids. Another neat aspect is that we want to incorporate this job with a small group styled class that will teach employees about Biblical perspectives of business ethics and money management…etc.

I wish I could be speaking to each of you individually right now, because there is no way to type out my enthusiasm or conviction that I have for this project. Sure there are days that seem monotonous here, but all it takes are times like this to reflect to reenergize my passion for these projects and ideas. If you share in this passion, have ideas, know someone who could help financially or would just like to touch bases with me, email me at grady.jacob@gmail.com . Thank you for taking the time to read this email, it means a lot to get emails from people who took the time to read it all.

The Low Down

2007-02-01T10:44:00.000-08:00

Alright, since my last blog a few things have developed that I thought were worth mentioning. Oh, and thanks to those of you who responded to my last blog, way to set a good example for the rest of the readers. For those who didn’t here’s your chance to redeem yourself. Ok, let’s get going! The first part talks about the orphanage developments, and the second part about the church project.

The Orphanage

Last week I had several intense meetings with Pastor Libni about the next step. We have broken down our game plan into two categories. The first is the financial and building side, which has been sobering and encouraging at the same time. The second category is developing our game plan for how we will structure our project with the children, what children, and how we will address their needs.

In regards to the first category, we had a meeting with the owners of the house we want to buy, and they asked for a $150,000 and we finally settled on a $140,000, which leaves us with a hundred thousand to raise (including the 40 thousand we have recently received). There is no way we can take out a loan for a $100 thousand because with the interest we would end up paying a little over $300 thousand in 15 years. I am currently working to put together a presentation which will serve as a promotional tool for those who are interested in helping our project financially.

As for the second category, Pastor Libni, another psychologist, and I have begun to interview and investigate the problems of at risk children in Bogota. Last Friday we went to AJC (asociación jóvenes cristianas) which is a branch of the YMCA, that works in the Santa Fe barrio. The Santa Fe barrio is known for its prostitution and dangerous streets. We met with three of the head administrators and though it was interesting and informative, it was a really heavy and depressing conversation. Learning of the atrocities of child abuse, especially sexual, and the enormity of the prostitution business was an eye-opening and sobering reality to hear. While it was sort of a downer to hear, it boosted my conviction on what we are doing even more.

Church Project

The Bogotano Church decided last fall (2006) that they would start construction for the third and fourth floor of the church building. The original plans called for these additions and now with an overflowing children’s ministry and a growing youth ministry, we have out grown the small back room that doubles as the kitchen and classroom. The third floor will be used for classroom space including a larger room that the youth could use. Not only will this extra space be useful for the classes during the week (seminary, small groups, and music lessons), but we have plans to open a small English school, which is in high demand due to the government’s recent emphasis on learning English. The money from the English classes will go towards supporting the orphanage’s operational costs (utilities, food, etc).
The fourth floor construction will mostly be just outside walls and pillars unless we are able get more funds to finish it. The fourth floor will be used as office space for FINDES, which the foundation Pastor Libni started years ago that acts as the social works wing of the church. FINDES is technically who I work for, but other than being a legal entity on paper, it is just the Pastor and a handful of church leaders that run it. The fourth floor would also provide more room for the growing seminary that Pastor Daniel (Libni’s brother) runs.

The problem, or rather the need that has been created by both (orphanage, and Church expansion) projects is that we simply do not have the funds to make both possible. We have collected about $2,000 for the church project and Libni and Daniel are thinking of selling their cars to invest in the church project (projected to be $50,000 for 3rd and 4th floor basic structure). The church can take out a loan, but for which project and for how much? We are in prayer over these needs and it brings us hope to know that if a church (like one in my city) raised 17 million to build a new facility we could raise $150,000 to build a third and forth floor and start an orphanage. We are asking you, the reader, to pray alongside us in solidarity and if you feel like you can give, financially, a service of some sort or refer us to someone who can we would be very grateful for your help. Thad Roller had emailed me earlier about a man who raised $2 million to go to Antarctica this last year. This assured me to know that if people are willing to invest that much money to see penguins there is definitely hope for projects like ours that are investing in people’s lives and bringing God’s love tangible to others. I pray that you would read this and make a point to act, in anyway possible, or at least spend your money at the San Diego Zoo, it’s a lot closer. As always I enjoy hearing from you so write me at grady.jacob@gmail.com .

Dios les Bendiga,

Jacob

Blessing on 53rd St.

2007-01-18T10:08:00.000-08:00

No this is not the rejected sequel to Miracle of 34th st.. Better yet, answered prayer and a reassuring step in God’s plan. Hello beloved family and friends. This blog is a very exciting report for me to share with you all. I first must apologize for my absence these past three weeks, I will explain why. As always this will be a salad bar styled blog with the first section covering what I have been up to these past three weeks and the second section about the Orphanage’s step forward. I think it would only be appropriate to end this blog with a section of thanks and prayer requests that you, the reader, can take to help this orphanage be a reality. So without further delay grab your comfort snack (chocolate, cheese, an onion) and buckle up.

Kicking it in Cartagena

Christmas and New Years went great here; despite it not really feeling like it was Christmas. During the holiday break Pastor Libni and his wife, Natalia was planning a road trip to Cartagena. The plan was Libni, Natalia, Oscar (the worship pastor, who had never seen the ocean before), Natalia’s sister, and myself. However two weeks before leaving, Natalia’s sister backed out and we were left looking frantically for a fifth person (to keep the costs down for all of us). My friend Catherine Sittser, from my college, was traveling through Latin America and had planned to come and visit for 3 days and then continue on to Ecuador (things changed, in more ways than one). I talked her into rescheduling her flight and come to Cartagena with us. So on the first of January we all crammed into Libni’s two door hatch back and embarked on the 20 hour road trip. Now when I say road trip, you probably think cruising along I-90 at a comfortably fast speed. Well forget that picture and think of watching European rally car racing instead. Weaving through the Andes on narrow roads, playing chicken on every turn and dodging pot holes left our arms limp for holding on as we swerved past another car. The highways aren’t that bad if you had like a Hummer or something. The road would have convenient pot holes in the shaded part of the road and then random speed bumps in the middle of no where. Apparently the thinking behind this is, “we don’t have money to pay traffic cops to regulate speed, so we’ll just throw random speed bumps all through out the highway”. Well after a very long trip and great maneuvering on Libni’s part we arrived in Cartagena, the Miami of Colombia, home to Shakira and her gyrating “truth telling hips”. We stayed in Libni’s cousin’s apartment and cooked our own food to save on money and enjoyed the beach. Cartagena was the jewel of the Spanish crown in its heyday, boasting a fortress/castle that was never defeated. We loved walking through it’s old town district, which was straight out of a travel brochure. Well to some it up, we spent two weeks there and it was amazing and the company I spent it with was just as great (well, maybe better).

Siempre Adelante (Always Forward)

I knew January would be a big month for the orphanage but I didn’t know what it would look like. The plan all along was I would go to Cartagena and meet up with two friends, Henry Bedford and his friend, Phil, who were motorcycling through Central America. Henry is the CEO of the Southwestern Company (the company I sold books with) and several other companies like Great American, which Phil works with. They had expressed interest in helping out with the orphanage and we had planned to meet up in Cartagena and they would ride back with us. However, due to complications of finding a boat from Panama to Colombia (there is no road in between, for those who want to road trip Central and South America), they took a plane and air shipped their bikes last minute to Bogotá (their planned destination). I was expecting them this week and instead checked my email last Friday to find out that they were frantically looking for me. We finally hooked up and I drove over to their Hotel to pick them up. We rode around a bit on the bikes and then headed back to the church. They stored their bikes in the basement (to pick up for next year’s trip). I gave them the tour of the church, the building we want to buy for the orphanage and then gave them the run down of what orphanage would be. After an hour or so of talking, Henry came out and asked how much we would need for the down payment to get the house. We crunched numbers and came up with $40 grand. He then said he would be responsible for $30 grand if we could come up with $10 grand (we have $8 grand as we speak). I had day dreamed this scenario through and yet when it actually happened I was still shocked. However, more than the money, it was so great to be with Henry and Phil because of their ability to see the greater vision of what this orphanage could be. The blessing of being 23 years old is I have so much time ahead of me; however, the curse of being young is the inability to project an idea over a ten, twenty year stretch of time. Both Henry and Phil shared some amazing ideas for the orphanage and encouraged me in my work, which meant a lot. After a great dinner where we shared ideas and heard their hilarious road trip stories we parted ways.

A Note of Thanks

For those of you giving financially and those who are praying for this project, thank you, thank you. I have talked a lot about Faith and how this project is stretching me to rely on God. However, this project is more than just my personal opportunity to grow, it is a catalyst for everyone’s faith who have invested prayer, money and time into this project. I pray that this recent blessing would stretch your faith as it has mine and that we would continue to be amazed at what God is doing.

Specific Prayer Requests:

-That our meeting with the owners of the house would go well (this Friday), and that they would give us a reasonable price.
-Financially, that we would be able to raise enough money to get a manageable loan from the bank.
-This Friday we have a meeting with a group who is working with child prostitutes in the red light district of Bogotá.

Feliz Navidad

2006-12-18T15:34:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays Family and Friends,

Its hard to imagine that Christmas is almost here. Christmas as you might imagine is pretty big here (being a predominantly catholic country). As always this blog is a choose your own adventure so choose away, after all its Christmas. The first part will talk about my English classes; the second part will talk about the orphanage; and the third will be a seasonal salad bar.

Fun With English

For the past four weeks I have been teaching English from 4 in the afternoon to 7 at night. Classes finally ended this past Friday, which frees up a lot of time for me. My Basic English class was predominantly children, 8 years and older. They were really cute and fun to teach but were incredibly exhausting. The Intermediate class was probably my favorite because they really wanted to learn and the majority of the class was between 15-25 years old. Conversational class was my last class of the night and was my time to rest my brain and speak in English. However, the students were sporadic, at best, in their attendance.

When living in another country it can be discouraging at times to not know the inside jokes or the slang words, let alone the mother tongue. I have misunderstood many jokes and often found myself to be the punch line of my friend’s jokes. For this reason, the highlight of English class was that we played on my turf for once. I often would right examples on the board for people to repeat, to practice punctuation. One time I wrote “Jacob is my favorite teacher and quite good looking as well”. I would say it first and then have everyone repeat it, and then say “gracias” and have them practice again. I would fight back the laughter as my friends, who would tease me in Spanish, unknowingly showered me with compliments in English. Oooh, what fun.

The Orphanage

Pastor Libni and I have been talking recently about the next step in the orphanage. We have agreed that its best not to wait until we have funds to buy a house for the orphanage, but instead do what we can in the mean time. When Libni started the church they started with a children’s ministry that reached out to kids who were living next to a sewer and they didn’t need much money. So we have decided to start working with an organization here in Bogota that works with child prostitutes. Libni and I are excited to start our work with children and we are praying that God would use us and that people who learn of our work would be led to give to help purchase a building for the orphanage. This is refreshing because I was getting antsy (sp?) to start working with the kids. We will take the next few weeks during the holidays to learn of organizations that we can work with. Pray that we would connect with the right group and that God would use us.

Seasonal Salad Bar

On a whole I am very content here and don’t really miss home (sorry mommy, I love you). No seriously I have been blessed with great community here. However, there are things that I miss about this time of year that I can’t find in Bogota. I have, however, found some suitable replacements.
Skiing: I miss the feel of bounding through the fresh powder and standing on top of the mountain. I miss the adrenaline rush of throwing a back flip into a deep powder landing. However, riding a motorcycle in Bogota has been a suitable replacement. And while there are no jumps to ski off of, almost getting side swiped by a bus seems to suffice for an adrenaline rush.
Mom’s cooking: The absence of my mom’s cookies at Christmas time is like a manger scene without the baby Jesus. Ok, that was a bit blasphemous but, I really do miss her chocolate chip cookies. Instead I am eating buñuelos, a cheese bread shaped like a donut hole, which is tradition for this time of year.
Christmas morning: Instead of rolling out of bed and opening stockings I will be rolling out of bed and opening Tamalés, which is a banana leaf, wrapped typical breakfast food here.

An Uncomfortable Faith

I wanted to include a quick section in the end here to talk about faith and what I am learning here. In several recent emails and conversations with friends I have talked a lot about faith and was encouraged by Justin to share. So here it goes.

In the fall of my senior year I really struggled with my faith and questioned God´s existence. I was a theology major with a good intellectual understanding. However, when several friends began to challenge my beliefs, my intellectual answers were just fronts to my inner doubts. After talking and receiving some invaluable advice from Roger Mohrlang, I began to look at my faith differently. Since I have been here I have been continually convicted of my lack of faith. I didn’t really need faith in the US, after all I worked hard, made good money, and everything else was intellectual. My faith was simply a matter of going to the right compartment in my brain and pulling out the right answer. On the contrary, when one doesn’t have a dime to spare, only a high school education and is faced with true hardships, faith is all they have. And in turn God does amazing things. Unfortunately, for me and I would say much of US Christianity, we have compromised the vulnerability that faith requires for comfort and convenience. Faith is a humble and confident decision of recognizing that we don’t know everything and cant do everything, but God can. Therefore faith then becomes apart of everyday life. Here, my intellectual shell has been exposed by the needs around me and the vibrant faith of those who put everything on the line for their love of Christ.

My prayer for myself and for you all is that this holiday season would be a time to reassess our faith and what it asks of us. I also pray that we would have a spirit of gratefulness, but a gratefulness that demands a response that leads us to give. I love you all and cherish your support and friendships.

Dios les Bendiga,

Jacob

Un Paso de Fe

2006-12-01T12:18:00.000-08:00

Friends and Family, the following sections are a blend of fun adventures, hard times and reflections. If you are busy now, please come back and take the time to read this, however, if you have five minutes, please read and respond if you would like to add something, give advice or just let me know that you are alive and well. The first section is more of a light hearted account of my motorcycle adventures. In the second section you will learn about the progress of the orphanage and the reflections that come with it. The third part talks about the needs in the church and provides a few optional responses for you, the reader. Without further delay let us begin.

Motorcycle Diaries

After many weeks of questioning and receiving very little answers to what I would need to have to drive in Colombia, I finally learned I could drive for the first 90 days in the country with my US license. After the 90 days I could use an international license for a year. With my application underway in the Spokane AAA, I jumped on a bus to find a place where I could learn how to drive a motorcycle (moto from now on). After some questioning I learned of a place where I could take lessons by the hour is a neighboring barrio. When I arrived at the address given to me I walked up the narrow staircase to the upstairs office. The receptionist asked me a few questions and then led me to a dingy room and put on a moto safety video for me to watch as I waited for my instructor to show up. The video gave examples of what not to do and apparently driving drunk on the sidewalk and talking on your cell phone is a no no here....huh...it must be another cultural thing. Anyways the instructor showed up a half hour late (on time here) and we hit the road. We pulled off on a local road and he showed me how the gears worked and then said “you try”. After an hour of driving solo we called it quits; I paid him and left. Last Thursday I headed over to the Honda dealership and after some time of talking about different models and prices I decided on one and signed the papers. Due to some procrastination on the dealer's part I picked up my moto 4 hours late on Saturday in the middle of the afternoon downpour. I thought to myself "sweet I get to ride my moto for the first time in an area I don’t know with 4 inches of standing water and driving rain". Well I shrugged my shoulders, threw on my plastic rain gear and hit the road. It actually went well and thanks to years of driving on the East Coast and having Kyah for a sister I was able to maneuver around the aggressive drivers. However, I could have done without the occasional wave from a passing semi. Here's an understatement for you. Driving a 50 cc scooter in Spokane is just a bit different than driving a moto in Bogota. When I am not dodging buses and taxis I am trying to learn the street system. Since last Saturday I have put a 180 kms on my moto and work has been easier to manage as well as commuting has become more enjoyable.

Go Big or Go Home

In the short two months that I have been here I have begun to learn one of the most challenging aspects of development. Whether you are building something or just starting a project there are two paths one can take. The first is a conservative approach with a high likelihood of completion. However, it lacks long term vision and appeal. The second path is go big or go home (“which reminds me of the boy who wants to sell his dog”-SW quote). It has long term vision and is very appealing; however, it’s thin on practicality. What does this have to do with me and the orphanage? Well, when I look at the plans for the orphanage I am filled with passion and excitement until I get to the budget part, where I usually start to get depressed and begin to pray. I start to cut costs and downsize the plans and in the end the likelihood of completion is high, but at the price of passion and vision. When this happens I talk to Pastor Libni, who naturally is optimistic and encourages me to think big. He says,
“We could buy a little run down house, fill it with orphans and make sure they have enough rice to eat, and call it an orphanage. And then say ‘job well done’. However, in the end we haven’t changed much and we’ve sacrificed the greater plan for the quickest plan”.
In this two-path analogy there is a variable that can change everything: Faith. Faith makes the second path doable and the first path better than we could have imagined. Pastor Libni acts on faith and is confident in God’s plans for the church and the community. If I have begun to learn anything from my work here, it is that faith combined with hard work is the greatest combination to do the impossible.

I have faith that God will provide for the orphanage and in the meantime I am doing all that I can to let people know about the project and help out around the church.

Hard Times

I have written to several of you about the financial difficulties of many of the people in the church here. It has been very humbling to learn about the difficult stories of my friend’s families. In an email to my former co-workers I wrote about my friend Johanna, who at 25 years old has been the sole provider for her single mom and herself for more than eight years. She has class from 8 am to 11am and then takes the hour long bus home to have a two hour lunch break and then goes to work at the airport as a receptionist/host for a hotel until 11:30 pm. Between school and work she only has Saturdays off and that’s when she practices with the church worship team.

I could tell you about my friend Carlos who has a wife, a son and an epileptic daughter. He works 9 pm to 8 am every night in a town two hours away, loading milk into delivery trucks. He receives the minimum wage ($191 a month) and is the sole provider for his family. There house foreclosed four months ago and they live with Carlos’ uncle. However, he is the first to offer help at the church even if in means coming straight from work to shovel cement for 5 hours (like this past week).

The need for jobs and especially good paying jobs is overwhelming here. Coming from a culture where getting a job is as easy as turning in a resume to Starbucks or the local grocery store, I feel helpless when I hear these stories. For this reason I have begun to talk with friends and family back home about ideas of starting up a business here. The idea is that the business could create jobs (maybe just a few) as well as help fund the orphanage. I strongly believe the orphanage’s longevity depends on creating some sort of micro enterprise.

Your Response

One option is that you offer your advice or the names of people (and emails) who have created micro-enterprises/orphanages

The second option is take sometime to brainstorm and see if you know anyone who has a heart for Latin America, Development, and Orphans and let them know about this project. There are many people who have great hearts and desire to help, but don’t know where or how.

The third option, is if you are one of those people and would like to give of your resources (money, materials for the orphanage, or hard work down here), please contact me at grady.jacob@gmail.com.

The fourth and most important is prayer. We could use prayer for wisdom and guidance for what God is going to bring as well as prayer for people to give generously.

As always thank you for taking the time to read this. My prayer is that you would be encouraged by what is happening down here as well as encouraged to act. I love you all and I hope life is going well for you.

Dios le bendiga,

Jacob Grady

The Best of Bogotá

2006-10-27T17:53:00.000-07:00

In the same spirit as the last entry this too will be a choose your own adventure. In the first part I will talk about daily life and its trials and triumphs. In the second part I will give a run down of what is happening with the orphanage plans. In the third part I will attempt to trump Rick Steves and give you a taste of what Colombia and Bogotá imparticular is like. There might be a fourth section if I ramble, but I will try to keep short and sweet. So without further adew, grab your coffee, chocolate, popcorn...tofu and warm blanket.

Me, Mi, y YO

Its crazy how life takes it´s twists and turns. Getting off the plane I had a preconceived set of fears, strengths and weaknesses that I might experience in Colombia. "My fears of not being accepted, and confidence that I could build the orphanage by my own doing, have flipped. I have been accepted and loved by everyone and exposed to my inabilities in the face of a huge task" (journal entry, Oct 12th). The community here has been amazing and I feel more like a regular "rolo" (local) than the church´s token gringo.

Several have asked what my average day looks like....ok, maybe just my mom. I moved in with the parents of the pastor a week and a half ago. Ines and Octavio are there names and they are wonderful, loving people. I call them my abuelitos (little grandparents) because they are really little and they are sort of like my grandparents. We live in an apartment complex that has striking similarities to the Spokane county jail. However, the rooms are very nice and I dont have to wear an orange jumpsuit with a number on it.

I wake up day around 8:00 and either go for a run or go to the local soccer court (micro-futbol, as they call it) and play some soccer. After I shower I go downstairs to eat breakfast. I normally eat some granola, a piece of bread or my favorite, an arepa (say it with me AR-ai-pa) which is a corn tortilla with cheese in the middle (very similar to pupusas for you CA folk). I down a cup of coffee, which my abuelitos drink like their life depends on it. After my breakfast, I grab my bag and head off down the street to the local bus stop. The buses very in size and color, but the one I take every day is an old (1980´s) toyota van, that should fit 4-5 people max, but in this case 9-12. Buses are about 50 cents a ride, but they aren´t the most reliable thing, and at night, they´re not the safest thing either. For this reason, the pastor suggested last week that I get a motorcycle, because with the work that I will be doing it will be easier to get around and in the long run, cheaper. When he mentioned that, I immediately had two pictures pop into my head. The first was me mobbing around Bogotá in a Ché like fashion. The second was me flying head first over a taxi after being squished between a cart full of produce and a bus. It was a mix of "yeah, that would be awesome" and "yeah right, I am going to get myself killed". However, as time passed I became more accustomed to the idea. I dont know if the fear just dissipated or the rational side of my brain knew it wasn´t going to win this battle and gave up. In anycase, I will be taking a quick course of how to ride a manual bike and getting my licence soon. Vive Ché. Daddy, get mommy a tissue, I am not going to die.

Usually I arrive at the church around 10am and I am there working until 8-9pm. I spend my days writing and preparing grants, writing emails to people interested in the orphanage, and helping out around the church. I will be honest it gets a little lonely sometime, but the evenings are fun because all the youth show up for evening classes. Its been quite a shift in my social life.

Ok...moving on. Take a sip of your coffee and lets continue.

Orphanage

The plans for the orphanage become clearer everyday. However, despite it´s clarity we still have to wait on funds. I just finished writing a grant to the Mustard Seed Foundation and now am starting a power point presentation which I can email out to interested people. My work consists of thinking of new ideas and approaches and then trying to get other people excited about the orphanage. There are encouragements and setbacks everyday, and gradually I am learning more and more that God has this planned out. The following is apart of a journal entry I wrote the other day, while sipping some coffee and eating some pan dulce.

"I talked with Libni and Daniel (pastor and brother) earlier, and they were a great encouragement. I dont know whether Libni is just overly optimistic or has great faith. But it seems everytime we talk we talk I am encouraged by his confident expectation that Christ will provide and that the orphanage is just one step in a grand plan to reach out and radically change our community for Christ. Libni encourages me to think big and not let money be a barrier. However, the natural businessman in me wants to focus on the tangibles and numbers. I know Christ is bigger than that. I know faith requires me to look beyond the tangible. I know the only way that this orphanage is going to succeed is that God directs it. I know...... please give me the faith to believe". (oct 27)

If you are wondering how you might help or maybe you know someone who could, please email me at grady.jacob@gmail.com . I am always looking for more contacts and foundations that might help. Thank you for your help.

Bogotá

Step aside Lonely Planet, take a seat Rick Steve, and buckle up yall, because here are the ins and outs of everything you would like to know about Bogotá. Like I had mentioned previously, Bogotá is surrounded by mountains. The mountains rise abruptly at the city´s edge. Standing in downtown Bogotá on seventh ave, you feel like you could drop kick a ball at the mountains and it would bounce right back to you. Monseratte and Guadalupe are two famous cathedrals that are perched on top of two mountains that overlook southside Bogotá. The city´s architecture is a blend of it´s historic colonial past, and modern day high rise buildings. Bogotá has autumn weather year round and its only change is that September-Nov is the rainy season. Every afternoon it rains for about an hour or so and then stops and clears up. For this reason, Bogotanos have the reputation for being pretty fairskinned. Speaking of pretty, Colombians on a whole are very beautiful people and they pride themselves on it. The miss Colombia pagent is going on right now and it get about as much press as the NFL play offs. Another thing Bogotanos pride themselves on is their spanish, which is very clear and proper.

The political scene is somewhat similar to that of El Salvador and Costa Rica. The president, Alvaro Uribe, is a card carrying free trade member. The good things that have come from his time in office is that the country is a lot more safer, because of his no tolerance stance on Guerrila violence. This increase in security has bolstered the Colombian economy and definitely made it more attractive for forreign investment. Speaking of which, all the utilities are privatized. The companies owning the utilities are from Spain, U.S. and other European countries. The sad thing about this is that the prices are very unreasonable and in many poor areas, they become the perverbial nail in the coffin for those who need access to water. As Uribe begins his second term (I believe 4 years) many anticipate the signing of a free trade agreement (TLC) with the States. In my conversations about this, I have heard a person say it would be good because there would be more jobs and in the same breath say its incredibly unjust. There seems to be an attitude of appreciation for more jobs, and yet a strong recentment of multinational abuse.

There are a handful of other experiences that I could talk about, like forgetting that the toliet paper goes in the trash can not in toilet, which thanks to years of playing super mario bros I am a great plumber and have not had problems. However, this has been quite a long post and so I will end this. As always if you read the whole thing, you deserve a treat so go out buy yourself a snap-bracelet or something. I love you all. Stay in touch.

Jacobito Grady

2006-10-20T10:55:00.000-07:00

The first pic is of my second day in Bogota. When it rains, it really rains and the streets turn into rivers.

The third image is of Daniel (pastor libni´s older brother). He is sort of like an associate pastor. He teaches classes in the evening. He has a passion for starting a business that will help pay for the orphanage and other ministries in the community.

The second pic is of the youth leaders in the church, who are preparing crafts and making signs for the upcoming youth retriet, which is going to be on some finca outside of Bogota. When I walked in they said I wasn´t supposed to be there because it was a surprise but due to language and cultural barrier, I thought they were joking, and helped them anyways. oops

the fourth pic is of Oscar (the church musician and overall handy-man) He is perhaps one of the genuinely nice guys I have ever met. The other guy (not the devilishly good looking one in the middle) is Alfredo (the church drummer). He also has become a good friend. And he likes soccer which is a plus.

The fifth image is of Natalia (pastor libni´s wife), who meets with all the women in the church and is really looked up to for her strong faith. There is a huge percent of sexual assault and she spends a good amount of her time counciling victims. Notice the quality office space, ha ha.

The last pic is of the building that the church wants to buy-rent. The church is the building to the left. It has possibly 6 rooms in which we could hold 24 girls. However, the owner doesn´t want to sell it, only rent it. This would be a huge blessing if he would sell it us at a good price.

Bienvenidos a Bogota

2006-10-12T15:56:00.000-07:00

Family and Friends,

Like I said in my last quick email, I arrived in Bogota safely at 2pm on tuesday. It is almost too overwhelming to write this because there is so much to write about. So, I will write this blog in a choose your own adventure form. The first part will be my thoughts of my time arriving and living here so far. The second part will be about Bogota and the third about the church and my responsibilities here. Without further adue (sp?), I bring you my life in Bogota.

Many people asked me before I went if I was scared to go for such a long time and truthfully my response everytime was "no, not really". However, after leaving Jay and May (my friends who dropped me off at LAX) and boarding the plane, the reality of leaving hit me. For most of tuesday I was mix of anxiety, fear, loneliness and yet excited for the adventure at the same time. When I was waiting in the airport in San Jose, Costa Rica for my next flight, the reality of leaving the familiar hit me when I realized everyone was talking in spanish. There would be no more bantering with Justin and cracking jokes with Lauren, Nicole and Jay. The only thing that might seem to role off my tongue would be lo siento (im sorry). However, I kept reminding myself of the adventure that I was about to embark on and that helped hold the fear back. Flying into Bogota, I thought it inconceivable for there to possibly be a flat spot in all of Colombia, however, sure enough there is. I got off the plane and after a wait I finally exited customs, got my bag and was greeted by a girl who worked for Radissa hotels, and was also from the church. She spoke english pretty well and was shocked to know that I spoke spanish. She quickly radioed for Pastor libni to pull up and get me. I will go into more detail about the people here a little later. Over the past 2-3 days I have felt like a total stranger and like a church leader who had been working there for years. My spanish is doing quite well and everyone is shocked that I know spanish (they apparently thought i didn´t know any), which is a huge miracle. I have been accepted very well by everyone. I feel that it will only be a matter of time before I can become a regular face and hopefully a close friend. Hopefully this wont take too long.

If you´re still reading give yourself a pat on the back and if you finish it all, treat yourself to a little treat, chocolate, ice cream, a turkey...etc.

Bogota is classic Latin America in soo many ways and very different from my experience in Central America. There are several indicators that one is in latin america: 1) there is absolutely no organization in traffic and yet everyone knows what they´re doing 2) when driving you can pass a horse drawn cart with corn stacked 10 feet high, only to be passed by a motorcycle with a washing machine on the back(you can rent hourly) that is carrining dangerously between buses and trucks 3) there is a soccer field about everyother block. The average standard of living seems to be a bit higher than those in Central Amer. However, poverty is as obvious as the trash strewn all over the streets. Like I said earlier the people here are very nice and the people at the church are really warm and welcoming. Pastor Libni is very generous and has a huge passion to reach the needy around Bogota. His brother Daniel is also very nice and he deals with adult ministries at the church. Both are very well educated and speak Portugese and Daniel knows a little english. Yesterday I met alot of the youth at the church and they were really cool (or here they say Chevere for anything good). And because Justin and Ryan asked, yes there are some girls that go to the church that are pretty. I actually had a long talk with one of them and we are practically engaged. Just joking (no, seriously thought dad send money for ring, fast). Ha ha.

My job right now is to help raise funds and create a plan with Libni and Daniel for the orphanage. I thought they had facilities, but they dont and so right now we are brainstorming how we are going to afford to rent a place next door or better yet, buy it. I will be completely honest, I feel a bit overwhelmed. They are being very good about not just dumping it all on me but the burden is big enough that my part seems quite big. If any of you know of any foundations that give internationally email me please. I feel like the next couple weeks/months could be spent writing grants and raising money just to start. We are faced with a catch 22 situation because the government will not let us adopt the kids until they have inspected our facility, and businesses are hesitant to help unless they see our facility. In short, we need money like a fat kid needs a little debbie snack. Any suggestions are welcome. However, the upshot of all this is that we HAVE TO RELY on God, this orphanage will not happen if its up to me.

Thank you for reading all of this, go treat yourself to a little snack. I love you all.

Jacobo

Spokane to Colombia

2006-09-27T16:23:00.000-07:00

Bienvenidos, family and friends, to my extremely interactive and informative blog. Tired with the Spokesman Review or NY Times? Look no farther than www.jacobgrady.blogspot.com to quench your thirst of Colombian news and engaging editorials. This will be the first of many posts to my blog, so stay tuned.

In just a short week I will be leaving Spokane to go down to San Diego to visit some close friends. After a few days I will then jump on a red-eye to Bogota, Colombia; the land of milk and honey and....coca. I am excited to go (as shown to right), yet at the same time, sad to say goodbye to family and friends.

On Monday I had lunch with a Colombian man, who spoke at Whitworth, and was reminded that I suck at spanish. It took a little while to get my mind in Spanish mode, but once it did, I was rollin....like a first grader with a serious speech impediment. Anyways, I could use some prayer for my Spanish skills.

I have tried to meet up with as many people as possible, while in Spokane. However, there are so many people I haven't been able to have much time with, but Bogota beckins (how 'bout that alliteration). I want to say thank you for all your prayers and support. I am truely blessed to know you all. Stay in touch and up to date on Colombia.

Paz,

Jacobo