Goodbye and Hello

The stories and memories from our lent photo a day series were to help us both remember and share many of the stories of what we have experienced over these last five years in the accompaniment of the IELCO in Colombia. Lent is long over and we are now into Pentecost.

We had every intention of writing more on this blog, however, life became a little busier than we anticipated as we packed up in Colombia and transitioned back to the US. We have been in the US now a little over a month and are adjusting well to life in this country. Saying goodbye was difficult and we already miss a lot of Colombia, especially our friends and colleagues.

We thank all of you for accompanying us during our time in Colombia. Thank you for your prayers, for your communication, and for your support, financial and other. All of those stories and all the rest over these last five years were made possible because of your generosity in supporting us. 

We look forward to moving to Colorado in August. Please stay in touch.

The IELCO central office gave is the poster of caricatures of all of us who work out of the central office as our going away present.

If you want to read the last newsletter we sent out, here is a link.

Lent Photo a Day: From War to Peace

"From War to Peace" is the name of a project of IELCO outside of the city of Medellin. The project accompanies communities that are recieving ex-combatants that have demobilized since the peace agreements, to accompany the process of reincorporation, forgiveness, reconciliation, peace-building, and community safety. Here we are in a workshop identifying the assets that exist in the community and how the community can put them to us in developing plans of self-protection and risk reduction. The hope that this process carries is a very fitting reminder on this Easter Sunday that death is not the final word.

Lent Photo a Day: with Zulma

For those of you who regularly read the blog, there are a few names that come up often, Zulma is one of them. Zulma and I started working together almost as quickly as we got to Colombia. She has been who I have accompanied most closely during our time in Colombia. There are too many memories with her to just pick one for the blog....but I tried. We decorated our office with an "education" word cloud and are proudly showing it off the day it was hung. 

Lent Photo a Day: Cancelled Trips

As Colombia is a country in the midst of conflict, it is hard to not notice how the conflict impacts so many aspects of life here. I decided to put a "blank" photo here to represent the photos I wasn't able to take and the trips, workshops, and other activities that I had to cancel due to safety concerns related to the conflict. On this somber Good Friday, I am refelcting on these experiences.

Lent Photo a Day: Sara Lara

Sara Lara started as coordinator of the human rights program of IELCO in May of 2016. Since then she has been an important compañera for me. She has helped with the cultural translation of life and everyday interactions in Colombia, as well as developing the human rights and peace-building work in IELCO.

Lent Photo a Day: Cali

During the Christmas break in 2016, we took a few days to go to Cali (in Colombia, not the state in the US). One of the things to do in Cali is to climb up a little mountain and see the church at the top. We did that and this is us with the church behind us. We enjoyed our time in Cali. 

Lent Photo a Day: Maily's ice cream sh0p

A very enjoyable part of visiting the community in Medellin, after every workshop or other activity, the community is invited to Maily's ice cream shop. Not only is it delicious ice cream, they come in very generous servings. As Pastor John told Maily as we were all sharing over some ice cream: "You know what you sell here, you sell happiness".