Lost in Translation

As a young missionary I've noticed that setting one's own hours is a challenge. How many hours should I spend in study? How many hours should I spend visiting people, or talking with a pastor? I'm sure that this will become more second nature after a while, but for now it's a challenge. Where does a missionary or pastor's work start and where does it end? Okay, most would say that it doesn't end. So the question really is, "What does God want me doing today?" As many books discuss, the urgent is not always the important. And the important rarely seems urgent.

For example, prayer does not seem very urgent we tell ourselves. I can get by today without concentrated prayer. But where will we be in five years of ministry with that attitude?

Or consider language learning. I can get by with my Spanish. I can communicate, and the people understand what I'm trying to say. Why should I make improving in Spanish a priority? You see how easily we justify putting important issues on the back burner.

This is a photo of my office . . . it's very cozy. I'm praying that I will spend the right amount of time there, doing the right things.

Yikes, time has flown by and our camera has gathered dust. We will try to take more pictures in the future, so that you can get a better idea of our life here in Bogota. For starters, here are a few photos:

Our neighborhood, our house, and the path that I jog on every other day.

I have been noticing something. Spending lots of time with paperwork and errands rather than people drains me. Now I know that the opposite can be true as well; it all depends on with whom you spend the time.

The first month in Colombia has been like this . . . Wake up. Read Scripture and pray. Every other day go jogging. Then I ask Holly, "What are we up for today?" "Well, we still need _______," and we take off for a local store to buy something superfluous, like a bed or a refrigerator.

Now, I am not complaining. I just don't remember this stage when we were newly-weds. Ah yes, the big difference was that many family members gave us the necessities (like a bed), and we'd always rented apartments that came with refrigerators and a downstairs laundry room. Added to this is the fact that this is not our home country. So there's a learning curve.

Like the other day when I went on a short errand to take the microwave to a repair shop (note to self--always open new things here right away to see if they work or not, otherwise you'll be in charge of getting them to the repair shop). I was looking for an address on Calle 68. Without any thought I headed up the big road near our house (it's 68). I got about two miles away and hit major traffic (no surprise there). I also noticed that the road had changed to Calle 100. Okay, it must be in the other direction. So I head south for another thirty minutes and see the cross street I need. I pull into a parking area and grab my microwave. It's hot, and microwaves are heavier than you think. As I round the block where the repair shop should be I see a restaurant. I ask the lady there where the address may be, and she tells me that it's written wrong.

With her help I figure out that there's a difference between Calle 68 and the road that runs by our house, which is Avenida Carrera 68. But of course!

I finally make it to Calle 68 and pull off for directions as I zero in on the neighborhood. "Oh yeh, just pull out here and go about two blocks up." What they didn't tell me was that the lane was a one-way road. It's a good thing that I don't know many swear words in Spanish because I wasn't a bit offended when the taxi driver cussed me out for my little maneuver.

Finally I arrived at the repair shop with an unbearable thirst (the altitude really dry you out). In fact I'm getting thirsty just thinking about it.

This is just one example of how I spent three hours in a day. But on the plus side, I'm learning to drive in this city pretty well, which is an accomplishment.

I am very much looking forward to beginning in ministry here. With God's help, it could be in the next week or two.

Just a quick blessing . . . we now officially have Internet in our home. That means that we'll start updating our blogs regularly and that we may even start taking some pictures of Bogota.

Thanks for your patience. We almost have our house in order now.