Day 4 - left a southern city and traveled to the Capitol city in the north of the country last evening. We experienced about a 45 degree drop in temperature and felt like we were back home in Virginia
Day 5 - we finally were able to get into the original hotel about mid-day and were treated to lunch by the general manager of the hotel chain as well as the first night room charges free. Having lunch with the GM and her staff helped continue the relationship building that has been taking place for several years. It has been a great relationship for our groups during these years.
This was New Year's Eve so we had the opportunity to celebrate with a businessman and many of his friends. They were most gracious and it was a wonderful evening as we strengthened older relationships and started new ones! In this country, one of our primary ministry opportunities is through relational evangelism.
Days 6 and 7 - as "tourists" we have to intentionally plan for some tourism activities. Each of these mornings and early afternoons were engaged in these activities. We were also able to make time to meet with two of our American "workers." This was very helpful in our strategic planning for not only this city but for time we were going to be spending connecting with the identified unreached/unengaged people group in the extreme north.
Each of these evenings were centered on connecting with university students we have met on previous trips as well as ones who are new this year. These are wonderful times for our group to connect on a much more personal level with conversations ALWAYS moving to spiritual conversations.
One, new, student made a decision to become a "member of our club" on the first night! Several other significant conversations took place and even continued late in the evening through e-mails and Facebook. Two of our students, medical students in their final year of med school, were unable to join us due to commitments at their respective hospitals. We will be back in this city the last night of our trip and hope we can meet them before we leave. They became "members" previously and we wanted to spend some mentoring time with them.
Day 7- we travelled 9 hours even farther north on this day. It was high in the mountains so it was very slow getting to our destination. We were greeted by a local "guide" who helped us get settled in at our hotel where there was no heat in the building! Was curious how we were going to stay warm during the evening so we inquired as to what our options were (it was raining and about 40 degrees). Was told there were additional blankets in each room or we could rent a space-heater for about another dollar a day - well that didn't take long to decide, ha. Heater didn't heat the rooms very well so we went to bed fully clothed and wool hats on.
Well this was probably better than we are going to experience tomorrow. We will backpack another 5 1/2 hours deeper into the mountains to reach the village where this minority people live. We will stay in a guest home where there will not be any source of heat and may not be completely enclosed.
Despite these challenges, our group is so excited to finally be able to reach this remote village and begin what could be an amazing partnership between our local body and this people group that so desperately needs to hear the Good News we have to share! Please be in communication with our Father for the work that only He can do.
Other than nagging colds, we remain in pretty good health and great spirits! We miss all of you but can't wait to share this wonderful adventure with you in the days ahead.
