Without a Trace

July 21, 2008

I am back in Honduras readjusting to the hot weather and well aware of how faithful and powerful God is. I, and many others, were praying that Wes, Cindy, and I would make it out of the Colombia without being stopped for not having received our yellow fever vaccination soon enough. The woman at the counter asked for my yellow card with the vaccination information and I gave it to her, all the while praying that she would not notice the date. Because of where we visited in the country we really were not in any danger of getting yellow fever, with or without the vaccination but of course the government did not know that. Though the woman studied my card for long time, scrutinized it in fact, she made no comment about it and simply handed it to me along with my ticket. I would love to ask God if she did not see the actual date stamped on the card or if she decided it was not a big deal or what. Who knows what the reason was other than that God was clearing the way for me to get back to Honduras and continue ministry there. Wes and Cindy were in a different line but they too passed through without a trace of difficulty.

Security in the Colombian airport was pretty high and they did thorough searches of every bag but it was not too bad. As we were leaving there were some awesome views of the country. Since my trip was not about vacation or sight-seeing I really saw very little of the country. But what I saw impressed me and made me realize that my pre-conceived idea of Colombia as a country was not accurate. It is not all about hostages and drugs. In fact the area I was in seemed more secure than Honduras. We left on the Independence Day of Columbia and they were having a march for peace asking for the release of hostages. From what I understood this march was happening with Colombians around the world.

The LAM retreat that we were a part of was a very good, refreshing time. I will probably write more about it in my next newsletter, but basically God had a lot to teach me and do in my heart as we looked at the them of "Success -- According to God." I enjoyed too the opportunity to meet missionaries from another part of the world who were involved in very different projects, but all with their heart on Jesus.