~Our BUSY Sunday and Monday~

(Yesterday, I called the hospital where my Grandma is, and I got an update from a nurse. She said that yesterday Grandma's blood pressure was doing much better! Praise the Lord...please do keep praying for her when she crosses your mind...and for Daddy and Moma during this stressful time. (Talk about STRESS...a house and Daddy's office that are filled with boxes to unpack, Grandma in the hospital, and planning her 100th birthday party in Ohio on Friday. ={) Please pray that she will be able to attend her party!! Thanks for your prayers!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunday, we got a RARE treat and took a taxi to church Sunday morning. (It costs twice or three times the money to take a taxi, and since we are supporting (with God's help) 4 Colombian churches with our own monthly salary, we try to take buses most of the time, to save money!) Got to church early, Kimberly and I practiced "Thou art Worthy" in Spanish to sing as a duet, and then we had time to pray before the service started. There were 20 people there, and God helped Phillip to preach, and the subject was about Cain killing Able, with lessons for us all to learn from their story. (Lessons like, Don't kill your brother! ;) After church, we passed out my cookies, and then took a bus half way down the mountain to meet our friend Jason, who attends our church, but could not that day.
~Our kids playing while we waited to meet Jason for him to take us to his Mother's house for Sunday dinner.~

We met him, and he was going to take us to his Mother's house for Sunday dinner. So, he put Noah, and his son Jason on the motorcycle, AND our keyboard and stand too, ran them to his Mother's house and then returned for Kimberly and Sarah to get to ride on the motorcycle, while Phillip and I walked behind them (AND I PRAYED!!!=)
~Kimberly and Sarah taking a ride with Jason...We forgot to get a picture of Noah, Little Jason, Jason and my keyboard and stand all on the motorcycle.~

We had a nice visit with Jason's Mother, she is such a sweetheart! I took her a tray of cookies and she was touched, and happy. They served us some "Tinto" (basically hot coffee with sugar) and then while we were visiting, Jason mentioned that we would be eating FISH!
~Jason, his son Jason and Our family eating at Jason's Mother's house!~

Phillip began to pray silently that the fish would NOT HAVE HEADS ON THEM....for you see here...it's expected that the person eating the fish SUCK OUT THE BRAINS OF THE FISH OUT OF IT'S HEAD...and we don't do that, and didn't want them to think we were waisting "MEAT". Thank the Lord, the fish arrived HEADLESS...and we had a good meal. It was a little oily tasting, but with the rice, we got it down. =)
~Phillip took a picture of our family, Jason, his son Jason, his Mother, his sister-in-law and her son, Walter.~

Afterward Jason wanted us to go and dedicate his new home (new to him), to the Lord.
~Phillip dedicating Jason's home.~

After Phillip dedicated Jason's house, we said our goodbyes, and then we took a taxi to our Sunday evening service. We got there about 20 minutes early so laid down on the hard wooden (Backless) church benches to try to catch a 10 minute "nap" or rest before we started service. Had a good service, with 25 people there! That's the most we've ever had in our new church there. God is helping the people there, and for that we praise Him! Came home Sunday evening, exhausted, (and that's when I got the email about my Grandma being in the hospital with HIGH blood pressure due to her heart, so I went to bed CONCERNED AND SAD!!)
Monday, we had a Family day. Took the kids to that road that Bogota opens on holidays (it's open from 7:00-2:00) where people ride bikes, walk, skate, etc., and our kids had fun for a few minutes.
~Our dear friend Pastor Jimmy came by and walked with us for a little while on that road.~

Due to being busy that day...We didn't get there until near 2:00 and we expected that the police there would tell us when to get off the road, and when they would open it back up for the cars to drive on... but no...we were going down one lane with Kimberly, Sarah and Noah, when I happened to turn around and there were 2 cars behind us! EEKK!
~Our family on the road. Vendors set up little stands along the road to sell freshly made fruit drinks, fresh fruit cups, empanadas, etc.~

So, we quickly got on the sidewalk...and decided we'll never be on that road that close to 2:00 again. =)
~Phillip decided to be crazy to "ride" Noah's bike and surprise us.!!~

~We took the kids to our little park for a few minutes on our way home!~

Came home and grilled some hotdogs for our lunch/supper and the kids roasted some marshmellows.~Grilling out!~

Met up with the TLC team and got to visit with them in their guest home for about an hour and a half. It was a lot of fun! We laughed, talked about their trip, compared stories on INTERESTING foods that we have had to eat, saw some of their pics, and there was a computer there at the guest house so we watched part of their commissioning service too.
~The TLC team and us watching their commissioning service.~

I brought them 2 plates of my cookies, and they seem to enjoy them. They also had some NICE things that my DEAR friend Kayla from FL. sent with them to give to me. Originally, we didn't think we knew any one in that TLC group...but it was nice, for I was able to connect with each of the 7 members. Josh is from "Dad" Sankey's church, Jonathan is from Uncle Carson's church, I know the Dad and Mom of the other Jonathan, Holly attends GBS, and is currently dating a cousin to my sister-in-law, Renee attended GBS, and is from PA, near AYC camp, the girl from GA (her name is slipping me right now) attends the same church as my friends, Joy and Phil Budensiek, and she also attends my camp meeting, "Pell City Camp", and Elizabeth is from Westfield, and attends the church that my parents are now pastoring. IT'S A SMALL WORLD!! We had a lot of fun visiting with them. They should fly to FL. today, and then on to their homes tomorrow. I'm sure that they will LOVE being home, but I think that they had a nice trip, and were a blessing! ~Us and the girls from the Amazon TLC team~

~The Amazon TLC team~

~The TLC Team, Bro. John Finsky, the Colombian Jonathan, and our family at our quick meeting at the Bogota airport!~ (notice the 3 police in the background to the left!)

The TLC team that was heading to work in the Amazon with Becky Stence, had an overnight layover here in Bogota. So we got word that they'd be at the airport, and that they had some things for me from Kayla...so we went to see (meet) them. We got there to the airport and IT WAS VERY PACKED...people everywhere...and Police everywhere. (I don't know if they were expecting someone important, or if they were there to guard the TLC TEAM. =) We were standing there in the crowd, trying to tip-toe and peak through the GLASS WINDOWS into the airport, trying to see if we could see the team...when an older man came up and asked Kimberly where we were from. Well, we are sooo used to hearing that, so we didn't really think anything about his question and Kimberly told him that we were from the USA. He then asked WHERE in the USA? and then Kimberly and I realized that HE DID NOT HAVE A SPANISH ACCENT TO HIS ENGLISH...I then told him "We're from Ohio"! Then he SURPRISED US BY SAYING " I'm here to pick up the group from HOBE SOUND!" I told him that we were there waiting to meet them too, for they had some things for us. He then said, "Here, TALK TO BECKY"...and handed me his cell phone! Help us, I had no idea WHO BECKY WAS...so I grabbed the phone and said, "Hello, PAUSE...SILENCE...(then Hello from the other end)...than I said, "This is Heather Dickinson...is this Becky Stence?" And it was her...so we chatted for 2 seconds (even though we've never met) and then I gave the phone back to the man. The man ended up being John Finsky a Lutheran from Chicago that has worked in the Amazon for many years. ~Someone hired a Mariachi band to play to welcome their friends or family to Colombia. (The band was playing right outside the airport.) The people that arrived in Colombia were very touched, and there was lots of hugging and crying going on. Phillip and I wondered if it weren't a missionary family that was missionaries here years ago, and were returning for a visit.~

Bro. Finsky, 2 Colombian men, (that would take he and the team to where they would spend the night) Jonathan (the new Colombian guy that we had over to teach him English to prepare him to go to Hobe Sound to study) and us waited, and WAITED...and finally the TLC group came into view...almost the last persons out of the airport, it was 10:30 PM or later.
~This is the Colombian Jonathan that has plans to study at Hobe Sound. PLEASE DO PRAY FOR HIM, FOR THE USA JUST DENIED HIM HIS VISA FOR THE 2ND TIME! PLEASE PRAY THAT GOD WILL WORK OUT HIS WILL IN THIS! HE HAD PLANS TO START STUDYING AT HOBE S. THIS AUGUST!~

We all waved to the TLC team through the window...and I felt sorry for them, for they waved back, but THEY KNEW NONE OF US, AND WE KNEW NONE OF THEM! When they came out, I said to the girls in the team, "So which of you is attending, or attended GBS?" And they showed me which girls...and then I introduced Phillip and I and told them that we attended GBS too, and love it! Then, Phillip said, "And we love Hobe Sound too!" and all of the young people laughed. I asked which of the guys was from Dad Sankey's church in Bedford...and we met Josh. Then I asked which one was from U. Carson's church in GA, and we met Jonathan. Jonathan then told us that he has our prayer card on his refrigerator at home, so when he saw our kids, he recognized us. I then asked if anyone knew "Nathan Becker" that attends Hobe Sound, and most of the kids knew the Becker kids, and so I told them that their Daddy is our Missions director. I also told them that Mark Potter has told us that we could have a TLC team come here to help us if we ever want one. We'd LOVE to have one...but for right now, we have no building projects for them to help with, and unless the team was fluent in Spanish and could teach a VBS, or something, we wouldn't have enough to keep them busy for the 3 weeks they'd be here. We walked the TLC group to their van, and had fun chatting. Then I asked for a quick group pic (OF COURSE I HAD TO HAVE A PIC FOR I'M A BLOGGER!) We snapped some quick pics with several cameras, and then the team leader (Laurelynne Melendez) found out that we were the ones to get the things from Kayla so she gave them to us. I then told her that we would have LOVED to have had them over, but I knew they would not have time, so I made them some APPLE MUFFINS to eat with, or for breakfast, and some NO-BAKE COOKIES for a snack. The whole team in unison said, "AHHH, HOW SWEET!" Then they all piled in their van and we waved goodbye and they waved, and they were off! They were a good group of kids...nice, friendly, and fun to be with...even though we were with them only 10 mins. or so.
So that's the scoop! Praise the Lord we met up with them, got the things from Kayla, and got to give them my treats! It was a nice evening, and fun seeing people from the USA, that speak English. =)