Dehydration

My recent trip to Colombia after leaving 27 years ago was wonderful!  However, I was in serious danger of dehydration from shedding tears by the end of the trip. 

I shed tears of joy at seeing the now mature Christians teaching, preaching and sharing the gospel with others.  I shed tears of joy to again hear the enthusiastic singing of old, familiar hymns that we sang with them 3 decades ago.  I shed tears of joy to see the many, many new believers (many gained through the gospel message delivered by the pastor and members who were just children or adolescents new in the faith in our time there).  I felt a wonderful joy at seeing the members lovingly caring for each other, their church building and sanctuary.

Medellin - Full Church, Full Heart

Reunions with dear friends in the faith were so emotional,  joy at seeing them and sadness remembering the many friends and family killed by the violence the country has had to suffer the last decades. Almost all have lost a child, husband, sibling and/or parent.  In some cases, there was consolation in knowing the person involved is now with our Lord.  Other times, the relative is still grieving because of the doubt as to the eternal destination of their loved one.  What a testimony that was to the urgency of sharing the gospel!

Bogota - New Christian Friends

Then came the tears of departure!  It was so hard to say goodbye so soon to these wonderful warm Christian people with whom we just had reunited or newly met. It was consoling for them and for us to know that if this was our last opportunity to see them face to face on earth, we could look forward to a wonderful, glorious reunion in Heaven!