Video Of the Guys in Bogota

On Saturday we were heading out for our day off and we were able to catch this little video in front of the School in Bogota. The Mondongo is a special soup that we fell in love with, just ask one of us!

Moon Over Bogota

The moon over Bogota looks the same as it does in Indiana. It rises in the east and sets in the west, just like back home. It can be difficult to be so far from home and not be able to have open contact with the ones you love. So, we try to find familiar points that we can connect. Something familiar, something everyone can see. The moon has been one of Linda, the girls and my check points. We ask, "did you see the moon?" Somehow it's comforting while being so far away that we can see the same point of reference. Our God is that way. His love, grace, and mercy never, ever change. His word consistently reveals to us who He is, and His incredibly passionate love for His creation (especially you and me). I wonder sometimes if he didn't spin the earth around the sun, and the moon around the earth, so we could see His steadfastness. His neverending mercy, His longsuffering?

God has been so good to us! We've had a great week, now today we get to relax. This post is dedicated to all of you back home that have prayed, supported financially and emotionally this experience in Columbia. God has showed Himself strong! We love you and miss you, but will see you soon! I thought I would post quite a few pictures. I apologize if I missed your guy. I wasn't able to capture everyone in action yesterday, but I grabbed a number of shots and thought you'd enjoy them.



Here's Mike helping to lay tile in what will soon be the cafeteria for the Bible School. You can see some of the other work behind him. They've only been in this building since February, it was a miracle the way it all came about. The Bible School was formerly located in the Bogota North Wesleyan Church, but when their building project started they no longer had a place to meet. Rick West is the Director for all Wesleyan churches in Spanish speaking countries. I spoke with him yesterday, and He was telling me that the way the district acquired this building had God's hand all over it. Form the funding, to the location, to us being able to bring this team down to do this work. It's great to join God in what He's already doing!


One of the more tideous jobs was taken on by several of the guys. The windows on the north side of the building in the cafeteria were painted over with black paint. I think it had sort of been baked on there by the intense sun. They cleaned cleaned them with razor blades, scouring pads, a putty knife, (that didn't show up until they were almost done) and paint thinner.

Man, those windows look great now, don't they? I think we all agree, the first day was the most difficult. It was a combination of altitude, fatigue, and the work was heavy. But, we were able to accomplish a lot in spite of the difficulties.
The weather has been beautiful, usually 70's in the day and 50's at night. In this shot I'm looking south , even though it looks like the downtown area, it's not the main area that's considered downtown Bogota, that is to our north. But I thought the mountains were a nice backdrop.

Friday was crunch time. Here you see Randy helping to cut the ceramic tile. We were able to tile the entire break room/cafeteria area and it turned out beautiful! In the other shot is Scott and one of our new friends Felix, a local pastor that came to help translate and just roll up his sleeves and work. Clay gave him a t-shirt and he put it on over his sweater because he was cold. Many of the people here were talking about the coolness of the air. To us boys from Indiana it felt really good in the end of July.

We'll have many, many more photos, and stories to share. So, stay tuned as there will hopefully be more to come

The Least Of These

Today we started our day off by looking at Matt.25:31-46. We focused on “the least of these.” I believe when we think of missionaries and mission teams, we often think of ministering to the real down and outers of society. We somehow romanticize what a real missionary looks like and acts like. Mother Theresa is who comes to mind. And in many instances that is totally acurate. All of the missionaries that I personally know are just common folk like you and me. However, they generally have an extraordinary love for Jesus. A love that manifests itself in ways that causes them to forfeit their own agendas for a higher call. These 13 guys and their families are true blue missionaries. Ambassadors for Christ, yes that is who they are! They don’t think they are, and like me, they don’t fully understand it, but they are missionaries. They all have set aside their own agendas for a higher call. Something bigger than themselves, something that God is doing in their lives, something that will have eternal significance in the lives of those they serve. God’s doing something here! I know it and say it confidently, because that’s the way He is. When we offer up our lives as living sacrifices, we honor Him and He will bless us!


This brief journey has not been without struggle and challenge, but any journey worth taking should have some risk and the challenge is something to rise to. I’m getting to know better and love these brothers in the Lord. Something happens when you join together to do something for God. I think he does this knitting our hearts together. None of us as guys, really care to admit that, but I don’t think any of us would deny it either.
The mission we’ve been on has been high on task. It is a big job and again, God has assembled the right crew for this task. There have been some things I didn’t know before we came though. The largest Wesleyan Church in the world is now Bogotá North. They average over 6000 people per weekend! The Wesleyan Churches of Columbia are among some of the most thriving churches in the world. They have great leadership. That’s where what we’re doing comes into play. The school were we are working is where most of these leaders have attended or will attend. In a sense, we are helping the least of these by helping the school to better equip their students, and pastors through better facilities. We are partnering with some of the best leaders in this region of the world, to better equip pastors, to do what God has called them to do.
What an honor! Praise God and thank Him for His mighty works!
Included in this post are a few more pictures. Randy Davis has snapped some 150+ photos. I have quite a few too, but can only post a few at a time for space and time reasons. The first photo is the view from the 5th floor. There is a spectacular view to the east and all around for that matter. The mountains are amazing. God’s handy work at it’s best!
The next one down is our team, minus Robb Trapp who has become a great friend in these few days, and to whom we owe a great big thank you to for giving of his time to come along, work, and translate for us. Next is a photo of some of the guys doing some of what we all did a lot of, cleaning up messes. What's this, Kevin holding a gun to Clay’s back? Hey wait a minute! I think he might have been trying to keep him from falling off the edge!
This final shot is Scot with our new friend Zabdiel. He is the 14 year old son of a missionary. His english is excellent and he's been hanging out to not only help translate, but do some of the grunt stuff too. Last night some of our new friends, (of whom you will learn more of in tomorrows post) took us on an open bus tour of Bogota. The stop in the middle of the tour was near the top of one of the mountains overlooking the city. We had a great time singing praise songs and laughing 'til it hurt. God is so, incredibly good, all the time...by the way!

DAY 2 In Bogota, Columbia

Hola from Bogota!
You might have found the title of the last post a little strange. I'll take time today to tell you a little more about the project and then it will make more sense.

We are helping to remodel the National Headquarters for the Columbian branch of the Wesleyan Church. Which is also a theology training center and school for pastors. This was Pastor Bob and Susie Gray's first assignment after they finished language school in San Jose, Costa Rica. So Bob's picture is on the wall as one of the former instructors.

The job is a hard one! We started on the fifth floor demolishing an old water tank that was made of concrete about 6 inches thick. I'll be careful to not single anybody out because everybody is working so hard. However, we are extremely thankful that we have some big strong guys on this team, because we need them. I believe God sent those he wanted to be here.
We also started work on a dropped ceiling that they decided that they didn't want to be dropped any more.

Did I tell you that the air is thin here. I think we all huffed and puffed up the stairs the first time. Then when we realized that we had to lug all the demolition stuff down 5 stories, but it also means we are lugging stuff up. Like 110 lb. bags of concrete and sand. Yikes! I think we all thought our hearts were going to come out of our chests! Needless to say, when we were finished last evening, we were extremely beat. But, everybody recovered nicely and the work today has been lighter.

We are meeting and making some great new friends, I'll share more about them tomorrow.

We had a great time of devotion last evening and this morning. God is answering your prayers and ours too. Stay tuned for more info!

The Thin Air in Bogota is for Real!

Hey everybody! We made it safe and sound last evening about 10. Made it through customs, no problem. (an answer to prayer) We´ll post more tomorrow, so make sure to stay tuned! Continue to pray and we are praying for all of you!

FCWC Mission Bogota 2007

Welcome to Our blog! This is actually the EIVW blog that is my personal blog. But, at this late stage I thought it would be easier to use my personal one than to try to recreate a new one for the trip. If you're new to blogging, enjoy! Surf around on old posts and take a look. You might want to become part of the conversation, I encourage you to do so!


This photo is of our team picnic. The only team The only team member that wasn't able to be there was Steven Frame. There is a total of 14 men on this team. We'll be leaving for Bogota on Monday the 23rd of July. Our mission will be to be the hands and feet of Jesus to our sister church in Bogota. We'll be trying to post more info and happinings as things open up.

Until the next post, I'd like to solicit your prayers for our crew, their families, The Bogota North Church, and the work we'll be doing while there. Pray for safety for all, good health and God's blessing and favor!

Stay tuned, this should be a lot of fun, and we'll do our best to keep the blog fresh!

Here's a list of the guys, their wives and children. When you pray, remember to pray for all of them! Having Daddy go off on a mission trip, might just have a profound effect on some of these little ones! No Doubt!
Ron & Loretta Ayers
Clay & Jody Bolser-Cailyn, Caily, Carly
Randy & Kim Davis-Chris & Fam, Stephanie, Eric
Mike & Hollie Day-Madison, Braeden
Kevin & Sarah Fouch-Emily, Elizabeth
Steven & Corie Frame-Heidi, Brandon
Stan & Jennifer Hill-Fayth, Zachery, Shelby
Steve & Linda Mathews-Laurie, Katie & John, Stephanie
Tom & Jama KcKee-Trent, Tyler
Don & Amy Pardo-Nathan
Greg & Mellissa Stephens-Chris, Andi, Andrew, Christopher
Scott & Debbie Warner-Jessica, Cylee, Joshua
Kevan & Katie Wogoman-Danny, Leah, Ryan
Also pray for Robb Trapp who is from the Global Partners office and is going with us as our translator.

Invoke His Blessings

I am on my second annual read through the Bible in a year. I use to be one of the ones that took offense when others would say, I'm reading through the bible this year. It use to strike a jealous chord in me that I never really understood. But along with a few good friends for accountability, we’re on lap two. It has become my oasis every day to see what God would have to say to me today. I’ve been a student of the bible for a number of years, but somehow this discipline has taken me to new levels of loving and living in The Word. The challenge of course is to “read for transformation, not information.” When you seek God, especially in His word, you’ll find Him.

Having said all that, we are now in 1 Chronicles as part of our Old Testament reading. I love King David, (the man after God’s heart). I think because that is what I long to be. When I arrive in heaven, I hope to hear my Lord say, “well done my good and faithful servant.” I’ve been musing lately, how can some of this seemingly senseless flapping, be well done? And I’m reminded that God’s measuring stick is called “Grace & Mercy.” In Him is where anything of real eternal value happens.

In the book of First Chronicles 16:4 David appointed the following Levites to lead the people in worship before the Ark of the Lord—to invoke his blessings, to give thanks, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel. (Thank you biblegateway.com) This passage jumped off the page for me. The Levites in this scripture were the ones to offer up sacrifices, the workers in the temple. They were also the musician’s for the tabernacle worship. They were gatekeepers, butchers, custodians, artisans, you get the picture. In this text, the Ark of God’s Covenant is returning to Jerusalem, one of the most glorious days of all time. Israel had squandered and wandered all over that region of the world. Because of sin, idolatry in particular, they broke their Covenant with God. The price they paid was separation from Him. (Sound familiar?) Over time, things became so bad, that they lost the Ark of God in which God’s covenant was placed. Finally after years and years of turning their back on God, they found the Ark, and King David rejoiced with the honor of returning it to Jerusalem-The City of David.

David’s charge to the Levites is threefold. Remember, the Levites were the worship leaders of the day, and this is what he charged them to do.
1. “…to invoke His blessings,
What a glorious honor! To call upon God’s blessing for His people. To speak words of truth over them, to love them as God loves them. One of the things I’m learning this trip through the Bible is that God loves to bless His children. He has blessings for us, and longs to give them to us. He IS good!
2. …to give thanks,
The worship leaders are to lead in having thankful hearts! Attitude is contagious! When we grumble about circumstances: why don’t the people sing louder, why can’t he or she sing in tune? It’s too loud! It’s not loud enough! I wish we’d sing more... And on and on it goes! Choose your attitude! It IS about Him, not me! Everything else pales in comparison to His glorious splendor. Focus on Him not those external things that can become distractions, if we choose to let them.
3. …and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel.”
With hearts filled with His blessing, and longing to give that away to others, and a thankful heart, the natural response is to praise Him. He is so incredibly good! How could we have any other response but, to praise?

So, if you happen to get to lead, heed these words spoken to the Levites, the lead worshipers of David’s day. If you are not, you still are, because you are the gatekeeper to your own heart. Speak blessings to others, be thankful, and give Him all the praise, glory, and honor that are due His name!