MAY 28 UPDATE
Hello New City family!
Greetings from Bogota, Colombia! As I write to you all I am wrapping up another busy year of school here at El Camino Academy. We are into our last week and the students are currently writing their exams. It is a busy, exciting, and emotional time as we try to prepare students, furiously grade, and say goodbyes for the summer. This year I taught Geography (Grade 7A & B), Ancient History (Grade 6A & B), and Advanced Math (Grade 6). Geography and History were new courses for me and this made for a very busy year preparing and learning the topics before teaching them. It felt like my first year teaching all over again! God has been faithful to sustain me through it all. I especially have seen His goodness these last two months as I have been able to walk with some of the students through some very difficult things they are struggling with. This has been so encouraging to see how God is using me to not just teach material but to also pastor these students in their walk with the Lord.
In early April my school, El Camino, sends out short term mission teams consisting of teachers and high school students to various parts of Colombia. I was fortunate enough to co-lead a team to La Guajira (a desert region in the northeast corner of Colombia along the Caribbean Sea). La Guajira is called the indigenous capital of Colombia because the majority of the population there are Native Americans called the Wayuu. They speak Wayuunaiki and the younger generationSpanish as well. This trip was very special for me because I was in this same region on another trip and was able to improve bonds I already had with the Christian community. We did a vacation bible school of sorts with the activities run by the El Camino students. We trained the local church leaders there in all the activities in the mornings and in the afternoon they did them with all the local kids in Wayuunaiki. It was a beautiful week living in the desert with a bucket a day to wash with and sleeping under the stars in hammocks. In regions like this I really understand what poverty looks like and am thankful for the blessing to live in Bogota which even itself does not measure up to the abundance we have in Canada.
With around a week until I return to Canada (Lord willing) I am really looking forward to seeing you all again and have been so encouraged when you reach out. This year I have struggled with homesickness more than usual, especially feeling a longing to live through the change of seasons (specifically Fall for some reason) so I thank you all for your prayers and for God’s clear guidance in giving me purpose here.
In Christ,
Warren