As I posted last, we got a one hour reprieve in that this day will begin one hour later … and the sleep was much needed and desired.

Breakfast began with a huge plate of mandarina and papaya … way more than we needed. Then there was Colombian chocolat, which is not one of my favorites because it seems a little thin/weak. There was also a glass of some wonderful juice and I really wish I remembered the name of it because it was incredible. I thought that was it and that we were through … then they brought around tamale which in Bogota is wrapped in Banana leaves and contains corn meal, meats (chicken and pork for this one) and lots of vegetables. I was made to understand that this type of tamale was particular to this local area and that they differ all throughout Bogota.

I go to spend some time with the school’s English teach and we had a great conversation; he basically asked me to teach him some things and because of my love for languages, I was delighted. (BTW, I even had to help our interpreters a couple of times with their Spanish vocabulary not because I know Spanish, which I don’t (Yo hablo Espanol une poquito)… but because I know Latin … which I do.

Session 5 was about to begin and I was ready for it. I was first able to share with these teachers regarding how to deal with post-modernism on their teaching situations. This was not planned but was one of the recurring questions that was prevalent throughout individual discussions throughout the day before and this particular morning. (I used this time to encourage these teachers NOT to despair about their students desiring to take away all of the foundations, but rather to tell their own personal stories. It is true that part of post-modernism is the concept of situational ethics and relativism, but we can get so “bugged” by these concepts that we end up doing nothing. The object instead is to take advantage of what DOES work, and that is the telling of the story … so I encouraged the teachers to “tell their story” about life in Christ.

For session five’s teaching, I taught on Christian stewardship in the working life, including finances, skills, etc. I taught from Ezra about the concept that the people had become lazy in their work of repairing the temple, and instead, had been working on their own homes and neglecting the temple, and how God had taken His blessing from them because of this switch. I then reminded my hearers that God had called them to a particular task and not to become lazy or overly content in their performance of that task. This was well received and opened up the service for a great time of God-empowerment upon the people. There were also some prophetic words given over individual leaders. (Many testified later that their lives were really changed through this time of ministry.)

After a 15 minute break, Cheri and I co-taught the final session. Man. was it powerful? We taught on the promises of God. (Remember that the theme was “Ministers of the New Covenant.) Because there had been so much stress on the reality of covenant and the qualifications on our part as covenant-keepers, it also became important to review God’s part as He is the perfect Covenant Keeper. Cheri’s part of this session was very prophetic as she simply ministered in the prophetic word over the teachers. I moved in with a prophetic word over the school as a whole; God is clearly enlarging the Bogota school in an awesome and powerful way and the administration was deeply moved by the things God was showing them.

After we finished teaching, there were more activities among the staff, including the annual initiation of all new staff into the swimming pool. (We viewed this from a distance.)

At the close of the day, after loading the bus, we were treated to a wonderful mixture of chopped fruits in their natural juices; it was absolutely phenomenal.

Then we rode back to Bogota on the grueling road trip over the Andes Mountains and their hairpin turns.

When we got in, we were exhausted and ready for a good nights sleep before our last morning in Bogota.