Surprise Monday!

(Note: This post has been backdated. I plan on doing two more posts after this one to complete the Cali Series of blog posts. Videos will follow as pictures are available.)

Monday began by finding out what we were going to be doing that day.

Our hosts (Vince & Alyson) and logistics officer (Miss Sandra) informed us that we were going out to Pastor and Pastora's family retreat house in the surrounding countryside of Cali. In fact, all the international attendee's of the Master's Plan were going!

So we all got ready and Vince also shared that they would like to go by a house that they have been praying for. This is a pretty neat story in itself and deserves more space than I can give it. They have been looking for a bigger place to do ministry out of God is moving to get one that they found that would do nicely. The trick is the price!

We went by the house and were able to go inside. We walked through and then met on the roof to pray for God's blessing in securing it for the right price. I'll have more information to share tomorrow!

After going by the house it was time to get to the church to catch our bus to Pastor's house.

It was a little bit of a trip out to their house. Backspace. Re-type. . . their AMAZING house! It was beautiful! I'll have pics in the video. So check that out.

We got to relax a bit and tried some fruit that looked like little "tommy toes" tomatoes. They weren't! They were some sort of little fruit that tasted like a cross between grapes and baby tomatoes. Tangy and then full and rich. Very good. I ate too many of them I think!

We sat and relaxed and talked to those we could talk to. Then we came inside. Pastor and Pastora talked to all of us and told us how excited they are to see this Plan going to other countries to help spread the Kingdom.

Then it was time to eat. (Eat? What's that? We didn't ever eat or have too much food!! LOL!)

Did I mention that we ate??!? It was a plate full of food. Four kinds of meat. Potatoes. Plus more. Also, we were offered soup that had a leg of chicken in it. This was not a Weight Watchers portion, people! Ugh. S-t-u-f-f-e-d!

The best part for me was talking with a youth pastor from Guatemala. Often on this trip, we would find ourselves, despite Vince's best attempts, at a time where we did not have an interpreter and a desire to communicate. I have decided I would like to study Spanish more and become fluent. God is gonna have to do something to work that out!! I digress. The point is that I found myself tired often and not knowing enough Spanish (often) to really have a conversation. So, I found it difficult (that's frustrating spelled differently) to communicate with any meaning or depth without Vince or Alyson or Linda Kimberly or Cesar or anybody else that translated for us. Not their fault, just part of it.

But here I was sitting at a table with Pastora's brother who spoke VERY little English and this youth pastor. As we tried to communicate with each other, I began to understand him and he began to understand me. We figured out that we both knew enough of the other's main language to sort of patchwork a conversation together in which we could get our meanings across. It was really fun to talk and laugh and tell stories. God was working in that I believe.

After that, the Cali 8 (that's us gringos from the Prairie Lakes District) got together to cogitate with Dr. Kraemer about the future and how all of the things we had experienced had changed us. And what we were going to do with it.

I have to insert one thing here. While we were talking, there was, unbeknownst to us, a small almost invisible bug that was biting our legs! It wasn't a mosquito. I think they call them (excuse the spelling) seczundos. They didn't suck your blood out. They bit you and left round blood marks on your legs, arms, chests or wherever! Nasty little buggers! But the bites aren't that bad besides looking yucky all over you. It was the next day that was horrible!! We were told that we would really start itching the next day and they were not kidding!!! But I get ahead of myself. : ]

After our talk and a wait for the bus, we left to go back to our "casa." We did see a flame eater guy at one of the intersections! That was cool. Or hot. Depending. Eh.

We got back and we were told that they normally do a banquet for the team's last night there. So there were little boxes on the table for us and instead of Alyson's awesome cooking, they told us they had heard us talking about missing pizza. So they had ordered us pizza, Cali-style!!

It was very good! One was a chorizo, ham and cheese pizza and the other was plantain pizza. Don't make that face!! It was pretty good. Surprisingly. Different, but good. There ya go. That's a good description! Well, you didn't have to eat it. So there. : p

Next, we gathered around the table again. Vince, Alyson and Sandra presented each of us with a box and a verbal accolade that highlighted how they had experienced us during the past two weeks. Nutshell alert:  They said nice things about us.

I think I speak for everyone when I say, we had grown together as a team, including Vince, Alyson and Sandra. This was the official moment in time when I realized that the trip was done. And we would miss them. They had become people that we had grown to love. Further, for me at least, it was a realization that the people that we had grown closer to, that lived all over three states, would be going back to those places and the closeness of serving/learning together would be a little more distant.

That part wasn't fun. It was sad.

We had experienced something together and there is a bond there. God orchestrated it. Train of thought here. Then, what is He going to do with it? God does amazing things. Wonder what He knows about this, that we don't know about it? Hmmmmm.

Lastly, we all went upstairs and packed and packed and finally - went to sleep. If you can count going to sleep for three hours (from 12:30 am to 3:15 am) as actual sleep.

Stay tuned for another post tomorrow!