Christmas is coming!!

Sorry about not updating last week! I haven't been able to post because the internet has been down in our apartment. But...it seems to be back right now so keep your fingers crossed. 

They don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Colombia (but we will!!), so the next big holiday is Christmas! The decorations are already starting to go up around the city and it's easy to see that it's going to be a big celebration. We have started talking about plans for three different churches that we work with.

Cathedral: This church is in the middle of Bogota and is connected to the office and the apartment where we live. It's not a huge church, which makes it feel like home for me. The people are all so nice and welcoming. Well, up until a few weeks ago, I had no idea that 5 minutes up the mountain, there is a very poor community. We went up to meet with them and started to get to know some of the families and their needs. We decided last week that we will begin to offer weekly workshops addressing family issues, money management, etc.. These will be led by members of the congregation and will allow us to form a community with these families. We are also going to celebrate the Christmas season with them and people in the congregation are going to 'adopt a child' (like an 'angel tree' in the US). There are about 80 kids, so this is going to be great!

Soacha: Brittany and I went to the 11am service yesterday (about 1.5 hrs away by bus) and we had a meeting with Father Carlos to talk about the future plans of the church. As I've mentioned before, internally displaced families are forced to leave their homes and move to Soacha to start their new lives. The second floor of the church has just been finished and it's great! It has come a long way since I first arrived.

before

after

We discussed ideas to start an after school program for the children, a restaurant to give people warm meals for a very low price, and catechism classes for children who attend the church. One thing that I'm really interested in is a VIH/SIDA  (HIV/AIDS) education and prevention program. Father Carlos said that he would like for us to give classes to members of the community. 

In Colombia, the nine days before Christmas are very important. In Soacha, Brittany and I will each have one day of the 'novena' to lead prayer devotion and songs.  We're not quite sure right now what we have to do, but it's great that they're trusting us with such a big part of their Christmas celebration!

Usme: Lastly, there's Usme, where Brittany and I spend about 3 days a week with the kids, and Saturdays teaching english. Father Jose Romero is the priest there and he has big plans for Christmas. We are going to start decorating this week! We have lots to set up and lots to paint (i'm VERY artistic (not really)...so this should be good...). There are going to be about 200 kids there and all of them are going to receive a shirt, or some kind of toy, for Christmas. We are looking forward to sharing this Christmas season with the all of the kids that we have become so close to. 

Yesterday, on our way to Soacha, we received a text from Miriam telling us that Father Romero's mom had passed away. After church in Soacha, we ended up going all the way to Usme (another 2 hrs in bus) to spend time with Father Romero and attend a 6pm memorial service. It was packed, and Brittany and I held the candles at the front of the church for the entire service. Ave Maria played, bringing many people to tears. His mom had lived a good, long life, and lots of people were there to support Fr. Romero and his family. We ended up getting home very late, after getting up early to get to Soacha. It was a long day, but it was definitely a special one that we won't forget. Please keep Father Romero and his family in your prayers!

Hope everything is going well back home. Brittany and I are listening to Christmas music right now (sorry to those of you who think the day after Thanksgiving is even too early) and are so ready to get started!  

Love, Kate