Wow, I am back after a quick (ok not so quick) trip to the States. I was graciously invited to attend the Covenant Annual Meeting in Detroit as they wanted to celebrate a project I have been working on for the Covenant Church. For the past year I was helping them to translate a children’s curriculum from Spanish to English that will be adapted and available for churches to use in English-speaking countries. Check it out here. It has been an honor to work on this project, as I’ve spent the past 10 years or so teaching people how to use the curriculum in Spanish speaking countries. It was an honor to stand alongside people who were a part of the creation of this curriculum from the very beginning.
Standing on stage for the presentation of the curriculum
While at the Annual Meeting I was also available to help out with the children’s ministry that was happening during the meetings. This was once my responsibility for five years and it was a joy to be back and just be able to volunteer 🙂 I also found out that I had been awarded a scholarship to go towards my seminary education, thanks to the Advocates for Covenant Clergy Women. This scholarship is a huge blessing that will help me pay my tuition this upcoming semester. What a joy to be able to share a bit about how Julio and I are serving and why seminary education is so important to me.
Carrying the Colombian flag for one of the evening worship services
Other highlights included connecting with friends, pastors, supporters, partners in ministry and having so many great conversations.It was like I was in my twenties again, staying out late at night with friends 🙂 It was so wonderful to be there as our Latin American coordinators Dave and Wendy Mark were honored for their years of service to the Covenant. I was challenged by the many messages of the speakers, especially Pastor Alex Gee. Listen to his message here.
Great times with great people
After the meeting I had the opportunity to visit some friends and supporters in Chicago and then spend a few days with family and friends in MN. I didn’t realize how much stress I had been carrying around until I really had a few days to relax. This time was so important for me. In Colombia Julio and the boys did great without me. Julio even took them on a 9 hour road trip to spend a few days with his parents. It was a wonderful time for them to connect and spend time together. One of my favorite stories from my trip happened on my way from MN back to Colombia. I actually ran into two friends, one on my flight to Chicago and one on my flight to Miami. I was sitting in the Chicago airport just relaxing before my next flight when one of our friends from church walked by. I we talked and realized we were on the same flight and he was able to arrange it so we were able to sit together – how awesome to have a 3 hour flight to catch up on life. God is good!
Now we get ready for a crazy couple of weeks with people coming from all over Latin America and the USA for a youth conference and the CIPE meetings. We look forward to see God at work.
