Playing catch up

It's been too long! Our apologies...We've been busy hosting the S.A.M. Board of Directors, attending weddings in the States, chaperoning field trips and soaking up every minute of this adventure.

Every other year the Board of Directors holds their annual conference in the field - Colombia was chosen for 2012 and we had a great time hosting them at the end of April. We got to see some other parts of this beautiful country as we joined the Board on several trips. We also hosted them for a day in El Colegio Cristiano La Esperanza - it was powerful to see the "decision-makers" here on the ground interacting with and loving on the students.

We talked some of the S.A.M. staff and Board into joining us on our run up Ziruma on Sunday morning - the mountain is tough, but the beach on the other side makes it all worth it.

Also, to welcome the Board, the tenth graders put on an incredible performance introducing some traditional Colombian dances, food and general culture. Here is a short clip:

As part of the Board's activities, we also celebrated the service of Bob and Ruth Ann Moyer. The Moyers spent over 40 years (in case you didn't catch it, that says forty YEARS!) as missionaries in Colombia. We were blessed to have them stay in our home for two weeks and we loved getting time with such an amazing couple. Every afternoon we were struck by an awesome picture of what can happen through two faithful people serving a faithful God: during the normal "siesta" time, it was tough for the Moyers to sleep because of all the noise outside the bedroom window - the sound of children laughing and playing as they were let out of the school that the Moyers literally built with their own hands. Bob was a real life Indiana Jones, doing everything from amputating limbs (he's not a doctor) and pulling teeth (or a dentist) to summiting virgin Sierra Nevada peaks and translating scripture into the native Indian language.

The Carringtons and the Moyers - at the banquet celebrating their retirement after 40+ years of service.

In the middle of May we made a 9 day trip back to the States and were able to attend two of our closest friends' weddings. It was a great trip, surrounded by our family and friends and we were thrilled to support the brand new Villio and Wellington families!

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Wellington - Rob was Bo's four-year roommate at Duke.

What's the earliest you've ever woken up for something? After a 3:15am wake up call last Saturday, we both have a new record. We served as chaperones for a field trip to Cartagena with the 8th and 9th graders. After a four hour bus ride, the early start put us in Cartagena while the sun was still coming up and we were able to spend a whole day there. It is a beautiful city with a lot of history but the best part was the time we were able to spend with the students outside of the classroom.

Carrie and some of the La Esperanza students on the Cartagena field trip.

We hosted Carrie's brother Bo for several days - we didn't frequent the Golden Arches often in the U.S. but in Colombia, we've learned to LOVE the AC, wi-fi and spotless bathrooms. Poker in Micky D's? Sign us up!

 We had a school holiday last week and used it to travel to "Parque Tayrona" - a national park that is about an hour boat ride to the east - the scenery is gorgeous and we practically had the beach to ourselves.