Medellín Photos

Today I went on a little mini-tour of Medellín with a short-term team visiting from Northwest Nazarene University. Here are a few photos...

View of city from seminary

They close off some car lanes every Sunday morning to allow bikers unimpeded access.

Baptist church I visited where a lot of professors from the seminary attend.

Medellín River in bottom of valley.

Typical food for Medellín, the "bandeja paisa."

One of many sculptures by Fernando Botero.

In downtown.

View while starting up the Metrocable gondola.

View further up the Metrocable.

Bottom station of the Metrocable.

First days in Medellín

This past Wednesday I arrived in Medellín, Colombia! Apart from a delay on my second flight and a few extra questions at customs given my large quantity of luggage, everything went smoothly. Since I arrived, I have kept busy meeting with people who head different seminary departments, helping me get a sense of how things work here and where to go for different needs. Today I attended two classes at the Saturday morning Bible institute on campus to get a better sense for what those classes are like. One class was on contemporary challenges and focused today on the church's response to poverty and abuse of power. Another was on the Old Testament prophets and discussed eschatology. I'll be meeting with the head of this program on Monday and hopefully get a better idea of where I can fit in teaching there.

My first impressions of the seminary have been quite positive, and everyone has been very welcoming. One thing that has especially stood out has been how much the school here is proactively seeking to train more teachers and flexibly meet the needs of the church here. Many of the teachers for the Saturday Bible institute are seminary grads who were given opportunities to use their training to teach others. Today I sat in on a class with a student in his final semester who is also being trained to teach and who hopes to do a master's degree in the future.

Tomorrow I'll go on a city tour with a short-term mission team from Idaho which will help for getting to know the area. I barely know any of the city yet and have yet to experiment with public transit, so that will be a project for the coming week.

Church Commissioning

I am leaving for Colombia in one week, and this past Sunday my home church in Kalispell formally commissioned me for missionary service. This involved the congregation making a number of commitments to me and I to the congregation. The church body at Faith Lutheran Church (AFLC) committed to the following as my sending church:

• To recognize the Lord's call and commissioning of me to missionary service.
• To pray for me and the ministry at the Biblical Seminary of Colombia on a regular basis.
• To faithfully give financial and material support as agreed upon in congregational decisions to assist the work to which the Holy Spirit has called me.

I, in turn, accepted and acknowledged my responsibility and privilege to carry on this ministry by making the following commitments:

• To teach Scripture as the "inspired, infallible, authoritative Word of God, without error in the original languages" and to uphold all other doctrines expressed in the faith statements of the United World Mission and the Biblical Seminary of Colombia.
• To pray for and keep regular communication with the Faith Church community, especially its leadership, keeping them updated on the progress of ministry and the main areas of prayer concern that I face.
• To seek the counsel of the leadership of Faith Church for major ministry decisions or changes as I seek to discern God's will for my life and ministry.
• To be faithful in prayer and the study of the Scriptures, to labor in love and loyalty with my fellow workers in the building up of the Church of Christ universal, and to walk worthy of my high calling in word and deed.

Marc Rold, as the president of the church council, concluded the commissioning by praying for me to send me out. This service was a great blessing and encouragement, and I am humbled to serve in Colombia as an extension of the ministry of Faith Church. Most are not called to "go" cross-culturally in missions, but it's awesome to see this vision for being part of what God is doing globally catch on and to know I have a supportive community standing behind me (among many, many others supporting in prayer in Kalispell and across the country!).

Thank you to the Faith Church community for all you have done to make this ministry possible!

Marc praying for me during the commissioning

Serving cake after the service