The Gutierrez Gang

One of the things I’ve had to “get over” as a missionary is the fact that we are constantly in a state of transition and change.  And sometimes the change happens before anything has even happened, but we’ve already announced that it is going to happen.  Does that only make sense to me?

A few weeks ago, as we were trying to get the details nailed down for our big move to Costa Rica, and as our special apostilles for CR were starting to come in the mail one by one, we got a phone call from MTW.

While it was still our decision on where we planned to go, they wanted to tell us about another opportunity in Bogota, Colombia which they highly encouraged us to consider.  As we began talking, it became clear that the purpose of us taking a year before moving to Peru was not only for my language training, but also, and equally as important, for Nathaniel to learn how to be a part of and lead a team.  MTW has a newly established “apprenticeship” program to train young missionaries and pass down the knowledge that other older missionaries have gleaned from their 30+ years on the field.  Given that we are going to be team leaders in Huanta, this is especially important for Nathaniel to be well trained and gain a little more hands-on experience.

The language schools in Bogota are excellent and apparently where the German government sends their people to be trained in Spanish.  And, while this apprenticeship program could be implemented in Costa Rica, there is a more established one already in Bogota and the team there is really excited to have us join them for a year.  They are even helping us find a place to live and making sure the language schools are adequate.

So, after a lot of thought, prayer, and counsel, we decided to go to Bogota!  Yay!  We are really excited about being able to spend a year in such an interesting place and to be on a team of other missionaries (one of the families also has little kids!).  I’m a little nervous about moving to such a big city, especially one I have never been to, but I’m pretty sure knowing that it is just for a year will make any challenges that come up do-able.  I also think we are going to be spoiled by living there.  Being that it is a big city, we will be able to find most anything we need (so we are told), and have learned that the water there is drink-able, and the voltage is the same as the states (110 instead of 220).  That means I can plug my hairdryer straight in the wall and drink a glass of water from the sink – or have the kids take a bath with out worrying about hepatitis.  It’s the little things in life that make it so much easier.

The last few weeks were a bit stressful with Christmas (which was wonderful, by the way), and making these big decisions for next year, and figuring out the logistics of moving, and raising the rest of our support, and raising two small children, I felt like I was walking around all the time with wide eyes and a head ache.  But now that these decisions have been made, our support is almost in, and we have a decent plan for what to do with our things while we live in Colombia, I am starting to feel more and more calm and less and less paralyzed with anxiety.

Now the big tasks at hand are to get that money in, once and for all, gather our visas and figure out what we are going to bring on our next adventure.  I’m thinking clothes, toys, and a coffee machine.  Pretty much anything else can be made from Pinterest or we’ll just learn to do without.  As for everything else?  Well, by Peruvian importing laws, all things must be packed by a professional mover.  Darn Darn, guess I’ll have to sit around drinking sweet tea while someone else packs my things.  I’m pretty sure it won’t be that carefree of an adventure, but it does take a lot of pressure off of packing and making sure that everything is wrapped well enough to survive a boat trip in a 20 ft container.

We are getting so close, we can feel it!  We are so excited to just get on down to South America and begin this ministry that we’ve been working towards for the last 61/2 years!  And now, we will always be able to talk about the year we spent in Colombia.  Who knew that being a missionary was so full of adventure!?