Ibagué!

This weekend we went to a city called Ibagué to visit a local UCU-group, three or four hours west of Bogotá in bus. We had two presentations about ourselves, our testimony, our school Hald International Centre and about UCU. It was a great meeting with the people from Ibagué! We really felt the hospitality and their kindness, and we felt God was working through us to inspire the group! How great is our God!

Preparing for handing out flyers and talking to students at the University of Tolima.
Carmen who works for UCU Nacional was also with us! 

In action

 We were only in Ibagué for about 24 hours, but we did a lot! Ibagué was a great experience. 

We pray for growth and courage in the group! 

Hugs from Rebekka and Mari

¿Qué le preguntarías a Dios?

The organization we work for is called UCU - Unidad Cristiana Universitaria. It is a Christian student movement, and exists in many cities in Colombia, with the main office in Bogotá. UCU works to create spaces in the universities where students can gather to talk about faith, read the Bible and pray together. Here in Bogotá we also have reunions every Wednesday and Friday in "Casa UCU", with worship, prayer and Bible-study.

UCU is a part of the worldwide organization IFES - International Fellowship of Evangelical Students; so is the Norwegian organization Laget (NKSS - Norges Kristelige Student- og Skoleungdomslag). Laget and UCU serve the same purpose and share the same goals, we all work to bring students to Jesus!

This week we have been inviting new students to UCU! We put up a stand, handed out flyers and gave people free bread and sweets. We also asked the question: "¿Qué le preguntarías a Dios?" - "What would you ask God?". Through this we got many interesting answers and conversations. We had a great experience participating, promoting UCU and meeting students! Let´s hope and pray that this year will bring many new students to the fellowship of UCU!

Highlights of the last month

It´s been a while since we have updated our blog, so instead of writing a 10 paged post, we decided to give you glimpses of what we have been doing and of what´s happened the last month through pictures:

Colombia celebrates "Little Candles´ Day" the 7th of December.
We joined the celebration after rehearsing for our Christmas concert.

From the 7th to the 9th of December, we participated in a retreat in Casa UCU with great people from all over Colombia! We learned a lot about the Bible, discipleship and UCU.

Eliza and Rebekka making Norwegian breakfast for the participants: havregrøt!

"The band" (and Yesica from Cartagena in the middle) almost ready for the concert.

Christmas concert with UCU!

BRAZIL: from the 11th to the 22nd of December

On our way to infield in Florianópolis.
Infield is our follow-up course with other students and teachers from Hald International Center.
This includes reflection and conversations about our stay so far, personal progress and goals for the next months.

Walking in the streets of Florianópolis

We also went to the beach! Some of us preferred not to get more sunburned.

The last night in Florianópolis.
During our stay, we got to know the former Hald-students Julia and Gregory!

Vacation in Rio!
Mari, Rebekka, Lars and Tobias (other Hald-students living in Brazil) survived four days in the big city,
thanks to ABU-students who were our private guides.
(ABU=IFES in Brazil)

We met Jesus.
He was a lot taller than we expected.

Met former Hald-student Debora and her fiancé Leandro,
and had a nice day in the neighbourhood Santa Teresa.

Sunset at Ipanema beach.

CHRISTMAS IN VILLA DE LEYVA

We traveled to the beautiful village of Villa de Leyva on the 23rd of December
 to celebrate Christmas with the family of our boss Maritza. 

Christmas Eve!
We played games, ate a lot of food and opened presents, all after midnight.

On the 25th, we went hiking and met Jesus again!
This time he was shorter. 

Villa de Leyva "by night"
We had a late night walk through the streets of the village to check out the lights despite the rain. 

Heated discussion at the breakfast table one morning (right?).
(On the table, you can spot natilla, a typical dessert from Colombia.) 

We went to Ráquira, a tourist town, and we bought ruanas!
(Google it, they are amazing, warm and beautiful)

 Back in Bogotá! 

Lars and Tobias came to visit for New Years Eve!
So we took them sightseeing around Bogotá:
this is the cathedral at Plaza de Bolívar

Visited the church Monserrate, 3150 meters above sea level.
The view over Bogotá was amazing!

We spent one day in a park, had picnic and played games with good friends! That was until it started to rain like crazy, and we ended up at a friends house playing more games and dancing a lot. It was a great day! 

Saying goodbye to Lars and Tobias at the airport. See you at Hald in April!  

We have had a great and busy month. We are excited for the new year and all that 2017 will bring! 

Hugs from Rebekka and Mari