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Family goes beyond borders and languages.  As family in Christ, we share in a blood bond that we carry unto eternity.  If you have been a part of studying the Bible with someone or a member of their family, that bond grows even deeper and stronger.

Gina and I share such a bond.  I was there when her mom was baptized, when her brother was baptized, when she was baptized, and also during the time shortly after her father passed away.  Every time I visited Bogotá, Gina and I would go to dinner and catch up about life, family, and our spiritual walks.

It has been almost eight years since we’ve seen each other and we’ve each matured a bit since then.  She is now married with a daughter and another on the way.  I am looking forward to spending some time with her again on this visit to Bogotá and rejoicing in the ways that God has continued to work in each of our lives.

I was a senior in college, ready to take on the world, when I felt God calling me to be a missionary – specifically to move to north Bogotá, Colombia, and participate in a church plant there.  I never came to live in Bogotá full-time, but I was there for the first meeting of the congregation in north Bogotá in March 2000, for their first anniversary, and on countless other occasions between 2000 and 2006.  I have not been back to visit Bogotá or any of the congregations there since before I moved back to the US from Venezuela and I am very excited to share with the sisters there this weekend for a seminar on communication.

For this Throwback Thursday, I will share with you this photo of that first trip to Bogotá when the north Bogotá congregation was started.

Pictured: Bob Brown (top), Michelle J. Goff, ____, Rafael, Sonia and Andrés Valderrama