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September 1990 Newsletter
COLOMBIAN CHRISTIAN MISSION
Dale and Jeanie Meade
In the jungle and prairie of Southeastern Colombia
Volume 18, Issue 9 September, 1990
TO COLOMBIA AND BACK
As holders of a permanent resident visa for Colombia, we must not be out of the country for more than one year. If we were, we would lose our visas. A visa for Colombia is very hard to get. As a result, we want to make sure that we keep ours up to date.
This summer had us worried. After paying for travel expenses and other bills, the mission bank account was empty. We now have hospitalization and a retirement plan, for the first time in our 18 years as missionaries. We appreciate that, but it uses a great deal of money that used to go directly into the work. Because of this, the time to travel arrived and there was no money for tickets. We were within two weeks of losing our visas when enough money arrived to buy plane tickets for Jeanie and me. Wendy, who is not a Colombian citizen as are Susy and Alex, would have to forfeit hers. That was a real disappointment for us, but there was simply not money for a ticket for her. In fact, we have no money to travel on until the day before we left for Colombia.
As we packed to leave, many well-meaning Christian friends kept advising us not to return. "It is too dangerous right now" they implored. That made the trip a bit difficult for us. I kept wanting to quote Acts 21:13 to them. Out of politeness, I kept quiet. Jeanie and I faced the question of putting our lives on the line for Jesus a long time ago. We did that in San Jose when the U.S. Embassy warned us not to move into the region because of Communist activity. We faced that question frequently as I traveled on dangerous mountain roads where other missionaries had vanished. We faced it during our last term when death threats became a daily occurrence. Yes, we were "ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." We did ask for your prayers and we traveled in peace, knowing that you were praying for our safety on a daily basis.
We packed only a few personal belongings and then loaded more than 350 pounds of VBS material into our suitcases. We had purchased it earlier but we had never had the money to ship it out. Our bags were overweight, but the agent in Cleveland winked at that. (Praise the Lord!) We departed Cleveland and flew to Miami. There we caught an Avianca flight into Bogota. With the exception of the boredom of the flight and the $1.50 Cokes and $5.00 hot dogs in the Miami airport (we fasted), the flight was uneventful.
Once in Colombia, we cleared immigration without problems. The officers did comment that "we had made it back by the skin of our teeth." At customs the official began opening our suitcases. In each one he found only books and very few clothes. After two or three he asked if books were the only things we carried. Upon being assured that was in all of our suitcases, he waved us through. A couple of the Colombian brethren were there to meet us. That was a big help with all of the weight we had to carry. We caught a cab and were soon at Mark Stinger's house.
That night we unloaded all of the books and repacked for the trip to Villavicencio. The next morning we talked to Mark and then caught a bus for along ride through the Andes Mountains. By afternoon we were at our house in Villavicencio. The renters had vacated it six weeks before. Jeanie began to clean and I borrowed a mattress from some of the neighbors. Soon we settled into "camping" in our house. By the day Jeanie cleaned and I worked on renewing our visa. By night I repaired broken toilets and prepared the house to rent.
We also visited the brethren. To our surprise, one of the false brothers who we had suspected of making threats against us, was in jail. He was implicated in the extortion threats and the eventual murder of a wealthy drug store owner in Villavicencio. That made us realize that their threats had not been empty and that God had shielded us form them.
On Sunday we attended services at the church we had guided through the storm. The congregation has remained large and strong. The national leaders are doing an excellent job. The church is at peace. For the very first time, national leadership has been able to replace the missionaries, yet suffer no loss in membership. This indicates a real maturing on their part and the fruits of my long hours of teaching.
By Monday we were ready to head back to Bogota. We turned the house over to the new renters and made arrangements for the church to collect the money. The rent will help with the Christian day school and travel expenses. By evening we were back in Bogota. I talked at length with brother Mark about the work. The next morning we went shopping and I bought a 100% wool suit. The one I wear now is 15 years old and is getting a little thread bare. In Colombia I can purchase a wool suit for about $75.00, about what a polyester suit would cost here. During the afternoon, Mark and I again discussed the future of the work in Colombia.
The next morning we left Bogota for Cartagena, our target city on the coast. Jeanie and I wanted to do some survey work there. We spent the next three days, checking on the cost of housing and food. We looked into schools for the kids. We talked to the locals about religious attitudes. We spent one day driving all over Cartagena looking at the town and its churches. Very little evangelical work has been done there. The one drawback we found was the cost of living. We bought the mission house in Villavicencio for under $20,000. In Cartagena a similar house in a comparable section of town would cost about $100,000. School tuition in a U.S. approved school would cost about $125.00 per child each month.
Still, we are seriously considering relocating there upon our return to Colombia. The work in Villavicencio could (and should) stand on its own. We need to be moving on and opening new works. If our move to Cartagena is in God's will, then He will provide the means with which to accomplish that new beginning.
We left Cartagena on Saturday morning. The laid back atmosphere made for a more tranquil passage through emigration. Since we were departing from the coast, the flight back to the USA was an hour shorter than normal. Back in Miami we collected our baggage and passed through customs without a problem. We headed for the departure gate and waited. About a half hour before our flight, a rain storm shut down the airport. By the time it was over, we had missed our connecting flight in Pittsburgh. That left us with no choice but to spend the night in Miami. We barely had enough money for taxi to and from a motel. Since our layover was weather related, the airline would not pick up the tab. A credit card was the latchkey that provided a bed for the night.
On Sunday morning we were up at five o'clock and headed for the airport. This time our connection was in Philadelphia. We had no more delays though and were in Cleveland by noon. My parents had driven our mini-van up to the airport to meet us. The children had all come along. It was good to be reunited with them. During the following week, we unpacked and washed clothes . . . so that I could repack and leave for graduate school in Wheaton.
(PHOTO)
Old Cartagena, a walled city with narrow streets and colonial balconies.
New Cartagena, a city of apartment buildings. A three bedroom apartment rents for $800 per month.
The George Washington school is a fully approved high school and would solve the educational problems for our children. The drawback is the cost; tuition would run $150 per month for each child.