Colombia: The Team

I’m not very good at relating events in chronological order without forgetting countless details, so I’m going to try reporting on Colombia in a different format. I will describe our trip by describing related chunks of people and places interspersed with anecdotes. First I will introduce the team. There were twelve of us in all: six teens and six adults, seven returning members and five new members, eleven NHCC members and one brave friend from another church. They will, of course, be introduced in alphabetical order by last name.

Jim Chandler: Jim joined us in Colombia for the first time this week, but he was by no means new to missionary work. He spent a good portion his adult life on the mission field in Spanish-speaking places. He was therefore fluent in Spanish and did all the sermons for the week in Spanish. Surprisingly, I understood pretty much everything he said, but I think he spoke with a bit of an American accent. He left a day early due to the death of his father. He knew when he came that his dad may very well die while he was in Bogota, but he came anyway. That takes a lot of strength.

Allison Gast: This was Allison’s first time on a plane or in a different country. She is the second of my four younger sisters. Despite the fact that she knew maybe five words in Spanish and has a tendency to be a very picky eater, she did very well. She was active in VBS, tried most of the food, and didn’t complain. She also integrated well into the team, despite my fears that she would fade into the background.

Jonathon Gast: Jonathon is my younger brother (I’m going to pretend that more than one person reads this and that they might possibly not know my family). He was another second-time team member. He returned to the VBS side of things and helped run the outdoor games.

Maria Gast: Hey, it’s me. I was returning for the second time. I was in charge of planning VBS and teaching at the women’s group. All went smoothly, thanks to plenty of prayers and reminders to chill and not stress over little things.


Raqchell Gast: Rachel is the oldest of my younger sisters and is also a returning team member. She once again oversaw the face-painting at VBS with the help of Brooke. She and Valentina were attached at the hip for most of the week.

Tony Gast: Tony is my dad, and he, too, was a returning team member. He ran the outdoor games for VBS and was always present when basketball was played. He helped Bob get all the travel plans coordinated.

Bob Kline: Bob (also a returning team member) was in charge of coordinating travel plans with the help of my dad and was our primary communication link to Mark. He was also the head of the construction team. He worked with the preacher's wife and daughter to improve their English, and in the process he learned a little more Spanish.

Brooke Nichols: Brooke is the NHCC preacher’s daughter, and was yet another team member who was there in 2008. She did face-painting with Rachel during VBS and was a constant source of comic relief throughout the trip. We may never know how much of her cluelessness was genuine and how much of it was calculated, but it brought smiles to our faces in either case.

Luke Nichols: Luke is Brooke’s older brother. He was also a returning team member. He worked at the construction site and made very little effort at all to learn proper Spanish. He liked to pick on other team members in a good-natured way, and got at least as much teasing as he gave. He brought “$w@ggg” to Colombia and left with the nick-name El Caballo.

Brit Royse: Brit was our brave non-NHCC team member. He knows Jim from work and decided to come along with us despite the fact that Jim was the only one of us he had ever seen until a few weeks before we left. He was quickly accepted into the team-family. He worked at the construction site and was one of our better-learned Spanish speakers. He chose the name “Flava-Craze” and may be teaming up with El Caballo to bring $w@gg and jerk dancing to Bogota.

Bill Sporing: Bill wanted to come last time, but that didn’t work out. This time he was determined to join us, and I’m glad he did. I didn’t get to know him all that well since he worked at the construction site, but from what I saw he was a great asset to the team and he thoroughly enjoyed the experience. With the hat he bought at Monserrate, he could have passed as a Colombian native if you looked past the fact that he could scarcely speak a word of Spanish.

Keri Sporing: Keri is Bill’s wife, and I’m so very happy that she got to come this time around. She did crafts with me at VBS, and she was great with the kids. Not everyone who came last time worked well with the cross-cultural aspect of VBS, but Keri was very well suited to the task. She overflowed with compassion for the kids.