Flat tires in Bogota

The first flat tire isn’t a big deal—it’s the second one you need to be worried about.

    A good friend once told me this

Flat tire #2

while we were traveling over some extremely rough roads in Haiti. We only had one flat tire on that trip (below average actually for those roads), so no problem.  I hadn’t thought about that for a while until traveling in Colombia a couple weeks ago. Our bus there had a flat tire on our way to a leader’s retreat we were holding outside of Bogota.  A 2 ½ hour ride turned into 5 hours, but no real trouble, just more time to laugh, hang out at a gas station, play with some stray dogs and sleep on the bus. The second flat tire though (same bus, different tire) happened on our way back to Bogota, it shouldn’t have been too terrible except it was on a curvy mountain road…. with no shoulder.…at night….and the old tire wouldn’t budge….and I had to catch a redeye flight late that night. It’s the second one you need to be worried about.

    In between the two flat tires though was some very special time. I’ve written before about the privilege I had to be part of the start of Young Life in Colombia two years ago and it was a joy to be there again and see the growth of this ministry. We held a training camp with 8 of the experienced leaders I’ve gotten to know well who have been with this ministry since the beginning and also 11 new potential leaders. The experienced leaders are mainly college age kids who for two years have worked to get to know and reach out to teens in one neighborhood. They’ve played soccer with them, done goofy skits and games at club, sung karaoke, played music, watched movies, talked and led bible studies with these kids as they began to respond to the gospel. These new potential leaders are some of the teens they’ve invested in. They’re kids who have come to know the Lord through this ministry and begun to grow deep with Him and now are starting to ask how they can impact their friends who don’t know Christ yet. 

Carlos (center, in red shirt) with some of his new 'family'

        What deep joy to spend a weekend together talking and praying with them— discussing how God has called us, what gifts He’s given us to use, how we can best do evangelism to teens, and how they can work together as a team to live this out.  What a privilege to see leaders who two years ago had no idea how to do this now very naturally lead discussions and realize their faith has grown significantly because of their involvement in this ministry. And what excitement to hear teens like Carlos, who comes from a family of 19 (nope, not a misprint) explain that the reason he wants to become a leader is because through YL God has become personal to him and his friends in YL have really become part of his family now…and he looks at his friends and knows they need that deeply. Carlos reminds me of one of the verses we read during our time at the training. In John chapter 4 Jesus is talking with the Samaritan woman at the well.  The conversation becomes very personal and she is impacted deeply. So deeply in fact that John 4:28-29 says “The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?’ ”  She’s so excited about what she’s found that she forgot the reason she went to the well in the first place. So excited that she runs to seek out others. So excited that she didn’t worry about what these people thought about her or fear what they might think about her talking about the messiah. Carlos is filled with that kind of excitement right now. In Jesus, he’s found living water and wants to share it with others.



Leader team in Colombia

       So, a little flat tire and worries about a flight can’t really put much of a damper on all that. We had some frantic moments of trying to warn off and wave cars over with flashlights, watching our emergency warning reflectors get run over (multiple times actually—they were in shards by the end), and helping our driver try to change the tire in an active lane with cars missing him by mere inches (he seemed relatively unfazed by this. He may have had more faith than any of us). But in the end, all was good. We found help, the tire was changed, we made it back to Bogota, I made my flight and I think back about it all now with a big smile mainly because I’m thinking of Carlos, and Jessi, and Sebastian and Mechitas and these Colombian leaders. I can’t help but smile when I think about them because I’m deeply excited about how God has been using them and believe He will do amazing things through them in the future as they continue to reach out to others.  Thanks for helping us invest in them and equipping them to impact others for Christ.