Bucaramanga

Bucaramanga a city of 2 million that was home to us for 10 years in the 1970s and 80s.  The city is built on a meseta (tableland) at about 3,500 feet above sea level and there is limited room for expansion, apart from building on ridges and valleys.  This is what is taking place, but also old buildings are coming down and new highrise buildings are being constructed.  The impression on flying into the city is of the city growing upwards rather than outwards.  On being in the city the streets are congested with traffic and the downtown area is congested with pedestrians.   I was alone in my return to Bucaramanga but it was good seeing old friends and being encouraged by the growth of the church in Colombia.

Bucaramanga - a city set on a hill!

Bucaramanga - the city of parks

Highrise buildings going up!

The extended Pinzon family with whom we worked in the 1980s

Carlos Alberto and Martha Pinzon and family, my hosts in Bucaramanga.  Carlos was my constant companion in the early 1980s.  How good to see him as a leader in the church today.

Santa Maria Assembly in Bucaramanga.  

Ground (1st) floor is the hall for meetings, 2nd floor is the apartment that Carlos Alberto and Martha occupy, the 3rd floor is where I stayed and on top (4th floor) is the patio which is used for meals. 

Some of the Santa Maria congregation on Sunday morning.

Young people at Santa Maria.  What potential for God!

Plenty of kids.  

How great to see them growing up in Christian families under the influence of the gospel to avoid the pitfalls of life that their parents or grandparents experienced.

Eliseo Caicedo and his family, one of the very first families in the main Bucaramanga Assembly in the mid 1970s.