Leadership Retreat - Villa de Leyva

Last weekend I had the privilege of attending a Men's Retreat in the Historic town of Villa de Leyva about 4 hours north of Bogota in the mountains.  The town was where the King of Spain's representatives (Viceroy etc) had their country residences.  It is an interesting town as the valleys all around are fertile and produce great crops, but the valley in which Villa de Leyva is located is arid, with  cacti and other desert type plants growing.  It is an interesting town for all the fossils that are to be found, no doubt laid down in the flood associated with Noah.

The Men's Retreat was for mainly Elders and Deacons but this year wives and other interested men were invited as the purpose was to do a 20 hour seminar on the use of the Thompson Chain Reference Bible and at the end the members in attendance received a donated Bible.  The Thompson Bible is a good resource for many of those involved in church leadership.  I was asked to do three papers on "The Leader and His Family."  It was a great opportunity to have an input into the lives of the 140 from Brethren churches in Bogota, Villa de Leyva, Duitama and Yopal.

The town of Villa de Leyva.

It has the largest open plaza in Colombia - all in cobble stones.

Fossil in cobble stone.

Even walking along the cobble-stoned streets fossils can be seen in the rocks.

 

  Villa Peniel

The entrance to the campsite 2 kms. out in the country.

The main buildings at Villa Peniel

Villa Peniel courtyard

All the rooms - dormitories, dining room, conference rooms surround the inner courtyard.

Men from Cazuca Church

The Cazuca church is located in the very south of Bogota.  It is the result of the vision of Sergio Gomez (the tallest man in middle of group) who had the vision and dedication to go to a very poor barrio (suburb) to start a church. 

Men from Villa de Leyva Church

After resisting the gospel for many years a church was started about 10 years ago in this historic town. 

Seminar in progress

The people in the photo are busy completing some "homework" part of the requirements for receiving the donated Bible.

Tinto in the courtyard

Tinto is the customary drink in Colombia.  It is black coffee with plenty of sugar served in a small cup.

Breakfast in Ubate

Along the way going to the retreat we stopped at the local market in the town of Ubate for breakfast.  Mine consisted of caldo de papa (potato soup) with a chuck of meat.  Others had filled arepas (corn cakes with an egg in the middle) tamales (corn meal with everything in it such meat and vegetables and cooked in a banana leaf).

Mealtime at the retreat