
“Would to God, we could find in our hearts to put an end to our short-lived divisions here; that’s so we might leave a blessing behind us; even a happy and united church.” — Thomas Campbell, Declaration and Address
In July, nineteen members of the Greater Nashville Church and the Memphis Church went to visit the church in Bogotá, Colombia for about two weeks of relationship-building, evangelism, and Colombian food and fun—turns out cornhole skills don’t translate perfectly to tejo! We kicked the trip off with a trip to Monserrate’s peak and spent much of the first week reconnecting with old friends, making new ones, and sharing our common faith in the streets and parks of Bogotá.
We watched the Copa América finals with our host families, learned the differences between Colombian and Mexican tamales, discovered that fermented guarapo is every bit as good as kombucha, laughed and cried with those who are our brothers and sisters through the truest bond of blood, practiced becoming comfortable with messing up our Spanish, wheezed our way through some high-elevation hikes, learned some street smarts the hard way, and learned more about putting the first two commandments into practice—all fantastic reasons to take a trip like this.

One of the Bogotá disciples led a powerful discussion the first week and reminded us that, in contrast to the vague optimisms of pundits in Colombia and the United States, “only Jesus offers real freedom, the truth that sets us free.” In the second week, a disciple from our group reminded us all that through Christ we are capable of not just facing, but even conquering all sorts of fears: “fear is something I still struggle with but I can remind myself that I have God and my brothers and sisters in Christ who will help me no matter the fear and encourage me every step of the way.” Personally, the only thing I conquered was my body’s need to ingest iron for the next few months—I think one large portion of pepitoria has me covered.
The viaje was rich in the joys of learning the language and culture of one another and rife with the humors of miscommunication and confusion. New foods and new friends pair well together, and the incredible hospitality of the Colombian disciples was an inspiring avenue to explore them. Much thanks to the disciples of Bogotá for teaching us some lessons in this regard, and may we soon return the favor—and flavor!