Did You Say "Mariquita"?

This is an email/invitation I received on Tuesday morning. It is from the directors of a school called Beth Sharon, which is situated 4 hours away from Bogota by car, in a small town called Mariquita. (For trivia buffs: Mariquita means ladybug; but in Colombia, if you call a guy a mariquita, you are referring to him as "gay").

I've translated it for you. The line about having Colombian grandchildren is especially interesting and funny. Maybe they know something I don't know?...
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Bonnie:
Saludos desde Mariquita en el Beth Sharon (Greetings from Mariquita, from Beth Sharon School). Queremos decirte que los niños te recuerdan mucho y ojalá vuelvas pronto (We want to tell you that the children remember you a lot and we hope that you return soon). Creemos que tus propósitos en Colombia llegarán hasta que tengas nietos colombianos (We believe that your purposes in Colombia will arrive until you would have Colombian grandchildren--well, that's the literal translation but, you get the message!). Vemos que en tus manos esta la formación de una generación poderosa de niños y jovenes que aman a Dios en verdad (We see in your hands, the formation of a powerful generation of children and youth that truly love God).

Te esperamos pronto en Mariquita (We look forward to seeing you soon in Mariquita). Saludos a todos los demás profesores, los recordamos mucho (Greetings to all the rest of the teachers, we remember you all very much).

Te amamos en Cristo (We love you in Christ)
Rodrigo y Ruth
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The first time we had a service outreach trip to Mariquita was this past Thanksgiving. Looks like we will be spending St. Patrick's Day there as well! A small group of teachers (and hopefully one or two other highschoolers) will leave right after school tomorrow and return on Monday. We will be working with children and youth. This new Christian school is barely in their second year and is located in a highly Catholic town. At times, the school's administrators unfortunately found themselves opposed by some Catholic parents due to differences in doctrinal perspectives. The last time we visited, the directors of the school mentioned that we were like cool waters and brought needed refreshment to them (Mariquita is normally, unbearably hot. In contrast, Bogota's climate is often quite chilly; in fact, it is currently raining and feels like LA's winter).

Pray for safety as we travel and for God to bless this time.