COLOMBIA—Due to the lockdown imposed by covid-19 in many countries, including Colombia, many members of the Philadelphia Church of God had to keep the Feast of Tabernacles with their individual families this year, and some had to stay home.

Our group, which included an elderly member, Mrs. Isabel Gonzalez, my parents and me, kept the Feast at Villa de Leyva, a historic town in Ricaurte Province that preserves the history, archeology and paleontology of Hispanic America. We also had the opportunity to visit a vineyard, which are rare in tropical latitudes. Other sights included petrified bones of fauna and flora that existed before human beings were created, reminding us of Dr. Eilat Mazar’s phrase, “let the stones speak,” as well as exhibits of the history of the armies of the Spanish and of revolutionary Simon Bolívar. The learning opportunity showed us the history not just of the area but of Earth, prior to and after Satan’s rebellion.

We downloaded messages translated into Spanish from headquarters daily and listened to them. We found that the area we were visiting helped us learn a little more about the need for the restoration of God’s government to Earth. It was such a unique Feast that by the end we felt nostalgic. Although we were few in number, keeping the Feast still helped us focus on our great future.

Mario Pulido is a member of the Spanish department, working from his home in Colombia.