Hello everyone,
first of all, you can stop worrying. i'm not dead or dying. :) Yeah, i was feeling really really poorly for a few days there, but thanks to modern medicine (as modern as it gets in Cochabamba, Bolivia that is) and the power of prayer, i am feeling better today. here's a quick run down of what i've been going through:
Saturday: i had a sore throat, not a big deal since it's dry and dusty here all the time
Sunday: the sore throat didn't go away. asked Sandra (who runs the clinic for the boys at the BLC) for amoxicillin which i started taking.
Monday: still sore in the throat and i was starting to feel kinda weak. i assumed i was just running myself too hard.
Tuesday: woke up with a ringing in my right ear restricting my hearing a lot. I got up for the host meeting at 7 am and went back to bed at 8 am. only got out of bed to take a shower mid morning and to get some crackers and tea in the afternoon. i missed the classical concert that night. :(
Wednesday: woke up with same ringing, sore throat, muscle aches, nausea and headache as day before. decided to head into Cochabamaba (a 45 minute drive) to visit the emergency room (bolivia's version of a walk in clinic... don't worry mom!) the doctor specializing in ear nose and throat wasn't in until that evening, so arturo *an amazing bolivian by the way* walked with me to a doctor's office a block and a half away. Dra. Espinoza looked me over determined that i had a sore throat and an infected ear (i was very tempted to say DUH to that) and put me on a higher dose of amoxicillin with another stronger antibiotic mixed in. they also took blood to do tests. after i struggled to eat five crackers and a juice box, i took my first horse pill. i don't normally have issues with pills, but these i have to break in two. ugh! then we walked back to the doctora who told me that my blood test came back with almost twice as many leukocytes as i should have. that means my body made a lot of white blood cells to fight my infection (a new one... not the one causing my ear and throat issues). it was also positive for something that i didn't understand. my spanish is pretty good, but when they get into medical terms i'm lost. so arturo took me next door to the farmacia again to get the new meds. a stronger antibiotic which must be administer intramuscular (aka in the rear). i had six vials of medicine and i got a shot of two mixed together every day from wednesday until today. :( not too painful but not pleasant either. i got home from the doctor's office around 1 and slept until around nine when i had dinner. oh, by the way, i'm on a white diet (rough translation meaning i can only eat potatoes, rice, chicken and soup). so after a nice hot bowl of amazing chicken soup (not sarcastic, just bitter that i didn't get to enjoy it enough) i went back to bed.
Thursday: not much change yet. lethargic all day. arturo took me to a clinic for my dreaded shot. spent an hour or so outside while the team was at sidewalk sunday school, but wasn't really in the mood to do much. went to the pizza party at night (alas, no pizza) and went to bed at a decent hour.
Friday: woke up today feeling better. decided to go with the team into town to the Christ statue, saltenas (which i DID eat) and the market. i spent the day moving slowly and feeling pretty decent. we're now at the airport dropping off our last team for the summer and i feel pretty stinkin good.
so, that's been my week. thanks for everyone's prayers. i've definitely felt them. Xochi (a girl on this team) reminded me that with all the spiritual warfare that's been going on around here, it's not surprising that i was attacked with this. but i can't let it get me down. i truly believe that more than the antibiotics, it was the church here in cochabamba praying, my friends and family praying and the team here praying that made it possible for me to heal so quickly. it's gonna be a few days before i can have another soda or eat normal food, but i think that's a sacrifice i'm willing and ready to make. God has done amazing things this week through the team despite my sickness and i praise Him for it.
We come home in ten days, and i'm excited and sad at the same time. i have a week before school starts, and i plan to do as much as i can in that week. that includes sleeping though, so dont start booking up all my time! :)
i love you all and will talk to you soon!
adam/geuder/tio azul
18 July 2008
13 July 2008
last team
hey everyone... the last team is here in bolivia and are already doing great. they actually overlapped with the previous team for a day and it was really fun to see a group from west palm beach interacting with a group from charlotte north carolina. they got to go to the park together (Pairumani is the park we went to and i got to hike up to the waterfall for the second time this summer! yay!) this team is a good mix of people - four girls from philly, one girl from my church, and the other 19 are from christ fellowship. they range in age too from college age to middle aged professionals. it will be a great week and a fantastic way to finish out the summer.
thanks to nancy wysong, i will now update the website information for CIN. it´s www.cinonline.org not .net. oops!
we have nine boys left without sponsors and we´re hoping that by the end of the week, that number will be much smaller if not zero. :)
please keep praying for us. the summer isn´t quite over and most of the hosts are feeling kinda run down. fortunately we have a week after this team leaves to finish up our time here. it will just be the six of us with the boys and their staff. we´re really looking forward to that time where we can kind of assess our summer before heading back to the states.
thanks for your emails and encouraging words. sorry i don´t always respond as we´re usually running short on time, but i do appreciate them.
in case we don´t get to email next week as there´s no team here, thanks for your support this summer. i love you all and can´t wait to see or talk to you somewhat more normally soon. ;)
adam-geuder-tio azul
thanks to nancy wysong, i will now update the website information for CIN. it´s www.cinonline.org not .net. oops!
we have nine boys left without sponsors and we´re hoping that by the end of the week, that number will be much smaller if not zero. :)
please keep praying for us. the summer isn´t quite over and most of the hosts are feeling kinda run down. fortunately we have a week after this team leaves to finish up our time here. it will just be the six of us with the boys and their staff. we´re really looking forward to that time where we can kind of assess our summer before heading back to the states.
thanks for your emails and encouraging words. sorry i don´t always respond as we´re usually running short on time, but i do appreciate them.
in case we don´t get to email next week as there´s no team here, thanks for your support this summer. i love you all and can´t wait to see or talk to you somewhat more normally soon. ;)
adam-geuder-tio azul
06 July 2008
week five underway
Hey everyone,
last week´s team left on Thursday morning (normally they leave friday nights) which gave us a free day. Despite most of us being very tired and weary from all the work we´d been doing, we played with the boys all morning (well, we watched a movie with them... the Incredibles) and then took the afternoon to recuperate. I am reading the autobiography of Julie Andrews and I must have read about 150 pages on Thursday alone! by the way, the book is really good if you like Julie Andrews... i grew up with the Sound of Music and Mary Poppins so i really enjoyed it. It´s called HOME.
but enough of the advertisement. The team from last week had 19 people and only two had never been here before. This team is from the same church (Lake Forest Church in Charlotte, NC) and all but three of their group are new to Bolivia! Lake Forest sends two teams and one is returners and one is new. It´s pretty cool that way because the new people aren´t dealing with all the preconceptions from other team members. Other than the leaders on this team, they are all coming in fresh with open minds. It´s awesome!
We just took the kids to ice cream again (they have now had ice cream twice this year!). I´ve been connecting with a lot of the boys this week that i didn´t have as close of a relationship with in the past. Please pray that i have the opportunity to minister to these new boys :).
I know that i mentioned that Victor´s cousin Josue is here at the life center with him now. Every time victor gives me a card or a note he writes victor, adan (or azul) and Josue. It´s like i´ve been inducted into his family and now we´re all related. The other day victor told me he was worried about his cousin. I asked him why... he´s safe here and has so many friends. Victor said, no. not that one. Apparently, josue has a little brother, fabrizio, who is living in cochabamba by himself. he was worried about what might happen to him with no one to take care of him. the next day, i helped anna put the pequenos (the youngest boys of which victor is a part) to bed. we had tickle time with the team, then when they left, we let them watch milo and otis in spanish while some of them finished getting ready for bed. victor was laying in his bed weeping. i climbed up into the top bunk with him and just let him cry for about twenty minutes. when he stopped for a few minutes, i asked him if he was sad. no. if he was hurt. no. if he was scared. yes. i asked why... he said he was scared of what might be happening to fabrizio. it broke my heart. i wish nine year old boys didn´t have to worry about whether their younger cousins will survive the night on the streets or if they will be able to find money or food to survive on without having to find a pimp to work for.
please continue to pray as the boys here are constantly dealing with memories like these. this one hits home for me of course, but there are 79 more boys here with similar stories. please keep them in prayer.
an update on sponsorships, we only have 12 boys left without sponsors. we started the summer close to 30 so that´s such a blessing! please pray for open hearts as this team and the next team are all we have left this summer. we have a couple families who are considering it this week. to specifically pray for the boys who need sponsors, you can go to the website and see their pictures. www.cinonline.net
thanks for all your prayers so far. w e´re over halfway. happy and sad. also, thanks for the encouraging emails... yes, i do get them. sorry i don´t always get around to responding! we´re limited on time here! :)
love to all.
geuder-adam-azul
last week´s team left on Thursday morning (normally they leave friday nights) which gave us a free day. Despite most of us being very tired and weary from all the work we´d been doing, we played with the boys all morning (well, we watched a movie with them... the Incredibles) and then took the afternoon to recuperate. I am reading the autobiography of Julie Andrews and I must have read about 150 pages on Thursday alone! by the way, the book is really good if you like Julie Andrews... i grew up with the Sound of Music and Mary Poppins so i really enjoyed it. It´s called HOME.
but enough of the advertisement. The team from last week had 19 people and only two had never been here before. This team is from the same church (Lake Forest Church in Charlotte, NC) and all but three of their group are new to Bolivia! Lake Forest sends two teams and one is returners and one is new. It´s pretty cool that way because the new people aren´t dealing with all the preconceptions from other team members. Other than the leaders on this team, they are all coming in fresh with open minds. It´s awesome!
We just took the kids to ice cream again (they have now had ice cream twice this year!). I´ve been connecting with a lot of the boys this week that i didn´t have as close of a relationship with in the past. Please pray that i have the opportunity to minister to these new boys :).
I know that i mentioned that Victor´s cousin Josue is here at the life center with him now. Every time victor gives me a card or a note he writes victor, adan (or azul) and Josue. It´s like i´ve been inducted into his family and now we´re all related. The other day victor told me he was worried about his cousin. I asked him why... he´s safe here and has so many friends. Victor said, no. not that one. Apparently, josue has a little brother, fabrizio, who is living in cochabamba by himself. he was worried about what might happen to him with no one to take care of him. the next day, i helped anna put the pequenos (the youngest boys of which victor is a part) to bed. we had tickle time with the team, then when they left, we let them watch milo and otis in spanish while some of them finished getting ready for bed. victor was laying in his bed weeping. i climbed up into the top bunk with him and just let him cry for about twenty minutes. when he stopped for a few minutes, i asked him if he was sad. no. if he was hurt. no. if he was scared. yes. i asked why... he said he was scared of what might be happening to fabrizio. it broke my heart. i wish nine year old boys didn´t have to worry about whether their younger cousins will survive the night on the streets or if they will be able to find money or food to survive on without having to find a pimp to work for.
please continue to pray as the boys here are constantly dealing with memories like these. this one hits home for me of course, but there are 79 more boys here with similar stories. please keep them in prayer.
an update on sponsorships, we only have 12 boys left without sponsors. we started the summer close to 30 so that´s such a blessing! please pray for open hearts as this team and the next team are all we have left this summer. we have a couple families who are considering it this week. to specifically pray for the boys who need sponsors, you can go to the website and see their pictures. www.cinonline.net
thanks for all your prayers so far. w e´re over halfway. happy and sad. also, thanks for the encouraging emails... yes, i do get them. sorry i don´t always get around to responding! we´re limited on time here! :)
love to all.
geuder-adam-azul
22 June 2008
I am so blessed to have my own church family here this week. Eleven members of my church (as well as Kim´s mom and Kirsten´s brother) are here this week working at the Life Center. None of them speak spanish :) but they are off to an amazing start. They just took all 80 boys to get ice cream after church (this is the first time the boys have had ice cream this year). We´re looking forward to a great week with them.
the team that just left friday was from the youth group at Christ Fellowship. I had an amazing time with them and was sorry to see them go. My kids from King´s impressed me so much with their dedication to the boys and their hard work in everything they did. I´m so proud of them!
I don´t have a whole lot of time, but I want to thank you all for the emails you´ve sent. the encouragement i´ve received has been exactly what i needed to hear every time i read it. Please, email me when you think of it. I may not be able to respond to them all, but i will definitely appreciate reading them. :)
I hope everyone is doing well. Please remember to pray for us down here in Bolivia. There is a lot to do and not too much time left. :)
Love to you all.
Adam-Geuder-Tio Azul
the team that just left friday was from the youth group at Christ Fellowship. I had an amazing time with them and was sorry to see them go. My kids from King´s impressed me so much with their dedication to the boys and their hard work in everything they did. I´m so proud of them!
I don´t have a whole lot of time, but I want to thank you all for the emails you´ve sent. the encouragement i´ve received has been exactly what i needed to hear every time i read it. Please, email me when you think of it. I may not be able to respond to them all, but i will definitely appreciate reading them. :)
I hope everyone is doing well. Please remember to pray for us down here in Bolivia. There is a lot to do and not too much time left. :)
Love to you all.
Adam-Geuder-Tio Azul
15 June 2008
since i emailed from the airport, i don´t have much of an update yet. but i´ll let you know what´s happening so far.
the christ fellowship youth group is here. it´s great to see some familiar faces from last year´s trip as well as the five king´s kids here (COlton Jones, Priscilla Babrick, Megan Kintz, Lauren Bender and Zack Lowe). We´re having a great time so far. They were lucky enough to have Jeffrey DeLeon as a guest speaker last night at the church´s youth service. he´s from the states and translated his own sermon as he went to the team could follow. :)
Trevor is here too... he´s a good friend who i went to africa with three years ago. it´s fun to see him in bolivia now! also kirsten´s little brother chris is here too. they are both here for two weeks so when my church´s team arrives, they´ll both be here to join them!
i´m heading to the phones in a minute to try and make a call or two. in the meantime, happy father´s day, dad (and any other fathers reading this) and keep up the prayers. they have helped more than you can imagine!
God is doing amazing things here. God bless you all, and i love you!
adam/geuder/tio azul
the christ fellowship youth group is here. it´s great to see some familiar faces from last year´s trip as well as the five king´s kids here (COlton Jones, Priscilla Babrick, Megan Kintz, Lauren Bender and Zack Lowe). We´re having a great time so far. They were lucky enough to have Jeffrey DeLeon as a guest speaker last night at the church´s youth service. he´s from the states and translated his own sermon as he went to the team could follow. :)
Trevor is here too... he´s a good friend who i went to africa with three years ago. it´s fun to see him in bolivia now! also kirsten´s little brother chris is here too. they are both here for two weeks so when my church´s team arrives, they´ll both be here to join them!
i´m heading to the phones in a minute to try and make a call or two. in the meantime, happy father´s day, dad (and any other fathers reading this) and keep up the prayers. they have helped more than you can imagine!
God is doing amazing things here. God bless you all, and i love you!
adam/geuder/tio azul
13 June 2008
week one is just about done.
Içm in the airport. for some reason my apostrophe is coming out like a french c with the thing hanging below. also i cançt use parentheses. oy. no exclmation points either. my style is cramped. sheesh
weçre dropping off the first team. andy and i are here with them. the second team arrived this morning. anna and kirsten went to pick them up. kim and matt stayed behind to clean up the apartemnt in between teams since there is approximately a twenty minute lapse between the one team leaving and the next arriving. kennedy, bless her heart, is not feeling well and took a much needed rest.
this team has truly tested me this week. there were a lot of Ts in that sentence. :D there are twelve of them. some i have come to love dearly. others have tried me every step of the way. i know this is a way for God to help me to grow. but itçs hard. my main goal as part of the host staff is to assist them team in their ministry and minister to their needs. my patience with them has been pushed to the limit, though, and even though they are waiting to get on a plane, i would truly appreciate your prayers. i donçt want the emotions içm struggling with now to cause me to treat the other teams differently. last summer i was here for about a month to five weeks before i cried the first time. içve cried three times this summer already and içve been here for nine days.
many have asked for an update on victor so here it is: heçs the MOST adorable kid in the life center. and if youçve seen my pictures from last year and thought he was cute, just wait. he has gotten better. He came running up to me the first day and threw his arms around me and i struggled to not lose it right then. he has his front teeth again, thank goodness. and his smile is enough to brighten any mood. thatçs good with the week içve had. he has friends this summer too. last year he was so new that he didnçt know many of th eboys. this year i see him with another kid each time i see him. i have been so blessed to spend this week with him. içm very excited about strengthening our bond throughout the summer too. one absolutely amazing thing that i learned when i arrived is that his cousin is here! (i found the punctuation i love) Josue Brando Torrico is one of our new boys. he is a grande (meaning he is one of the older boys) and at some point before the BLC they lived under the same roof (with a grandparent i think). he doesn´t have a sponsor yet so if anyone is interested! (hint, hint www.cinonline.org) it is so great to see them together!
thanks for all your prayers. the christ fellowship youth group is here this week. 24 plus my friend Trevor and Kirsten´s little brother Chris. i´m prettty excited about what God is gonna do. Keep praying.
God is Great and worthy to be praised. I must decrease so HE may increase!
love to all.
weçre dropping off the first team. andy and i are here with them. the second team arrived this morning. anna and kirsten went to pick them up. kim and matt stayed behind to clean up the apartemnt in between teams since there is approximately a twenty minute lapse between the one team leaving and the next arriving. kennedy, bless her heart, is not feeling well and took a much needed rest.
this team has truly tested me this week. there were a lot of Ts in that sentence. :D there are twelve of them. some i have come to love dearly. others have tried me every step of the way. i know this is a way for God to help me to grow. but itçs hard. my main goal as part of the host staff is to assist them team in their ministry and minister to their needs. my patience with them has been pushed to the limit, though, and even though they are waiting to get on a plane, i would truly appreciate your prayers. i donçt want the emotions içm struggling with now to cause me to treat the other teams differently. last summer i was here for about a month to five weeks before i cried the first time. içve cried three times this summer already and içve been here for nine days.
many have asked for an update on victor so here it is: heçs the MOST adorable kid in the life center. and if youçve seen my pictures from last year and thought he was cute, just wait. he has gotten better. He came running up to me the first day and threw his arms around me and i struggled to not lose it right then. he has his front teeth again, thank goodness. and his smile is enough to brighten any mood. thatçs good with the week içve had. he has friends this summer too. last year he was so new that he didnçt know many of th eboys. this year i see him with another kid each time i see him. i have been so blessed to spend this week with him. içm very excited about strengthening our bond throughout the summer too. one absolutely amazing thing that i learned when i arrived is that his cousin is here! (i found the punctuation i love) Josue Brando Torrico is one of our new boys. he is a grande (meaning he is one of the older boys) and at some point before the BLC they lived under the same roof (with a grandparent i think). he doesn´t have a sponsor yet so if anyone is interested! (hint, hint www.cinonline.org) it is so great to see them together!
thanks for all your prayers. the christ fellowship youth group is here this week. 24 plus my friend Trevor and Kirsten´s little brother Chris. i´m prettty excited about what God is gonna do. Keep praying.
God is Great and worthy to be praised. I must decrease so HE may increase!
love to all.
08 June 2008
estoy aqui
hey everyone, i am alive and well in bolivia. after a day of altitude sickness i am back to normal, por fin! (finally)
the trip has been great so far. we´ve had a lot of fun as a host staff preparing for the first team. they came in friday when i was sick in bed, but since then i´ve have a good time catching up with the returning crew from last year and meeting the new team members. they are here from Christ Fellowship in Royal Plm Beach... right around the corner from me at home. They have some doctors and dentists here to work with the boys. I´m hoping for a lot of good things from this team!
Some quick shoutouts (did i really just use that term?!) since i don´t have a whole lot of time:
pino, julie fuselier, and jon wolf... in my day of sickness, you all came to visit me. i know i was dreaming and in a state of somewhat loopiness but each of you came to see me and ask how i was doing. i truly believe that God speaks to us in dreams, and i think that was His way of reminding me that people are out there caring about me even if they don´t know exactly why or how. Thanks!
Caleb, one of our hosts, Andy, reminds me a lot of you. if you can´t be here in bolivia enjoying this, at least i have someone here to laugh and talk with like you!
Tay - sorry you look funny, but i´m glad you better! :)
FBCRPB - i can´t wait to see you in a couple weeks. please don´t make a big deal out of my birthday. i think i mentioned that before, but just to be sure, if you want to do something, don´t make it huge. this summer is not about me...it´s about HIM! :)
mom and dad a- i´m probably not going to call this week, this is a small team and i don´t know if i´ll get to a phone. i love you both and will talk to you soon! make sure you have your phones around this time on sundays!!!
everyone else, thanks for your prayers. keep them up. the boys are struggling with a lot of spiritual warfare... eight year olds sould not be dealing with depression and we have several who are. some of these boys are really struggling and they need all the prayer they can get. also pray for our teams as they come through. there is work to be done and they need strength to make it!
love to you all! until next week!
tio azul\adam\geuder
the trip has been great so far. we´ve had a lot of fun as a host staff preparing for the first team. they came in friday when i was sick in bed, but since then i´ve have a good time catching up with the returning crew from last year and meeting the new team members. they are here from Christ Fellowship in Royal Plm Beach... right around the corner from me at home. They have some doctors and dentists here to work with the boys. I´m hoping for a lot of good things from this team!
Some quick shoutouts (did i really just use that term?!) since i don´t have a whole lot of time:
pino, julie fuselier, and jon wolf... in my day of sickness, you all came to visit me. i know i was dreaming and in a state of somewhat loopiness but each of you came to see me and ask how i was doing. i truly believe that God speaks to us in dreams, and i think that was His way of reminding me that people are out there caring about me even if they don´t know exactly why or how. Thanks!
Caleb, one of our hosts, Andy, reminds me a lot of you. if you can´t be here in bolivia enjoying this, at least i have someone here to laugh and talk with like you!
Tay - sorry you look funny, but i´m glad you better! :)
FBCRPB - i can´t wait to see you in a couple weeks. please don´t make a big deal out of my birthday. i think i mentioned that before, but just to be sure, if you want to do something, don´t make it huge. this summer is not about me...it´s about HIM! :)
mom and dad a- i´m probably not going to call this week, this is a small team and i don´t know if i´ll get to a phone. i love you both and will talk to you soon! make sure you have your phones around this time on sundays!!!
everyone else, thanks for your prayers. keep them up. the boys are struggling with a lot of spiritual warfare... eight year olds sould not be dealing with depression and we have several who are. some of these boys are really struggling and they need all the prayer they can get. also pray for our teams as they come through. there is work to be done and they need strength to make it!
love to you all! until next week!
tio azul\adam\geuder
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