Hello Friends and Family,
Here I am again with a little bit more lengthy email. We are in the middle of our third team now. This team is from Lake Forest Church just north of Charlotte, North Carolina. There are only 17 in the group, including five or six family groups. It’s quite a change to have eleven year olds and fifty year olds on the same team, but they’ve definitely figured out a way to make it work. J They are amazing, and I am truly enjoying their visit.
I’m excited to say that God is doing amazing things here in Bolivia. Something that is really cool is that the Bolivian Life Center has been raising money for a bus. The money was completely raised a couple months ago, but the bus is still being prepared for our use. In the interim, we’ve been using public transportation (rented by the week). The driver we have been using this week is a man named Richard (well, actually there are four guys who have been driving for us in the same bus and they all say their name is Richard. I don’t know if they realize that we recognize faces!). Well, anyway, our host team has been praying for him for the last week and a half. The first driver we had was a Christian man who stayed over with us and participated at Sidewalk Sunday Schools (Marcos). Richard, unfortunately, is not a Christian and therefore cannot stay here at the Life Center overnight. So, we’ve been praying for his salvation. He had a witch hanging from his rear view mirror until yesterday. We have done our best to share the gospel with him, both through our words and our actions (he sees us going to plaza ministries, sidewalk Sunday schools and the like). Something must have started getting through because he originally told us he wouldn’t take the witch down because it came with the bus. Praise God, the witch has been replaced with a wooden cross!
Also, in the area of buses. The bus we’ve paid for should be done soon! We’re waiting anxiously for that to happen. The pastor of the church in Cochabamba (who is responsible for starting the life center) has already ordered another smaller bus. This one is an additional need, so the staff can get to and from town without having to pay for a taxi or a trufi (basically a taxi bus). They bought it on faith, not having the money for it. In the meantime, there is a church in Jax, Florida who raised money for the bus and realized it was paid for and specifically marked the money for an additional vehicle for the center. It wasn’t quite enough to pay for the van, but the Lake Forest team’s leader said that their church was willing to make up the difference! God is amazing!!!
That’s just a taste of what’s going on down here. I see God in everything, from the boys’ laughter to their tears, from homeless children juggling and dancing on the streets to the youth at the church who dance for the Lord in their worship services on Saturday Nights. Coming to Bolivia was one of the greatest things I’ve ever done in my life. Since I’ve been here, I’ve gotten to know one of my best friends better than before, met five more wonderful people (two of which I’ve shared birthday celebrations with) and been a part of three very different mission teams from the US. And that’s just the NorthAmerican part of the trip! There are 35 pequeños, boys under 9ish who we get to tickle and tuck in bed once a week (more if I really had the time… but I don’t). Then there are 28 grandes, boys over 9ish, who have dance parties in their room whenever we come up to say goodnight to them. They all have breakdance-offs at our weekly pizza party, from six year old Israel to 14 year old Joel. I can’t even count the number of kids who have fallen asleep on my lap, on my shoulder in the bus or in my arms at night. I will say that one of the greatest moments of my trip happened with Victor as I tucked him in last Tuesday. I had a pretty bad headache all afternoon but I wasn’t going to miss Tiempo de Cosquillas (Tickle Time). I chased little boys around a room with 20 other gringos, tickling and being tickled and laughing with them the whole time. After everyone was tired out, we went to the task of tucking each kid in and praying with them. Normally, they love to hear us pray in English. The first eight or so I prayed with were ok with that. Then I got to Victor, he wanted me to pray in Spanish. So, I did. He threw his arms around my neck while I prayed… leaving him slightly askew in bed. I prayed for him and when I finished, I told him I loved him. His arms tightened into a hug, then slowly loosened as he fell asleep. I sat there for a minute with an eight-year-old asleep on me before I laid him back in bed and came back to our apartment. What a blessing to see the change in him. He was so shy he wouldn’t even play with the other boys, much less the gringos. Now, I see him playing fútbol with the boys and chasing the gringos around trying to ticklen them. And then to have him fall asleep on me like that. It really touched me!
Things you guys can pray for specifically for us:
Alfredo, 17, our oldest boy, just had surgery on his knee. He’s recuperating well but is worried that he won’t be able to play fútbol like he has in the past.
Evert, 5ish, has been having difficulties adjusting. He only spoke Quechua when he got here a few months ago. Now he knows some Spanish, but has forgotten all his Quechua. He also is very violent because he doesn’t know how to show any other emotion than anger.
The Christ Fellowship team that was just down here had 6-7 people get sick. I know some of them weren’t 100% when they left so pray for their healing. Also, pray that sickness stays away from the host staff as well as the teams that are yet to come!
Katie, one of the hosts, I leaving this weekend. She only is able to host for a month, and her time is about up. It will be hard to say goodbye to her as the six of us have gotten so close. Pray for us all as she’s leaving.
As for me, I’m still trying to kick the cough that came with my cold. I’m nowhere near as bad as I was, but I am still fighting.
God is Good. Thanks for all the prayers this far. Please continue to email me. When I get the chance to check emails it’s awesome to hear from the people I love. Unfortunately, our time is limited and I have to pick and choose who I can respond to if anyone. Maybe today I’ll have a chance to reply to some of the ones that are sitting in my inbox since I’m typing this early. J
Please take time to visit the CIN website. www.cinonline.org There are seven kids left who don’t have sponsors. I’m not asking you necessarily to sponsor them but you can see their faces and pray for them specifically. All the kids are special and it breaks our hearts to see that some of the greatest kids here still don’t have a Padrino/Madrina in the states praying for them and loving them. Thanks!!!
01 July 2007
18 June 2007
Dear friends and family,
Most of my updates have been so rushed and not filled with information about the actual ministry we’re doing that I decided to write something ahead of time before this internet café stop. Fortunately, Anna has her laptop here so I can use it to type something up and save it to my flash drive.
I think the best way to recap the first two weeks would be to introduce people and places that I’ve met and been to. I’ll start with the hosts. There are six hosts here in Cochabamba this summer.
Anna Hart is the leader of the group… she works for Children’s International Network (www.cinonline.org) full time, so she knows this place better than the rest of us. She has been a great friend of mine since college, and this trip has been a great chance for me to get to spend some good, quality time with her. Please pray for her to remain calm and patient with all the hiccups and schedule changes we’ll be facing all summer.
Katie Collman is the only other host who has been a host before. She was here last summer for a month, and is here this summer for a month. Katie is the girl who gives the tour on the video online. You should check it out. She is amazing, and that video captures the energy she has 24/7. Pray for her and her ministry with the boys… they adore her and she wants to truly share the love of God with them.
Cory Merman is a first time host but has been to Cochabamba four times now. He has been on several trips as a team member and bugged the staff enough this time to come as a host. Cory is a drowning survivor. When he was three, he was in a coma for 8 weeks. His mind is sharp as a tack, but his body doesn’t have the ability to keep up with it. Pray for him to keep his strength. He’s doing great so far, and I hope the next 6 weeks stay the same.
Kim Gorie is a student at Davidson, a school up in North Carolina. This is her first time out of the country, and she is doing an amazing job. She has studied Spanish in high school and in college, so the most help she’s needed from me is the difference between ser and estar or preterite and imperfect (if that doesn’t make sense to you, God Bless You… it’s an everyday struggle for us to remember which to use). Pray for Kim and her relationship with Marcelino… the boy she is sponsoring here. Marcelino has mood swings and she is effected by them daily.
Jon Wolf, also a student at Davidson, is leaving the country for the first time as well. He is an English Major (so he corrects grammar too!!! Yahoo!) and a music minor. He is an amazing jazz guitar player. We hit it off immediately, and it’s great to have a brother on this trip to talk to about just about anything. He didn’t know any Spanish when he got here, and he’s already having conversations with the boys! Pray for him in his relationship with his girlfriend back home. They are going through some tough stuff and it’s hard when you’re 4000 miles apart to correctly convey your feelings.
Gerson, a native Cochabambino, is the administrative director of the Bolivian Life Center. He works here forty hours a week during the year. When there are teams here, that number goes up to about 90 or 100. He’s always here and truly cares for each boy. He knows a little English, but only speaks Spanish to me. I guess that’s his way to keep me on my toes! Pray for Gerson to get rest and time away from work. He has family in town (45 minutes away) but doesn’t get to go home as often as he’d like.
Sandra, also a native Cochabambina, is the lady who runs all the medical records for the boys. She coordinates all the doctor visits, meets with each boy to distribute vitamins or medications, and knows every one of the stories behind how each boy came to live at the Life Center. Sandra is practically fluent in English, she has studied it at a local university. She has been a Godsend to us, since my ears don’t hear Spanish nearly as fast as they speak it down here! Pray for Sandra to also get some rest, as she’s here as much as Gerson is!
There are 64 boys, so I won’t go through all the names (although, yesterday in Church, Kim and I were able to come up with 63 of the names from memory!). I will, however, mention a few names so you can lift them up in prayer. Marcelino, I mentioned before has mood swings. He’s adorable but can be very sour at times! Roberto is one of my favorites. He’s the oldest of four boys who are all here together. He is protective of them and loves them so much. He’s a little past the age of hugs, but manages to ‘wrestle’ with me or with Jon so that he’s getting the same physical attention he would from a hug! Ervin, the littlest guy here, is three. He always wears the same boots, has the same runny nose and shines the same huge grin! I can’t understand half of what he says, but he’s adorable anyway! And finally, Victor. We had flash cards of each boy’s picture for the plane ride down. The only name I could remember when we got to the Life Center was Victor, and that’s because he was wearing a t-shirt with a Maryland Flag on it. Anna told us to try to memorize faces because they won’t always wear the same clothes. Fortunately, we got out of the truck the first day and there was Victor, wearing his Maryland shirt! I stepped down from the truck and looked straight at him and said, “Buenos Dias, Victor.” He looked at me like I was an alien. He’s only been here for a little over a month now, so I was one of the first Gringos he’d ever seen. And I knew his name! He didn’t like to be touched (most of the kids here have been physically and/or sexually abused) but within the first day, he and I had developed a relationship based upon cosquillas (tickles). Now, everytime he sees me, he comes running with a feisty look in his eyes to give me cosquillas, and he’s comfortable enough around the rest of the Gringos to jump on them and give them cosquillas. Thursday night, during a pizza party, I went into the office and signed up to sponsor him. I ran back in to tell him before he went to bed. At first, he wasn’t sure what I was telling him, but when it finally clicked, he jumped into my arms and hugged me! What a breakthrough!!
I mention Cochabamba but I should clarify that we’re not technically in Cochabamba all the time. Cochabamba is a city and a state. We haven’t left the state since we’ve arrived, but we are staying somewhere between the villages of Vinto and Sipe Sipe. We are sending this email from Quillacollo. We went to a park on Saturday to basically go mountain hiking in another village called Pirumaini. There is a village called Kara Kara (which is built on a landfill) where we do some Sidewalk Sunday Schools. The only time we are actually in Cochabamba is to go to church, the airport, the Christ Statue or the Market. It all looks very similar, but we’re learning to tell the difference between them.
Ok, one last thing since this is getting pretty long. We do Sidewalk Sunday Schools every afternoon Monday through Thursday. We meet with Diego, Marcos, Juana, Karena, and Daniela each day at the church to drive to a local village and share the gospel with the kids that might not go to a church. We do songs, skits, puppet shows and Bible stories. This is one of the best times for me to take pictures. The kids of this country are so stinking cute!!!
OK, I’m going to try to attach a picture or two this time. One of me and Victor and one of the some of the boys together. I know they won’t truly capture what I see everyday, but you’ll at least get a glimpse.
Most of my updates have been so rushed and not filled with information about the actual ministry we’re doing that I decided to write something ahead of time before this internet café stop. Fortunately, Anna has her laptop here so I can use it to type something up and save it to my flash drive.
I think the best way to recap the first two weeks would be to introduce people and places that I’ve met and been to. I’ll start with the hosts. There are six hosts here in Cochabamba this summer.
Anna Hart is the leader of the group… she works for Children’s International Network (www.cinonline.org) full time, so she knows this place better than the rest of us. She has been a great friend of mine since college, and this trip has been a great chance for me to get to spend some good, quality time with her. Please pray for her to remain calm and patient with all the hiccups and schedule changes we’ll be facing all summer.
Katie Collman is the only other host who has been a host before. She was here last summer for a month, and is here this summer for a month. Katie is the girl who gives the tour on the video online. You should check it out. She is amazing, and that video captures the energy she has 24/7. Pray for her and her ministry with the boys… they adore her and she wants to truly share the love of God with them.
Cory Merman is a first time host but has been to Cochabamba four times now. He has been on several trips as a team member and bugged the staff enough this time to come as a host. Cory is a drowning survivor. When he was three, he was in a coma for 8 weeks. His mind is sharp as a tack, but his body doesn’t have the ability to keep up with it. Pray for him to keep his strength. He’s doing great so far, and I hope the next 6 weeks stay the same.
Kim Gorie is a student at Davidson, a school up in North Carolina. This is her first time out of the country, and she is doing an amazing job. She has studied Spanish in high school and in college, so the most help she’s needed from me is the difference between ser and estar or preterite and imperfect (if that doesn’t make sense to you, God Bless You… it’s an everyday struggle for us to remember which to use). Pray for Kim and her relationship with Marcelino… the boy she is sponsoring here. Marcelino has mood swings and she is effected by them daily.
Jon Wolf, also a student at Davidson, is leaving the country for the first time as well. He is an English Major (so he corrects grammar too!!! Yahoo!) and a music minor. He is an amazing jazz guitar player. We hit it off immediately, and it’s great to have a brother on this trip to talk to about just about anything. He didn’t know any Spanish when he got here, and he’s already having conversations with the boys! Pray for him in his relationship with his girlfriend back home. They are going through some tough stuff and it’s hard when you’re 4000 miles apart to correctly convey your feelings.
Gerson, a native Cochabambino, is the administrative director of the Bolivian Life Center. He works here forty hours a week during the year. When there are teams here, that number goes up to about 90 or 100. He’s always here and truly cares for each boy. He knows a little English, but only speaks Spanish to me. I guess that’s his way to keep me on my toes! Pray for Gerson to get rest and time away from work. He has family in town (45 minutes away) but doesn’t get to go home as often as he’d like.
Sandra, also a native Cochabambina, is the lady who runs all the medical records for the boys. She coordinates all the doctor visits, meets with each boy to distribute vitamins or medications, and knows every one of the stories behind how each boy came to live at the Life Center. Sandra is practically fluent in English, she has studied it at a local university. She has been a Godsend to us, since my ears don’t hear Spanish nearly as fast as they speak it down here! Pray for Sandra to also get some rest, as she’s here as much as Gerson is!
There are 64 boys, so I won’t go through all the names (although, yesterday in Church, Kim and I were able to come up with 63 of the names from memory!). I will, however, mention a few names so you can lift them up in prayer. Marcelino, I mentioned before has mood swings. He’s adorable but can be very sour at times! Roberto is one of my favorites. He’s the oldest of four boys who are all here together. He is protective of them and loves them so much. He’s a little past the age of hugs, but manages to ‘wrestle’ with me or with Jon so that he’s getting the same physical attention he would from a hug! Ervin, the littlest guy here, is three. He always wears the same boots, has the same runny nose and shines the same huge grin! I can’t understand half of what he says, but he’s adorable anyway! And finally, Victor. We had flash cards of each boy’s picture for the plane ride down. The only name I could remember when we got to the Life Center was Victor, and that’s because he was wearing a t-shirt with a Maryland Flag on it. Anna told us to try to memorize faces because they won’t always wear the same clothes. Fortunately, we got out of the truck the first day and there was Victor, wearing his Maryland shirt! I stepped down from the truck and looked straight at him and said, “Buenos Dias, Victor.” He looked at me like I was an alien. He’s only been here for a little over a month now, so I was one of the first Gringos he’d ever seen. And I knew his name! He didn’t like to be touched (most of the kids here have been physically and/or sexually abused) but within the first day, he and I had developed a relationship based upon cosquillas (tickles). Now, everytime he sees me, he comes running with a feisty look in his eyes to give me cosquillas, and he’s comfortable enough around the rest of the Gringos to jump on them and give them cosquillas. Thursday night, during a pizza party, I went into the office and signed up to sponsor him. I ran back in to tell him before he went to bed. At first, he wasn’t sure what I was telling him, but when it finally clicked, he jumped into my arms and hugged me! What a breakthrough!!
I mention Cochabamba but I should clarify that we’re not technically in Cochabamba all the time. Cochabamba is a city and a state. We haven’t left the state since we’ve arrived, but we are staying somewhere between the villages of Vinto and Sipe Sipe. We are sending this email from Quillacollo. We went to a park on Saturday to basically go mountain hiking in another village called Pirumaini. There is a village called Kara Kara (which is built on a landfill) where we do some Sidewalk Sunday Schools. The only time we are actually in Cochabamba is to go to church, the airport, the Christ Statue or the Market. It all looks very similar, but we’re learning to tell the difference between them.
Ok, one last thing since this is getting pretty long. We do Sidewalk Sunday Schools every afternoon Monday through Thursday. We meet with Diego, Marcos, Juana, Karena, and Daniela each day at the church to drive to a local village and share the gospel with the kids that might not go to a church. We do songs, skits, puppet shows and Bible stories. This is one of the best times for me to take pictures. The kids of this country are so stinking cute!!!
OK, I’m going to try to attach a picture or two this time. One of me and Victor and one of the some of the boys together. I know they won’t truly capture what I see everyday, but you’ll at least get a glimpse.
04 June 2007
The Night Before
So, in less than 24 hours, I will be on the plane to Bolivia. I am very excited!
Tonight, I went to the Children's International Network office to have a meeting and dinner with the rest of the host team. Can I just say how amazing God is for bringing this group together? They are incredible (and I've only known four of them for the last few hours!)!! So, tomorrow night, Anna, Katie, Kim, Cory, Jon and I are leaving the Miami airport to fly through the night into Santa Cruz and then Cochabamba. Please pray for safe travel (although, as our small group decided on Sunday night, God will get us there safely because we're going to do His work). Also, as we are starting this trip, please pray for us to get acclimated quickly to the new environment that we will be encountering.
Life is good. God is good. Bolivia, here I come!
Que Dios les bendiga, les quiero mucho.
Todo lo puedo en Cristo que me fortalece. Filipenses 4:13
Tonight, I went to the Children's International Network office to have a meeting and dinner with the rest of the host team. Can I just say how amazing God is for bringing this group together? They are incredible (and I've only known four of them for the last few hours!)!! So, tomorrow night, Anna, Katie, Kim, Cory, Jon and I are leaving the Miami airport to fly through the night into Santa Cruz and then Cochabamba. Please pray for safe travel (although, as our small group decided on Sunday night, God will get us there safely because we're going to do His work). Also, as we are starting this trip, please pray for us to get acclimated quickly to the new environment that we will be encountering.
Life is good. God is good. Bolivia, here I come!
Que Dios les bendiga, les quiero mucho.
Todo lo puedo en Cristo que me fortalece. Filipenses 4:13
01 June 2007
Still Stateside
I've decided it may be easier to make my updates by blogging. I was originally going to email myself every time I sent out an email. This seems to be much easier. Plus adding a picture now and again might work out better on a blog than on email.
So, I leave Tuesday night. It's now Friday morning. Four days has never seemed like such a short period of time. There's a lot to do yet, but I'm gonna work like a madman. :)
Since I still have a lot to do, I'll keep this first post brief. I'm going to run out to the store and pick up a few last-minute things, then back home to pack before my weekend excursion to Busch Gardens.
I appreciate all your prayers and look forward to sharing the amazing stories of what God is doing in my life in Bolivia with you all.
Que Dios les bendiga, les quiero mucho.
Todo lo puedo en Cristo que me fortalece. Filipenses 4:13
So, I leave Tuesday night. It's now Friday morning. Four days has never seemed like such a short period of time. There's a lot to do yet, but I'm gonna work like a madman. :)
Since I still have a lot to do, I'll keep this first post brief. I'm going to run out to the store and pick up a few last-minute things, then back home to pack before my weekend excursion to Busch Gardens.
I appreciate all your prayers and look forward to sharing the amazing stories of what God is doing in my life in Bolivia with you all.
Que Dios les bendiga, les quiero mucho.
Todo lo puedo en Cristo que me fortalece. Filipenses 4:13
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