Bolivia is one of the most beautiful places I have seen with green luscious trees, mountains, waterfalls, blue skies, and rainbows. Not to mention, my favorite-beautiful, little babies everywhere! Haha Our team arrived in early March to a town called Caranavi. We traveled 6 hours by bus from the capital La Paz to Caranavi. We squealed so much in fear and laughter as we drove part of Death Road right on the edge of a cliff!
Caranavi is such a special place! We are so blessed to be able to be living with a missionary family, David and Maribel and their 3 beautiful children. They are soo sweet to us and make us feel so at home! We even got to celebrate Father’s day with them and attended the local circus! They are SO busy serving the Lord in so many ways here and invest so much in the youth of Caranavi! They definitely are beautiful examples to us!
Our team of 7 was split into different ministries to serve in. I have been with 2 others at an orphanage called Casa de Esperanza. What an incredible place to be a part of! Here I am with only 1 week left here in Bolivia and my heart is so heavy with the idea of leaving. I am so filled with JOY for all God has done in our time here. We’ve got to share life with these precious orphans by taking care of little ones (2-4 year olds) in the mornings and spending afternoons in their homes with them (all ages) to tutor them or even just play with them, bathe them, love on them, help them learn their chores. I Love how they run this orphanage. The “tias” and “tios” of the homes and directors, they really love these children and desire to help them grow in good character and help cultivate their relationships with Jesus. They discipline them when they have behavior issues. Everyday during lunch they do a devotional with them and teach them how in life it is their choice how they want to live, but stressing the benefits of obeying God’s word. The tias often share stories of the transformation in the lives of these children. Hearing their stories of where they came from makes me Praise the Lord for where they are now! He has given them such Hope in this place- Hope for a future and healing from their past.
So, back to my heart being heavy with only 1 week left….I have connected with so many of these kids. I feel as if I’ve gotten to a level of trust and just now truly getting to know their stories. So now some good conversations are happening and God is giving great opportunity to share His Truth with them and my time is so limited! What a bittersweet experience. This is the first time I’ve worked with orphans….and I think it won’t be the last. God is teaching me so much. I’m also Blown away at how much I Love these children. It continues to grow my desire for my own family one day and has certainly made me desire adoption more and more. Please pray for my last week in Bolivia at Casa de Esperanza and pray for MANY good conversations and precious moments with these precious ones. Pray for a lot of the teens who are still struggling with the idea of a relationship with Christ. For some of them they are afraid of getting bullied and some even afraid for their life. Pray they could get an understanding of how much God loves them and has taken care of them! Pray for Caranavi! Also, I want to THANK YOU again to all of you have supported me and given me this amazing opportunity to serve around the world! Blessed!
