This month has been a challenge in a lot of ways. Physically my whole team has been struggling since arriving in Bolivia. We’ve dealt with a variety of physical ailments, which at this point in the Race, can make you want to go home early. To be honest, I had one of the moments. I was sick and uncomfortable, and I let my circumstances get the best of me. I’m kind of ashamed of that, but it happened. I’ve learned to live in less than ideal situations over the last year, but somehow, being sick on top of that, was enough to make me want to go home.
But I didn’t.
I’m still here in Bolivia, and I’m so grateful because if I had gone home I would have missed all the beautiful things the Lord has been teaching me this month through what we’ve experienced.
As I mentioned earlier, we have a unique opportunity this month because we weren’t assigned to a ministry or a host. We spent our first week in La Paz while several of us were recovering enough to travel to Oruro.
At times it was a struggle, feeling like we were being limited physically in our capacity for ministry. Not only were we sick, but at nearly 12,000 feet, it’s hard to muster the strength to do much of anything without your body growing exhausted from the altitude.
I spent a lot of time at the hostel for that reason. Our team would meet for worship and prayer every morning in the courtyard after breakfast, and then we would either go out in the city or go to our doctor appointments.
Lesson #1: You don’t have to do something. You are a new creation. Therefore, you radiate God’s love wherever you are and whatever you are doing.
We had some talks as a team about feeling like we weren’t doing enough, but I honestly see this as a blessing. It’s true. There were times when I wondered what my purpose in Bolivia could possible be if all I was doing was sitting at our hostel most of the day or running back and forth to the doctor. But in the days before we left, I saw the fruit of our presence there.
As we celebrated the 4th of July together, others joined us for the fireworks. As we talked about our travels, we got to share that Jesus is the reason we are traveling the world.
On the last two days, when I was working on my Bible study in the restaurant, one of the guys who works there started asking me questions about my Bible and what I believe about heaven.
During our last time of worship before we left, a man from the hostel sat and listened while we sang. And afterward, we got the chance to pray for him and Marta, the woman who does the cleaning.
God was working that whole time, even when I didn’t see how.
Lesson #2: Your pride in feeling like you have to be the one to do something only gets in the way.
I had to admit that the reason I was feeling unfruitful in ministry was because I wasn’t doing things like we have been for the past nine months. But my need to feel productive is a form of pride. I felt like I needed to be doing something to justify my presence in Bolivia. People gave money for me to be here, and I didn’t feel like I was making any kind of impact.
But the truth is that I am never the one making a difference anyway. Any positive change that comes from our time in any of the places we go has nothing to do with us, and everything to do with the God in us. He is the one who gives us the capacity to love and serve well. He is the one who changes things. Not us. We can’t change anything, not in three or four weeks. But God can do incredible things in that amount of time, and he has. He is still in us, and he is still working, even if we aren’t doing ministry like we have been.
Lesson #3: You don’t have to have a lot to give someone what they need.
One day my teammate Sherese had the idea to make cards and pass them out with fruit and flowers to the homeless or people begging on the streets. I went with her and Ellie, and we handed out our gifts and prayed for people.
As we walked by the San Francisco church, we saw a man sitting near the door. His name is Marco. We stooped down and handed him our offering, and he received them with a big smile. Then we asked if we could pray for him. I don’t know if what we were asking got lost in translation, but before we could say “Dear Father,” he started praying for us – thanking God for us and blessing us. It was one of the most humbling moments of my life.
I set out to give and to be a blessing. But I received much more from Marco that day than I could possibly have given him. In his need, he blessed me. So I’ll say it again, you don’t have to have a lot to give someone what they need. Marco didn’t. And neither do we.
Lesson #4: God had a plan in Month 8 for Month 10. He has a plan in Month 10 for Month 12. (In case you’re new, the World Race is 11 months, so I will be home in Month 12.)
We are currently in Oruro, staying with a wonderful pastor and his family and visiting their church. But the cool thing about this is that we had no idea who this pastor was before we came to Bolivia. As we were praying about what God wanted us to do this month and sharing about this opportunity with friends, a family that we served with in Argentina reached out to us.
The weekend we spent visiting their church included some of my most treasured moments in Argentina. We were with them for less than 48 hours, but they left a huge impression on my heart with the way they received us and loved us. We shared a beautiful connection.
But that wasn’t the only connection God was working on. When our Argentine family heard that we didn’t have a place to stay in Bolivia, they grew very concerned about us (we might not have been super clear about staying in the hostel while we prayed for direction). And they told us about Pastor Wilfredo and his church here in Oruro. Out of all the e-mails we sent out, no one responded, but this pastor was so excited about the opportunity for us to come visit his church.
Two months ago God was working and planning my month in Bolivia. Now it’s Month 10, and if I let myself, I could easily be worried about what I’m going to do when I get home. But God has a plan for my life two months from now, even if I can’t see how he’s working it out just yet. If I learned nothing else this month, I learned that I can trust God with my future. He is faithful.
This has already been an incredible month,filled with hard and beautiful things. I know this isn’t the end of what God has for us. I believe there is much more in store, in Bolivia, in Peru, and at home. I am so grateful for the lessons I’m learning this month because I feel like this will be a lot like what I will have to do at home.
I won’t get a setup sheet with my ministry. I won’t have a host telling me what to do each day to love and serve the people around me. I will have to ask the Lord each morning, and sometimes trust that he’s using me, even when I can’t see it. That’s what I’m doing this month, and it has been a great learning opportunity with lots of lessons about what that looks like.
Which brings me to…
Lesson #5: Where you are now is preparation for where God is taking you.
