This past week in Bolivia my team and I were blessed to spend the week staying at La Casa de la Roca, a church full of beautiful people in central Cochabamba. The Lord led us to the pastor of this church, Pastor Ruiter, through his brother-in-law Felipe, who we met seemingly randomly in La Paz on our last day there. Coincidence? I think not.
Pastor Ruiter and his congregation welcomed us with open arms despite the fact that they had no idea who we were. They graciously allowed us to stay at their church, helped us find our way around the city to our various places, invited us into their homes for meals and showers, and just loved on us. These people know what it means to live out the Acts 2 church.
One of the ways we were blessed to serve the church was through hanging out with their youth group. The first time we met the youth, or “jovenes” as they say in Spanish, was at their Thursday night meeting. Honestly I had no idea what to expect. Around 8 pm our team of 7 along with 5 of the youth sat down in a circle in the church, and started to worship. The songs were familiar, our voices mixed in English and Spanish while Justin and one of the youth, Erlan, played their guitars. We told them a little bit about the World Race, Alyssa shared her testimony, we asked a simple question: tell us about your lives.
Their stories started slowly and then came tumbling out, and they were beautiful. They told stories of loss, abandonment, loneliness, uncertainty… and the incomprehensible, all-consuming, abundant love of God. I was shocked at the way each of them spoke about their stories and their walk with the Father. The youngest was 13 years old, the oldest 19. The understanding they carry really inspired me, and actually challenged me a lot. They are a family. They love one another and stick by one another and live their lives together. I honestly mean it when I say I felt honored to be so easily accepted and let into their tight-knit unit. Rarely have I met such warm, welcoming people, especially those who are so young.
I did not want our night to end, especially because at that point my team and I were still unsure of when we would be leaving Cochabamba, and they had just invited us to come to their Saturday afternoon hangout.
Later that night we prayed as a team, asking God what He had in store for us in the next few days, asking specifically when we should leave Cochabamba and what we should move on to. I tried my hardest to be open to whatever God wanted to say to us, but secretly I was hoping with all my heart that we would get to stay in Cochabamba through Sunday, so we could have more time with these beautiful people.
Little did I know I would get my wish…
