I knew the moment that David, our contact, said “Hume Lake” that this month was going to be beyond epic. And I have to say, that’s been 100% correct so far.
Our ministry for the month is working at Monteblanco, a youth development camp about 5 hours outside of Santa Cruz, the largest city in Bolivia. Our job description includes kitchen duty, cleaning cabins, and helping where there is need.
That may sound like a lot of work, but let me assure you, this place is perfect.
I had the chance to talk to David while eating lunch before arriving, and he was telling me that Monteblanco was modeled after a large Christian camp in California. Ok, how many Christian camps can there be in California? I ask him “Which camp?” and he replied “Hume Lake.” Apparently, they modeled this camp after Hume Lake, taking into account Bolivian culture, but mostly making a Hume Lake of South America. (For those of you who don’t know, I went to Hume Lake Christian Camp for 6 years in junior high and high school. The place is seriously awesome.)
When we arrived at camp, we took our bags to our “cabin,” aka house with all the amenities, including hot water. You don’t even know how good a hot shower feels after not taking one for 2 months. Incredible.
Anyways, we turn right back around to eat a delicious meal in the mess hall, attend the night meeting, and go to a bonfire. And all this was within the first 4 hours of being here. I had the biggest, stupidest grin on my face all night long.
The following day, we got into ministry mode. This includes prepping food, passing out food, and washing dishes. Oh, and between lunch and dinner, I helped make mud.
Yep. Ministry includes helping make mud. And then since we’re new volunteers, the tradition is that we have to go through the obstacle course with the students.
So yeah, when there are students here, the majority of our time is spent in the kitchen. But that’s a good thing, because we get to hang out with these two.
This is Maxima and Choka. They are the cooks who like to pull pranks, like throwing food at you, locking you in industrial freezers, and hitting you with wet towels or giant spoons. Don’t worry, it’s all in good fun, and we often return the favor. Good times.
On days when students aren’t here, we do random things like clean cabins, wash floors, tear down walls with sledgehammers, and dig trenches for sprinkler lines.
For instance, there were 2 days in a row where Jamos and I dug a trench for 7 hours each day, and guess what? We loved it. Yeah, we had bruised and blistered hands, and our arms felt like water, but it was so much fun.
Pretty much, life is awesome here. We have fun 24/7. Ministry doesn’t even feel like ministry, and having our own house allows our team to spend a lot of time together (which we couldn’t really do in the hostel last month) and really bond. God truly blessed us this month with everything: the ministry, the contacts, the food, the lodging, everything.
I wish I had something deep or profound for you all, but I can’t help but share in the excitement of this month. Monteblanco brings me so much joy!
