Our adventure continues as there is now another country added to my list of places I’ve visited… most importantly THERE’S ANOTHER STAMP ON MY PASSPORT!
On the real side, we really needed this restful weekend. We, meaning my team and I, Salmo 45:11, have been hard at work in El Alto, Bolivia this month and were in need of some rest. So, here we are in the smallest town known to man: Putre, Chile.
The adventure started Friday early morning heading to La Paz to catch a bus and begin our 6 hour ride to Chile. The ride was smooth and even provided breakfast and lunch, not much but something is something. We arrived at Alto Putre, Chile in a timely manner then hiked down a mountain, through a valley, crossed a river and hiked up another mountain to get to Putre. Our 5 kilometer walk was crazy beautiful and an experience in and of itself..
On our arrival to the hostel we were greeted by whom we think is a German woman who very quickly overwhelmed us. We were presented lots of options and were expected to do something crazy while we were here. However, it didn’t take long before we all connected eyes and knew we wanted nothing to do with the offer. So our minds were set and a relaxing weekend awaited us.
These past weeks in Bolivia have been the toughest we’ve experienced since the race began. Emotionally speaking Bolivia has taken a toll on us all. First in line was having to make the hard decision of separating our team up between 3 rehabilitation houses. It was specifically hard for me to be the only one from my team in the girls’ house. It’s been tough not having my girls by my side every day and seeing them only for a few hours at night. Second in line was having our team lose one of our members half way through the month due to family circumstances that needed to be attended. Schuylar Reggi, our crazy girl, has gone home for 2 weeks, and again another emotional battle. Schuylar is gone but, thank the Lord, she will come back in time to head to Peru with us for month 4… but there’s a huge emptiness in our team until she gets back. The third strike and we were out of Bolivia… we had several boys and one of my girls escape and a couple leave after only being there for a day. It was hard for us all to go through the emotions of losing them to the streets knowing they would probably relapse. Our ministry this month is very relational and after spending 12 to 13 hours everyday pouring our hearts into the individuals, it's heartbreaking to see them choose to leave.
Every day on the race is a struggle and a fight to persevere and not give up. To love well, care even when it hurts, and bring kingdom wherever we go is our mission. God has been giving us the strength to keep going and is providing all our needs. I've specially needed Him to keep me going with the emotional toll of missing Schuylar, losing a girl from the center and not having my team around as much as I'd like. At the beginning of the month my prayer was to see God show up as my provider and every day He's showing up. I even see Him in this weekend where I'm not only surrounded by my team, there is nature all around me, I get to choose my own food and most of all sleep in.
Just to keep you all updated April 1st is the next deadline and I am still $1,000 short. Would you consider helping me meet that goal so I can continue on this journey and see where God is taking me. I'm confident that He will provide… Thank you for being faithful!
