Hello family and sweet friends! I am missing you all SO MUCH! It’s Thursday October 23rd and I’m writing you this blog from my tent. It’s pouring rain today and our ministry is all outdoor work so our ministry host, Hermano Lucho has given us the morning off until our weather clears out. We are camping this month and don’t have access to wifi unless we go into town so that’s why I haven’t been able to update you guys. So, I will start from the beginning!
We are in beautiful Bolivia! We arrived here on the second of October after a quick sleepover in the Miami airport. While in Miami I was able to get dinner with my friends Ramiro, and Shawn who recently moved there from Atlanta! Also, thanks for the Target run, boys!!! It was a much needed stock up on essentials!
The flight to Bolivia from Miami was about 7 hours. We arrived in La Paz in the late evening and most people were immediately feeling the effects of the altitude. Shortness of breath, headaches, dizziness. La Paz is at about 12,000 feet above sea level so it was a huge jump for us. We went straight to our hostel where would be spending the next 4 days for our squad debrief. I would love to give you all an in-depth explanation of what the debrief was about but, I spent the entire four days in La Paz in bed, ending with me in a Bolivian hospital being treated with IV fluids for dehydration as a result of a stomach bug/altitude sickness. NIGHTMARE. Scarier then the sickness itself was the taxi ride to the hospital! I thought the drivers in Haiti were crazy……doesn’t even compare to this trip! I was literally riding with my hand over my eyes and at one point even held onto our cab drivers arm while screaming 🙂 we made it though. It took my another day or so to get back up on my feet after the fluids but I made it 🙂
On our way out of la Paz to our ministry site we stopped at the Arcor Iris hospital. There is a doctor there who is from the states whose ministry is giving his medical services to the people of La Paz. We spent the morning with him learning about all they do for the people of the city. Bolivia is the third poorest country in the Western Hemisphere so naturally here is a need for good low cost or free medical care. The infant mortality rate it 8 times higher in Bolivia than in the US. I’m starting to have a whole new appreciation for the medical care we have in the US. Holy smokes we are so blessed. (Shout out to my mom and sisters. Thanks for being such amazing nurses and serving people with your jobs!!!)
From la Paz we took a bus down the mountains to our ministry site. It was unbelievably gorgeous!!!!!! We started at almost the very top of a part of the Andes mountains at an altitude of about 12,000ft and made our way down to about 4,000. La Paz is a fairly large city built into the mountains and there is a lot of hustle and bustle and it’s very busy. It’s also FREEZING COLD! The landscape is pretty bare. At the start of our descent we saw rocky, cold mountains with alpacas grazing, and as we descended we started to see more trees and plants and even some waterfalls. By the time we arrived at our ministry site we were completely in the jungle. Everything here is so lush and green. So, we’ve been working at a camp all month helping out with literally whatever needs to be done. We chainsaw down trees, clean bathrooms, paint, clean the pool, clean cabins…but most of all, we moved rocks. Our camp site is right beside the most beautiful river I’ve ever seen. It’s stunning. (When I get better wifi I’ll post some pics) Well, our ministry host, Hermano Lucho, would like to pave all of the dirt paths in the entire camp with rocks. There are a lot of paths here…and, the river beside us is full of rocks. In the last 2 weeks we have moved literally thousands of rocks! Most of them are about the size of a soccer ball so it’s a lot of hard work. We are in the process now of laying the stones to make the paths. I have a new respect for people who do landscape work. It’s not easy!!!! This past Sunday there was a group of kids from La Paz here for a retreat. We helped put on a church service for them. My team did a skit acting out the parable of the Good Samaritan. Yours truly played the role of the Priest. We also sang them some songs. I thought it was really awesome that here we are, in the middle of the jungle in Bolivia, and these kids know some of the same worship songs we sing back at home.
So, here we are, basically at the end of the month. We technically only have 2 days of ministry left here before we head out for Lima, Peru and start working our way into month three. It’s crazy how quick it’s come up. I want to share with you guys something God’s been teaching me this month and also back in Haiti. It lines up pretty well with our Good Samaritan skit. An “expert” in the law asked Jesus, “what do we do to inherit eternal life?” The answer ” love The Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself”. Jesus then tells the parable of the man who falls at the hands of robbers and is passed over by a priest and a levite. But, the Samaritan stops. “He went to him and bandaged his wounds….he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him”. BOOM. That’s it. The gospel in action. (Luke 10) Jesus said “go and do likewise”. God’s been renewing my mind and my understanding of what ministry is. I’m learning that my ministry is literally the person I am looking at in the moment. It’s stopping for the one. So on the Race, that might look like an orphan, or a widow, or a homeless man. Or, it might be the teammate who needs a shoulder to cry on because she’s home sick, or a friend to celebrate a joy with. It’s just being present. At home, my ministry is to my sisters, or my best friends at work, or the lady at the grocery store. One is not less or more than the other. Ministry just means stopping and being present with someone where they are at. That’s it. Yes, where I am now and the places I am going the physical needs are greater, but, at the end of the day, I can’t meet all the physical needs of the world…but what I can do is love people, and love them well. Here and at home. I hope that encourages someone!
Ok, here’s a few more things I want to tell you all about! The closest town to where we are camped out is a place called Coroico. It is a beautiful little town tucked up on the side of the mountain! It is literally a city on a hill! We can see the lights up in the mountains at night from our campsite. We go there to get groceries and for a taste of civilization! There is an AMAZING pizza place there (I’ve never been happier about anything….ever) and also an amazing cafe called Carla’s Garden Pub. Carla’s is owned by a couple from Europe who decided to just up and move to Bolivia! It has the most beautiful view I’ve ever seen. It’s over looking the valley and you can see all the mountains in the distance. They have a book exchange and the sweetest dog ever (besides bears, and lans of course). My favorite treat there is hot chocolate! To get to Coroico is quite a trip. It’s rough roads up,the side of the mountain in a van packed with Bolivians. Again, I usually close my eyes at parts and stop circulation to the arm of whoever is sitting beside me.
There is a pool at our campsite! It’s a little green with a lot of bugs (dad you should come work some of your pool cleaning magic….don’t forget the tooth brushes) but, I decided to take the plunge yesterday. It felt so good to be back in the water.
There are more bugs in Bolivia then you can even imagine. My legs and arms look like I have leprosy or something. Hydrocortisone and Benadryl are the only way we are all surviving. We also share our bathroom with tarantulas. The butterflies here are stunning!!!!! I can’t even begin to describe the colors! Aunt dawn and grandma you would love it! It’s like a perma-butterfly garden. (Your worst nightmare Kate)
We think we saw a monkey at breakfast the other day!!!!
We are heading back to La Paz on October, 27th to catch a bus to Lima, Peru. It’s a 30 hour bus ride! We are spending a couple of nights in Lima and doing some type of leadership training. Rumor has it that there is a Chili’s and a Starbucks in Lima! (Smashy, meet me there!) from Lima my team will be heading into the Andes mountains to a town called Tarma (spelling???) where we will be doing ministry for the month. As of right now I have no idea what exactly that will be! I will keep you all posted!
Ok prayer warriors…on a more serious note I have some prayer requests. Bolivia has been pretty rough for me health wise. Aside from my little episode in La Paz, I spent a lot of nights up sick in my tent here at camp. I’m not sure if it’s the food or the water or what but I’m hoping that next month is better! Prayers please! A lot of my squad mates have been sick as well. Also, next month will be the first month that my team will being doing ministry away from our squad, so prayers that we will be unified are appreciated as well! We also have a ton of travel coming up so prayers for safe travel too!
I’m hoping next month I will be able to update you all more easily! Also, when i do have wifi, WhatsApp is usually the only thing that I have been able to get to work as far as being able to communicate with people. So if you don’t have it, download it!!!! (Mom, tell Joshy). I love you all and miss you tons!!!!! Thank you so much for all the encouragement, prayers, and support! Xoxo
