When I returned from the World Race and proclaimed that I was returning to Bolivia because God told me to, few really believed my explanation. It’s hard for many in our modern society to understand that God does still speak to us. But the reason I chose to come for 10 months was a little bit fuzzier. I heard “go back to Bolivia,” but I never heard for how long, so I chose a timeframe that made logical sense, prayed about it and moved forward. But it seems like I got it wrong.
I thought 10 months, but God apparently said 10 weeks. Ya, it surprised me when I figured it out too.
It all started two weeks ago. This tug inside that told me I should start praying about going home (and no, not because of Christmas). There have been a lot of changes recently both in in the guesthouse and with the way HOH deals with volunteers, changes that makes it a lot harder for me to feel at home here. The lack of community has also began to wear on me. At the guesthouse volunteers come and go, and because of an early curfew, building a community for myself outside of the hospital is incredibly difficult if not impossible.
So, after a week of fervent prayer and seeking counsel from family and friends I’ve made one of the hardest decisions of my life. To end my time of ministry with Hospitals of Hope. While I still stand behind what HOH is doing in the community here, it is no longer the place where I can best serve.
So where is the place that I can best serve now? Well I’m not sure. I considered and prayed about serving with another ministry here in Cochabamba, but none tugged at my heart, so instead I will be returning home and continuing to seek God’s guidance in this next season of life, wherever it may be. The only thing I know for certain is that I want to work with the youth again at my church (are you excited Linda?).
And to all of my supporters, thank you so much for your support through this time both financially and through prayer. I know without a doubt that I was supposed to spend these last two months in Bolivia. Even in this short amount of time God has worked tremendously and it was because of your support that any of my work here was possible. And for those wondering, I never reached my goal of $7500, which I realize was God’s plan all along, and for the remaining money raised, which after costs isn’t much, my plan is to continue to use the funds for missions, maybe with my churches Mexico trip or if God calls me to lead a trip for another organization. My time with missions definitely isn’t over, although I don’t know if long-term missions is in my future, at least not as a single woman.
I have a little over one week left in South America and I plan to make the most of it. It’s hard leaving a place I’ve fallen in love with and planned on building a life in, but I trust God, and if he’s leading me away I can only imagine what he has in store 🙂
