On Saturday, March 1stmy squad arrived safely to La Paz, Bolivia. From there, our teams went our separate ways… two went to Caranavi, two stayed near La Paz, one to Apollo, and my team and another team took a 12 hour bus ride south, arriving in the city of Uyuni—a very small dusty, desert tourist town where many people come to see the incredible beauty and immensity of the salt flats that exist there.
Kayla and I in Uyuni enjoying our dinner 🙂
We spent 6 days in Uyuni with the other team, Hijas del Rey. During this time we connected with the local church and planned and participated in a church retreat where we were able to minister to youth, men, women and new believers. After battling altitude sickness for several days, our team finally headed 3 hours further into the desert to the town of Llica where we will spend the rest of our month in Bolivia.
Our new home in Llica, Bolivia
Our team has now been serving in Llica for a little over a week, and it has been, for many of us, the most challenging week so far on the race. Day after day new challenges arise, but the beauty of this past week has been seeing the Lord work and reveal himself in situations where we felt completely hopeless.
When we arrived on Friday, we found out that mysteriously no ministry had been planned for us here in Llica. Not only that, but the town is 95% Catholic, and the 3 small Christian congregations here consist of less than 5 people each who generally meet in someone’s home on Sunday nights. What were we suppose to do for 2 ½ weeks here?
Through prayer and talking with some locals, the Lord quickly showed us the desperate need that this town has for us to pour into the youth, and He provided an opportunity for us to teach English and religion classes at the grade school here.
Teaching English at the grade school in town
Llica is a very dry place where is hardly ever rains. For 3 days this week, the faucets in the compound at the top of the hill where we are living were dry, which meant we had noway to cook, bathe, wash dishes, wash clothes, or flush the toilet. Our team struggled to figure out how to live on just a few two-liters of water that we had managed to conserve from the previous day. We prayed for water, enough to meet our basic needs.
One day we stumbled upon a sweet woman named Flora who lives at the bottom of the hill. She had water and wanted to share it with us. So we brought a few two liters and some buckets down to Flora’s home and she let us take as much as we needed, and said to come back whenever we wanted. We were able to share the gospel with her and hear her story, but she is the one who displayed God’s love to us that day.
A few days later we turned on the faucet at our compound and water poured out. We filled every bucket and storage container we could find, not to mention more than 90 two-liter bottles. We had more water than we had space for. After just 3 days of scarcity, the Lord blessed us with enough water not just for our basic needs, but more. He blessed us with abundance.
Not only did the Lord follow us here to the desert of Llica, but He went before us and prepared the way. He is using us to bring light to the darkness here. He has sent us here because He sees the people here and He loves them. He wants to reach their hearts, and He wants to use us to do it... What a humbling concept.
This week, I challenge you to trust Jesus in the midst of the struggle. Believe that He is sovereign… that He is in control… and that He has good things planned for you.
“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart; and wait for the Lord.” –Psalm 27:13-14
