I was not prepared for ministry on our off day…
I was walking on the dirt road down the mountain we’re living on in Bolivia. As I looked to my left, there was my teammate Zach, wearing his blue bandana carrying a water balloon and Carnival soap spray. I looked down at the red bandana hanging around my neck, the Carnival soap in my hand and the sleeping bag case full of water balloons hanging on my shoulder.
We thought we were ready for our first Carnival…
As we approached the downtown area of Caranavi my team mate looked at me and said “I think we should be more observant..”. Halfway through his sentence a water balloon came flying from a store front and hit him in the ear.
And so it began…
From there we went down the road towards the city square. We were dodging water balloons flying from roof tops and 5 year olds carrying super soakers filled with paint. We managed to stay somewhat clean until we approached the city plaza where we witnessed a terrifying sight…
1000 Bolivian men, women and children running around the city square covered in paint and soap spray, all throwing water balloons. The streets were running black and red with Carnival paint.
My teammate and I looked at the horrifying site before us. We then realized we were the only white people there, which meant we each had giant targets on our blonde heads.
We then stepped foot in the square and I got a quick glimpse of a boy holding a super soaker to my left. Before I knew it black paint was shot into my hair and soap spray into my eyes by another boy to my right. Me and my teammate started sprinting around the square as a mob of 30 Bolivians started chasing us.
My teammate lost his shoe in the chase and it wasn’t long before we were both overtaken by the locals.
They had no mercy on us and covered our faces and bodies relentlessly in black and red paint, soap and water balloons. I sunk to the ground in an attempt to play dead as my eyes were stinging and wouldn’t open.
I heard my teammates’ faint voice shouting my name. I opened my paint filled eyes to see him slipping on his shoe while fighting off 5 Bolivian children. We then made an escape as we ran disorientedly out of the plaza until we were finally out of the war zone.
As we stumbled down the road we noticed the Bolivian men and women that had just watched us get anialated in the plaza. They were laughing at us in disbelief at what we had just done and the pure joy radiated in their smiles as they sat watching in their broken down chairs. We smiled back and waved as we walked down the street covered in paint and soap.
I looked at my team mate and said “I think we just did some serious ministry today…”. We then traveled back up the mountain to re-arm ourselves with water balloons and recruit more troops for round two…
Without knowing it we had reached out to the community of Caranavi, Bolivia.
Romans 12:15 – Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
We had showed them the love of God by rejoicing with them in their celebration of Carnival and they loved it. Hopefully it showed them that we are just like them and not some lofty North Americans that don’t have time for them.
