This month was unique in that our contacts were American, as were the team of people we worked directly with. I loved it. I loved them. Here are a few of them:
Mike Timmer with an orphan.
Mike and Bonnie Timmer founded International Orphanage Union (IOU) and have some of the biggest hearts in the world. They have parented 5 daughters and recently welcomed their first grandchild. One of my favorite stories from this month was hearing how Mike went to receive an infant that was a few days old from a local village. The child was unwanted and left for the worst. When Mike brought her home, Bonnie’s response was, “I don’t think we’re going to let go of this one.” Grace is now their youngest daughter.
John Mark and Weatherly Hulsey
John Mark and Weatherly Hulsey were two of my roommates at Casa Verde. Hailing from the great state of Texas, this fun-loving couple has been serving in Bolivia for a few months. They are using their tech skills to assist in launching and improving many of the small businesses that support IOU. Their main work recently has been improving the marketing of Bolivia’s Best Coffee- each bag of coffee feeds an orphan for 5 days. Check out the website at http://boliviasbestcoffee.com/.
Kathryn Curley
Kathryn Curley is a recent graduate of culinary school in New York. She recently opened Café Ole, the restaurant our team served at. Not only did she teach us how to cook a few things in the kitchen, we had the pleasure of rooming with her at Casa Verde as well. Needless to say, we ate well this month! We so appreciated the delicious dinners Kathryn would cook, even after a long day at the restaurant!
Morel Family- Steve and Danee, Jordyn and Selah (and Emily)
I knew I’d get along with the Morel family since the first day I met them. Danee and Steve are the proud parents of Jordyn and Selah- two of the most beautiful girls, inside and out. I thoroughly enjoyed cooking in the kitchen with Danee, swimming in the frigid waterfalls with Jordyn and Steve and playing Polly Pockets with Selah. For the first time on the Race, I felt like I had a family to adopt myself into and the Morels welcomed me with open arms.
Scott and Natalie Hargrove
If the Morels were my adopted familiy, Scott and Natalie Hargrove were my big brother and sister. Scott is overseeing much of the construction on new orphanages and Natalie is teaching at the local Christian school. One of my favorite memories was chillin’ at their quaint house after church on Sunday, eatin’ burgers and chocolate chip cookie dough while watching the Packers-Broncos game over Skype (they’re from Colorado). We followed up the football fun with some Ticket to Ride, a strategy game that we played late into the night. Such fun!
The Hulseys, Morels and me at the Inca Chaca waterfalls.
