Well month 2 is completed, and Bolivia has not been what I expected. It has been a hard month. It started off great with debrief in La Paz, but it slowly became harder as I continued on in the month. Let me tell you a little about the ministry and a summary of what we have be doing over the last 3 weeks. We are working at a Christian camp in the valley of the Bolivian mountains. Our ministry contact is the sweetest little Hispanic man you will ever meet named Brother Lucho. It is all squad month which means all forty of my squad mates are doing ministry together. We have been living out of our tents for our stay here in Bolivia. For the past 3 weeks, we have gathered thousands of stones out the river to build pathways all around the camp. Once we gathered all our stones, we dug and picked at the dirt to make the right setting for the rocks. And then we picked the dirt more to make the rocks stable for the pathway. We also helped with our various projects around the camp like cleaning bunk houses, cleaning the pool, painting and clearing weeds. We have not had any interaction with the campers other than a few soccer games and one Sunday morning church service. There is also a town nearby which is about an hour walk which is a lifesaver because they have snacks (Oreos to be exact) because we cook our own meals and it’s no secret I can be a picky eater sometimes :). Oh and did I forget to mention there are bugs here in Bolivia that apparently are immune to bug spray and even clothing. So that’s a recap of the details of my month but let me talk a little about what God has taught me through this month.
Let me start off saying this was not the easiest month for me. I found a lot to complain about. I complained about the bugs. There was one time I counted over 150 bites just on one leg alone and over 25 bites just on one of my hands. They were miserable. They itch like nobody’s business and kept most of us up throughout the night. So if you see pictures of me dressed weird or with a lot of clothes on it’s not because I’m cold, I’m trying to be bug proof. Next I complained about the food. Yes we all know Holly can be a picky eater and it’s not secret I’m not a greens fan I am a meat eater. Well this month I had to become somewhat of a vegetarian. We cooked all our own meals which consisted of a lot of oatmeal, veggies, and avocados and rice. No meat at all except for eggs. Next I found myself complaining about the ministry. The ministry was very monotonous and repitive. If I passed one rock down the assembly line I passed a thousand rocks down the assembly line. Next we would pick and poke at the dirt for 6-7 hours to make the pathway stable. We did this 5 days a week. I struggled with this month because I continued to only look for things to complain about instead of trying to find beauty in the simplicity of it all.
I became frustrated because I was not hearing much from God this month and then I realized it was my own fault. I listened to a podcast recently that said when we complain and criticize our circumstances we criticize and show contempt for their maker. I had spent so much time focusing on the uncomfortableness of this month that I was too distracted to hear what God was trying to teach me this month. A lot of times we can get so caught up with the adventure that life can be or even the World Race and sometimes it’s just not. Sometimes life is routine, monotonous, or just simple day to day things. We long for extraordinary things and comfortable things. When God brings us to a time of uncomfortableness or even simplicity or monotony it is easy to become disappointed or bored which can lead to a bad attitude which leads to complaining. But there is significance in the simple. There is importance when God is silent. There is value even in the hard times. The last few days we were in Bolivia I asked God to give me an attitude adjustment and I started seeing the value in our work.
Yes, there were days when building this pathway was hard, repetitive, boring, miserable due to the bugs, but the end product is worth the work. Sometimes this can resemble our journey in life. There will be days in life when it is just plain hard. There will be days you wonder if what you are doing is really making a difference. There will be days when life may seem boring. There will also be days when God seems silent. These days are not meant to make us sad or miserable. These are days which God can use to teach us things. God does not always use the extraordinary, sometimes he uses the simple. He is the maker and director of our pathsways in the simple times of life and in the adventurous times of life.
