So far on my World Race journey, it has been pretty crazy and eye opening. The day had finally come to launch and begin my World Race journey with my squad. It never truly hit me that we were finally leaving until the moment I got on the first plane. Here was finally the moment I have been waiting on for a long time. Bolivia here we come! After a connecting flight in Miami we finally are on the plane ride to Bolivia and its a red eye flight which will get us to Bolivia by 5:30am. So not only do we get to deal with possible altitude sickness, but also get to enjoy the early part of the morning. Sleeping on a plane is hard enough, much less having to arrive so early. I probably got a few hours sleep on the plane and wasn’t feeling too bad. The plane doors open and we begin to depart and man is it freezing. It is winter time in Bolivia, so I’m going from 90 degrees in Florida to 40s and 30s. My body is really hating this! Cold and sleepy don’t mix for a good combo very often(if ever). My team and I get picked up at the airport by Heronimo who works for the Mission Adulam where we will be working at for the next month with addicted teens and youth.
He drops us at our house and there are beds, a shower and even a washer! I’d say we got lucky this month. After settling in the first day we rest up so our bodies can adjust to the altitude. One of my teammates starts to feel bad and she starts vomiting and can’t keep anything down. Later that night she is still feeling bad and my team and I decide to go in and pray over her. We are singing songs of worship and praying to God for a miracle and to see healing in her body. We head to bed but she still is feeling bad. The next morning we go to the hospital and admit her so she can get treated. She still can’t keep anything down at this point and is still throwing up. She has to stay for the day and the rest of the team rest up at the house for another day. When we finally pick her up she is doing better and again my team and I begin praying over her. We are calling on the Holy Spirit for healing and comfort for her. I can’t explain what happened in that moment but I could feel God in the room with us and telling us that its all gonna be ok. The very next day I get up after some little bit of sleep she is up and as happy and healthy as ever. It was so amazing to see her healed overnight! We had only been here in Bolivia for 3 days and God has already been working in my team and we have already seen miracles in just the short time we have been here.
Finally we are all feeling great and we head out to our ministry site. The girls are going to the girls home and the guys go to the boys home to go minister. The first day Derek Dillion and I are sanding metal chairs to get the rust off of them. The sun is beating down and its getting hot which is weird cause it’s been so cold. While sanding the boys are sitting near us and sanding with us. At that moment I was thinking how am I going to minister to these kids and interact with them when I don’t speak any spanish at all. My first attempt at Spanish is to ask what a picture of a lion in their house is for, and I’m acting out and saying lion and make the gesture for a mane. Christian the young boy I was trying to talk to runs off and he thought I was asking for a hat so he went and got me a hat. Yeah way off. I was thinking there is no way I’m gonna be able to speak to these kids. The next morning I feel The Lord saying to me that even though I can’t speak their language, doesn’t mean I can’t impact their lives. I felt Him telling me to not to get frustrated and to be comfortable with talking to them and communicate the best I can with them. That day at lunch all the boys are at the table and we begin with gestures and lo and behold, they know what I am talking about! We are laughing around the table and Luis(one of the boys at the home) is throwing string pretending to be Spiderman. I was actually called Adam Sandler and when I told them my name was Justin, they all said Justin Beiber. I’m cool with Adam Sandler but Justin Beiber not so much. Even though I don’t know much Spanish I am able to speak to these kids and communicate which is amazing.
It’s only been a few days and I’ve already seen what God is doing through my team. We have seen healings and miracles happen right before our eyes! God has already shown my team and I that He is here and He has everything in control. When I thought there was no way of communicating, God showed me a way and now I am able to get by with talking to the boys and am learning a bit of Spanish in the mix. So far my journey has been pretty crazy but already it’s been awesome! I can’t wait to see what this next month will bring after we have already experienced so much. PS I haven’t noticed the toilets flushing in the opposite directions Ms. Lineberry.
