Where We Served
This month we served in Bolivia at a Christian camp called El Puente. That is Spanish for The Bridge. El Puente is located near the town of Coroico nestled in the valley between the mountains where a river runs through it. It is also the beginning of the jungle.
We came by bus from La Paz and made our way through the mountains. It was a continuous decent. What started off as a very chilly morning in La Paz transformed into a warm day and the shedding of coats. The drive was so beautiful. I sat in the very front of the bus on a very weird seat between the driver and one of my squad leaders, Trent, but it was so good to see where we were going.
The closer we got to the camp the more excited I became. The scenery had transitioned from an urban and mountainous setting to a rural and mountainous jungle setting. Rivers and cascades carved themselves into the mountains as moss and ferns covered the surrounding rocks.
My squad leader Trent and I were the first to scope out the place in order to find out where we were to take our stuff and set up camp.
We walked down a steep pathway that led to a bridge that crossed the river. The bridge was stabilized by big cables and wooden planks across. We were both nervous as we made our way across the bouncing bridge and over the roaring rapids of the river down below.
As we entered the gate and walked down the dirt pathway excitement filled me as we walked into a nature lover’s haven. The green, the trees, birds singing, and a ton of butterflies fluttering around. Just a side note, I saw my favorite kind of butterfly, the Blue Morpho, every day in its’ natural habitat. Talk about a month to connect with God in nature.
Living Conditions
It was all squad month! So all forty-one of us, minus Ellen who is at home recovering from Dengue Fever (girl, we miss you and we better have another all squad month), have been together and it has been glorious! Just a reminder, our squad is made up of six teams. We all travel together to each country but we are usually split up. There has been such an abundance of different people to talk with and serve alongside throughout the day. I have really enjoyed getting to know my squad mates better.
We cooked our own food and each team was responsible for a day of cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Oatmeal has been our daily breakfast accompanied by the occasional banana or apple slices. Egg and avocado sandwiches as well as beans and rice have also been the usual lunch or dinner. Apart from eggs we have been vegetarians this month because we have not had a refrigerator or freezer to store food.
Filtered water is definitely a blessing. We have had to purify our own water. We discovered after about two weeks that we had not been putting enough chlorine drops in the water and has been the main reason for tummy issues. It could also have been all the beans we have consumed.
We have lived in our tents all month and if you know me then you know I was very excited about that. Everyone set up camp on one side of the outdoor basketball court with an awning while my squad mate Brooke and I set up in a nice luscious green space accompanied by beautiful impatients that grow wild here.
We lasted there for two or three nights before moving to the basketball court with the rest of our squad. Our move was initiated due to the fact that one night I happened to wake up because of itching from all the bug bites; I was blessed with the discovery of four different kinds of spiders in my tent. The next day was moving day.
We have also been blessed with cold showers and on the world race it is not uncommon to not shower often. I have taken about five or six showers within the last three weeks and I have only washed my hair three times. It takes a lot of motivation to stand under water that is straight from the mountains. It is absolutely breathtaking. However, once you have motivated yourself to shower in the icy waters you definitely feel refreshed.
Challenges
Our greatest challenge this month has been the bugs. Horse flies and these little greenish yellow gnat-looking bugs have been feasting on our blood. We look diseased from all the bites. I have over two hundred on my arms and legs. We have rarely slept all night due to the itching. However, Benedryl has been my constant friend at night and the itching subsides until morning.
Another challege that has hit our squad has been sickness… mainly in the southern area. On the world race it is not uncommon to talk about bodily functions, especially those of the digestive system. We celebrate when a person is no longer having diarrea and when a person is finally able to go to the bathroom.
The Ministry
Our ministry this month at El Puente has not necessarily been a relational ministry but a behind the scenes type of ministry. El Puente has been around for at least twenty years. It is a place for people to come and have retreats or church camps. There are several cabin-like buildings to stay in and a big building for meetings and meals.
Brother Lucho is our minstry contact and the main care-taker of the camp. He and Brother Theo are the only staff. He has a wife and six kids which all live in La Paz. La Paz is about three hours away from here. He has been living here for the past eight months and goes home to La Paz once a week for one to two days. It is not easy but God has called him here.
“The harvest is plenty but the workers are few” definitely rings true here. The camp is so large and the work that needs to be done here is a lot. Such a big property requires a lot of maintenance. We did a lot here yet so little. There is still so much that could be done here.
Our first few days were spent in the river making a line to get rocks in order to transform the dirt pathways to rock. We had a lot of fun in the river wading in it and looking for rocks that were suitable for the pathways. The first couple of days were fun, but the other rock days were very tiring.
Some teams painted signs, a few worked on the pathways, and some cleaned the swimming pool and the area around it. Team Kenosis, my blessed team, had the opportunity to clear out some of the wooded areas by picking up limbs, raking, and making big piles that will later be burned. We also got to paint the wall surrounding the pool area a nice crisp white.
I was most excited to get to mow the soccer field. I felt very much at home and it was a bittersweet moment. I also got to use the chainsaw two days in a row to cut down some dead trees and make the fallen limbs into smaller pieces. I was very excited about mowing and using the chainsaw like a boss.
It was such an awesome month and I learned so much. There is more to come about Bolivia and hopefully when I am able to get good internet I will be able to post some pictures.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me financially, through prayers, and even words of encouragement. Not only is God using me for His work, but He is using the work and my squad to work in me as well.
