It’s time to talk about Bolivia.
Month 9 was an Unsung Heroes month for us. For most of us (including me), it was our second month of UH. But, this was my first month leading UH, and it was hard. But so beautiful. The people of Bolivia will always hold a special place in my heart.
There are so many stories I could share, and so many places to start. But let me start at the beginning…
To start off our month, we compiled a list of dreams and big prayers. This list included (but was not limited to):
- Have a church take us in
- Healthy living (healthy food with no obligation of portion size, and good exercise)
- Travel
- Bible Studies
- Something New (types of ministries we hadn’t yet done)
- Family with 2 cute dogs (no shedding, english-speaking) *sometimes you gotta be specific when praying big prayers*
- Free Housing
During our first weekend as a team in La Paz, Bolivia (we had been together with the squad for a few days before they headed to their contacts), we searched online for churches. We thought it would be a good idea to find english-speaking churches, as they are more than likely filled with missionaries aka great contacts for ministry. And, what do ya know, we found one! Sunday morning at 11am. Or was it 10:30? None of us remembered so we aimed for 10:30.
Saturday night we learned that the next day was a holiday called “Pedestrian Day”. No, really, it’s a holiday in Bolivia. This meant that all of the streets were closed to vehicles and open to, well, pedestrians, of course. This put quite the little damper on our plans to travel 6 odd miles to church. But we were determined and motivated!
The next morning, we woke up early and headed out around 8:30am to begin our walk to La Paz Community Church.
It was a beautiful walk. Perfect weather, great to see the city we had just started to call our home for the month, and great exercise (check!). We passed school groups running, boys on their bicycles, families walking. The people were out enjoying their day, and rightly so. At one point, we even crossed the finish line of a marathon. 
Approximately two hours and eight sore feet later we arrived at the church… to find the gates closed. We rang the bells and a woman answered the intercom. Church has been cancelled due to pedestrian day.
“Is there anyone we could talk to? We just walked 6 miles to be here,” Amanda sweetly and slightly desperately said.
We stood there outside the gate as the woman said she would try to call a friend.
As we all stood around waiting, a bit discouraged, Amanda reminded us of Moses and how the Lord called him to greatness (so it seemed). He followed the Lord, and then was wandering in the desert for 40 years. Sometimes the Lord calls us to do things, we follow Him, and then we don’t see results. But we need to trust that the Lord is still working; He has a purpose. The fact that we chose to follow Him may be His lesson in itself. We need to trust that God knows what He is doing and He won’t just leave us defeated.
Moments later, the gate opened and a woman in her pajamas greeted us, apologizing for her unprepared appearance. Then, her two little dogs ran out to greet us (check!). These dogs did not shed (check!), and when she spoke english to them, they listened (check!). She, then introduced us to her neighbor, Vanessa, a woman living behind the church. Vanessa invited us into her home.
Unfortunately, our timing was not great for her as she was on her way to a BBQ for her boss. Katrina and I helped her make a salad as we continued to talk about why we walked 6 miles to church, and ultimately, why we were in La Paz, Bolivia. She shared that she was working with a mission called Hope International, and that her friends were on their way to walk to their boss’ surprise celebration. We all looked at each other with expectation. Did we find a contact?
Several minutes later, her friends arrived. We met Nicole, Stephanie… and Ludi, the Volunteer Coordinator for Hope International. Jackpot! We were all pretty excited at that point. Then, they all began to tell us about their local transportation called the Teleférico. It is basically a giant ski lift used for, well, local transportation. This meant that we only needed to walk about 1.5 miles home, instead of 6. So, we headed out with all of them, walking toward the teleférico and their party, sharing about ministry around La Paz, and also getting to know each other.
We stopped to buy some water, and Ludi pulled out her phone. She began to read scripture over us and speak life over us. She talked about believing that our work is noticed and beautiful, even when we can’t see the effects of it. She shared how she was encouraged in this the week before, and wanted to share that encouragement with us. What? Who is this girl? She doesn’t know me. I instantly admired her boldness and saw her heart, the same heart that I would get to see over and over again throughout this month.
We exchanged numbers, planned to visit the children’s hospital later that week, and the other girls were just as excited as we were to continue spending time together throughout the month. This was our start in beautiful Bolivia.
All this to say, sometimes we set out on a grand adventure only to find a closed door. And sometimes, all we need to do is trust that the Lord knows what He is doing, and He’s got us. Sometimes, we wait for three minutes and find the door opens to more blessing than we could have hoped for. And sometimes, we wait a lot longer.
This was just the beginning of my month in Bolivia. There would be many more checks to be marked off our list, and more from things we didn’t think to ask for. I won’t pretend it was easy; this month was hard. Amidst the friendships, children, smiles, handshakes, laughs of joy, free housing, good food, and perfect weather were moments of doubt, days of frustration, tearful phone conversations, team division, and a month of just plain hardship. Sometimes our doors take longer to open than we wish. In Moses’ case, it took 40 years of wandering for him to even gaze upon the Promised Land.
But we need to capture moments like this: walking a 10k to church until my boots broke and my feet blistered, all because I was walking in the adventure the Lord had for me. We need to remember the times we said, “yes,”, and the Lord showed up, as He always does.
So here’s to believing; believing there is more in store for us, believing the Lord won’t leave us defeated. Here’s to trusting that behind the closed door is something worth waiting for, worth fighting for. And here’s to choosing to do more than stare at a closed door. It’s time to look up at the windows that show us a preview. It’s time to look around and remember the stone steps that got us here, and see the garden full of the flowers that grew when the rain came.
