Back from Chapare

Well, I’m sitting in the empty hacienda. All the girls have gone home for Christmas and only one of them (my amiga Jen!) is returning for sure. There is another girl (that will remain unnamed for now!) that Jen and I are trying to convince to come back as well. But we also want it to be God led, so we will just keep praying! Something that you all can be praying for is that God will send more interns for the New Year because as of now, there is only going to be a small number of us for a little while. I became really good friends will all the girls, so saying goodbye was really hard. They are all amazing and God is really at the forefront of all their lives and it was a blessing to be able to get to know them all! Pray for the ones who will not be coming back and are now starting a new chapter in their lives.

Left: Kristen, Katie T, Me, Adrian, Bethany, Katie S, Jen is on the right and was taking the previous Pic.

Yesterday (which was Sunday) I returned from the Chapare (Jungle) after a two week stint there. I’m trying to think where to start in telling you about my experiences there because there is just too much to tell you everything! Before I start, I guess I will share that one of my prayers before and during my time there was for brokenness; that God would fill me with more of Him and less of me. As hard and painful as that can be sometimes, God has been faithful in growing me and working in a lot of different areas in my life. My reliance and faith in him has definitely grown and he was with me every step of the trip. Yeah so, I’ll try to a mix of few experiences and a little bit of what the Chapare is like.

I got there on a Friday, late afternoon with Romberto(One of Mike Timmer’s builders who lives in Chapare with his family) and Freddy(one of Romberto’s workers). Negro is the second helper, and yes, ‘Negro’ really is his name! Anyways, when I first got there we made a quick stop at the jobsite where the new orphanage is being built. Romberto showed me around and gave me a chance to see where they were in the building process. Now keep in mind that my Spanish vocab is still very limited at this point. Romberto was asking me some questions about myself, one of them being my age. I told him I was twenty-one, which in Spanish is “vente y uno”. The next thing he said was that we would now be going to ‘Vente uno’. It didn’t make any sense to me and I thought I had just misunderstood him. We then got on his 125hp Pegasus motorcycle and continued down the road. I asked him again in broken Spanish where we were going and he again said ‘Vente uno’. I was already a little nervous just being in a new place, by myself, where I didn’t speak the lingo real well, and for some reason the only thing that I could think of was that ‘Vente uno’ must be a special place for people who where 21! (I know its kinda stupid, but I really thought that.) I was freaking out in my head at this point and did not want to go this ‘Vente uno’ place. There was a house on the orphanage property which is where I thought Romberto lived and I really wanted to stay with him since he was the only person I really knew. Well, it ended up that a lot of the villages in that area just have numbers for their names. Villa catorce (village 14) is the name of the village/town that the jobsite is in and ‘Vente uno’, is the name of the village that Romberto lives in with his family. I felt pretty silly after that! Later that evening though, God gave me an encouraging experience. We had just finished dinner and I was sitting in the living room when there was a soft knock on the front door. Romberto’s son Miguel, opened the door and three small, familiar faces walked in. On my laptop, I have a desktop background pic from a year and a half ago of my first trip to Bolivia. The three kids that walked in were all in that picture sitting next to me on a church bench that we had done some work in!! It was just kinda cool.

That weekend I went to four different church services at two different churches and I had to go up in front to tell the church who I was, where I lived, and what I was doing there in their community. Both of these churches are supporters in one way or another. One thing we try to do is build relationships with local, healthy churches so that once the orphanages get kids in them, the churches will be part of the kids’ lives. During some of the services, I found myself judging how they did church and how things were run. I don’t think I was right to do this and God had something in mind to help change my mind. Later in the week I went to a mid-week Bible study with Romberto that was held at the previous pastors’ house. At first I found myself critiquing them, but then caught myself. When I started to think about it more seriously, I realized that this church was a lot like the early church in Acts. There is a lot of prayer, public speaking about the Word, singing, (which I keep having to remind myself is for the Lord and not me!) and eating together. It was really cool to see. Random fact- The Greek word for this is Koinonia which means to fellowship or share. That is one of the few vocab words I remember from Mr. Blundell’s class!

Alright, I don’t want to make you guys board and I’m realizing that there is way to much to fit into one post, so I’m going to make another post later. Just real quick, I have a couple river stories, so I’ll fit one in here. It’s not really a story, but that doesn’t matter… In the Chapare it gets ridiculously hot sometimes, (actually its wicked hot all the time there!) so during lunch break, Freddy, Negro, and I like to go hang out in the nearby river. We are not the only ones though. Usually about half the town is down there at the same time as us which makes going to the river a rated “R” experience because a lot them like to go in naked! Usually it is only the younger children and older women who are fairly over weight, but it’s still kind of awkward! haha

Ok, well I will post some more Chipare adventures in a couple days.

Some photos...finally...

We had some issues getting photos directly uploaded to the blog.

Here are some pictures that Craig sent to me, enjoy.

News from Bolivia.. for real this time!

Hola and greetings from Bolivia. I have been here a little over a week now and I am really starting to fall in love. I am still living in the city at the Hacienda, I think it might be a little while before I move out to the Chapare to work on the new orphanage. There was one day last week that me and a few interns were able to take a daytrip to the Chapare to deliver some bunk beds for one of the orphanages out there. We road down in the back of a large fruit truck loaded up with all the beds and a large cabinet set. It was really cool because the orphanage we delivered the beds to was one of the orphanages that the BCC team and I helped out at a year and a half ago while it was still in its early stage of building. It is still not totally finished because they are waiting on funding. (I'll try and post a few pictures of it.)

            Every day of the week we do something different. On a couple of days out of the week we visit with the two orphanages, (Villa Fruitiar, which is like a five minute walk from the Hacienda, and Villa Israel, which is on the other side of the city.) We do tutoring with the kids, day trips, or sometimes just play days. One thing I find so amazing is the love these kids have. They are all orphans and have had horrible experiences in their past and yet they are so happy and grateful for everything. Immediately when you arrive, they come and jump in your arms and start chattering away.

Yesterday, Nov. 25, we celebrated one of the older boys at Fruitiars' birthday. He is either ten or eleven, we are not sure. It is just the day that has been picked out for him. Another exciting thing yesterday was that Viviana got to come home. Viviana's story is quite incredible. When she was quite little, she was pushed into a fire by one of the village kids. Thankfully she lived, but parts of her body where quite badly burned. Under her arms, there was a sort of web of skin which constricted the range of motion she had with her arms. Recently though, funding was raised so that she could have an operation to help fix that and other burned parts of her body. It was quite a long process that she was in the hospital, almost a month. But she took it like a champ and was well known around the hospital for her high spirits and excellent attitude. Yesterday was my first day meeting her, but it didn't take her longer than two seconds to come over, jump in my lap, and start playing with my watch. Little kids are so amazing!

On Wednesday's, we take the morning and help out at a woodshop of a missionary here who builds the bunk beds and some of the other necessities that the orphanages need. He does this for free, which is really incredible because he builds really nice stuff! There is actually the possibility that I might be able to work a little extra with him. But we will see how that works out. In the Afternoon, we go over to the "Center", which is a kind of after school program for kids. One of the interns here, Katie T. works at the center full time. It is a really cool place because it gives kids who have pretty rough home/social life, a place to come hang out that constant secular pressure. Some of them can be a little rough around the edges sometimes, but they just need Christ's love to be shown to them, and I really think they are getting that at the center. My first time there was a blast, because even though my Spanish kinda stinks, I was able to connect with a bunch of the guys in an intense game of football (soccer)! After, one of the interns told me that the guys had asked if I would be able to come back everyday; made me feel pretty good inside!

Well before I go I just want to share a scripture I read this morning that really touched me... "Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. Psalm 115:1" and, "I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. Psalm 116:1-2" The whole chapter of Psalm 116 was really encouraging to me, so if you get a chance check it out.

 

Love you guys, Craig

 

P.S. I would like to make a public appoligy to Jen for forgetting to mention her as one of the interns here!! Jen, if you can find it in your heart to forgive me it would be much appreciated!! Everyone, meet JenJ

 

Here at last!!

Hello every one. I have finally made it to Bolivia, it took a little longer than I expected, but I´m here and loving it! Right now I´m living in a hacienda with five other interns, who at the moment all happen to be girls. There are two Katie´s, a Kristen, and a Bethany. They are all super nice and have been taking really good care of me showing me around and just helping me get accustomed to the living here. On my first day here in Coachabamba Bolivia, we went to Sydney´s (one of Mike timmers daughters) highschool soccer game. We took the Fruitiar kids with us. The Villa fruitiar is the one of the orphanages and is just a few blocks from the hacienda where we live. The kids loved it and we even got to play some futboll (soccer) ourselves on one of the open fields. The boys had a blast and it was just a lot of fun playing with them.

      It has been a little overwhelming with trying to take every thing in. First of all my Spanish vocab right now is ¨UN pequito¨, very small! So that is kind of a bummer and is totally my fault since I could have been practicing before I left, but just always found a way out! Also I´m trying to learn my way around the city and the new mode of transportation that is used here when you don´t have your own car. The two main ways to travel here other than walking are, Troufii´´s and taxi´s.Troufii´s are like buses and cost a boliviano and a half;which is a Bolivian dollar and a half. * One American dollar is seven Bolivian dollars*.These troufii´s have letters on the front which is a key to their route. For instance, the ¨O¨, ܨ, and ¨M¨all come up to the somewhat close to the hacienda and go different places throughout the city. Its a little confusing still, but the girls are teaching me.

       I am writing this in a local Internet cafe. This morning, which is Tuesday morning I think, I went with Katie and Kristen to meet their Spanish teach,Tina who is a favorite among the interns and Timmers. She is especially for her grandmotherly character and love for her students. Once I figure a schedule for my time here.I hope to start taking Spanish lessons with her.

      Mike has said that for a few weeks at least I will be here in coach working at the orphanages with the kids. But I think at some point I will be heading to the chapàre (jungle) to work with Romberto who is one of Mike´s Bolivian builders. Actually tomorrow morning me and some of the interns are taking a day trip out there to deliver some bunk beds for the orphanages. I´m big time looking foreword to going out and seeing Romberto and the progress on the orphanage he is currently working on.

      I real quick just want to say thank you for your prayers. I had a real good trip here. On both flights I met someone who spoke English, and were able to help me with any questions. Both happened to be missionaries; one was a Bolivian from LA Paz who was a missionary in Japan, the other was a women from the states who was a missionary in coach. So God´s watching out for me! A few prayer request would just be that I would be able to learn Spanish quickly, I am normally a slow learner when it comes to things like that. But, I know that can change with God´s help, and plus I´ll be putting more effort into it, not like I did in school! A good overall prayer would just be that I adjust well and learn quick.

                                                               Love you all Lots and God Bless, Craig, ( or as the kids here say it,Grag!!)