b o l i v i a ,
(note: we do not have access to wifi – the nearest wifi is four hours away, however some of our leaders went into town so they are posting blogs for us – talk to you all after Christmas!) <3
beautiful bolivia – when i signed up for the world race and when i told you about it, this is close to what we both pictured. this month feels like we are actually on the race.
in all honesty, as i shared before, i have been struggling a little – but since arriving in the small rural village of chejje i feel better and excited for what’s to come. however, i am still not feeling well, this cold is definitely taking a toll on me and so prayers are still greatly appreciated.
location: chejje, bolivia. a small, off the grid village about four hours north of la paz. very rural, with farm animals everywhere and people herding their animals up and down these big hills. we are in the “low lands” nestled between these deep valleys, but we are still at about 9,000 feet. most of the people here are indigenous to the aymadi group (not sure if i am spelling that correctly as i can’t google anything). pastor lorenzo taught alli & i some aymadi. kamisaki means, how are you? and wailiki means i’m fine.
language: spanish and aymadi
ministry partner host: pastor lorenzo, who leads a lutheran church here. he has been here many years, is at least 70 years old and is a part time pastor and full time farmer, he walks about an hour to work in his corn fields every day.
lodging: we are staying in an old part of the church, from what we understand used to be sunday school rooms but now aren’t used for much. we have graciously been given straw mats as mattresses (complete with sand fleas, which bite but are harmless). we do have a lightbulb and a little electricity, but will be using a propane tank and makeshift gas burner for our stove throughout the month. we have no way to refrigerate anything so we are working with a lot of non perishable things. the water is not safe to drink, so we have to boil it and save it in old water bottle containers, or add chlorine to it. we do have a little room outside with a showerhead for some very cold showers, and the bathrooms are outside and squatty potties that we “flush” with a bucket of water. we wake up to the sounds of roosters and mules and sheep every morning which is cool.
what are we doing: good question. this is an “ask the Lord” month for us, as our ministry host is very hands off and we will not see him often, unless we seek him out or on sundays.
therefore, we have been praying and planning our own ministry outreaches. this village is no stranger to missionaries, though it’s been a long time. in the 1960s or so there used to be missionaries here who ran an orphanage and spanish and english school for the people here. some of the people here remember them very fondly, so it is an honor to follow in their footsteps here.
so far we are planning: a bonfire with marshmallows to get to know the community on sunday after church, a women’s retreat where we will get to know them and open up the platform for them to share their stories, a three day VBS for the kids of the community, a goodbye talent show (there are many talented people in the community including singers and trumpet players!). we are also going to clean the church for pastor lorenzo. other than that we plan to just do what we can to make people’s day better – for example, yesterday we went and cleaned the little community sports space by sweeping it and picking up trash, and then that night we went and hung out with them and played soccer and spent a long time playing games with all the kids. we plan to do that pretty much every night. we are also hoping to offer our hand in the fields or with the women as they shuck these bean things, so far they’ve said no but as they get to know us we hope they will allow us to assist them. also hoping to do door to door Christmas caroling on Christmas eve!
the community thus far has been very kind and embracing towards us – everyone is a little apprehensive at first but quick to greet with a smile, everyone is willing to talk with us and get to know us. in fact, one man literally left me with his baby (we had only met all of five seconds ago when i helped him put the baby n a stroller) to go home and get a soccer ball. the baby may or may not have cried most of the time.
la paz.
on the way to chejje
our home for the month!
pastor lorenzo.
the sheep that like to come visit us.
the community center.
our new friend, helen.
it’s gorgeous here – there is no way not to see the Lord’s beautiful creation and feel close to Him. we are very excited to spend this time and Christmas with the community here and just hopefully do some things to make them smile and brighten up their days and help them out whenever we can.
thank you all for being a part of this – what we are accomplishing here is also in part to you!
early merry Christmas everyone!