The Long Goodbye.

This will most likely be my last blog entry from Bolivia. I cannot believe it is already time to leave here. While I do feel like I have been gone for a long time, it doesn’t feel like I’ve been here for almost a year.
This past week has been incredibly busy, with the normal ministry things, as well as all the last things I need to do before leaving.
On Tuesday Jen, Mike and I went to the malnutrition center to see little Franz. He was standing at the top of the stairs with a huge grin on his face when we walked in. He gave hugs and sat contentedly in our laps while we gave him warm milk and a cracker. He has gained one kilo and the change is incredible. He looks bigger, has more color and is happier…until we left that is. Then he cried and cried. It was very hard to leave, but I was so grateful to see him before I left and know for myself that he is doing so much better! He’ll have to stay there for a few more weeks, but I know he’s in good hands…the malnutrition center staff is pretty good too!
I finally got my passport with a new visa in it. I was at immigration four times this week (within three days!). I was then able to help one of my roommates navigate her way around immigration to do some minor paperwork. I joked to her that I would miss all of those people, after all I see them almost as much as the kids!
My former roommate Michelle returned to Cochabamba this weekend. She’s back in Bolivia exploring the possibility of returning for long-term work. It was very good to see her again. She’s staying with me at the hacienda, participating in our weekly duties as well as some of her own with her prospective new ministry. It’s such a good feeling, being here when friends return. It makes me feel more permanent here.
On Sunday I went to mass with my Spanish teacher. She goes to one of the biggest catholic churches in Cochabamba. It wasn’t all that different than I expected it to be. It was about an hour, nearly the entire service consisted of liturgies that were written out for everyone to follow along and participate, there were also some very short songs (liturgies and psalms set to music), and of course, the eucharist. I had wanted to go to mass since arriving since this is a predominately catholic culture.
After mass I had tea with my professor and then made my way to my own church. I get a bit nervous walking up there after the last time…but all was well. I arrived, and it just so happened to be the closing program for OANSA (AWANA). I was thrilled! I think AWANA is a fantastic program, and it was very cool to see all of the kids that come to participate (as well as hear the well known songs, pledge and themes in Spanish!)
This week we are having Christmas parties with the two homes. We invested in some Christmas cookie cutters, and are going to read some stories and give some gifts. I think it’s gonna be great! We still haven’t any news on Ana, so you can keep praying with us to find her.
I have been saying a lot of sad goodbyes this week. I wish I could tell you all about my friends, mentors and coworkers here, but that would take way too long. Maybe I can do a blog on some of them so you can see how great they are…
Next week I’ll try to give you a brief summary of my future plans. For right now I’ll go to spend Christmas with my family in Texas, then go to Ohio right after the new year to see my friends, family and supporters there.
Thanks for all you’ve done.
Love.
Kristen

Greetings Friends!
Happy late Thanksgiving!! Hope you enjoyed your day of food, family and fun! Although Thanksgiving is a North American holiday, we did stop to celebrate here in Cochabamba as well. I spent Wednesday night at my adopted family’s house. We made a big breakfast the next day, then I went home made some pies, called my family, and went to the Timmers for dinner.


We had home made dressing, a big turkey, delicious applesauce, and lots of pies. Amazing! Adrian joined us so this was his first Thanksgiving (he’s Australian). Then we took Thanksgiving to my adopted family’s house (they didn’t celebrate due to other circumstances) and watched a movie on their projector.
We’ve been preparing for Friday morning for awhile, not just because we were going to overeat the day before, but because Friday was the day when we switched house parents for the Villa Israel home. We took the kids to the park to tell them the news while Mike stayed to tell the former house parents that they were no longer going to be living there with the kids. While it was a very emotional day, we are positive that it was the best thing for everyone. Everyone is settling in well with the changes. Incidentally, the night before this change took place Ana ran away. We still do not know where she is so you can be praying with us that we find her soon.
Friday morning also happened to be the day that Samuel graduated from Kindergarten. So I got to be his “Madrina” (Godmother). I walked him down the aisle, in his little cap and gown. You can imagine how excited I was!!

Saturday we went to a parade that was put on by one of the biggest local universities. All of the groups had traditional outfits from various departments of Bolivia. Our friend Kattia danced in the parade. The parade was from 11:30 to 6, but we left around 2.




In the afternoon we had a Feria (fair) at the center where the kids could come spend their points that they earn for good behavior, attendance at the center and at church. I did face painting again. My artistic skills are not necessarily getting any better as I “mature”. But the kids seemed to believe that it was well worth 5 bonos (points).
Sunday morning I set off for church, I walked alone, but I didn’t really mind. Happy to be taking advantage of the beautiful weather, with my ipod providing an agreeable soundtrack. As I neared the church a white unmarked taxi roared up beside me and someone reached out the window and ripped my purse out of my hand. I screamed, and then just stood there and watched them speed away. I felt so helpless and violated at the same time. I immediately told myself that those are just things. I can replace them, but still felt incredibly sad to have lost it all at once. I felt so emotional which made me feel so materialistic to be so upset about the whole experience. After church I told two of my friends. They then told me that they will walk with me to church in the future so I don’t have to walk alone, and then loaned me some money so I didn’t have to then make the one and a half hour walk home, and waited with me for the trufi (public transportation here). How incredibly grateful I am for those two friends!!!
Last night we had a bunch of friends over for a bonfire, and kind of as one last hoorah before everyone leaves. Katie T., Matt and Elsa, and Katie S. all leave this week.
Well, I guess I’ve stolen enough of your life away with this long update!! Hope you’re enjoying this season of advent!
Love.
Kristen

Samuel and Vivi update...

For this child I prayed,
and the LORD has granted me my petition which I asked of Him.
1 Sam 1:27 (NKJV)

Dear Readers,
I have good news to report to you…
Samuel is doing well! He came home from the hospital on Friday night. He was very relieved to go home. I went to see him during the visiting hour on Friday and read, looked at at pictures, and talked with him. Poor guy! He was so bored. He can only have visitors for an hour a day!

On Friday morning I had the opportunity to go out to Tiquipaya (a “suburb” of Cochabamba), where Adrian works at Bolivian Children’s Mission. It’s a home for about 30 kids. It’s a great setup, the kids are sweet, and I was a little jealous that Adrian actually gets to live with his kids! This home, along with our two homes (Frutillar and Villa Israel) are all part of our Navidad en Bolivia program, where the kids can be sponsored for Christmas gifts. In total there are 50 kids between the three homes that can be sponsored. If you are interested you can check out this site: http://fixmypix.com.au/blog/?page_id=258. Money can be sent to me (through my mom) and I can pull it out through my bank here and together we can make this a memorable Christmas for the kids here.

On Friday a new intern also arrived. Craig from New Hampshire. Craig came once before on a short term mission trip, his church has a very strong relationship with the ministry here and sends teams about twice a year. I had the pleasure of working with a group from his church this spring. I guess it’s gonna take getting used to having a guy around again…’though I guess it’ll probably be a bigger adjustment for him getting used to living with five crazy girls!

Friday afternoon we also (Friday was a big day) took the Frutillar kids to Sydney Timmer’s Championship soccer game. They got bored soon after our arrival so we went to a nearby field and they played all afternoon. It was a great activity.
Saturday we went to babywashing, we didn’t wash kids because of some personal things going on in the leader’s family, (pray for them please! The mother in law has cancer…can’t remember her name, I think she goes by Tía).
Anyway, so we gave out bread and warm milk. A lady came up to me, and told me that one of the men that we were giving food to was a thief. “He doesn’t deserve any”, she said, “…well, aren’t you going to do anything about it?” I informed her that we feed everybody. Then a little girl wanted to play with my hair so we went to find a seat, I saw the lady interrogating everyone that tried to walk by too…and I was re-thinking the entire, relatively strange, conversation out in my head. We don’t feed those who somehow “deserve” our free gifts. It’s called grace. It’s like God with us, none of us deserve His gift of His son, and then salvation to us, He freely gives it to us because He loves us. Too bad I couldn’t think of that when I was talking to the lady…

Sunday we went out to Villa Israel bright and early to take the kids to church. It was kind a yucky, rainy, soggy day. But it didn’t seem to dampen the kids’ spirits. They were super excited to see us and go with us to church. We went to a U.C.E. church (Union Cristiana Evangelica). Not where they usually go, but we were going to visit and decided it would be cool to take them with us. The house parents couldn’t go to church that day. The service was a mix of Quechua and Spanish. Good thing I quizzed Katie on her Quechua vocabulary on the way there! I however only remembered one or two words… The kids went to kids’ church and made a bunch of new friends. I’m so proud of all of those kids! I also got to see Samuel. He’s doing much better. He sat in my arms for a while and told me about the book that I had taken him in the hospital to look at while he laid in bed all day. I warned him as I was leaving to not climb on any more roofs.

Viviana’s still in the hospital. Pray for her recovery to go quickly. She’s already been there for two weeks. I visited her this past week. She is, as always, in good spirits. She teases the doctors, is able to leave her room to go to the playroom, go outside if there is a nurse to accompany her, and she has a whole drawer full of snacks, toys and games.

So that’s my week in a nutshell. Thanks SO MUCH for all of your prayers. For Samuel and Viviana… And me!!

Samuel

I’d like to share with you all something that’s very heavy on my heart. Samuel, the little guy I’ve been working with since February has been maybe the biggest joy to me in the entire time I’ve been here. I look forward to working with him every week. He continually catches my off guard by how fast he soaks things up. He’s a very active boy, though slightly clumsy (maybe that’s another reason I like him so much). He’s always climbing trees, playing on the monkey bars, or wrestling with his brothers. So it was no surprise to me when I heard that he had taken a tumble late Tuesday night. (We found out yesterday.) He climbed out his window on to the roof, fell off onto the cement patio, hit his head and was unconscious for about 24 hours. He recently woke up, praise Jesus, and I was able to go see him at the hospital today. All the tests (x-rays) have come back okay, and he is able to move his arms and legs.

So if you could be praying for this precious little boy as he recovers that there will be no long term damage. I know that God has great things in store for this little guy. I think of Samuel in the bible and how his mother prayed for him for a long time and God granted her request for a son, and then used him to bring glory to God, and I believe that God can do great things through this Samuel too.


For this child I prayed,

and the Lord has granted me my petition

which I asked of Him.

1 Sam 1:27 (NKJV)


An added praise was that we also got to see Viviana, who is in the same hospital, she seems to be well recovered. She was in good spirits as always and was teasing the doctors and helping them find who they were looking for. We are hoping that she can come home today. Or very soon!



Thanks so much for your prayers!

Kristen

Día de Los Muertos. bolivia.

Dear Readers,
Saturday was Día de los muertos here in Bolivia. We didn’t see too much action on Saturday, but on SUNDAY our friend Hermano Jorge (who was also the leader of our trip to Potosí) took us to the cemetery so we could see how the Bolivian people honor their dead. We arrived at the cemetery, it was a beautiful day-reminded me of autumn up north. We followed the pathway down to the cemetery to the sound of Taps. The cemetery was indeed full; it maybe looked a little bit more like a park, with grassy fields, bronze statutes, and lots of flowers. There were also some tombs
and most of the graves were in tall white walls with a bunch of openings with windows covering it. Behind each window sat a plaque, some flowers, and a glass of water, and behind that is where they put the caskets. Interesting fact: Adrian told me that the spots on the walls are rented out, and once people stop paying rent, the body is taken out and cremated. That space is then rented to someone else. The wealthier families have their own larger private tombs.

The whole tradition was not nearly as somber as I expected. There were children walking around in groups that would say prayers for the dead, for a fee of course; a few music groups-both traditional Bolivian music, some Arabic music, as well as a few mariachi bands. Entire families were setting up displays of the deceased relative’s favorite foods, kids playing tag, and then us gringos wandering around…no one seemed to be bothered by us, though.

Umm...I don´t really know what was going on here...!
The common belief is that on this day, (or weekend) the spirits of the deceased come back to visit. The families, therefore, want to make the visiting spirit welcome by pleasing it with favorite music, food, and familiar faces.
So…that was my experience at the cemetery. I read a verse at bible study last week that was so very encouraging to me, He (Christ) died for us so that, whether awake (alive) or asleep (dead), we may live together with Him. I Thessalonians 5:10. For us death is not the end!
Just wanted to share my cultural experience with you all…
Have a great weekend!
Kristen

COUNTDOWN: 43 days.

Jungle Trip!

This was my first entire week in Cochabamba in 4 weeks!!
We were not able to locate my passport, so I had to apply for a new one. It should arrive in about a month. But if you could be praying for my visa to be restamped for minimal fees, I’d greatly appreciate it! I know that there’s no need to worry since, God’s bigger and has proved Himself faithful time after time, but I’ll still feel very relieved to have everything in order.
Last Friday we went to Chapare (the jungle). We had a meeting with a camp and church that together want to give us land for FIVE new homes!! We also saw the work in progress at Remberto’s new project and went to the other home that Remberto recently finished where I’ve spent some time helping with construction. The finished home is now just waiting on Sedeges (The child services agency here in Cochabamba) to approve all the paperwork. Remberto, Vick, Mickey, and Judith are staying there until a family is ready to move in. We also played with the neighborhood kids down by the river. They did their best to make sure that we “bathed” and even though we didn’t strip down to our underwear like they did, they succeeded in drenching us. It was really great to go back to the jungle to see the homes, and people that I’ve grown to love there. It was really neat, too, that we got to see very different stages of the homes in one day. Obtaining the land, constructing the house, and finishing it!
This week we’ve been catching up on blog stuff, getting our computers fixed, saying goodbye to dear friends, working at the center, tutoring at Frutillar, and twisting ankles…well, just me mostly of the latter. I was completely on couch-rest for a day, because I couldn’t move or put any weight on my foot. I was quite nervous that I had done some pretty serious damage, and began to lament all the activities I would miss because I couldn’t be as mobile. Bolivia is a very bad place to break a foot. But it’s doing a lot better now-Thank God!! I’m still hobbling around, but I imagine that in a few days it’ll be as good as new. I knew my clumsiness would catch up with me one of these days!!
The countdown is on, in a little less than 2 months I will be back to the states. It’s a very bittersweet feeling, and the only reason that I remind myself of it often, is so that it doesn’t sneak up on me. I don’t want to all of a sudden realize I only have three days left and have a bunch of things that I’ve forgotten to do. So if you all can be praying for me for direction as I make plans to return.
This week Jeff (Matt’s brother) who was an honorary IT intern, lived at the hacienda, and helped out all over the place, left. He was here for almost three months and was a huge encouragement to all of us. Mrs. Hedvall, my surrogate mother, my mentor and good friend left. She’ll be in Japan with her daughter until the beginning of December.
Soo, that’s what’s new here. I’ve made a video of our trip to Potosi. I’ll try to get it up on my photo blog soon(which I’ve also recently updated with PICTURES!!!).
Enjoy your weekend!!
Kristen

I spy something brown...

Two days after we returned from Chile we took off for Potosí, which is up by Oruro and La Paz (more north). We left Saturday morningi and are currently on the drive back. Sooo much happened, I’m afraid to write all of it, because I think you might be a little bored…but I’m going to anyways. So grab a cup of tea (or rice milk!!) and settle down for a long one…!
We left around lunch time. We spent a big part of our week in the car traveling. The roads were dusty and sandy, (our narrow windy mountain roads) but we only got stuck once. There were several ocasions where there were bulldozers cleaning off the mountain roads. But we had a Chevy!!
We spent our first night in Oruro (unexpected stop). We had a bit of car trouble so we had to have it fixed there. We were pleasantly surprised to have a bathroom and warm room to sleep in. However, this was only the beginning of the bolivian hospitality that we experienced during our short-term mission trip.
Our team consists of Dr. Jorge (Potosino, Dr. Jorge has a huge heart for his fellow potosinos, he consistently travels out to the campo to offer medical assistance as well. He directs Red Vida de Esperanza, the group that we went with). Javier, a missionary with Mission Unida Mundial. He lives in Vinto (right by Nate’s workshop where I go about twice a week), but works in a village in the mountains. He speaks Portugues, Spanish, and Quechua. Waldo, is a dentist and also part of the leadership of Red Vida de Esperanza. He’s a clown, and sometimes even got in costume for it, and enjoyed entertaining the kids and us. He’s also from Potosí. Hermana Vickie, is our cook, she’s a very sweet lady and make’s sure we’re all behaving! Rosi, is also a dentist and just finished her practicum in Chapare. This is her first mission trip and she was very excited to participate. Also my roommates Jen, Katie S, and Bethany came along.
We went to seven communities, very rural and poor communities. They were all very different, but most of them were cold. The first village we went to, we made a late arrival, but there were still townspeople up waiting for us. They then proceeded to bring us mattresses, blankets, tea, and bread. We realized pretty early after our arrival that this was probably the poorest community we had ever seen in Bolivia, or elsewhere for that matter. I felt guilty when I realized that because they had given us a bunch of blankets, it probably meant that someone had to go without. What sacrifice! We stayed in the school, both windows were broken but the boys taped them up with cardboard before we went to bed.
Almost all of the schools had a special ceremony welcoming us, complete with the bolivian national anthem (I have a few lines memorized and a cheat sheet that I can use to memorize the rest of it!), interpretive poetry, songs and traditional dance. In most of the villages the older generations spoke mostly, if not only quechua. I have a long ways to go to be fluent in quechua, but I have learned a few helpful phrases. (Ama wakaychu—don’t cry!)
For our program we did puppets (a skit about dental health, as most of the parents and grandparents have rotten or no teeth.), a clown drama, games, bible memory verse--Juan 3:16, coloring pictures, and distributing Samaritan’s Purse boxes. It was so neat to see the kids that receive the boxes, and get to tell them how and why they came here. (Helpful hint, to those of you who do boxes for samaritan’s purse or busses international I strongly suggest that you don’t include playing cards. In the rural communities that we have visited, cards are associated with gambling, casinos and other destructive addictions that the churches are fighting against. Soo….go with some cool sunglasses or gloves or something…)
We also participated in a few church services where I had to give my testimony twice—talk about being put on the spot…however it was really neat to hear it translated from Spanish into quechua!!
The biggest thing that God has been teaching me is to give my best every day…there’s a song by Jesus Adrian Romero (one of my most favorite artists), called Te Daré lo Mejor (I’ll put on a video of it, even though I don’t expect that many of you will understand it…), it basically talks about giving God our best every day, because that’s what he deserves. There were probably about 5 other verses, messages, or comments that convicted me even more. I just want to be able to stand before God with as few regrets as possible.
I have so much confidence in this organization that we have come with. Dr. Jorge, is the founder, and I feel like he has a really well balanced view of ministry. During our time in the campos, he was always meeting with the church and community leaders. We had tea with the teachers from one of the villages, and three of the teachers, openly mentioned that they were looking for a meaningful religion. Not worried about what others might thing, Dr. Jorge took the opportunity to share with them how meaningful his relationship with God is and how he offers that to all of us. He also encouraged and challenged them to keep on investing in the kids of the community. He preached at church a few times, did health exams in communities where there is no doctor, played games with the kids, and made sure all the needs of our team were met.
I give credit to all you short-term-teamers out there. I feel like this trip has been the most draining week in my eight months of missionary work here in Bolivia. ‘Though I wouldn’t trade it for the WORLD!! I’m so thankful for the opportunity to see more of Bolivia, hang out with kids, learn from my teammates, get out of my comfort zone.
Umm…there’s so much more I could write right now…but I imagine I’ll add some more by the time I post this. I’ll also try to post some PICTURES on my foto blog!!
Thanks for hanging in there!!
Kristen