Bautismo

My life here is full to overflowing. God has blessed me abundantly with a rich community, outlets to use my gifts, and lots of encouragement. I am so grateful for His daily affirmations that THIS is where I'm supposed to be.

me with my favorite neighbor boy, Willy
Carnaval continued... in our house!

It's an incredible blessing to me that my post-college life is almost as full of community as it was when I was living on campus and surrounded by peers! Even though I am developing great friendships with those around me, I still really feel a hole in the area of deep, close friendships. Because of the cultural barriers, I have to be very careful in my friendships with guys. There are no girls my age who I'm around, and I struggle not having a close girlfriend here to keep me accountable.

Nelson, Pastora Charito & Miguel
(don't worry, the boys are standing on rocks. or at least one of them is...)

Miguel getting baptized

Several weeks ago, my church went to Los Molinos, a beautiful retreat along a river. We had a neat ceremony before the baptism, where the four youth who were going to be baptized shared a little bit about why they wanted to be baptized and about their faith journey. The day was cloudy and the water freezing, so the youth really had to be committed to their decision to be baptized! After each person was baptized, we sang "I Have Decided To Follow Jesus". It was truly a time of celebration for the new life of those four jovenes.

me and my friend Humberto behind
one of the waterfalls

Afterwards, we played soccer, sang, and explored along the gorgeous river, including the various waterfalls in the valley. I had fun going behind the waterfalls and playing in the water with my friends. We all drove there together in a big trufi (the local transportation), and as we drove back, someone pulled out the guitar and we worshipped the whole way back. What a joy filled day! It was pretty special to realize I've been a part of this church family long enough to witness two baptism ceremonies, and to have so many memories with the wonderful people in our congregation.

Laura, Valkeria, and me at the baptism

Despite all these blessings, I am struggling with some of the same visa problems that I had the last time I was here. Even though I am on a completely different visa, and I supposedly put all those visa problems behind me, my boss approached me today informing me that I may have hit a snag with my visa process. Someone really doesn't want me to be in Bolivia! It seems like every step of the way, there is always at least one hang up.

Anyway, here's the scoop. I'm still waiting for my contract, and I need my contract from the school in order to start my visa process. It may sound crazy to be teaching without a written contract, but I've been paid each month and given every reason to believe that I will be provided what I've been promised. The problem is that supposedly my new contract is stuck in the lawyer's office because the Bolivian government has an "observation" on my passport. Aaahhh! Sounds scary, but my boss made it sound like it's not a huge thing to worry about yet.

That all said, please just pray that God will provide a clear path to move forward, and that it will just be a mix-up. Hopefully, all I'll have to do is pay for the days I was over my visa last fall, and I can move forward. I am currently almost a month and a half over my current visa while I wait for the residency visa process to begin. Ugh.

Thanks for listening, for your continued prayers, and for all your encouragement. I am grateful for all the support I have at home.

Kati

P.S. Here's the link to my Carnaval dance with the other teachers:
http://video.google.es/videoplay?docid=-4319825846314456703

I'm also including a video from the baptism:
http://video.google.es/videoplay?docid=-8400814169223687980

COPY THE LINK INTO YOUR BROWSER:)