CARBONDALE!!!

one of my favorites, Elias, from the Center

After 5 days of travel, 7 separate flights, and 3 countries in between Bolivia and the States, I am now safely home in my cozy house in the mountains. I arrived yesterday, and am home until the 6th of January. On the way home, I got to stop off in Managua, Nicaragua to visit a good friend from college who is with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. Then my friend Emily from college picked me up from the airport in Denver, and I got to spend a day with her before she drove me home. It was such a gift to spend time with good friends, since that time will be more and more rare in the next year and a half.

me and Miguel, hiking back from a lake

Emily and me

In January, I fly back to Cochabamba, Bolivia to live there for another year and a half. I plan to teach third grade in an international school, and hope to come back to visit this summer if I can afford the plane ticket. It's been neat to see how God has continued to call my heart back to Coch, and how He has provided for my every need. I've already moved in with my new housemates, and the view from my bed looks right up at the Andes! My community there has continued to grow, building deeper and deeper relationships with my church, my friends Rosalia and Vicenta, the kiddos at both orphanages, and all the other rich friendships I have there. I already miss riding on trufis (the public transportation) and speaking in Spanish.

me and Vicenta, my dear Quechua friend
(mother of Rosalia)

I look forward to soaking up time in the mountains with my family, x-country skiing to get our Christmas tree, and playing in the snow. It's good to see deep friends from home, too, and enjoy the little things I've missed, like a bowl of Cheerios in the morning, and Colorado blue sky. Thank you all for your support while I was in Bolivia these last six months. Your letters, prayers, and encouragement were an essential part of my wellbeing. Even though I won't be in an official missionary position when I return, my perspective is that I'm just returning to a different type of ministry. I plan to continue my blog, and would still love your support through letters, prayers, and communication.

Here's my new address:
Katie Stewart
c/o Cochabamba Cooperative School
P.O. Box 1395
Cochabamba, Bolivia

May the peace of Christ fill these next few weeks for each of you, and may you find the time to stop and breathe, and to soak in the beauty of time with family and friends.

Shalom,
Katie

my view from my bedroom at home!
mountains, check
snow, check
Colorado blue, check!!!

I Have My Visa!!!

Friends,

GOOD NEWS!! I´m safely back from Salta, Argentina with my final 30 days of visa. I had no problems at the border either way, and didn´t even need to pay the fines I had accumulated for the days I was illegal. So, as far as I can tell, I am done with messy visa problems, as I will have a work visa when I come back in January, and the school will be in charge of all the paperwork. Thank you so much for all your prayers! It feels incredible to know that I´m finally out of the woods, and that God was so faithful to keep me here.

The view of Salta from the top of a hill

I want to give a shameless plug for Compassion International. A week and a half ago, I had the incredible opportunity to visit the two kids that my parents sponsor here in Cochabamba. It was a beautiful, powerful experience to meet face to face the kiddos that my parents have been writing to and supporting financially.

The first child I visited, Eugenio, was a project more out in the campo. Eugenio´s family came to Cochabamba 6 years ago from the campo of Potosí, in order that Eugenio would have the chance to go to school, like his parents were never able to. The whole family is fluent in Quechua, and Eugenio´s mom didn´t speak much Spanish at all. We were able to share a little bit in their native language, and they warmed up to me quickly for normally shy campesinos, partly because I shared a love and knowledge of their homeland in the campo. They taught me words in Quechua, made me a delicious snack, and proudly showed me the new house that they were building, complete with sheep for Eugenio´s mom to use their wool to weave.

Me with Eugenio (and their sheep!)

Eugenio´s project gave me so much hope for what Compassion has to offer the kids they serve. All the staff was incredible, balanced in their faiths and passionate about the spiritual, physical and emotional growth of the kids. Its obvious that this project ís making an incredible difference in the lives of the kiddos who attend.

If you want more information about Compassion, or have more questions, please feel free to contact me (I was a volunteer with them for years) or go to www.compassion.com.

I leave Cochabamba 2 weeks from tomorrow!

Katie

More Travels and a Church

Queridos hermanos,

Tomorrow morning I fly to Salta, Argentina to get the final 30 days on my visa. I´ve been illegal for the last week or so, and will be illegal for just short of 2 weeks when I hopefully get my new visa. I´m flying by myself to a country I´ve never been to, which is a bit unnerving. Pray for confidence, and God´s protection as I spend Monday thru Thursday away from Cochabamba.

The last few days have been stressful, and I´ve struggled to trust that God would provide a good way for me to get my last visa. Yesterday, I was overwhelmed by His goodness. When I went to check on cheap flights out of the country, the agent told me the cheapest flight was to Salta, Argentina. Just last week, during a special week of celebration in our church, we had a visiting pastor, Pastor Rolando, stay at the church all week, who was from Salta, Argentina. One of the first things he said to me when I first met him was that I had a place to stay with him if I was ever in Salta!! How good is our God?!!

I have yet to get ahold of him, so I´d also appreciate your prayers that I would be able to contact him before I leave early tomorrow morning.

A special service last week at my church
(Carlos on piano (L), Wilber in the middle, and Pastor Rolando on the right)

Aside from visas, I continue to be overwhelmingly blessed by God´s intentional care for me. As I mentioned in my recent e-mail, my home church here has filled me to overflowing with incredible community. Here´s a little peek into what my church is like:

-Quechua older men and women
-a thriving young people´s group my age
-cute little kids running all over the place

People in the congregation at my church

Those who got baptized when I went with my church a month ago
(Rosalia is the girl on the left in the back)

I went to a devotional Thursday night at my church, and when I arrived early, Vicenta (a dear friend, mother of my friend Rosalia, and housekeeper at the Frutillar orphanage) came in and asked me to sing songs in Quechua with her out of her Quechua hymnal. Vicenta also makes sure that someone always takes me all the way home after church, since I have to walk through a dark forrest to get to my house.

Rosalia (pictured above) lives at the Frutillar orphanage, as the daughter of Vicenta, the housekeeper. I began a friendship with her two years ago, but she´s now 13, and we´re able to have much more of a relationship now that she´s a part of the jovenes (young people) group at church. It was powerful to listen to her share about her faith to the whole congregation before she was baptized. Her faith is vibrant, especially for a 13-year-old, and we often get to pray together, sing worship together, and spend time together. Keep praying for my mentorship of Rosalia, especially as she enters into rebellious years, and without a father.

Thank you, my dear friends, for your continued love and support. I feel daily blessed by the community that I never really left behind when I came here.

con todo amor,
Kati

Missions trip on a missions trip...

Flat tires, bad brakes, and a shifter that won’t stay in gear… Winding 4X4 roads with steep cliffs, breathtaking views of canyons, desolate and arid land, and herds of llamas, donkeys and sheep wandering across the road… Arriving in villages at midnight, getting up at 6am, no showers, beautiful indigenous people… Quechua, English, Spanish, Aymara… All I’m capable of sharing with you is just snippets of what I experienced during my time in Potosi, but I hope you’re able to get a glimpse of how powerful the trip was. As a quick re-cap, I went on a 9 day mission’s trip to Potosi with 3 other interns and 5 Bolivians. Potosi is a southern department in Bolivia, known for its mountains, remote villages, mines, and Quechua-speaking people. We went to 7 villages, sharing the gospel, giving the kiddos a little hygienic education, and distributing Samaritan’s Purse shoeboxes.


As you can see from this picture, these precious wawas were thrilled to get a gift from so far away. As one dad shared, some of the kids had never been given presents before. Before we gave them their boxes, we talked about how the shoeboxes were an example of God’s love for them, and how the best gift He ever gave was the gift of His Son. In each village, I was able to offer a Quechua greeting or a question to the weathered old men and women, and was rewarded with a toothless smile. In a Quechua church in Urmiri, the third village, I was asked on the spot to share my testimony. When I got on stage, the translator joked in Quechua that I was fluent, and he didn’t need to translate. I said, “Mana parlanichu” (I don’t speak Quechua!) but was able to use a little Quechua at the beginning. It was a powerful experience to share my story in Spanish and to hear it translated into Quechua. I talked about my connection to God through nature, and then shared Psalm 23. What a beautiful thing to share a passage from scripture about God as our Shepherd to an audience full of shepherds! One of my main roles on the team was to share John 3:16 with the 10-14 year-olds in the village when we broke up into groups. For most of the villages, Jen, another intern was in there for moral support, but she doesn’t speak much Spanish.

In Macha Macha, the last village, 30-40 Quechua kids all crowded into a dim room and looked at me expectantly. I didn’t have any of the teaching tools I was used to in the other villages, and I was all by myself. As I read, “Porque tanto amo Dios al mundo…” I learned that most of these kids had never heard the gospel before, and that many of them didn’t even have a clear picture of who God is or what Jesus did.

There’s no way to put into words how beautiful it was to stare into the eager brown eyes of these beautiful Quechua children and to share with them from the bottom of my heart what it means to have a rich relationship with Christ. We went through each part of the verse, and I explained what each part meant, and what it could mean to them. They soaked it all in, and when we were done and left the classroom, the kids flocked around me, all smiles. I have no idea if they understood all I said, but I can only continued to pray that God will draw each of them to Him, and that some day each of those kids will be able to experience the overwhelming richness of a relationship with Him.

Our journey felt like one of Paul’s trips in many ways, with major car troubles, persecution and division, but so much truth and beauty shared about God and His love for us. Check out 2 Corinthians for a taste of some of what we experienced.

Pray for the seeds planted, and for the body of Christ in each village. May God be as real and present for each of you as He was for us on this trip.

Dios llawan,
Kata

more political updates

Queridos amigos,

YAY!! Good news! I´m back safely from Chile with at least 30 more days of legality, and a possible hope of 60 more if I talk to immigration. Chile was incredible, and I learned a lot more about South America thru my trip cross-country. Hopefully soon I can post pictures of the glacial peaks, alpine lakes, and flamingos. Yep! Flamingos at the border at a whopping 12,000+ feet! So much to tell.

For now, I wanted to let you know a few things to be praying about for the next few weeks. Tomorrow, I leave again to go on a short mission trip (27th of Sept thru 5th of Oct) to Potosí, a southern department in Bolivia. It´s up in the mountains, very remote, and has a large concentration of Quechua indigenous people. We´ll work with kiddos, and won´t take a shower for the whole 9 days:) Sounds like my kind of trip! Pray for safety on the roads, and that we will be able to express the beauty of relationship with Christ with the people in the villages we go to.

Here´s another update from our team leader about the current political situation:

"I'll share some of the highlights. The opposition governors continue to meet here in Cochabamba. Evo was supposed to meet with them yesterday but didn’t; he said today he would. He was in New York Wednesday to speak at the UN and also with the the South American Association of Leaders. The meeting yesterday should have ended with separate documents that he had drafted to encourage the governors to sign his constitutional amendments and a document the governors were drafting in hopes of Evo supporting more autonomy for the provinces. Some notable events:

Evo has asked that the Constitutional Vote be moved up from Dec 7 to Oct 15 (14?) side note: this vote is a big deal, and things could turn sour...

Governor Fernandez of the Pando province was released / moved to Sucre pending more investigation of his involvement in the violence last week.

Camposinos (Evo supporters) marched into Santa Cruz (Autonomy supporters)Wednesday as a show of support for Evo. Although it was peaceful the estimated 300,000 people were intimidating and could still turn violent should the wrong things be said at today's meeting with Evo and opposition governors here in Coch.

Life here continues to be very normal. There are no road blocks, no shortages."

Our God is faithful!
Katie

I´m still safe!

Friends,

Things in Cochabamba continue to be fairly calm, although there is still a lot of instability in the rest of the country. I found out Tuesday that I will be unable to get the kind of visa I was hoping for, but we´re working on plans now for me to travel out of the country soon in hopes that I can piece together another 60 days of visa. I´ll keep you posted, but keep praying!

Below is a summary of the current political situation, written by my team leader here in Bolivia. Hope it helps to ease hearts, as well as inform:)


"I’d like to share a political update with you on our situation here in Bolivia. As
many of you know President Evo is a member of the MAS party (Movement Towards Socialism) and over the past 2 ½ years he has definitely made his party proud. He is attempting to re-write the constitution; however, five of the nine governors oppose Evo’s anti-western policies and his movement away from democracy. The proposed constitution will be voted on Dec 7; however, four of the nine provinces have voted for more autonomy from the central government while five are in support of more power in the hands of the president. The climate is especially hostile because the law requires all constitutional changes to be approved with a 2/3 vote and Evo decided the changes can be made with a simple majority and only the final vote needs to have 2/3.

This past week things escalated when the province of Pando had opposing demonstrators clash and thirty people were killed as Evo declared martial law and the military was called in. The same day the US ambassador was meeting with the Santa Cruz governor; Evo’s biggest opponent, and Evo accused them of inciting un-rest and expelled the US ambassador. The US replied by expelling the Bolivian ambassador, President Chaves of Venezuala then expelled his US ambassador to demonstrate support for Evo and the US expelled the Venezuala ambassador. The following day Evo announced he could no longer guarantee the safety of US Drug Enforcement Agents in his country and the US moved Bolivia to the black list of countries who are no longer helping in the war on drugs. Yesterday, the US pulled out all non-emergency government personal including all Peace Corp members."

Thanks for your continued prayers. I am daily blessed by the support and encouragement from the body of Christ.

Dios llawankichej,
Kati

New Mailing Info

Hermanos y Hermanas,

Just a quick note to let you know that my mailing info has changed. The Spies (the Australian couple that we work with) are going back to Australia on furlough in a month. They will no longer be able to pick up my mail, and any mail addressed to them would be stuck at the post office until after I leave. Here is my new address, starting today:

Matt and Elsa Johnson
for Katie Stewart
Casilla 376
Cochabamba, Bolivia

Thank you so much for all the packages, letters, and notes that you´ve sent over the past few months. I feel overwhelmed by the amount of love that God has poured out on me through all of you. Just a quick reminder, if you plan to send a package (which I would love!), just make sure it´s under 2 kilos (I think that translates into roughly 4 and a half pounds), otherwise I have to pay significant taxes and wait in Bolivian lines. Ugh.

Below is a link to an album of pictures I´ve put together from August. Towards the end, there are lots of pictures of the kiddos at both orphanages... Enjoy!

Hermana Cati


BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.

Elian

Friends,

Each time I sit down to write, I find I don´t have the right words to describe all the rich fullness that my heart holds. Life in Bolivia is always such a bittersweet mix of beauty and pain. This picture below of me and Elian captures just a bit of how I usually feel when I´m with the kiddos. The niños have been by far the biggest blessing of my time in Coch. I feel full to overflowing with love for these precious, lindo niños, and it is such a joy each day to share a smile with them, to hold them close, and to tell them of Christ´s incredible love for them.


Elian has weaseled his way deep into my heart. Maybe it's just the shared joy of Quechua, but I suspect it´s this smile you see in the picture... or maybe the shy way he slips his hand in mine, or calls "Cati" to show me something he´s proud of, or the way he comes running, cuaderno in hand, whenever I arrive, to beg for "astawa tarea"(more homework). He´s such an eager learner, and often steals away from the rest of the group to pull out a pencil and practice his letters in his cuaderno.

We took the Villa Israel kids to the movies this week and bought them all popcorn and a drink. When Elian saw I didn´t have any, he leaned over with a fistful of popcorn to plop it into my hand. Every time I finished my handful, he´d tug on my sleeve, saying,"Cati, ¡más!" His heart is in tune with the needs of those around him, and his sweet little Quechua voice is enough to melt anyone!


The flip side of Elian´s beauty is the continued brokenness of his story. I learned a few days ago that they now think that Elian´s dad murdered his mother. I have no idea whether Elian was present for that or not, but I can´t help but ache at the holes that it tore in his life. His father is an alcoholic and is unable to care for any of his children, which means that Elian and Franz are only two of many children in the family and have been separated from the rest of their siblings.

Another torn part of Elian´s story is his identity as a Quechua. In Bolivia, to be from the campo (the countryside) is a deeply shameful thing, and it´s even more shameful to be a Quechua and to speak the language. Elian´s new brothers and sisters are struggling to accept him with this identity. I´ve had several conversations with other kids at Villa Israel about their "new brother" Elian, and several times, I´ve gotten the disdainful response, "He´s not my brother, he´s a campesino". They make fun of his rotting teeth (often a sign of poverty or neglect here in Bolivia) and tell him to stop speaking in Quechua. Whenever I try to talk to him in Quechua, they tell me that he no longer speaks Quechua (he obviously does, as he still struggles to get a few phrases out in español), and tell me he needs to forget his Quechua and his heritage. It breaks my heart that a little boy with such a beautiful language and indigenous identity is being forced to forget all that defines him and his past.


Please continue to keep all the kids at Villa Israel in your prayers, and the interns as well as we struggle to have wisdom for all the situations we face as we try to grow with them. Pray that the impartial love of Christ would be growing in each of their little hearts, and that God would show us how to be an example of this love for them.


Thanks for reading,
Cati


P.S. For those of you who are wondering, August 10th passed without much fanfare... Evo was re-elected and the prefect (governor)of Cochabamba was voted out, but refuses to leave. We may continue to see some interesting political dynamics, but it seems as though things are returning to normal in Coch.


P.P.S. Here´s a video of Villa Israel that my friend Adrian put together: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNMHmmSaYdM

Evo & Bolivia

Here´s a brief look at what´s going on politically in Bolivia...

The political climate here is fascinating to me, and heart-wrenching at the same time. Evo Morales, the first indigenous Bolivian president in the country's history, has reached a place in the eyes of the upper class that may very well lead to his assassination in the next few months. Some middle and lower class Bolivians also share this low opinion of him, and the country will vote in August whether to keep him as president or not. I don't pretend to know the ins and outs of Evo's history in Bolivia, but my impression of him is that he is still a symbol of hope for the indigenous and poor people.

I had a conversation with my friends Alejandro and Reina, and they talked about how the current problems in Bolivia are not Evo's fault. He has been implementing programs that are intended to close the gap between the rich and the poor, which in turn has upset the factory owners and the rich. A few of Evo's programs:

-$ incentive given to each Bolivian student who completes 8th grade
-monthly government stipend for Bolivians over 70

Despite all these positive facts, I'm wary of Evo's strong connection to Hugo Chavez, and Evo's growing distrust and dislike of America/Americans. In fact, my visa situation in Bolivia is more complicated because of the new laws that Evo has implemented against Americans. Some speculate that he has made it more difficult for Americans to enter Bolivia because it is so hard for Bolivians to enter the USA. It easy for me to understand his frustration, but it also causes some of my own frustration! In a few months, I may need to leave for Chile for a few days to get a different kind of visa and re-enter Bolivia.

Graffiti on a wall near my house
Translation: "Assasinate Evo the Terrorist!"

On August 10th, the whole country will vote on whether to keep Evo president or not. There are several other issues that will be voted on as well, including the replacement of corrupt governors for each province. Keep the country (and us!) in your prayers on this day, as many are anticipating unrest and potential upheaval surrounding this vote.

As you keep the country and its leaders in your prayers, also keep my heart in your prayers as I struggle to make deep relationships here that will feed me spiritually and emotionally, and as I learn the balance of relying fully on the Lord to meet my every need. I know He is faithful!

un abrazo,

Katie/Kansas/Quechua/Cati/Kata/Hermana Cati

(all my names and nicknames here!)

the BEAUTY and the MESS

My heart is a bit heavier as I write this next blog... A lot has happened in the last week and a half, both good and bad. Villa Israel got two new Quechua orphans: Franz (2) and Elian (6). They only speak Quechua, and theirfirst few days here, I was honored with the chance to speak to them in their native language. It was such a gift to reassure them, and to be able to ask them questions when everything else around them was so foreign and upsetting. It ripped my heart, though, when at the end of our time there, Elian came up to me and said "Jaku wasi", which means let´s go to my home. I told him that this was his home now, and he began wailing with such deep pain that it was all I could do to keep from wailing alongside him. The last week has been a bit better for both of them as they have begun to adjust to their new reality, but every time we leave, Franz whimpers or cries all over again, reminding me that they will always have a piece of their hearts that will be broken.

Early last week, I had the priviledge of taking Franz by trufi (local transportation) to the clinic for treatment (he was sick). As I carried him and held him as he slept on my lap, I was overwhelmed by the incredible sense of responsibility I felt for him, but also the beauty that comes with caring for God´s children. We chattered away to each other, both in our broken speech: my broken Quechua and his broken baby language... a mixture of Spanish and Quechua.

People on the street and in the trufis kept asking me how old my son was, or what his name was, and I was struck by what a funny pair we must look like; a gringa in braids and sandals with a beautiful Bolivian boy on her hip. Taking Franz to the doctor also gave me a sense of fulfillment and gave me an anchor of purpose in the midst of a sea of helplesness.

These boys both need your prayers as they continue to learn Spanish, adjust to their new siblings, and try to make sense of what has happened in their lives in the last two weeks. Their mom died suddenly 2 weeks ago of an epeleptic seizure, and I imagine that the shock of that is also a part of what they are processing and dealing with.




After describing all that pain, here´s a little more beauty for you... This is beautiful Ana from Villa Israel, the only girl there. She has a beautiful heart, and has also taken upon herself to translate and care for the two new boys, as she is fluent in Quechua as well.




Thank you for your continued prayers, friends. There´s so much more to share, especially about the sovereignty of God, so I´ll keep saving up the rich stories.

con cariño,
Katie

Week 2...

Imaynalla!

I've begun to learn Quechua again, which has been such a joy. There are so many people to teach me (kids at the second orphanage, Tía Bacenta at the first orphanage, Alejandro and random vendors in the market. It´s thrilling to begin to piece together the little I have to communicate with people who don´t know Spanish.

Here´s picture of one of the boys (Ariel) from the first orphanage who I used to speak Quechua to, but he has since forgotten the language.



Interesting tidbits from this week:

-trying to speak "plumber language" in Spanish when one of our pipes burst

-returning to the Muyurina orphanage to hug the kiddos for the first time in 2 years

-going to a Spanish Christian rock concert

My friend Adrian, another intern here, has put together a video of "El Centro de Amistad", an after school ministry where we help out two days a week. You can get a taste : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB4M8cGgGu4

For those of you who have been curious about what my daily life looks like, here´s a rough outline of my schedule:

Monday:
-shopping for the week
-afternoon at El Centro de Amistad
-evening at the Johnsons (an IT missionary couple here) for dinner and bible study

Tuesday:
-afternoon at Villa Israel (the second orphanage) tutoring the kiddos

Wednesday:
-morning intern meeting w/ Johnsons
-afternoon at El Centro de Amistad
-motorcycle ride with "Las Aguilas Legendarias"!!

Thursday:
-update orphanage blog sites
-somewhat "free" day for us to relax/take care of odds and ends

Friday:
-morning at Villa Israel to tutor
-afternoon at Muyurina orphanage (first orphanage) to tutor

Saturday:
-afternoon at Muyurina to play/tutor
-babywashing at the Plaza Principal for homeless (often Quechua) children

Sunday:
-church... still haven´t found one I´d like to get rooted in

Thank you for all your encouragement and prayers. I feel rooted, content, and truly where I´m supposed to be.

con cariño,
Katie

En Cochabamba

Saturday night at 9pm, I finally arrived in Cochabamba. I saw God´s hand in each leg of my journey... thank you for all your prayers! I should´ve missed my connection in Miami to La Paz, Bolivia, as I arrived at the airport slightly after my plane was scheduled to depart, but by the grace of God, I made it in time.

My flight to La Paz arrived 3 hours late, and I missed my connection to Cochabamba. As I was waiting in line in customs, a man came running up and down the line, calling "¿Cati Estewart?" He had two meal vouchers, and a new reservation on the next flight to Cochabamba at 7pm. I talked with lots of other people from my same flight who also missed their connection to Cochabamba, and none of them had the same experience. In fact, most of them had to buy completely new tickets, and several had to wait until the next morning to fly out! Even though it was frustrating to be stuck in the La Paz airport for 14 hours, I was grateful for all the little ways that God cared for me. Plus, I didn´t really mind having extra time to stare out the window at the incredible and striking mountains shooting up out of the altiplano.

Life in Coch has been incredibly powerful, as I have been able to reconnect with so many people and parts of Bolivia that are deeply rooted in my heart. My first day here, I was able to spend the whole afternoon with my dear friends Reina and Alejandro, as well as see their now almost two-year-old son, Josías. Later in the week, I was able to spend some time tutoring the kiddos in the second orphanage that I helped build two years ago. It was deeply moving to meet all the kids who live in the place I labored over, and to have the chance to love on them and build them up in the hope of Christ. Last night, I also got to reunite with my good friend Pachy at the weekly motorcyle club meeting I used to go to two summers ago. It was fun to see some old friends there, and to drive around the city again on the back of a motorcycle.

Here´s a link to a video tour of the Hacienda (where I stayed last time in Cochabamba, and where I will live for the next 6 months) that one of the other interns put together: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Lymybm6NEkQ

As for my heart, I´m still adjusting to the newness of being on my own. At times, I´ve felt lonely and incapable. I´d love prayers that I would be confident in what God has called me to do, and that I would seize every opportunity to initiate with Bolivians around me. Pray also that God would put Bolivian girls my age in my path so I can build on more mutual relationships here.

Tinkuna cama,
Katie

"And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

still in the States...

My goodness.  The last few days have been a full whirlwind, but not the kind of whirlwind I was anticipating.  I was supposed to fly to Bolivia on the 9th (Monday), but was turned away from my flight when I learned that the yellow fever immunization was required in order to fly and I didn't have it.  The yellow fever vaccination was only a recommendation days earlier when I double checked, but the laws changed suddenly, and I was caught in the middle!

I am learning the discipline of patience and trust as I wait for my yellow fever shot to become valid (a 10 day wait period).  I spent most of the last 36 hours running around Chicago, getting my shot and a new flight out on the 20th of June.  As many of you know I am not a city girl, and it is uncomfortable and stretching for me to travel alone in an unknown city.

At one point, I was miles from downtown Chicago, in an unknown area and had spent the last hour and a half wandering through concrete and noisy traffic, trying to find a travel office.  It was my breaking point.  I found a graffiti covered pay phone in an abandoned parking lot and called my mom.  As I talked and sobbed, she reminded me of God's promise to never leave me.  I felt desperate, alone, and deeply disappointed, but somehow, God inserted Himself into the mess and drew me to Him.  I pulled myself together and by His grace, I was able to navigate the metra, bus, and train system safely the rest of the day.

As it stands right now, I am going to spend the next 10 days (9 days now!) in Elgin, IL, where International Teams is based.  I still feel alone and isolated, even though I'm surrounded by an incredible support team here.  It feels almost impossible to be still, yet that is the only option I am faced with.  I am certain that God has many things to teach me, but my stubborn desire to be in Bolivia NOW is getting in the way.  Please pray that the days ahead will only serve to deepen my understanding of God's calling on my life, and that I will be present.  Present in each moment.  Present in the loneliness.  Present in the disappointment and frustration.  Present in His daily grace and life-saving mercy.

Hasta Cochabamba, Bolivia,

Katie

Salida y Llegada

My heart is moving slowly higher in my throat as I prepare to leave for training in Chicago and then Bolivia in about a week. I feel such purpose and a certain "rightness" to my return. Ever since I left, I have felt drawn back to Bolivia to continue living out my calling. I have no doubts that this is where I should be for the next six months, yet it is so easy to allow the things I'm leaving behind to clutch at me in these final days.

Even as I prepare to leave, I wrestle with second guessing a trip that forces me to use so many resources: the generous gifts of others, fuel for many long plane rides, and my own financial resources. I struggle with what stewardship truly means, but I keep coming back to the same conclusion: I need to listen to God's distinct voice and my sense of calling. It's so easy to get tangled up in apathy while focusing in on making the best decision.

And so, as this picture shows, I am taking action and returning to a place where my heart is full. A place where I am able to use my gifts and passions, and where my interactions with the Bolivian people are rich and powerful. Among many things, I'm looking forward to:

-tutoring kids in the Muyurina orphanage
-hugging those same kids that I haven't seen in 2 years
-learning more Quechua
-riding with my motorcycle friends:)
-being stretched and challenged daily

Peace,
Katie

P.S. I love mail. I love it even more when I'm in another country. Write me at:

Nathan and Kate Spies
Casilla 376
Cochabamba, Bolivia

Please address it to Nathan & Kate, but put "for Katie Stewart" somewhere on the envelope.