Power of Prayer

I was told another 3-6 months for my visa.  My knee jerk reaction was, "Not again!", and my second reaction was fear that this could ultimately be the last straw.  If I don't have my visa by the time I come home this summer, then I don't know how I can ask for a third objeto determinado in a year and a half, and actually expect to get a visa after being illegal for almost a year and a half.  Then just today, I was told I should have it by next week.  Who knows what the real truth is.  But, I can't worry, because that's not my job.  My job is to just let it rest in God's hands, and to fight like crazy thru prayer.  So fight with me!

me and Jeff jumping on the road to Larati

I went on a great adventure with a Whitworth friend, Jeff Upton, who is visiting during his time in S.A.  We looked at a map, chose a laguna up in the mountains as our destination, and randomly chose one of a dozen roads winding up the mountainside, hoping it would lead to the place we'd seen on the map.  We hiked up endless switchbacks on a forsaken, dry hillside for 4 hours in the miserable, pounding sun.  Once we reached the top, it was such a letdown, just another series of endless hills.

Jeff convinced me to walk just a few more minutes down the road, and all of a sudden, our spirits were lifted by the passing of a car who told us we were almost to Laguna Larati, the very place we had blindly set out to find!  Then we turned the corner and were met by the sight of the lily-pad covered lake, a hidden valley filled with fields of brilliant wildflowers, and a folkloric group of musicians dancing through one of the fields, playing the accordion, charrango, guitar and a rustic drum.  Turns out it was the Carnival celebration in the Quechua village of Larati.  We walked into the mud brick village and I experienced for the first time what it was like to have EVERYONE in an entire village stare at me all at the same time.  We soaked in the gentle beauty of the village for a little while, and then began the daunting task of finding a sober driver to drive us back down.  I haven't prayed so much on a drive in a long time, as we flew around corners and bounced down the road, once we finally found a sober driver.

 

traditional folkloric worship dance

This last week was full of church activities.  As of a month ago, I am the church worship leader, which means a lot more responsibilities and roles to fill in the church.  We put on an evangelical outreach to our community Thursday night thru Sunday afternoon.  Thursday night was a Quechua service, and I was thrilled by how much of the sermon I was able to understand, and how I was able to communicate on a basic level with some of the people there.  With some of my friends, we did a folkloric worship dance for the service, wearing traditional clothes.  It was funny to see the reactions and delight of the Quechua women, seeing a blond "cholita", speaking to them in their native language and dancing one of their dances.  I'm grateful for all the opportunities God gives me to bridge the cultural gaps.

most of church, after the anniversary

Sunday was the church anniversary, and it was pretty neat to see the church come together to help set up, to prepare all the different parts of the service, and to work together as the body of Christ.  We sang Fuente De La Vida Eterna, Come Thou Fount, and it thrilled my soul for me to sing one of my favorite hymns with believers in Bolivia.

most of the youth group after the outreach Sat night

 ⁸ But I am like an olive tree
       flourishing in the house of God;
       I trust in God's unfailing love
       for ever and ever.
 ⁹ I will praise you forever for what you have done;
       in your name I will hope, for your name is good.
       I will praise you in the presence of your saints.
 Psalm 52