Yay for the Bolivian Government!

I HAVE MY VISA!!!  I can't believe it, but I actually have it in my hand.  Some serious celebrating is in order.  The bummer is that the government changed the way they do things, and my one year visa was stamped in December of 2009.  I didn't technically have a visa until this Monday (or actually, the 31st of March, when it was finalized), but the Bolivian government doesn't see it that way.  So, the good news is, it's possible to get a visa!  When my visa expires December 2010, I'll be able to re-apply for a 2 year visa without as much hassle.  Thanks for your almost 2 years of prayers for my visa troubles.  God is faithful, just in His own timing:)

Joana, Jen, me

I also had the tremendous blessing of another visit.  One of my dear friends, Jen, who I used to live and work with as an intern with Iteams, came to visit me (and Bolivia) for a couple weeks.  It was perfect timing, especially since I was going through a series of major changes and big decisions for the future.  God truly knows our needs and responds in His perfect timing.  We were also able to spend a lot of time with my old ministries, including the Center, which continued to confirm my future here.  My favorite was visiting some of the boys from the Villa Israel orphanage, who I have been unable to see in over a year.  They remembered us both, and were thrilled to see us.  What a gift.

Erland (Villa Israel boy), me and Jen

me and the Villa Israel boys

Brandon, Jhoel, Samuel

A few weeks ago, we had a surprise wedding at our house.  Who would've thought that would've been one of the uses of our house when we decided to open it up for church use?!

 the wedding ceremony

me, Daniel (groom), Irma (bride), Oliver

It certainly wasn't the typical wedding, thrown together at the last minute in my living room, with my dining room table serving as the official table for the ceremony and signing of the marriage license.  The beautiful part was the symbol it was for the couple of reconciliation with God, and for recognizing their mistake and choosing to make it right.  They were supposed to get married a long time ago, but cultural norms of just living together as their commitment had kept them from taking the final step.  It was really beautiful to see the gentle ways in which God prompted them to be different, to take the big step of commitment through marriage.  Good stuff.

fun on a motorcycle:)

I'd really appreciate prayers for my heart.  The time I have left before I leave is going to fly by, and there are so many unresolved relational things.  I have no idea when I will be able to return, since I have no way of knowing how long it will take to raise my support.  Church life is getting very difficult.  I suppose it's really no different than the average church, but there are so many grudges, so many broken relationships, so many secrets of hidden sins, and I feel caught in the middle.  Pray for wisdom, pray for hope, and pray for strength and courage to do what needs to be done.  Our Lord is faithful, I just need to practice keeping my eyes fixed on Him.

But as for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise you more and more.

Psalm 71:14

Support raising- a journey in faith

some of the kiddos I'll be working with

I am officially an International Teams missionary!  Almost a week ago, I received an e-mail welcoming me to the Iteams family, and I was so overwhelmed, so grateful, I wept.  There are no words to express the gratitude I feel, the incredible joy and anticipation as I look to the future.

 

mi llajta (my home)

For those of you who have only heard bits and pieces, I am leaving my job at Calvert in May, and plan to return to Cochabamba once I have raised all my support to be a long term missionary at The Center, a place I've been working at and volunteering with on and off for almost 2 years.  At this point, long-term just means a 2 year commitment with the possibility of staying on longer.  I will be home in Colorado by June, and plan to spend most of my time raising the support I need to return to the ministries I love.  International Teams requires me to raise all my support before leaving for the field.

          me with some of the members of the church
My primary job will be The Center, an after-school center for kids from a poor neighborhood in Coch.  The Center provides spiritual and educational support, education for the kiddos about how to take care of their body and provides them with a safe environment to play with others their age.  My job will most likely be to teach the kids English, which is an incredible gift and a leg up in Bolivia.  I have the opportunity to give these kids the same level of education I'm currently giving Bolivia's rich.  What an opportunity!

Andreina, Briseyda, me

During my spare time, I hope to continue the relationships that I have been pouring into in my community and church.  I've been discipling several girls in the church, I'm the worship leader at my church, and I also really enjoy encouraging the Quechua women from my church.  Since my hours will be more flexible at The Center, I will have more time to really pour myself into these ministries as well.

So, here's where you come in.  In order to return to Cochabamba after June, I need to raise about $33,000 for 2 years.  Eek!  To me, it seems like a lot of money, but this is one of the leaps of faith I have to take.  I haven't even left yet, and I'm already aching for the time that I will lose while back in the States, trying to raise what I need.  My hope is to raise all my support by September at the latest, but I know that might be really optimistic.  The majority of my support can be raised through monthly pledges, but $2,000-$3,000 need to be raised upfront for one time expenses.   If you would like to support me, you can go online to www.iteams.org.  Click on Iteams USA, and then "give".  Any money you give is tax-deductible.  It's hard for me to ask for money, and I know that it brings a lot of responsibility.  But, my money really isn't my own anyway, so I guess this is just another lesson in trusting God with everything I have.

p.s. I will be sending out an official support letter soon:)

 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
       whose confidence is in him.
 He will be like a tree planted by the water
       that sends out its roots by the stream.
       It does not fear when heat comes;
       its leaves are always green.
       It has no worries in a year of drought
       and never fails to bear fruit." 
Jeremiah 17:7-8

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

My new job...

Veronica's b-day party

(with the rest of the kiddos crowding in around)

me and Francisco

So, the plan is to come back to the States after I finish school here at Calvert, and to spend the summer raising support for the next two years of my life.  My hope is to be able to raise what I need between now and August so that I can return mid-August to begin working at the Center.  I will spend a couple weeks in Chicago mid-June to the end of June, going through more intensive training that will hopefully prepare me even more to serve where I have been called. 

Dayana y Sara

niñas en el Centro

I will be returning to Bolivia this fall as a missionary with International Teams.  It scares the heck out of me to say that I will be a missionary, I think mainly because missionaries have such a bad connotation and reputation here in Cochabamba.  It's also scary for me to think of the complete and total financial reliance on God it will require.  Ultimately, it's what I want anyway; full and total reliance on Him.  It doesn't make the leap any less scary, though.  

 

me and Brenda, a feisty little girl

David & Toty

this pic doesn't do them justice!

But, I will be working with an almost all Bolivian team, and I feel confident that the team I'm joining is a team of believers who are very in tune with God's heart, and I know I will be in good hands on this team.  My close friend, Joana, is just one of many amazing people I will be joining.  Her parents, David and Toty, are both incredible examples, people of true integrity.  I will also be working with Joana's aunt and uncle, Norma and Howard, and another Bolivian woman named Mery.

the traditional outfits and baskets 

(from Tarija)

This last Friday, I got to dance again in the teacher's Carnaval dance, Rueda Chapaca.  I LOVE traditional Bolivian dances, and was stoked to get to dress up as an indigenous woman.  I actually just found out that there is a place nearby where the indigenous Quechua women have blue eyes and even some have blond hair!  Sounds like all I need to do to be a true Bolivian is move there and improve my Quechua!

      lining up to dance

 

Rueda Chapaca

This weekend is Carnaval, which means lots of water balloons, water guns, and a city-wide water fight.  Needless to say, I'm going to try to avoid going out into the city unless I'm fully prepared to be soaked.  

Be on the lookout for my support letter.  I should hopefully be done with all the acceptance paperwork with International Teams, (the missions organization I'm going to work with) within the month, and hope to send out my letter soon after that.  Plus, I'll be home this summer to raise support, and look forward to seeing most of you!

KT

P.S. Scorpion count: 6

Picture Trip

Here are a few photo highlights from the last two weeks.  Just another taste of my joy here, as well as a pretty awesome peek at the sweet backpack Collin and I did right before he left early this week.  Enjoy!

Joana, me and Collin

 

yo con mi hermanito

Reynaldo, Humberto & me

Adventure to Colomi, an Andean town on the edge of a high-altitude lake

 

                     Bolivian flower beauty              

                              

road along the laguna in Colomi

  

        Colorado stream in Bolivia

 

   the hike in...  I don't think I'm that bad of company!

                                Andean Highlands

 
            misty view down into the Jungle

what we woke up to the next morning...  Merry Christmas to me!!

and what we slept in...  Brr!  May I note, we slept UNDER that tarp.  Can we say squished?!

My cup overflows

"...surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."  Amen!  Gosh, this verse sure rings true for the last month of my life.  When God fills, He fills.  I am overflowing in so many ways.  Funny how it takes the really rough times and bitter patches in life to make us capable of fully soaking in His goodness when it does come.

jumping on Isla del Sol... HAPPY!!

There's no room on this blog to fully express all His rich blessings of the last few weeks, but I'll share a few highlights.  My family arrived the day after Christmas, and it was a whirlwind of goodness while they were here.  We went to Copacabana and Isla del Sol, soaking in the beauty and mystique of a new place.  I'd never been, and delighted in the joy of discovering new places, only amplified by the joy of having someone to share it with.

 

me and my church friends: 

Collin, Humberto, Reynaldo, Dad

Mom, me, Andreina, Briseyda, Rosalia

We then traveled back to Cochabamba and spent two weeks enjoying RICH time with my Bolivian friends and "family".  It was such a joy to share my parents with my friends, and vice versa.  My family got to spend a whole day with the Quiroga family, the family I will be working with in my new job at the Center.  The whole day was a testimony to God's greatness, and how He really is the same God across cultures and languages.  I will never forget the beauty of how God builds His people up and encourages them through unexpected and powerful ways.

 

my other Bolivian family:

Dad, David, Collin, Isacc

Joana, Toty, me, Mom, Shari

I also got to share a good meal with my 5 closest church friends and my family. We made homemade pizza, asked each other silly table questions, and then played music together in English and Spanish until late. What a gift to see how my friends moved towards my parents, embracing them, loving them, and delighting in them, simply because they are my family and are a part of me.

                          

my mom with Marleni

one of our Compassion kids' siblings

Another highlight was facilitating my parents' visits with their Compassion kids.  I was right in the thick of it, translating for lots of really excited people, but it brought tears to all of our eyes to see over and over the ways that God provides, and how He provides through relationship.  Both of the kids, I had visited the year before, and it was really neat to connect with them again.  The first family, Eugenio's family, are a Quechua family from Potosí and I loved practicing my Quechua with the mom.  Really, though, the most beautiful part was to see how Compassion united our two families, making us feel as though in some ways, we were just one big family.  What a gift.

One of our last nights together, my entire family and I shared music with my church during the service.  We sang "Only in God", "God of Wonders", "This is My Desire", and a rousing, foot-stomping round of "King Jesus Is All".  My heart almost burst with the joy of playing music with my whole family, sharing from deep within my soul for my church family: my dad on guitar and voice, Collin on piano, my mom singing and me singing and playing the flute...  Wow.  They sent my parents off with a powerful prayer and a lot of love.  There was a small crowd, both at my house and at the terminal when they left!!

There is so much more to share, even just from the last two weeks since my parents left, but I'll leave off here so you can rest your eyes:)

For his anger lasts only a moment,

but his favor lasts a lifetime;

weeping may remain for a night,

but rejoicing comes in the morning...
You turned my wailing into dancing;

you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.

Psalm 30:5,11