Dear Family and Friends,
I have been in Bolivia for two weeks now, and it’s about time I sent out an update! Too much has happened to give you all the details, but I will do my best to give a picture of what is happening here. After I arrived, I figured out pretty quickly that one of the biggest needs was for cooks. There are three different locations here in Santa Cruz where various volunteers are working, and only one of these locations has regular meals being prepared. I also found out that no one wanted to be in charge of finding things for me to do. My nursing is not needed at the Albergue (rehabilitation house), and the people around here just ignored the fact that I was here and let me do whatever. That suited Daniel just fine, because he had plenty of ideas as to what I could do. My main responsibility is to cook lunch for the airplane mechanics that are working on the various airplanes. After that is done, I run around with Daniel and just help with whatever I can.
Adventures in Prison – Sabbath, Oct. 23
By 7:30am I was headed out the door with Mikaela and Elisabeth. Once out on the main road, we caught a microbus, #73. We rode until we got to the intersection with the Indian statue, then got off and waited to catch #71. After about an hour of riding, we finally arrived at the prison. We joined the women’s line, waiting to get in. Daniel was to meet us here and since the men’s line was much shorter, he was able to come a lot later. By 10:30 we were finally in. We went upstairs and joined the children. Some older children were helping out and leading the singing. No one could sing on tune, but a joyful noise was definitely made! J These children live in this prison with their mothers. Most have been abused in some way and many do not know who their fathers are. One little one, Blanca, told me that both her mother and father were in prison. She and her little brother lived with her mother, but her two other siblings lived elsewhere. She asked a question, too, that I could not fully understand. These kids are full of questions. And even though they have such hard lives, they are happy! Those who come to Sabbath School have been introduced to Jesus, and many of them have asked Him to be their friend. The change in their lives as a result is a joy to see! And often, they become the tools in God’s hands to reach their mothers. Daniel told me the stories of several children that did just that, and now their mothers attend the church held in the prison each Sabbath. The experience reminded me of when Christ told his disciples that we must become as little children, fully trusting in our Father, in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
A Bible Study – Monday, Oct. 25
The motorcycle wove in and out of traffic as we tried to get through the nearly blocked intersection. We were on our way to do a Bible study at the home of a family that Daniel had met while the mom was in prison. Traffic finally opened up and we were able to speed onward. Lupe (one of the little girls in the family that Daniel lives with) was sitting sandwiched between Daniel and I. Night had fallen and we were coming to a somewhat dangerous part of the road. Dangerous because the road turned to dirt and we had to navigate through dirt and dust up to 6 inches deep. The back end of the motorcycle kept sliding around, but Daniel managed to keep it upright. We arrived to find the family at home and very happy to see us. We started out by asking if they would like to watch a video called ‘El Gran Conflicto’, created by Amazing Facts to illustrate and share the story of the great controversy between good and evil. I hadn’t ever seen it before and was very impressed with how well it was put together. They definitely wanted to watch it, so they invited us into their bedroom where there was a table to set the computer on. During the video, Daniel would pause every now and then to clarify a concept or to answer a question. The adults were spell bound by the story. They had heard bits and pieces of it before, but all the bits and pieces had never been put all together in such a simple way. We were at their home for at least two hours, watching the video and answering their questions.
Camping in the Mountains – Friday-Monday (Oct. 29-Nov. 1)
We were sitting in the street, playing our recorders and waiting – waiting for the truck to come that was to take us up to the mountains. The family that Daniel has been living with owns a piece of property about an hour out of town and they were heading up to work on it a bit. We got tired of playing, so we started singing . . . first in English, then we started singing songs we knew in Spanish. The kids perked up and started singing with us. It was so much fun! Songs like “I’ve Got the Joy, Joy” and “Jesus Love is Bubbling Over” kept us going for at least an hour. The kids wanted to sing them over and over again so they could learn the motions along with the words. The truck came and we loaded up and headed out, and the singing continued. J Then the kids settled down and fell asleep. I wasn’t in a position to sleep, so I stared at the stars. At times like that, God feels so close. I know He is always close, but often I don’t feel Him. When I’m out under the stars, it’s as if I can just reach up and take His hand and other distractions are gone. I praise Him so much for counting me as one of His daughters! We arrived at the property about 1am, set up camp by 2am, and finally crawled in bed by 3am. Then it started to rain and I quickly discovered that my tent does not do well in wind or rain. There were puddles in the tent by 6am and I had to abandon bed. There was a hut on the property that provided some shelter, so thankfully there was a dry place to sit. The rest of the day it continued to rain, but that didn’t stop us from hiking in the mountains and swimming in the river that was nearby. This weekend was my first opportunity to really get to see the workings of this family. Daniel has been living with them for quite a while, and has been trying to share and show principles of Christian living. I don’t have time or space to go into all the dynamics, but it was interesting to see how the family interacted with each other and to see the Bolivian culture up close.
So that gives you all an idea of what I have been up to. I praise God for the ways I see Him working and leading.
God bless you all!
Corrie
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