I awoke at six o´clock Saturday morning to my alarm clock and the gentle pitter patter of rain and realized that our plans for the day were no longer going to happen. Slightly disappointed but grateful to crawl back into my bed I went back to sleep only to be awoken and hour later to a honking horn and the familiar voice of our Brasilian friend Natinio yelling "Chicas!" outside of our gate. You see the night before we had decided that Saturday we would go to see waterfalls that were only a short distance outside of Santa Cruz with the tios who are the four male volunteers at the children´s home, but we also decided that if it were to rain, which happens nearly every day, we would not go. The guys decided differently and after enjoying pancakes Rachel, Bethany and myself piled into the truck with the guys to have quite the adventure. Alli unfortunately could not accompany us seeing as she had been battling a possible sinus infection since Wednesday so please keep her in your prayers. Now back to the adventure, the first half hour was easy as the road was paved, then we came upon the turn that would take us to the waterfalls. Because of the rain the roads were very muddy and after pushing the truck out of the mud once we came to our first river that we had to cross...with the truck mind you. This river wasn´t real deep but it was wide the and sand was soft and there was already a truck stuck in the middle that was being pulled out by a tractor while we were there, but after crossing by foot and studying where the sand was hard the male figures of the group decided that we would have no problem crossing. Us girls were not completely convinced but we stood on the other side silently praying that God would not let our truck get stuck in the sand also. Well wouldn´t you know we actually made it! So we piled back into the truck and continued on our way until we got to the next river. This one was tricky because on the opposite bank there was slippery clay and mud, but after waiting for a herd of goats and sheep to pass and with the advice of a Bolivian passerby we once again decided we could make it and we did again. The next river was much simpler and there we only a slight doubt that would couldn´t do it, but the next river was where we encountered the problem. We only had a quater tank of gas, and and hour and a half more of driving, and we could cross this river easily but we may not be able to get back. After conversing and wait for a herd of cows to pass this time we decided to head back to the sand of the first river for lunch and "beach volleyball" and we would tackle the waterfall adventure another day. So we spent the day on the sand next to the river eating, laughing, playing volleyball and having a mud fight before we finally ventured back to our houses to shower before youth group. Other than this adventure the week was pretty average, I was on a special diet to try to let my body recouperate and I am feeling much better to need to call the doctor only for a check up tomorrow, so thank you so much for all of your prayers, they were truely appreciated. Unfortunately Alli couldn´t work a few days due to the severity of her sinus problems so we may be getting her a prescription for that, so please keep her in your prayers, she is feeling better but is not 100 %. God bless you all, thank you for your support!
Praises:
Things are going really well at the guaderia (daycare) and we are all falling in love with our kids.
I´m finally feeling better.
We are developing amazing relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ here.
Prayer requests:
Alli´s sinus problems.
The Global Disciples convention that is being held here and is this Wednesday until the following Wednesday and we will be participating in a few seminars.
The health of our team as it seems to be being attacked.
Our work at the guaderia, especially when we feel we are short on patience.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Carnaval and Everyday Life from Alli
27 February, 2007
Dear Friends and Family of the Bolivia Yes Team, Greetings from sunny, hot, windy Bolivia! The weather has changed a bit from earlier this week. We definitely experienced the rainy season..it rained a lot and there has been much flooding. As for ourselves, we have been busy rain or shine these past few weeks. I do not know how much Rachel put in our last letter about Carnaval, because I did not read it in detial. Sorry if there are any repeats! Some of you may be wondering...What is Carnaval anyway? Carnaval is a non-Christian celebration that lasts for 3 days. During these three days, according to tradition, God supposedly turns His back on the world, and people can do whatever they want, weather it be good or bad. Needless to say, the crime rate goes skyrocketing during these three days, making Santa Cruz very dangerous. One of the practices is to throw water baloons full of mud, paint, water and dye. It is a literal battle of the sexes. People also party very hard. "What do the Christians do?", you may wonder. Most Christians in Santa Cruz go to the country or to camps with their churches. Due to the rain, many people had to stay in Santa Cruz. My Youth Group decided to have a "campadentro" at our church instead of going to the country. I had a very good time of Spiritual growth, and really enjoyed the companionship of my Youth Group friends. The theme of the whole retreat was the Father Heart of God. Everyone was really blessed. Also, during this time, we played many games involvin waterbaloons (filled with water), and played fútbol (aka. soccer). Another thing that we did was make and eat a patasca. Now, some of you with a delicate stomach may have to skip this part. Patasca is pigs head soup, complete with the hair and everything else. I was very fortunate not to recieve an eyeball. Such is life here with new food. It wasn't too bad once I got past the hair. Overall it was a wonderful experience.
Our team also has had the opportunity to use our musical talents at my church, Iglesia las Missiones. We are helping the worship team. It is sometimes difficult because the sound equipment is not always the greatest and we all have to learn many songs in Spanish and play them by ear. But, in my opinion, it has been great for all of us! We are also going to various services at night. Monday and Fridays tend to be our "off" nights. Tuesday night is Bible Study at Stansberry Children's home, Wednesday is worship team practice, and Thursday is our team Bible Study. Saturday is Youth Group and Sunday includes 2 services. Saturdays are our days to catch up arround the house, do chores, and get whatever relaxing in we can. So, we are very busy.
Work at the Guarderia Moises continues to be a challenge for us as it is clearly growing us and testing us Spiritually. We are generally exhausted at the end of the day especially when the kids are roudy or not in good moods. Some of you asked me to give you a basic picture of how the day goes, so I will give you the kindergarden perspective. My head teacher arrives at 7:00AM, greets the kids, lets them play with legos until 8:00AM, and feeds them breakfast. Then the kids brush their teeth and wash their hands. I arrive at 9:00AM, just in time for group singing. Then we have a Bible story, and have them work on the lesson of the day. Right now we are teaching them colors. At 10:00AM they have snack, 10:30 is recess (those that misbehave have to clean the classroom during this time). At 11:45AM they return to class, wash their hands, and eat lunch at 12:00PM. 12:30PM is the time when they get done eating, and begin cleaning the room, stacking tables and chairs to get ready for nap time. We bring out mattresses for them to sleep on. They have nap time from arround 1:00PM. Nap time is until 3:00PM. After nap time on Tuesdays and Thursdays we bathe them. The other days of the week, Prekindergarden bathes their students in the same bathroom at the same time. Our students that have special health needs, such as skin diseases, get bathed on other days if the heath coordinator at the daycare decides it is the best thing for them. On the other days, they continue studying the lesson, many times through drawing. At 4PM they have snack. From 4-6PM they are generally occupied with legos, reading, group games, and a movie at the very end. As you can see, we are very busy. I guess that brings us to the present. We have been able to do fun things, so don't worry, it is not all work! In fact this weekend we are going to a SASS/Projuse reunion where we will get to see some old friends.
Praises: -Ability to use our musical gifts at Church
-Spiritual mountain tops
-The fact that Rachel, Bethany, and Alli got to use a REAL piano at Universidad Evangelica Boliviana last Saturday, and will keep getting to use it every Saturday! The only thing is we may have to give a concert for the university.
-A free Chiropractor for Bethany and Rachel!
-God's grace as we work at the Guarderia
-God's protection during Carnaval!
-That we are getting to meet new people here and gain new friends.
-Good internal team relationships!
- An amazing Church family here in Bolivia
- Skype...the cheapest way for us to call the US (thanks to wonderful missionaries who let us use it!)
- Soccer and other sports
-Bits and Cream..perfect team meeting spot...and so much more!
Prayer Requests:
- Jess is still having health problems
-Rachel is really stressed out, so pray for her. Pray that she can find a personal day of rest.
-Pray that we can have individual days to rest from the Guarderia. It is understaffed, so we work all of the time Monday- Friday with a busy weekend on top of it.
-Pray for Bethany and Rachel's backs.
-Pray that Jess, Rachel, Bethany can be überly blessed and learn more Spanish vocab!
-Pray that I have patience with the kids I work with. -Patience all arround! -Pray that my cold gets better.
-Pray for the political situation of this country.
-Pray for a big huge God bear hug for our team (aka. encouragement and comfort) and decreased stress!
-Pray that we would have energy to complete our biggest mission, which is shining the light of Jesus Christ here in Bolivia.
-Pray for victory in this Spiritual battle. The battle is fierce. Write to us if you want to know more details. Well, I think that about covers it for now. May Jesus Christ bless all of you. May He give you encouragement and strength to do His will! En Cristo, Allison (for the Bolivia Yes Team)
Dear Friends and Family of the Bolivia Yes Team, Greetings from sunny, hot, windy Bolivia! The weather has changed a bit from earlier this week. We definitely experienced the rainy season..it rained a lot and there has been much flooding. As for ourselves, we have been busy rain or shine these past few weeks. I do not know how much Rachel put in our last letter about Carnaval, because I did not read it in detial. Sorry if there are any repeats! Some of you may be wondering...What is Carnaval anyway? Carnaval is a non-Christian celebration that lasts for 3 days. During these three days, according to tradition, God supposedly turns His back on the world, and people can do whatever they want, weather it be good or bad. Needless to say, the crime rate goes skyrocketing during these three days, making Santa Cruz very dangerous. One of the practices is to throw water baloons full of mud, paint, water and dye. It is a literal battle of the sexes. People also party very hard. "What do the Christians do?", you may wonder. Most Christians in Santa Cruz go to the country or to camps with their churches. Due to the rain, many people had to stay in Santa Cruz. My Youth Group decided to have a "campadentro" at our church instead of going to the country. I had a very good time of Spiritual growth, and really enjoyed the companionship of my Youth Group friends. The theme of the whole retreat was the Father Heart of God. Everyone was really blessed. Also, during this time, we played many games involvin waterbaloons (filled with water), and played fútbol (aka. soccer). Another thing that we did was make and eat a patasca. Now, some of you with a delicate stomach may have to skip this part. Patasca is pigs head soup, complete with the hair and everything else. I was very fortunate not to recieve an eyeball. Such is life here with new food. It wasn't too bad once I got past the hair. Overall it was a wonderful experience.
Our team also has had the opportunity to use our musical talents at my church, Iglesia las Missiones. We are helping the worship team. It is sometimes difficult because the sound equipment is not always the greatest and we all have to learn many songs in Spanish and play them by ear. But, in my opinion, it has been great for all of us! We are also going to various services at night. Monday and Fridays tend to be our "off" nights. Tuesday night is Bible Study at Stansberry Children's home, Wednesday is worship team practice, and Thursday is our team Bible Study. Saturday is Youth Group and Sunday includes 2 services. Saturdays are our days to catch up arround the house, do chores, and get whatever relaxing in we can. So, we are very busy.
Work at the Guarderia Moises continues to be a challenge for us as it is clearly growing us and testing us Spiritually. We are generally exhausted at the end of the day especially when the kids are roudy or not in good moods. Some of you asked me to give you a basic picture of how the day goes, so I will give you the kindergarden perspective. My head teacher arrives at 7:00AM, greets the kids, lets them play with legos until 8:00AM, and feeds them breakfast. Then the kids brush their teeth and wash their hands. I arrive at 9:00AM, just in time for group singing. Then we have a Bible story, and have them work on the lesson of the day. Right now we are teaching them colors. At 10:00AM they have snack, 10:30 is recess (those that misbehave have to clean the classroom during this time). At 11:45AM they return to class, wash their hands, and eat lunch at 12:00PM. 12:30PM is the time when they get done eating, and begin cleaning the room, stacking tables and chairs to get ready for nap time. We bring out mattresses for them to sleep on. They have nap time from arround 1:00PM. Nap time is until 3:00PM. After nap time on Tuesdays and Thursdays we bathe them. The other days of the week, Prekindergarden bathes their students in the same bathroom at the same time. Our students that have special health needs, such as skin diseases, get bathed on other days if the heath coordinator at the daycare decides it is the best thing for them. On the other days, they continue studying the lesson, many times through drawing. At 4PM they have snack. From 4-6PM they are generally occupied with legos, reading, group games, and a movie at the very end. As you can see, we are very busy. I guess that brings us to the present. We have been able to do fun things, so don't worry, it is not all work! In fact this weekend we are going to a SASS/Projuse reunion where we will get to see some old friends.
Praises: -Ability to use our musical gifts at Church
-Spiritual mountain tops
-The fact that Rachel, Bethany, and Alli got to use a REAL piano at Universidad Evangelica Boliviana last Saturday, and will keep getting to use it every Saturday! The only thing is we may have to give a concert for the university.
-A free Chiropractor for Bethany and Rachel!
-God's grace as we work at the Guarderia
-God's protection during Carnaval!
-That we are getting to meet new people here and gain new friends.
-Good internal team relationships!
- An amazing Church family here in Bolivia
- Skype...the cheapest way for us to call the US (thanks to wonderful missionaries who let us use it!)
- Soccer and other sports
-Bits and Cream..perfect team meeting spot...and so much more!
Prayer Requests:
- Jess is still having health problems
-Rachel is really stressed out, so pray for her. Pray that she can find a personal day of rest.
-Pray that we can have individual days to rest from the Guarderia. It is understaffed, so we work all of the time Monday- Friday with a busy weekend on top of it.
-Pray for Bethany and Rachel's backs.
-Pray that Jess, Rachel, Bethany can be überly blessed and learn more Spanish vocab!
-Pray that I have patience with the kids I work with. -Patience all arround! -Pray that my cold gets better.
-Pray for the political situation of this country.
-Pray for a big huge God bear hug for our team (aka. encouragement and comfort) and decreased stress!
-Pray that we would have energy to complete our biggest mission, which is shining the light of Jesus Christ here in Bolivia.
-Pray for victory in this Spiritual battle. The battle is fierce. Write to us if you want to know more details. Well, I think that about covers it for now. May Jesus Christ bless all of you. May He give you encouragement and strength to do His will! En Cristo, Allison (for the Bolivia Yes Team)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)