We spent all of yesterday visiting the homes of kids sponsored byBelievers Fellowship. First, I was partnered with Yvonne Simpson. We visited the home of Andrea (sponsored by Yvonne’s mom). I actually visited Andrea’s home last year in order to interview her older sister Berta. We showed Andrea pictures of Mount Rainier and Seattle, and asked her about her schoolwork and life in Ushpa Ushpa. Next, we visited Sergio Elvis (sponsored by Paul and Lucy Spadoni). I had also visited Sergio Elvis last year with the Spadonis—Sergio Elvis’ dad grew up in Potosi, but migrated to Cochabamba because he didn’t want his son to be a miner. (Potosi is a mining community—the only jobs there are in the mines and it is terrible work.) It was great to see how much Sergio Elvis had grown in a year—he was a lot more confident and engaging. After lunch, I was partnered with Aimee to visit the home of Marianne, my own sponsor child. Marianne is kind of a “success story” of Ushpa Ushpa. Her mom and three older brothers are believers, her brothers have all graduated school and have gone on to successful careers and families, and her mom has high hopes for Marianne. Unlike a lot of kids in Ushpa Ushpa, Marianne thinks about the future, not just survival. Marianne told us that she likes school (except the sewing class) and that she wants to be a doctor.
Visiting the homes of the sponsor kids is always a humbling experience. Seeing the lives of the people in Ushpa Ushpa really puts the things we complain about in perspective. In some cases, the poverty is bad. In other cases, it is dire. Just when you think you have seen as bad as it can get, you cross a valley and walk up a winding hill to where it is worse. And yet every family shows warmth and hospitality, and every family wants you to pray for them. It was also encouraging to revisit some of the homes I had visited in the past to see how FH has affected the families. The first thing I noticed about the kids in 2010 was that they all had sadness in their eyes and none of them smiled. That has changed. There is joy in the community. There is laughter. There is hope.
Today was a chance for us to work with kids and then start the construction. In the morning we assisted the FH staff in teaching a lesson on Ephesians 6:1-2 (obey your parents). The FH staff did a puppet show, and afterward we shared testimonies of how we learned to obey our moms and dads. We also told them that we can trust and obey God because he loves us, and we taught them the song “Jesus loves me.” It was great.
After lunch, we did some manual labor. One of the things we learned in the pre-trip training was that the trip is not about the work project. In fact,it is very important that we don’t do all of the construction work. The community needs to do the work in order to take ownership in it. So today, we helped by clearing away a space for the first wall to go up, a task that involved hauling lots of heavy rocks. We worked side by side with the Bolivians and it was an important act of solidarity. They will finish the work by December.
This evening, we had dinner with Marina, the head of FH Cochabamba. We get a dinner like this every year and it is always a highlight of the trip. Someone inevitably breaks out a guitar and we sing praise songs together—some in English and some in Spanish. I love these instances in which two cultures collide to worship God together. It was a holy moment.
Tomorrow we are visiting a local church. I will preach for the adults. Jim and Aimee with speak to the youth. Cathy, Carrie, Yvonne, Barb, and Laura have a children’s program complete with a drama, a lesson, a craft, a game, and a song. After church, we are going to meet with some church and civic leaders (and I think a group from the US), and then say good-bye to the Ushpa Ushpa team. Monday is a half cultural day before we fly back to La Paz. We leave Bolivia early on Tuesday.
Thanks for praying for us. We have had no major sicknesses or injuries (a first!). We have had several opportunities to share our faith with the kids in Ushpa Ushpa, and we got to pray with about 20 families. Construction on the guardaria has begun, but it will be finished by the Bolivians. Please continue to pray for us as we have a big day tomorrow. Our church program is pretty intense, and then afterward we will have a chance to share with some unbelievers how our faith has led us to get involved in Ushpa Ushpa.
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