Polar Bear Club

Tuesdays are getting exciting around here!  Brian, our awesome adventure therapy coordinator, has talked a local swimming pool into half price entrance for our boys to start swim lessons.  Most of the kids can stay afloat, but actual skill level in the water is low.  I've offered to help since I had awesome free lifeguard training back in my Eckerd days!

So the first Tuesday of September we took a handful of boys to the pool in the morning, and another handful in the afternoon.  Tuesday turned out to be the windiest and therefore coldest day of the week, and the water was frigid, but we had fun anyway!

Always so eager to help each other get in the cold water

Teeth-chattering fun!

Once they were all shivering, Brian started the real lessons.  Luckily I got to stay out of the water and help keep an eye on what was going on down below!  10 seconds was the record for how long they could hold their breath underwater, which we'll have to work on.

Everybody has to at least try holding their breath

Once hypothermia set in, everybody was out of the pool to learn the strokes for treading water under the warmth of the sun.

Arm strokes with resistance...aka strength challenge

The afternoon boys had a little extra motivation to get into the cold water...

The Enforcer

This group was also a little on the shorter side, so we started in the more shallow end.

Mostly paying attention

Honestly the boys loved getting out of the classroom for an hour, getting in the water no matter how cold it was, attention from super-cool Brian, and learning something that they really enjoy and will make them more "manly."

Our future Olympic swim team

No pictures from last week.  Brian was still getting over his cold (probably caught week 1) and I was battling an amoeba.  We still took two more groups out to the pool and actually had one of our more timid guys show some remarkable bravery being the only one in his group to try treading water in the deeper end. We will keep going out on Tuesdays, so pray for lots of sun for us!

Pedestrian Day

September 4 was Pedestrian Day, a holiday that I have experienced once before here in Cochabamba but was actually the first time it was celebrated nationwide.  Basically, cars are not allowed to drive for the day.  Since it happens on a Sunday, that killed our ability to take the boys to church and left us with no real plans for the day.  So we made some!

On Saturday morning Brian and I had to run around and do some shopping with Jorge, but we came home with 65 chicken legs as well as lots of potatoes and a few bell peppers.  We added all that to the onions and carrots that were already at home and sent Brian to cut about a million lengths of wire while I played with fire until there was a nice hot bed of coals for the boys to roast their kabobs over.  Delicious!!  I’ve jumped way ahead though, because that was actually Sunday dinner.

Sunday morning the boys were in full repair mode.  Lately the cool thing to do is put a scrap piece of wood on top of an old roller skate and then get someone to push you along the sidewalk.

So basically we promised to take the boys and their contraptions out to the paved road that has a bit of a hill to it.  They promptly pulled together all sorts of things with wheels on them and spent a couple of hours trying to make them as stable as possible.

There is only 1 wheel on this bike, but they can fix anything!

Then we took everyone to the street!  We set some orange cones out (because the police were enjoying being able to drive way too fast on the empty streets) and let the kids loose.

Even the tias got in on the fun

Notice none of these have tires...or brakes...or even chains

Speeding along

Brian giving a push while getting pounced on

Some cones became an obstacle course

The walk back up the hill

We stayed until everyone was starving and I was crispy sun burned.  I only heard one boy complain (life can't be perfect) but I'll trade that for the boy who hasn't talked to me in months who has now talked to me every day since I let him be the first to try the hill in my roller blades!

The End of My Time in the USA

I arrived back in the States on Wednesday night and my pickup people from the airport were my dear friend Kirsten and the soon-to-be bride of my good friend Trevor.  I had never met Leah before, but we bonded quickly as we went straight to Gainesville, FL that night arriving around 2:30am.  We were up again at 5am to join the rest of the crew already waiting in Gainesville (Trevor, Kirsten's two brothers, a groomsman, the photographer, and Kirsten's mom) to make the long drive to Indiana.  As no wedding weekend can go without drama, we had a dirty tie for the groom, a lost tux for a groomsman, and absolutely no flowers the day before the ceremony.  But for all the weddings I have been a part of, it went smoothly and was GORGEOUS!!  I would have more photos, but I relied mostly on my cool new expensive phone which I have since killed.  Oops.

The wedding party

Officially Married!!

The next day we all road tripped back to Gainesville and crashed all over the floor of Kirsten's parents' house once again, and then us South Florida folks kept driving the next day.  I spent two wonderful and relaxing days at the Hernandez house and then headed to Oklahoma!

Unfortunately I have no pictures because of that whole phone incident, but it was a wonderful time to spend with my family that I hadn't seen since August 2010.  I also got to visit my grandparents, go to my church, meet my new sister in law, go to some fun exhibits (including the Oklahoma City bombing memorial...impressive), and make Thanksgiving dinner!  I don't get to be with them much, but God constantly reminds me of just how blessed I am to have them.  I love them a lot!

That left me with only two and a half more days in the USA, which I spent in Florida running around with friends, eating out, going to my church, and hanging out at the office.  It was wonderful, but I was so anxious to get back home.  I finally did, despite visa drama and flight delays, and couldn't be happier!  Thanks God, for bringing me back to Bolivia once again!!

First days in the USA and Colombia visit

On August 1 I left my beloved Bolivia for a short adventure.  I arrived back in the USA, hung out with friends, ate the sub sandwich that I had been craving for the past 11 months (Firehouse Subs’ club on a sub…yum!), and spent the night with my best friend in a borrowed house.  Day 2 I went to the beach, ate another one of those subs, and went dress shopping for an upcoming wedding.  I scrambled to repack that night at the office, because early the next morning I was off to Colombia!!

Crowd gathered for Evangelism in the Plaza

Nick and Allie (who spent most of the summer with me) along with John and Natalie (2 of 3 of my bosses’ awesome teens…who also spent a lot of the summer with me) and I headed to Bogota, Colombia to check out CIN’s ministry there.  The rest of the team joined us the next day.  We joined the youth group of our local church partner for evangelism in the plaza, I shared at youth group, we took part in Sunday church service along with a large group of soldiers who have been handicapped fighting rebel groups, went to a giant outdoor Christian concert (may have eaten a horse hotdog while there), and then we really got to work! 

Me sharing at the Youth Service

The local church has a school in the neighborhood of Potosi.  Most of these children are not able to go to any other school and few are able to eat outside of the breakfast and lunch provided by the school Monday through Friday.  A large house sits directly across the street where drugs are run.  Often, the people of this house grab neighborhood children, give them a packet of drugs and tell them to wait on a certain corner for someone to come and exchange it for money.  They are not allowed to refuse.  This is the daily life of these children. (Learn more about sponsoring one of the students through CIN at Child Sponsorship)

CIN Team at the Women's Rehab farm

Then we went to the church’s rehab centers.  In the morning we shared in worship, testimonies, a devotional, and then lunch at the women’s farm.  In the afternoon we went to the men’s farm.  Nick shared some of his testimony and some stories of triumph from some of our boys here in Bolivia and then we got a grand tour.  I loved seeing how each farm was tailored to its inhabitants.  At the men’s farm they explained that the weekends are the hardest for them, so they take turns to make sure that there are people praying 24 hours a day from Friday to Monday.  Both farms use the same curriculum, which I also love.  The vast majority of it is focused on really learning who we are to Christ and who Christ is.  When we REALLY understand that, He is completely free from hindrances to heal us.  The program takes 9 months…the same length of time that it normally takes God to create a new life!  Being at the farms really made me miss camp (the juvenile detention center where I worked before). 

Nick sharing at the Men's Rehab farm  

On my last full day we went high into the mountains once again, this time to the church’s retreat center.  The church uses it every 3 months for what I would liken to revival meetings.  It is also available to rent for any organization as a retreat center and they are slowly adding elements to make it an extreme sport center.  The girls painted the front building, caretaker’s house, and pool railings while the boys painted the worship center. The boys got to play a round of paintball while the girls opted to help clean up, and then we all hiked to a waterfall.

Team and Colombian hosts on the hike to the waterfall

The team stayed two more days, going to CIN’s Colombia Life Center safe house (for the wives and children of pastors who have been martyred by rebel groups) and back to our partner school in Potosi to do some more painting.  I ducked out early in order to make it to my dear friend’s wedding back in the States! 

In all, I loved Colombia.  We had the perfect first team and I was absolutely THRILLED to see my Colombian friends once again.  It is a country of extreme need, and I’m honored that God used me even for a couple of days there.  The church has so much to do, but I can easily name one now that is doing everything it possibly can.  Please support CIN’s ministry in Colombia.  Or really any ministry in Colombia that you know is doing God’s work.  There is an overwhelming amount of spiritual battle and healing to be done.

The church that CIN partners with in Colombia

Finally, while I loved Colombia, I actually cried several times while there…and I NEVER cry…because I was so homesick.  I had never been homesick before, but I had never traveled since officially calling Bolivia home. If God spoke anything to me while I was there, it was the reassurance of my call to Bolivia.  And I thank Him for that!

Still kicking

Nope, I didn't die.  Two months of teams followed by trips to Colombia and the USA combined with my lazy blogging style might have made it look that way though!

First, my super awesome summer staff arrived...

Me, Morgan, Nick, Allie, and Hannah

These guys got ridiculously few hours of sleep and worked crazy long hours beside the teams.  They got up before everyone to help me plan the day, were the last in bed to help the boys with homework and make sure all the lights were out, hand mixed more cement than we ever want to measure, helped dig over 100 holes (thanks for the fruit trees and new garden area!), made fools of themselves at children's evangelism, lost voices, gained parasites, were last in all the meal lines even though they knew the french fry plate would be empty by the time they got there, loved and counseled friends and strangers on the teams, and were my family.  Allie and Nick are actually on staff with CIN, so they had numerous other projects too!

Then our first team arrived...

June Open Team

This team was a wonderful mix of friends from my Florida church (www.fbcrpb.com), families of CIN staff, faithful sponsors of the boys, and more.  They worked HARD, LOVED my boys, and took JESUS to the children in Cochabamba slums.  It makes me so happy when a team can blend right in and feel like the boys' family, and this group definitely did that.

Then the Colombians arrived...

El Pacto partner church team from Bogota, Colombia

I have to admit, this team had me terrified.  Our first all Spanish speaking group.  I'd never done orientation in Spanish and since I had never been to Colombia, I wasn't sure what cultural differences to explain.  And they talk super fast.  Turns out, they were INCREDIBLE!!  Lifelong friendships definitely created.  And all those mad Spanish skills just meant they could do so much more...like preaching at church.  During this team is when I found out that I would be making my own trip to Colombia and would see them all again very soon!

And then another team arrived...

Life Fellowship Church shaking their tails with me at Sidewalk

A wonderful woman who has come to Bolivia since our first year with her church has recently joined a new church...so she brought them down with her (thanks Julie)!  Lots of new faces, but all ones I hope to see very frequently in the future.  And I already know one who will be back for our anniversary celebration in October (8 years, baby!).  This team also brought enough extra cash with them to buy new shoes for all of the boys.  While they were here, they helped take half of the boys to the market so that they could pick out exactly what they wanted (time restraints sent the rest of the boys the next week with me and the staff).  Huge blessing!

All too soon, the final team arrived...

July Open Team

I loved this team!  Small, but powerful.  Made up of Morgan (my summer staff)'s family and friend, some awesome long time friends from my church, Julie Apple who I've known since college and her mom, Kristen Larson who has known the boys since they were in diapers (literally) and her dad, and a kinda random guy who very quickly made it clear that he is called to children's ministry by the speed at which he won the boys' undying love.  I really didn't want these folks to leave.

And then my summer staff left too...

Me, Morgan, Nick, Allie, and Hannah

Not real happy that they all left me, but survived since I was on my way to the USA too :)  More on my travels in the next post!