Yum Yum!!

Sunday afternoon we decided to cook Pollo Al Broaster for dinner. It was quite the process, but DELICIOUS!!

First we had to cut a lot of foil...

Then potatoes

And carrots

And onions

And chicken

And chorizo was the final touch.

I missed taking pictures of the boys climbing the trees with machetes to cut down branches, but that is how they got the firewood!

I can understand stealing a few raw carrots, but the onions???

We burned everything we had until only hot coals were left.

In the foil, each boy got to put his own potatoes, carrots, onions, chicken, and chorizo. With a little salt and oil...it was ready to go!

Some posing was required while we waited for the coals...

Our little workers...

When the food was put together nicely, they wrapped it up in the foil, sealing all the edges.

They were very careful because they didn't want to loose a single potato.

Dinner is even better when your big brother makes it for you!

It was a long line, but the boys loved getting to make their own plate.

The grandes are "experts" so they helped everyone who would let them touch their plates.

Yes, that is a whole lot of rain coming our way!

When the coals were good and red, in went all the plates.

I have no idea how each boy remembered exactly which foil packet was his, but they did!

We did at least group each dorm's plates together.

And yes, we used a shovel to put them in and take them out.

They cooked for 20 minutes as the rain drew nearer and nearer.

And Ronald, who planned the entire dinner, carefully took each one out with the shovel when you could hear them sizzling inside.

This photo absolutely does not do justice to the final product. It was AMAZING!!

I hope we do this again...often :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving day there was a special church service (the first since it isn't actually a holiday here!) that we attended. So yesterday was our big celebration here at the BLC (also our first)! I spent most of the day baking and frosting sugar cookies but took a break to complete the decorations in the cafeteria. My giant turkey went up as well as a beautiful cornucopia. The boys favorite part was that I had made signs that say "Gracias por ____" (Thank you for _____) and filled in each of their names. So the walls were filled with signs giving thanks for each one of them as well as each of the staff.

A group of friends came to make the dinner for the boys and they chose to make some absolutely delicious hamburgers. We started with a special prayer and then dug in to the burgers and cookies. Afterwards we gathered together for a service of our own. The boys sang several songs and then Pastor Angel (our administrative director) shared from the writings of King David a list of things that God has promised to us that we can give thanks for. The boys were very well behaved and enjoyed their first Thanksgiving celebration! Once everything was over, their first requests were if they could take down and keep their names!

The cookies were also apparently a hit, because Jorge has asked me to teach the kids how to make them, and the boys this morning were asking if I still had more in the apartment!

Study Time and School Projects

Santa Cruz!

I got to make a lovely trip to Santa Cruz, Bolivia last week. Hermana Lita invited me to accompany her to help out in the national Pastors’ Conference as her husband is the current president. I had only been to Santa Cruz once before (2 days in March with the PBA team) and loved it, so I happily accepted.

I traveled by car with one of the pastors, the pastor’s son, and some girls who help out in the church. It was a 9.5 hour trip, but it was gorgeous. All morning we passed through the mountains, arriving in Chapare at noon for a lunch of delicious local fish. Chapare is the doorway to the Bolivian tropics, so from there on it only got flatter, hotter, and steamier. We arrived at the church sweating (no AC) just in time to head to the airport to pick up the pastor’s wife. We went to dinner near the church and then headed back for a meeting that lasted until 2am! Our churches here have 5am prayer every day, and seeing as it was a pastors’ conference we clearly had to be there.

The rest of the week for me consisted of helping prepare breakfast for the pastors that were staying at our church (the conference was in another church), accompanying Hermana Lita to the conference and meetings, helping the pastor’s son with driving directions, and helping to retrieve dinner for the pastors late at night.

I did get to return to our church with its pastor early one night and share my testimony during the service. It is really a wonderful church, new and small, but the people are all very open and quick to make friends. They really made me miss my old small group! After that service I helped Pastor Edson make purchases for the next day and rent tables. Our final day we held the post-conference meeting in our church. I helped to serve coffee and snacks, set up for lunch, serve the meal, and clean up. Once everyone was gone….we crashed!

The next day was the long drive back to Cochabamba. I must say that I miss Santa Cruz. It is a big city, hot and humid, so much like West Palm Beach. But there still isn’t anything better than pulling up to the BLC, seeing the kids pour out the door, being hugged and told you were missed. It is good to be home again!

Photos from the Farm

Start of the tour.

Cow manure goes in one end, releases gases as it decomposes which move up through the tube in the middle, and the poo comes out the other end ready for the garden.

The gas travels through the tube and collects in the big bag hanging from the ceiling, another tube connects the gas to the stove for cooking.

A blurry photo from the guinea pig barn.

Yum. Dinner.

Birthday Fun

Yesterday was my birthday and absolutely amazing! It started with the normal routine of breakfast and getting the boys off to school. Then I decided to take a stroll in to the plaza to buy flowers for myself because I love them and I was sure that today I had a good excuse. I also stopped at the bakery for 2 freshly baked chocolate glazed donuts (grand total for 2 donuts and 3 bunches of flowers = $1).

We also had a field trip planned for the day (my first one since arriving) to a farm. So we gathered all the boys who weren’t in school and set out. It was a really beautiful farm that had lots of eco-friendly plans in use (solar cooking, solar water heating, gas from the compost pile collected for cooking on cloudy days, a waterless bathroom that resulted in compost, etc), lots of vegetable, a sheep, guinea pigs (we eat them here in Bolivia!), and 47 milking cows! The boys loved it and had lots of questions. We returned to the BLC for lunch, sent the boys off to school, and collected the boys that were returning for another trip to the farm!

The older boys went to the school soccer field to play at night, like they do every Friday but I decided not to accompany them this time. Just as I was falling asleep, I received a call from their supervisor saying that one of them had hurt his ankle and couldn’t walk and I needed to come see them right away. Since I had been nearly asleep, I fell for it and rushed to their dorm. As soon as I entered their room, the lights went out and the “hurt” boy jumped off the table revealing the bread and candle hidden behind him. They started singing happy birthday (rather terribly I must admit) and I knew that I was doomed having previously seen the Bolivian birthday tradition. As the song was coming to a close, they attacked. “Making birthday cake” they cracked 4 raw eggs over my head and then dumped a bag of flour on top!

How many people can say they had a wonderful day that ended with egg shell in their shower drain?

Kissing Boys

Just the really little ones :) As I was thinking about ways that we can make the BLC more like a real family, I realized that we don’t show as much affection as a normal family. Especially a latin family! Some of it is due to sheer numbers. There are just so many of them and so few of us adults. And it is so easy to get occupied in activity and discipline that unnecessary affection slips quickly from the mind.

So daily kisses became my new goal for the 2 youngest dorms. Most frequently I sneak up behind them while they are eating a meal. Many try to run from me, but few get away! Some of them absolutely LOVE getting their kisses. One kiss per day is necessary, but they can ask for as many extra as they like. I have received requests (and delivered) 100 kisses on many occasions! I’ve also had a few boys recommend that I buy dark lipstick so that they can keep the kiss longer! And whenever the littlest ones are grouchy with no apparent reason, I recommend kisses as the cure and it nearly always works!

I’m pretty sure that I have the best job ever!!

Getting in the Groove

I’m so glad to finally feel like I’ve got the swing of things. I’ve got plenty to learn still and some big changes yet to tackle, but I think I’ve got day to day life down! I’m glad to have some routine back in my life, and it is time that I reintroduced blogging into that routine because…SO MUCH HAPPENS HERE!!

My daily routine for now looks like this: 6am wake up, prayer for the pastors and churches that I love so dearly, morning yoga, hot shower (if there is propane), downstairs for breakfast of bread and hot something-or-other to drink by 7:15, med distribution, at the gate by 7:40 to mark down who leaves for school on time, 20 minute walk to school (hopefully this is temporary for me…I’ve got a little buddy who needs to be accompanied to and from school while he regains trust), 20 minute walk back home, study time in the cafeteria with the morning boys until 10am. By now I need a quick break to make some tea as caffeine is a necessity. Then I head into the clinic (which I am using as my office) for some computer work. It doesn’t last long though, as I need to head back to the school at 11:40 to pick up my buddy. The walk home today will include a stop at the bakery as I could tell from the smell in town this morning that the bread will be fresh!

Straight to lunch on arrival, then supervision as the boys have free time until 2pm. My buddy stays with me so we do his devotional and then when he starts his homework I get to go back to work until 5pm. As the afternoon boys come out of their classes, my office is generally invaded (they all LOVE using word art to write their names and then change the size, shape, and color on my computer). I really enjoy the opportunity to chat with them as they wait their turn for the computer and they generally trickle out the door by 6:30. After grabbing a jacket from my room, it’s time for dinner, rounds of the dorms and supervision of the wash house, med distribution, hang out time with the teenage dorm (this generally involves downloading music to their MP3 players, watching a movie, or harassing them about girls), and if there are no disciple issues in the dorms it is finally time to head up to the apartment. If the water hasn’t been shut off yet, I get to rinse off the daily grim and then it is time for hot chocolate and prayer for my beloved monsters (boys). The goal is an 11pm bedtime. Yeah, right!

Summer Fun

The not so fun part was that my hard drive crashed and I was without computer for most of the summer. Thankfully, I have a new one now. But that means that this will just be a summer brief.

Nick, Jess, and I arrived at the beginning of June thanks to the Beckners for driving us down to Miami. We had just 48 hours to settle in before the teams started arriving. I got to meet the new Administrative Director, Angel and liked him immediately! He has a good plan for the BLC.

Julie brought a team of her nursing students from UNCC for our first team. It was such a blessing to be able to complete all of the boys’ exams in one week instead of dragging them through the clinic week after week! I was so shocked with how well this all girl team bonded with the grandes. Looking back, I think that helped them set their tone for the entire summer. I guess that dance party was even more awesome than I realized! We also got to tour a small health clinic. I’ll admit, I was pretty intimidated about translating all of that medical stuff!

Two weeks of enjoyment. There was a bit of a gap before the second team, and we enjoyed it to its fullest! We had lots of good times with the boys, went out for a delicious dinner with the Sidewalk crew, and WORKED. I have to admit that it looked like a bomb had gone off in the donation room. But we fixed it. It took the whole 2 weeks, but by the end absolutely everything was organized. Not only were all the clothes sorted by type, but folded and stacked by size. We removed every single item that was not right or worthy of our children. Even the toys and sports equipment were sorted and bagged. It was gorgeous. This is also when I fell in love with Angel, Rodo, and Jorge. When I realized how much torn and stained clothing we were holding onto, I suggested we burn all the rags. All 3 agreed :)

Christ Fellowship sent a small team and nearly all were in Bolivia for the first time. I love newbies! I’m not sure if it just wasn’t the will of God, or if it was a full on attack of the devil, but Sidewalk had a really difficult time just happening. The day they arrived there was a blockade, so we stayed home for the afternoon. Later in the week, there was another blockade and we were told we would never get around it. And the last day, well, we had a little accident. One the way to Sidewalk a drunk driver cut across the road causing the car in front of us to stop suddenly. Our bus packed with people doesn’t have the same kind of stop time, so we bumped them. Apparently the big Volvo behind us had even worse stop time, because it plowed into us. Thanks to God, no one was hurt beyond a few cuts. Some of the older boys were with us, and this trauma clearly triggered stronger reactions because of their past traumas. It broke my heart to see how scared they were, even though none of them were even scratched. It really showed that no matter how good they are looking on the outside, they continue to carry scares. I’m so glad that there was a team there to surround them and pray over them and just sit with their arms around their shoulders.

Lake Forest Team 1 arrived on the heels of CF. They were a little smaller than usual, but God made them that way on purpose. I’m not sure how they did it number wise, but they laid a layer of love over the boys THICK! The grandes were all over this team and when a change in flight schedule kept the team in Bolivia 2 extra days (and no room in the apartment because of the incoming team) the grandes were thrilled to have the boys from the team join them in their dorm. Pajama party anyone?

Lake Forest Team 2 finally got their wish of seeing the first team before they departed! They graciously melted right into the first team and were all over the boys. LF always has great Sidewalk skits and neither team brought anything less than awesome! They also did some crazy ditch digging and their work combined with the work of the first team saw the pipe from the well pump laid all the way to the corner of the Life Training Workshops. Unfortunately, another change in flight schedule meant they had to leave us a bit early. I don’t think any of us liked that very much.

The Open Team is always dear to my heart. Nearly all are good friends and many are from my home church! This year the team was even bigger as we welcomed several people from North Carolina for the first time. They were such a fun bunch and I’m convinced that several of them will be found doing similar works full time in the near future. Such a blessing! This team plowed through the drainage ditch (with a little grande help) and finished the first half of the rock foundation under the clothes lines. I wasn’t particularly interested in seeing them go, but something about already having bought the tickets and them having to work forced me to take them to the airport.

I got to stay an additional 2 weeks after then teams, but I’ll tell you more about that soon since it involves all of the independence day celebrations. The brief description is: WOW!!

Feliz Dia de las Madres!

Happy Bolivian Mother's Day! May God bless and keep all of the wonderful mothers in Bolivia that I know. And may all the children without mothers, or with bad mothers, know and find peace in the fact that He is more than sufficient.

The Count Down!

I head back to Bolivia in exactly 2 weeks! I am so anxious to see the boys again and all of my dear Bolivian friends. I’m excited to worship in the church and get to know the teams. I can’t wait for the children’s evangelism in the villages, the hard work, the lack of sleep, and the giant bonfires. The endless mountains of rice at every meal…well, I can hold off a little longer on that one!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother’s Day!! And a special thanks to all the women who have become Aunts, Sisters, Friends, Moms, and godmothers to our boys in Bolivia. They need you so much!

So I like the zoo!

I’ve had an amazing friend visiting the last few days. We pulled out all the stops and cooked up some crazy good food! We did a little running too, but probably not enough to actually balance back out :) We also went to the zoo. Because zoos are just fun places. Unfortunately, my camera died halfway through, so that’s got to be sent in to the shop now. But we did see a beautiful sunrise at the beach!

I love living here!

What is it about smooth sand that makes us want to write our names in it?

Friends really are daily blessings. I'm so grateful for them!

Thanks!

Sometimes God makes it so clear that He really does love me A LOT. I really appreciate that!!

Disguised Blessing

A great friend of mine is about to depart on a mission trip with another organization for 11 months. Last night was her final big fundraiser which included a silent auction. Thanks to God CIN has had some amazing volunteers and I was given good instruction by them when we did our own silent auction. Because of this, I was able to take a big portion of that load off of my friend so that she could focus on other parts of the evening. And I love being helpful, especially to good friends! It was a long and busy night, but very successful for her!

Earth Day

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
-Mark 8:36

O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A

It had been almost a year and a half since I was last home. Too long! I got to hang out with the fam, see both brothers, and even visit the grandparents and an uncle. We also snuck in a visit to the zoo, which is always fun.

This wasn't in the zoo, but it was the first time I met my little sister's puppy!

The pastor surprised me on Sunday by having me go to the front at the end to give everyone the chance to come by and shake my hand as they left. It was a great way to make sure that I got to greet everyone!

I really wish that flights were cheaper (and time was unlimited) so that I could see everyone more often!

Children's Day

Growing up, we always knew there ought to be a children’s day. After all, there’s Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparent’s Day, even Teacher Appreciation Day. We knew we were missing out!

Well not in Bolivia! There truly is a Children’s Day!

Easter

Happy Resurrection Day! What a beautiful south Florida day! My church here usually has 3 services on Sunday mornings to accommodate all of the people (around 500 each week). But Easter is a very special time for us. We put up a GIANT white tent in the parking lot and hold one service all together. It was a beautiful morning and it felt great to have the whole family together. In fact, we had over 1,000 people in attendance! God is pretty amazing. And I am incredibly grateful that he has given me this church to be a part of. I love my church!

Yard Work Day

Today was one looooong day of yardwork around the CIN Ministry House. We pulled weeks and piled them up into a mountain. We are blessed with such gorgeous surroundings to work in. But if anyone wants to come help us keep this giant lawn in check, don’t be shy!!

Happy Ocean Day!

This is really my favorite holiday in land-locked Bolivia.

Dia del Padre

Feliz Dia del Padre para todos los padres que conozco en Bolivia! Happy Father’s day to all of the father’s that I know in Bolivia! I have gotten to know some very special fathers in Bolivia who love their children deeply and sacrifice greatly for their families. They are a tremendous blessing in my life as well!

But today is also a rough day for many of the Bolivians that I love so much. So many of them have never known their fathers. And so many more have been abused and abandoned by their father. For some reason God has seen fit to bless me with a wonderful and complete family, and so I can only imagine what it is like for my boys at the BLC to have this bitter reminder. I think of the special projects that I did in school as a child to celebrate Mother’s and Father’s days and pray that my boys are always confident in being loved.

A special thank you to all of the Padrinos (godfathers…what the boys call their sponsors) who have become involved in the lives of the BLC boys. You mean so very much to them!!

Loving Santa Cruz

I’m in love with Santa Cruz!! For a long time I have been hearing about the church plant here and wanting to come and visit. Finally I have the opportunity. All week, everyone I have talked to has warned me about the terrible heat and humidity in Santa Cruz. It sounded a lot like south Florida though, so I wasn’t too worried. We arrived to find Cristobal waiting with Pastor David and Pastor Edson! Hermana Lita was already at the church cooking us a wonderful dinner :) After dinner we sat around talking for a while and I successfully translated Pastor David’s entire testimony for the team. Wow. That was all God, because I’m simply not that good still! They let us sleep in a little on Thursday, but after an amazing Hermana Lita breakfast, we got to work. The boys were sent outside to mix cement and pass it bucket by bucket up to them men laying bricks on the perimeter wall. The girls were set to the task of scrubbing the walls of the sanctuary so that it was ready for paint.

Thank God for clouds and a light rain that kept the temperature very bearable. After supper we took a bus into the city center and explored a park with an incredible dancing fountain. Back at the church the team played games and I sat with Pastor Edson, Cristobal, and a couple of people from the team. You can’t get those guys to be serious! It was a great conversation though, and the first time that I have really been able to hang out with Edson as he started pastoring this church at the same time I started leading teams. Quality guy. Friday morning we hit the yard full force and pulled up every green thing we could find. We found giant snails and lots of other unusual creatures while we were at it that created a little screaming and dancing show for the guys that were still working on the wall, but free entertainment is free, right?

The girls in front of the monster pile of weeds we cleared.

It left quite the slim trail in his arm hair :)

We cleaned up and rested in the afternoon and headed to the airport after an early dinner. I really enjoyed the church there and was just as sad to leave Santa Cruz as I had been to leave Cochabamba. How is it, that when you think your heart is completely filled with one place, that you can still find a second place that captures your heart equally? I’m left trying to plot ways to get back to Santa Cruz without giving up any of my Cochabamba time :)

View from the front door of the church in Santa Cruz. Crazy!

In Cochabamba

What a tease, to be in Cochabamba for so little time :) We went to our first Sidewalk Sunday School the same day that we arrived, got the bus stuck in the mud, walked all around the neighborhood in the rain, and then put on a great show in a tiny one room church! After the exhausted team went to bed, I headed into town with a Bolivian friend to eat anticuchos (cow heart on skewers with peanut sauce). SOOOOOO GOOD!! On Saturday we went up to a great park to play and hike with the boys. It’s my favorite park ever because of the river and waterfall. In the evening we went to the Youth Service. I was so happy to be back in my tribe and see so many friends! I even presented the team on stage at church in Spanish without a translator.

Luis was so helpful with his big smile!

We were back in church Sunday morning and after lunch we headed out the BLC for some quality boy time. Somehow a water balloon fight broke out :) Nothing is better than 70 little boys verses 13 gringos! In the evening I took them to El Prado, which is downtown Cochabamba to treat them to icecream. Some Bolivian friends joined us and I had a great time plotting with them.

Serious game faces!

Monday we explored Quillacollo, exchanging money, making phone calls home, and walking through the plaza. Then we got right to work sanding and painting the Pequeños dorm room. This team is full of painting beasts! The whole room was sanded, painted, and cleaned in one day! That night we headed downtown again just to explore the plaza, like true Bolivians :)

Tuesday morning we headed back into the Pequeños room and painted the ceiling. We got the whole thing done in just one morning! That left us with some time to hang out with the boys before getting cleaned up for the WEDDING! Pastor Jorge had been our official bus driver up until Monday at lunch when we finally sent him home to get ready :) Jorge and Vanessa are now married!!

We made a brief stop at the reception for photos and some hanging out, then headed off to dinner at Bufalos…where we ate way too much! Wednesday was our last day in Cochabamba and none of us was ready to think about leaving. We headed to the top of the Christ Statue…

PBA Team from the Christ Statue with the city of Cochabamba spread out below.

…and then made a stop at La Cancha (largest outdoor market in all of South America!) In the afternoon we went out for another Sidewalk Sunday School to a village that had recently been devastated by flooding. The children were so beautiful and welcoming and the pastor of the small church took me all around showing me the damage from the mud as well as all that the church was working on and planning. It was the only church in the area that welcomes children (the others claim that children are too young to waste their time on).

Straight to the airport after that!