FBC Missions

Hello from Cochabamba, Bolivia. Though the title says this is being written by Genna it is actually Bri this time. This is the morning of day 5 and we actually here at Dan and Daryl’s house for a sweet breakfast that will consist of pancakes, eggs, a fruit salad and some other goods. Today is going to be more relaxing, we have this breakfast and free time until lunch so we can visit the nearby saturday market. At 3:00 or noon westcoast time, we will head to the church and help out with the Awana ministry which will be followed by “tea” at a local baker lady’s house (sweeeeet), making pizza for dinner, and the spending time with the local college ministry here. Tomorrow is church and Genna as well as I and some others will be sharing our testimonies which should be interesting and challenging, at least for me I know.

So, personally, how has the trip been going? I must admit that I have been having a pretty unique experience. The culture here is very similar to the one I encountered in Peru with the poverty level very similar and the native dress almost exactly alike to what I saw in Peru as most of the native people here are Quechua Indians. Two days this week we went to Los Molinos and while there I planned two Vacation Bible School lessons, one went way better than the other but we talked about Creation and later Death and Resurrection. I planned activities that went with those and we played lots of games with the kids which was super fun. One day we did Creation paper plates and the next we did sock puppets. I must admit that stepping into the “teacher” role has been very challenging, something I enjoyed in Peru was having a personal relationship with the kids but that wasn’t very possible when I was running around making sure that all the kids understood the directions, trying to keep things running smoothly and then translating on top of that for 5 other team members. Don’t get me wrong, I have enjoyed this new role, I have absolutely loved stepping up and translating, I am just very thankful for this slight break in routine. It has been awesome to be around spanish again, so welcome and fun to learn new Bolivian words and communicate with the people here. When we pulled up Thursday and saw the 600 kids we met a German couple who spoke broken English so we communicated in Spanish. CRAZY! Next week we will do 2 more days of VBS but this time with 20 orphan girls who all come from very different backgrounds so I am super excited to meet them. I have been very impressed by all the team members’ willingness to step up and help out and all are very quick to use the little or many words of spanish they know to communicate with the Bolivians here. I am so glad that we have another week to go, projects to start and finish and more opportunities to interact with the native people. Dan and Daryl are AWESOME, so welcoming and patient. I am super glad they are here taking care of us. Today the team was split into a small group that spoke spanish and another group that doesn’t. The group that is….um, Spanish challenged were dropped off in the market with a map, some Bolivianos and directions to buy flowers, fruit, and milk on their own. What a great experience and it went well, they had fun and the rest of us hung out with Daryl. We are constantly learning new things which is great and bonding together through VBS, construction of playground sets, and interesting meals. Yeah for Bolivia!

Prayer requests: Please keep our health in your prayers, some of the team members are battling colds and we have been eating some interesting foods so prayers that our stomachs will keep cooperating. Also, being in constant closeness some of our patience in being tested so that we will stay united and patient and loving with each other. This week has gone really well so thank you for all of you at home who are praying for us. I miss my fam but am excited to see them in one week

Hope everyone is doing well at home, hugs from Bolivia!

Love,

Bri

I know it says ¨by Genna¨ just above this, but it´s actually Ty writing today. 

The Good:  You can do a lot more with a motorcyle in Bolivia than you ever dreamed possible in the US.  Five passengers, a bathtub, anything and anyone can go almost anywhere on two wheels down here.

The Bad:  When you go to prison in Bolivia, your wife and kids come with you.

The Beautiful:  Bringing a smile to a child´s face warms your heart more than you ever thought possible when that child has no parents, no home, and shines shoes in the city just to eat.

My world has bee sufficently rocked in the last three days, and I still have not seen the poorest slums of Cochabamba.  Today we spent the afternoon at a youth camp outside the city which sits on a mountain a thousand feet above where we are staying.  When we arrived, we saw not the fourty children we expected, but instead more than 600 Bolivian youths.  Tony said it reminded him of how he pictures the setting when Christ fed the 5,000–as we looked up the hill, we could only see children.  We later found out that these were not the kids we came to visit and serve, but a seperate group which consisted entirely of children who lived with their parents in prison.  From my understanding, the system works roughly as such: if a parent is convicted of a crime, the are forced to move to prison along with their whole family.  The family is required to pay rent for their stay in jail, so typically the non-convicted spouse and the children leave durring the day and make money to support the family´s rent and other monetary needs.  Since the Bolivian children are out of school right now for winter break, they are taken on trips around Cochabamba.  Today they were at el Campamento Los Molinos.  Even though they left soon after we arrived (giving us a chance to work closely with the 40 children we came to see) their presence was no less powerful in my heart.

My mind is blown.  These were some of the friendliest, most outgoing and joyful kids I have ever met–and they live in jail.  There is something different about life here, a different understanding of priorities and worries and joys, and I think all ten of us on the team are benefiting greatly from learning about the Bolivian world view.  I feel like in some ways the children I played football (soccer) with today might be clued into the way God sees the world a little better than I am–and most of them probably don´t even know it.  I could go on for pages about my experience with children I´ve spent the last two days with, but that is not the goal of this blog–we want to share with all of you back at home what God is doing in our lives. 

I led our morning devotinal time today and we read out of Mark chapter 10 where Jesus shares his compassion and adoration for children with the disciples.  We discussed the wonderful nature of a child´s faith.  Thier sense of joy and acceptance of God.  They believe not because they have no reason not to, for surely the Bolivian kids we met today have been delt a harsher hand in life than any of us, but because they understand that the world and life and everything around them is far too complicated to be fully comprehended.  They love and cherish the idea of a God who has authority over them because the recognize that they  can´t live their lives alone.  They need help…and so do we.  But kids have something special–they immediately recognize the need for a savior.

After our discussion of Mark´s account of Jesus, we turned our hearts and minds to Psalm 139.  Read it.  Believe it.  God has searched our hearts and knows our inmost being.  Awesome, huh?  I find this notion so beautiful it makes me cry a little when I think about how the God of the universe knows every single child I met today.  God knows Oscar.  God knows José, Daisy, Escarleta, Richard and Rosalina too.  What´s more, he has knit each one of them together in their mother´s womb to be unique and special and beautiful in his eyes.  I´m only beginning to understand what that means, but I tell you, friends, it is already changing my life.

Thank you each so much for your prayers and your support.  You are all changing the world right now and I count every moment I spend here as an absolute blessing.  (Please forgive any horrible spelling errors, this computer can spellcheck, but only in Español.)

 Be blessed,  Ty Williams

Hello Everyone,

We are finally here after 34 hours of travel. Our first few hours in Cochabamba have been spent very well with old friends Dan and Daryl Collins, and new friends Daniel, Tomas, and Jonni who our team will be working with over the next two weeks.

Our arrival was not without its difficulties, but God definitley walked before us and got us here safely! Our first trick in the plan happened in Dallas when we realized that four of our team members were leaving on a different flight to Miami, which wouldn´t have affected us much in the end, but did end up delaying our bags, leaving four team members without luggage tonight in Cochabamba. However, sharing is caring…so no big deal!

There was also a delay in our flight from Miami to La Paz, Bolivia that did cause us to miss our morning flight to Cochabamba. But what a blessing our new friend Daniel was as he helped us navigate the bus station in La Paz, putting us on a six hour bus ride through the countryside of Bolivia. The trip was somewhat long, but beautiful and a great way to see this diverse country.

Tomorrow begins our first day of service and ministry. We are all very excited to see what God has planned for us and the people we will be serving. Keep checking the blog for upcoming PHOTOS and news!

Blessings,

Genna

We have been blessed by the people of New Hope Fellowship and others in the community. They have come and worked with us on the building around their job schedules, given us a tour of their city, prepared a fabulous Polish meal for us, and welcomed us to participate in the Sunday morning service.

Each day one or two of the church members have come and worked along side us. It is great to hear their “dziekuje” (thank you) throughout the day!

On Thursday afternoon two of the young people from the church took us on a walking tour around the historic parts of the city. As we dodged raindrops around the town, we took opportunities to see a little of the insides of the buildings during the showers…

Saturday, a couple who are not part of the fellowship here (but have contact with some of the missionaries in the area) came to prepare a full Polish meal for us. They spent hours in the kitchen preparing a fabulous meal!

Sunday morning, our second one here, members of our team from Chicago participated with the worship team and Tom (the pastor from Chicago) preached the sermon. This was also the end of the Sunday School year for the church here so the children presented a skit and the Burnell’s two boys each played a special piano piece.

It seems amazing to think that our time here is over half gone. I wish we had more time to get to know these precious people and share in their ministry by assisting with the work on their building.

Anna, on behalf of the Poland 2007 team