We will meet again, Bolivia

I'm ready to go back. I miss the people already!

My first mission trip to a foreign country was one of the best experiences I have ever had. It was an eye-opener. I now realize how many things I take for granted every day, such as:

• INTERNET
• drinkable tap water
• edible fresh vegetables
• septic systems that can handle toilet paper
• paved roads
• trashcans
• easily accessible health care

The biggest eye opener for me was the hospitality that we received from the church that we were serving. When we arrived at Cochabamba, we were greeted outside the airport by a gathering of church members playing instruments and singing. I have never been greeted so warmly by people I have never met before. It was surprising the faith that these people had that we would arrive on time and further that we would do great service for them.

The first service we did was a medical clinic, open to people of the church and the community. We had a number of people who came down from villages high in the Andes to receive care. A doctor came in to help, as well as a dentist. We had a pharmacy (I spent most of the day there), a blood pressure screening area, and a physical therapy area. In the waiting room, the "Jesus" film (http://www.jesusfilm.org/) was playing in Quechua, the native language of the area, while people waited for care. It was awesome to see all of the USP students using what they were learning in school in this setting. The pharmacy students worked to prepare medications for people as they came with their scripts from the doctor and dentist. Several people, life-savers, helped us to explain dosage and administration to patients who only spoke Quechua. Meanwhile, the physical therapy students helped patients lift better, work better, and sit better to reduce back pain.

For several mornings out of the week, the team helped with construction of a new living space for the pastor. The men working on the building worked hard all day. They put up all of the walls in just three days. The amazing thing about the construction work was that our team members fit right in working alongside our Bolivian brothers.While we worked construction, the women were always making food for us. They gave us enormous portions and fed us first. It was very humbling to see them work so hard to make us feel welcome and comfortable.

From Tuesday to Thursday, we put together a "Kids' Club" for the children of the church and the surrounding area. After opening with several songs and some prayer, the children were split by age into three groups and rotated around three stations for the first two days. There was a lesson station, a craft station, and a game station. The lessons and crafts centered around the gospel, as we wanted the kids to take home the most important points of Jesus' impact on the world and on their lives individually. The game time was just to have fun and burn some energy.
On Thursday, the last day of VBS, everyone was in one huge group. For the lesson time, the team put on a puppet show and a skit about Jesus and his work on Earth. We gave them coloring books for their craft, and for game time we rented two huge inflatable slides and a moon bounce. The kids had a blast! After the kids left, their parents and other church members hopped on, and likewise had an awesome time.

Pastor Esteban with a radio

On Saturday, we visited the Nueva Jerusalen church. Nueva Jerusalen is a recent church plant in another community and the pastor, Esteban, is the former pastor of the Nueva Luz church. While we were there, we did some children's ministry like we did earlier in the week. We gave the kids coloring books, performed our skit from Thursday, and we sang for them. We also presented solar radios to the families of the church. The radios are permanently tuned to a radio station that broadcasts Christian music, talk radio, and community information in Quechua. Receiving a radio was truly a blessing to each family.

I can't believe this is already in the past. It seems like a week ago we were planning our lessons and praying that we would receive enough donations. However, I am constantly reminded of the people that I made connections with while I was in Bolivia. These two congregations have made a huge impact on my life. I have never felt so welcome in an unfamiliar place, and I have never felt so loved by people I barely know.

The American church could learn a thing or two from the Bolivian church. The sense of community that is in these churches is astounding. It seems like everyone knows one another and genuinely cares for one another. It can also be seen that they care for each other outside the walls of the church, that their community holds strong in the larger community which entails a great deal of pagan influence.

At the same time, however, the Bolivian church has its faults. It is customary in the Bolivian culture that children are largely ignored until they mature into adults. Consequently, there is usually no ministry for children in these churches. Lately, however, pastors have begun to realize the importance of reaching children early on to ensure the future of the church.

Well, the journey has come to an end. I am now at home preparing to go back to school. My prayer is that I will never forget the Bolivian people and all that God taught me through them. When the next group goes in two years, I definitely want to be a part. I love these people, and I want to see their churches grow exponentially.

2 Thessalonians 1:3-12
 ³We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. ⁴Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.
 ⁵All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. ⁶God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you ⁷and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. ⁸He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power ¹⁰on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
 ¹¹With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. ¹²We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.