Day 1

The theme for the very beginning of our trip was, "Wait!" We waited at the church for our last team member; then we waited at the Atl airport for check-in, security, (and then security again! Apparently, if you leave the secure area of the airport, they will allow you to do it again! AND, if you left your Passport and Boarding Pass with your carry-on back at the gate, you get to send someone through security an additional time! And the TSA agents WILL show a slight sense of humor when you go through for the third time!)

Got to sit on the plane for about 45 minutes waiting for luggage.

We ate lunch at the Atlanta Airport, ate Supper at the Miami Airport, ate Supper (again) on the flight to La Paz, stayed on the plane in La Paz, so we missed that culinary experience (thank God); coffee on the flight to Santa Cruz; then lunch at the airport in Santa Cruz. Seems like all we've done so far, is eat. And still, at every stop, the first thing out of Matt's mouth at every stop is, "when do we eat?" I'm gonna need two plane tickets to get home.

Out flight from Santa Cruz got cancelled. Had to wait an additional hour. So Rachael broke out her guitar and we had church at Gate 1 in Santa Cruz. Had several locals singing and clapping along with us. Even had a guy from Brazil sit in with us with his guitar. We would take turns - we would sing a worship song in Spanish, then he would sing a love song on Portugese. It was a great time!

Finally arrived in Cochabamba a couple hours late, and Matt was ready to eat!

Bolivia is absolutely beautiful! We are completely surrounded by (Andes?) Mountains. Many of the peaks are covered with snow. But in the midst of the beauty of God's Creation, is desperate poverty. You can't escape it. But the people seem to be truly joyful.

Our first "official" ministry opportunity started about two hours after we arrived in the country. We split into two groups. My group went to a community of what I guess were mud huts, connected by a common wall. Every Sunday, the children from the community gather at the little church for "Happy Hour." They sing, play games, learn Bible Verses; and have snacks. We did a sort of Vacation Bible School. We Sang some songs in English, then had them participate in telling the Creation Story. The theme of the story was that they - the children - were the central theme of God's purpose in creation. Then we split into groups for Soccer, Ultimate Frisbee, Face Painting, coloring, and sharing the Gospel with the aid of Salvation Bracelet's. The kids ware amazing. They we so full of energy. So loving. And so ready to receive love.

Then after Supper [Matt was ready for Supper], we went to Cara Cara for church. We arrived a few minutes late, and they were already singing. They sing in Quechuan - which requires two translators for us to understand - one to translate into Spanish and another to then translate to English. They were really excited to have us with them.

After a couple of us shared our testimony, we split the group again to minister to the children. I got to share the Creation story and Salvation Bracelets with the teenagers.

These kids - all ages - are so hungry for love. They didn't want us to leave. And they used all of their English. They would say, "chow, bye," over and over.

Our first day lasted nearly 34 hours without sleep. We were miserable - at least when it was just us. But the time we spent with these wonderful people was worth every minute, every mile, every delay, and every dollar it took for us to get here.

Thank you for your support during our preparation. Now we truly covet your prayers as we strive to be the arms of Jesus for a whole bunch of people who simply need to be loved so they can discover just how special they are in God's eyes.

God bless you all.
Steve

Some of the group singing at Kara kara

Pastor Matt preaching at Kara Kara Church

Rachel playing guitar at the airport. A lot of people are enjoying and nodding their heads.

Our team leaving today from First Baptist Buford to go to Bolivia.

Preparing for the trip

The team packing and weighing 22 bags to be 50 lbs a piece.  The team is bringing supplies for their ministry, as well as clothes, vitamins, etc for the next Jungle trip.

The Last Few Months

Wow! A lot has happened in the last 2 months. Below, you will see a recap of the main events.

Tuesday, April 12 was el Día del Niño, or Children’s Day. It was a packed day! First, the CED group from Word of Life went to a local village, about one hour away, Arani and had a program for the school children there. There were 2,400 kids!! The team had lots of crazy games for them and activities, but most importantly, they presented the Gospel. In the end, about 330 students received Christ!!!

Also, back home, at the property, we had a special activity for the students at Aguila Academy. We had ice cream, played relay races and ate lots of food. The kids loved it!

The CED has started again!!! There are 47 Evangelism and Discipleship students this year for Word of Life. They arrived at the first of April. They had a bon fire on Wednesday to commence the year. Pray for these students as they begin this great change in their lives, that God will work and change their lives forever.

We have started the new Aguila Christian Academy school year, at the first of March. It was a CRAZY day, children everywhere! Parents everywhere! Teachers everywhere! Dogs everywhere! The biggest hit of the year so far are the lockers we have this year. We found some old lockers, repainted them and they are all the rave. The kids find any excuse to go and put something in their lockers.

I asked one of our new students yesterday, in 3rd grade, if she likes school. She said, "I LOVE it!" Awesome!


We have students everywhere, there is never an empty room or space during the day, and the bathroom. . . it is never empty ( which means the kids have learned not to wait til the last minute to go. . . )!

The second week of school, a couple of my students found a baby tarantula in the playground. They brought it to school. As you can imagine, this caused quite the excitement. . . the girls screaming at high, ear-piercing pitches, the boys acting tough but cowering when it came near them. The teachers, most of them, not going anywhere near it. . .

I set up a habitat for the tarantula, putting rocks and leaves and a few flowers in it (not sure what they eat besides birds and lizards). The kids came and looked at it all day every chance they got, it was the high-light of their day. Gracie, my 3 year old wanted to know if it was REALLY REAL!?! Many kids asked me where his fangs were and where his head was (the head and rear are very similar. . . ). All in all, it was a good, calm day of viewing, until Marcy (an American teacher) wanted to take a picture of one of her sons holding it. That is when it got exciting! At the end of the day, we walked out side and began trying to get it out of the fish bowl. The squills and shrills began – also random running and jumping . In the end, 5 of the 19 students held the tarantula and 2 of the teachers (myself and Julie). It felt like a giant grand-daddy long-leg in my hand – kind of neat, but don’t want it on my face!!

Afterwards, we sent all the kids home. Esteban, a 9^th grader asked me to let me let it loose again. So, he took it to a rocky area and released it. But, we set the fish bowl with the lid back in the school.