Dear Family and Friends,
I hope you all had a good week. Sorry for the delayed email, the internet doesn´t always work (nor the water or electricity, but our needs are well cared for).
Last week we worked at the hospital most mornings with various doctors. One morning Matt shared his testimony and I translated and we both drew out the gospel and interacted with the patients in the waiting room. God was good to open many opportunities after morning rounds this week to share our testimony and the gospel with the patients here. Many of them know Christ and are living for Him, but there are also many who do not Him and who are trusting in their good works to get them into heaven instead of trusting in the fact that Christ did everything through his death and resurrection so we could spend eternity with Him.
On Thursday, we went with a local physician into the mountains to provide medical treatment to the children at a school in Mal Pasos, which means ´´bad paths´´ which is ironic because we off roaded for over an hour up the mountain along the dirt trail to the village which is at an altitude 15,000 ft! We were definitely out of breath after hiking to the school where we provided medical treatment for the children and people in the village. Most of the people live in very small stone homes (literally a village made out of stones, like Bedrock on the Flinstones), speak Cetchua, and have a stream as their only source of water. Matt and I really enjoy doing medical missions in this enviornment so we were very excited. First we educated the Children about the importance of sanitation, washing their hands, using boiled water, and then we shared the gospel with them. After, we split up into teams, saw a lot of patients with diarrhea, and Matt was able to use his manipulation skills on a woman´s sacrum. It was a bit disorganized but we enjoyed serving the children in the mountains, which were beautiful. The school was very grateful and invited us back.
We have also been going to various orphanages in town. There are an overwhelming number of orphans. At one place we held babies and played with the children to show the love Christ has for His children.This orphanage was started by a very young Christian woman from the U.S who has served there for over 4 years. I really enjoyed carrying around one little baby who was wearing a cute Pooh blanket.
Another orphanage that we went to had 70 boys only. The orphanage is run by Bolivian Christians who are mainly supported by American donations. The boys all attend school, help with the chores, and are well organized. I was impressed as to how well behaved the boys were. Matt really enjoyed playing soccer with them with the Andes in the background! THis is a great organization as they bring up these abused and neglected children by helping them through their traumatic past and teaching them about their heavenly Father who will never desert or mistreat them. Thus, most are believers and desire to serve God in missions someday! Please pray that God would continue to provide for these orphans and that they would understand that they have a heavenly Father who loves them very much! Matt 19´13,14.
¨Kid Washing¨
This was started by a local Christian Bolivian man who felt God leading hime to provide baths for the children who live on the streets. We washed over 40 kids. God has totallly provided all the funds and volunteers both American and Bolivian, for him to set up a tent with small baths for the children. Every Saturday he brings a huge generator to warn the water and set up a tent with 3 small baths. The children are bathed with soap and water individually in the tubs by the women, given clean clothes, have their hair styled, and given bread and mild. It is an awesome display of the body of Christ serving the poor. I helped to bath the children while singing Jesus songs to them in Spanish and Matt was vital in sharing the gospel with the mothers and using his strength to carry and pour out the water.
CIC church,
We were able to worship this past sunday with many of the local missionaries and a great growing church that is a mix of both Bolivians and missionaries. The church is an oasis for local and short term missionaries. They have a vision to equip other local pastors by having confereces at the church ' to basically provide some formal bible training and fellowship as most of the pastors here have no formal bible-seminary training and little or no accountability or fellowship. As this is also a passion of our pastor in harlingen, we feel we have made many contacts for our home church to return and continue such ministries. It is unfortunate that many of the local chrisitians have do not reach out a lot to their fellow bolivians. This is due to their culture, which doesn´t reach out much, but who are more focused on making a living, providing food, and helping their own family. However, CIC has begun taking locals out to minister into the jungle areas and they are loving it, catching the vision to serve. They are doing a great job supporting the goal most ministries have, which is to get the local christians to reach out locally.
I think God is bringing us back to the basics, God is teaching us to be patient in the midst of a different culture. To rest and to listen to His voice, something I feel we take little time for in America. To love the Lord our God and to love others Matt 22 37 40 and John 13 34 35, those being the greatest commandment according to Jesus, as they sum up the rest. Not an easy task, but somewhat simplifies life. We often forget that loving the Lord means sitting quietly and patiently at his feet, another not so easy task for our driven culture!
Feel free to share what is going on in your lives, we love to hear from you! We will be returning home in a few days - sunday afternoon. Thank you for all of your emails and prayers, we really appreaciate the body of Christ - what an awsome family!
Matt and Kristen
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Bolivia!
greetings friends,
Here is are some emails from Matt and I!
thank you for your prayers. we really appreciate them.
Bolivia is a very beautiful country with the Andes mountains and temperate climate. The city we are in, Cochabamba, is basically an eternal spring weather in my book. It is currently Fall here as we are below the equator, but the weather and flowers are springish. most days start cool - around 60, and increase to about the upper 80s. The altitude is over 8000 ft, so the sun is very bright when out. The city basically sits in a valley surrounded by green, grass covered mountains, with a few rugged peaks containing snow filled crags. Behind the hospital is a strong display of the green mountain and spring flowers on our grounds.
Many of the indiginous rural peoples grow flowers to take into town and sell. It isn´t unusual to see a field full of Iris´s or other multicolored flowers. The women typically are the ones who tend to the field. Men also work sometime, but usually only for the harder manual labor such as plowing or moving the cattle. yes, many have diary cattle for milk and plowing, but only a couple. Some cannot afford that luxury. Homes in these rural areas are on mountainsides (not steep), built out of concrete, brick and wood. Some older buildings are built of mud/clay bricks - i will try to show some pictures once i return. Do to working outside contantly under the bright sun, the `people age quickly, and apparently get skin cancers frequently, although i have yet to see any. The indiginious peoples are short, with typical wear that i will post once at home. Most seem very calm, with friendly demeanors. Of course, within the busy city itself, there are those who are less warm, but for the most part everyone keeps to themselves. The city is much like Mexico, but somewhat cleaner and better observance of some (not all) traffic laws. Each city has a center, which consists of what we would call a city square, with many benches and green grass and trees to provide shade. People congregate around these areas, including many street vendors with local foods, as well as typical items needed within the home, plus bootleg CDs and DVDs - again, much like a mexican market.
The foods here are varied. We have eaten both chicken and beef dishes, usually with rice or potatoes. Saturday we had some Saltenas, which are like a beef soup enclosed within a sweet bread, that was very tasty. Interestingly, their ¨picante¨foods are actually quite mild. I guess they don´t have the jalapenos we often see in >Tex-Mex. There are also many local fruits grown in this climate - some of which no one can explain due there originality. Just like many other countries, they like to fry bananas. Apparently we are going to eat some yucca and llama tonight?! They also have a burger king and pizzeria downtown if we need american foods. However, the city of cochabamba is actually about 45 min away. We ride in small vans, that resemble the old VW van for all of you hippy type, in which we pack about 15 into what should probably be about a 8 person vehicle, and, if you are over 5´5¨, there is no leg room. It is very cheap - costing about 20-25 cents to ride about 20 kilometers. This transportation style is giving us a loook at what it is like to live in a big city. Most people do not own cars. Most of the food costs about a 1/4-1/3 of the cost of USA.
The hospital - well, Kristen mentioned a bit of it below. They really do not have much patient volume, which is quite surprising. I can explain more of that later. Essentially, the hospital is out of the city a bit, and not as well known as needed. Many of the patients are from the Adventist University right around the corner, and so far seem to know the Lord. There is an on fire charismatic chaplain who preaches interactively with the waiting patients each am, and seems to do a great job. The doctors here who are Christians seem to leave sharing the gospel to him. I have been able to see some cases here, including typhoid, some lab pathology showing malaria, TB, cryptosprodiosis, trichomonas, and some typical problems such as abscesses, osteomyelitis, COPD, ruptured appedix, cholecystitis, and multiple ortho injuries, including 2 clavicle fractures from apparently the most dangerous activity in Bolivia - futbol (Soccer)! Don´t worry mom and dad, i haven´t played... yet. Unfortunately, i have no crazy medical stories to tell due to low number of patients. Will continue to keep you updated as able. >Thank you again for your prayers.
We are doing well. This has been a bit of a different experience than we thought it would be. God is good and we´re trying to just trust Him. We don´t have much access or time to do internet so I´m sorry for the short message.
I am a bit trapped at the hospital and our house because it isn´t safe to go out alone. So I go wherever Matt goes which is a blessing to have him here. God is giving me a rest from running and more rest in general which is a blessing.
I shared my testimony in Spanish to the patients waiting in the waiting room the other day and I gave a presentation on the Chagas disease. We´ve gotten to share our faith with the patients and with some of the Bolivians in the street. We have also seen some cool surgeries. The other day we went to an orphanage to share Christ with the kids and play with them.
The other girls that are volunteering here (they are 4th year med students) are really sweet. Our house hosts (Iris and Thomas) live at the guest house with us, cook some of our meals, and are very kind. Their little girl is also adorable.
We are trying to make connections with the different churches and missionaries here because our pastor in Harlingen is coming to Bolivia in August to do a pastors conference. They supported us quite a bit which was a huge blessing.
Bolivia is beautiful with all the all the Mts. but is a very poor country. The hospital is a bit lacking in patients and we are observers which is pretty frustrating (esp for Matt). Also, few of the Drs. speak English so I´m translating as best as I can.
I am enjoying the beauty and rest, speaking Spanish, and spending lots of time with Matt.
Please pray that God would show us our purpose here, open doors to share our faith, joy in the midst of frustration, and that our relationship would continue to grow.
We got to see the Christ on the hill (which is larger than the one in Rio de Janiero!)and also watch a Bolivian soccer game which was very cool.
Hope all is well with you all! I love you all lots. Email me prayer requests!
Matt and Kristen
Here is are some emails from Matt and I!
thank you for your prayers. we really appreciate them.
Bolivia is a very beautiful country with the Andes mountains and temperate climate. The city we are in, Cochabamba, is basically an eternal spring weather in my book. It is currently Fall here as we are below the equator, but the weather and flowers are springish. most days start cool - around 60, and increase to about the upper 80s. The altitude is over 8000 ft, so the sun is very bright when out. The city basically sits in a valley surrounded by green, grass covered mountains, with a few rugged peaks containing snow filled crags. Behind the hospital is a strong display of the green mountain and spring flowers on our grounds.
Many of the indiginous rural peoples grow flowers to take into town and sell. It isn´t unusual to see a field full of Iris´s or other multicolored flowers. The women typically are the ones who tend to the field. Men also work sometime, but usually only for the harder manual labor such as plowing or moving the cattle. yes, many have diary cattle for milk and plowing, but only a couple. Some cannot afford that luxury. Homes in these rural areas are on mountainsides (not steep), built out of concrete, brick and wood. Some older buildings are built of mud/clay bricks - i will try to show some pictures once i return. Do to working outside contantly under the bright sun, the `people age quickly, and apparently get skin cancers frequently, although i have yet to see any. The indiginious peoples are short, with typical wear that i will post once at home. Most seem very calm, with friendly demeanors. Of course, within the busy city itself, there are those who are less warm, but for the most part everyone keeps to themselves. The city is much like Mexico, but somewhat cleaner and better observance of some (not all) traffic laws. Each city has a center, which consists of what we would call a city square, with many benches and green grass and trees to provide shade. People congregate around these areas, including many street vendors with local foods, as well as typical items needed within the home, plus bootleg CDs and DVDs - again, much like a mexican market.
The foods here are varied. We have eaten both chicken and beef dishes, usually with rice or potatoes. Saturday we had some Saltenas, which are like a beef soup enclosed within a sweet bread, that was very tasty. Interestingly, their ¨picante¨foods are actually quite mild. I guess they don´t have the jalapenos we often see in >Tex-Mex. There are also many local fruits grown in this climate - some of which no one can explain due there originality. Just like many other countries, they like to fry bananas. Apparently we are going to eat some yucca and llama tonight?! They also have a burger king and pizzeria downtown if we need american foods. However, the city of cochabamba is actually about 45 min away. We ride in small vans, that resemble the old VW van for all of you hippy type, in which we pack about 15 into what should probably be about a 8 person vehicle, and, if you are over 5´5¨, there is no leg room. It is very cheap - costing about 20-25 cents to ride about 20 kilometers. This transportation style is giving us a loook at what it is like to live in a big city. Most people do not own cars. Most of the food costs about a 1/4-1/3 of the cost of USA.
The hospital - well, Kristen mentioned a bit of it below. They really do not have much patient volume, which is quite surprising. I can explain more of that later. Essentially, the hospital is out of the city a bit, and not as well known as needed. Many of the patients are from the Adventist University right around the corner, and so far seem to know the Lord. There is an on fire charismatic chaplain who preaches interactively with the waiting patients each am, and seems to do a great job. The doctors here who are Christians seem to leave sharing the gospel to him. I have been able to see some cases here, including typhoid, some lab pathology showing malaria, TB, cryptosprodiosis, trichomonas, and some typical problems such as abscesses, osteomyelitis, COPD, ruptured appedix, cholecystitis, and multiple ortho injuries, including 2 clavicle fractures from apparently the most dangerous activity in Bolivia - futbol (Soccer)! Don´t worry mom and dad, i haven´t played... yet. Unfortunately, i have no crazy medical stories to tell due to low number of patients. Will continue to keep you updated as able. >Thank you again for your prayers.
We are doing well. This has been a bit of a different experience than we thought it would be. God is good and we´re trying to just trust Him. We don´t have much access or time to do internet so I´m sorry for the short message.
I am a bit trapped at the hospital and our house because it isn´t safe to go out alone. So I go wherever Matt goes which is a blessing to have him here. God is giving me a rest from running and more rest in general which is a blessing.
I shared my testimony in Spanish to the patients waiting in the waiting room the other day and I gave a presentation on the Chagas disease. We´ve gotten to share our faith with the patients and with some of the Bolivians in the street. We have also seen some cool surgeries. The other day we went to an orphanage to share Christ with the kids and play with them.
The other girls that are volunteering here (they are 4th year med students) are really sweet. Our house hosts (Iris and Thomas) live at the guest house with us, cook some of our meals, and are very kind. Their little girl is also adorable.
We are trying to make connections with the different churches and missionaries here because our pastor in Harlingen is coming to Bolivia in August to do a pastors conference. They supported us quite a bit which was a huge blessing.
Bolivia is beautiful with all the all the Mts. but is a very poor country. The hospital is a bit lacking in patients and we are observers which is pretty frustrating (esp for Matt). Also, few of the Drs. speak English so I´m translating as best as I can.
I am enjoying the beauty and rest, speaking Spanish, and spending lots of time with Matt.
Please pray that God would show us our purpose here, open doors to share our faith, joy in the midst of frustration, and that our relationship would continue to grow.
We got to see the Christ on the hill (which is larger than the one in Rio de Janiero!)and also watch a Bolivian soccer game which was very cool.
Hope all is well with you all! I love you all lots. Email me prayer requests!
Matt and Kristen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)