Blessings in Bolivia

Saludos de Bolivia! It's been almost a week, and it is such a joy to be back. My team has been packing our days with cross cultural training, prep for the Ayore camp next week, exploring Santa Cruz, and learning and performing a skit at the university with CCU (Comunidad Cristiana Universitaria). The days are long, but the week has flown by!

Today, we assisted a church in hosting their Bible school for kids in their community. I saw Pablo, my Bolivian brother in Christ, teach our group of kids the good news of Jesus and the importance of sharing God's word. Afterwards we performed our skit for them, and then gave out balloons and blew bubbles with them. So much fun! And so neat to witness the truth of God being taught in another part of the world!

Tomorrow we head out to the Ayore camp! I would really appreciate your prayers - a lot of spiritual warfare surrounds the work South America Mission and our Global Projet teams have done putting on these camps for the girls. But I'm so blessed to be a part of this again this year, and I'm excited to see familiar faces! We visited an Ayore community this morning, and one of the girls who is 15 and went through the camps and was recently married said that because of the camps and learning about Jesus, she has chosen a different path. And other girls in that community have made the decision to wait until they are 15 to get married. (Getting married very young is incredibly common among the Ayore.) So exciting to know that the work being done with the Ayore for God's glory is making an impact!

Life is such an adventure. And I am so blessed that my adventure brought me here.

(A picture from last year's campamento)

My Letter From Bolivia

First of all, Happy Father's Day!

Second of all, one week from today I'll be getting on a plane to fly to Bolivia!

Last summer I had the awesome opportunity and privilege to be part of an InterVarsity Global Project to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where my team and I served in a variety of ways, one being helping South America Mission host a week-long camp for Ayore girls at risk of being trafficked or pressured into prostitution.

During our time in Bolivia, our project directors had us write a letter to ourselves that they would send to us in six months. In January, I received that letter, and to be honest, I had forgotten I had written it! And I was surprised, and encouraged, by what I read. Now, it may sound odd to you to think of writing a letter to yourself. And I'll admit, when I was writing it, it did feel...strange. How do you keep a letter like that from sounding cheesy, especially when you're from Wisconsin, where cheese practically runs in your veins?

I will say this: six months post-Bolivia, those words I had penned were exactly what I needed to hear. Words of encouragement for the person I was becoming. Reminders of the friends I had made in Bolivia. Exhorting myself to seek after God, and fall deeper in love with Him and His Word. To stand up for the oppressed, and to remember the power of prayer.

In my letter, I wrote, "Are you planning on going back to Bolivia? I hope you are."

Well, past-self, I think you'd be proud of me. Because I am indeed returning to Bolivia! And I couldn't be more excited and blessed.

I'm excited,

to be a part of God's global mission. To partner with some of the most inspiring and courageous and self-sacrificial people I have ever met. To see friends and brothers- and sisters-in-Christ. To serve in ways that force me to step outside of my comfort zone.

And I'm blessed,

to see what God has done in this past year. To continue building relationships in another part of the world. To give of the gifts God has given me to bless others. To learn and experience new things. To be surrounded by those who have partnered with me financially and through prayer to get me there. And to return to the place that captured my heart.

Please join in praying with me for the ministries we will be partnering with: GATHER, CCU, and SAM. Pray for safe travels and health for my team. Pray for the Ayore girls, and that chains would be broken as they experience the love of Christ, and the victory found in Him. And pray that God would strengthen His church, as we work to build His Kingdom here.

Bolivia, mi amor...

I'm coming home!