Today in Cochabamba! By Katie Winn

Today was a beautiful day in Cochabamba, both physically and spiritually. Since it was Sunday, we attended Cochabamba International Church. We got to have Dan Westman speak about what it looks like to follow Jesus and to live life on a mission for God. The church was such a warm atmosphere--we had the bolivians with us and the feeling of God's presence was incredibly strong. We even had a worship band led by Bolivians! Since the church was an international church, we sang worship songs half in English and half in Spanish!

My team from yesterday's VBS program was the drama team and we had the privilege to perform the drama at the church today. I felt that feeling that is really hard to describe; Dan's talk captivated not only the Bolivians, but also us students and it was like the Holy Spirit's power was alive and moving not only in us, but in the church itself. It was truly a heart warming experience.

Later that afternoon we got to visit El Cristo. El Cristo is a sculpture of Jesus Christ on the top of a mountain and it stands 112ft. tall. It is the third largest statue in the Southern hemisphere and the largest Jesus Christ statue in the entire world.

We all took a long hike up the mountain to reach the Statue and climbed exactly 2,000 steps. It was hot and a struggle for a lot of the group, but we all made it! I was very excited because I was in the front and it was an accomplishment to finish before most of the team; it was a workout to say the least!

Once we reached El Cristo, we got to climb tight winding stairs inside El Cristo to view Bolivia from inside of the majestic sculpture! I looked around and all I saw were mountains with gorgeous landscape. It is really hard to describe the beauty and the feeling that I had. This trip has been a incredible blessing and I want to thank you for your love and support through this incredible faith journey in Cochabamba, Bolivia!

Thank you all so much,
Love Katie Winn

PS. We had an extra long team-time tonight, which means you will have to wait to hear from Karl Morcott till tomorrow!

Team photo of the day!

Since the students won't be blogging till later on this evening, we thought we'd give you a little taste of our day...

Stay tuned for posts from Katie Winn and Karl Morcott later tonight!

How He Loves by Madie Nixon

Lately, I have felt so distant from God. I have been praying for about a week for God to reenter, with full force, into my heart. This morning, I sat down and wrote in my journal that I needed God to physically show up in my life. I can feel Him, I know He is there, but I needed the validation that He hears my cries.

Walking into the VBS today, I was almost emotionless. I love children and building relationships with people, but today, I was not feeling it. I walked over to my music group and met our Bolivian leader, Jose. He was kind and gentle, but I just brushed him off as a new face. Another woman came into the room and asked us to go out and find kids to come to the local VBS. Hesitant, I said okay and I went on a walk with Jose and a few other team members. As one of the only Spanish speakers in the walking team, I was forced to make conversation and translate to and for Jose.

As I started saying mini phrases like, "como se llama" (What is your name?), "donde estan los chicos" (Where are the kids?) and "cuantos anos tienes" (How old are you?), Jose then wanted to dig into deeper conversations. I continued talking to him for over an hour. He and I talked for the rest of the day and by the end, I was crying as I was walking away from our VBS.

The real transformation came as we were breaking in between songs. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a sucker for "How He Loves" by the David Crowder Band. As we stop to talk between songs, I start hearing the tune for "How He Loves." I listen closer and realize that Jose is singing my song in the corner of the room. He was singing in Spanish, but none the less, it is my jam and I bawled like a baby. I was crying so much I had to walk out of the room. God's love for me in that moment was so evident. I went to the corner and cried as I prayed to God thanking Him for showing Himself to me.

God listens and hears. God is surrounding no matter where in the country one is. He loves all who come and follow Him. Nothing is impossible with God. 

- Madie Nixon

Building #2 and VBS #1 By Cassidy Lenstrom

So today we went back to the worksite for the second time and we had a great day! We spent most of the morning laying bricks and scooping concrete. Personally, I lacked the energy and enthusiasm I had yesterday at the worksite, but luckily it was only a half a day. After lunch on site, we took our bus to our first VBS site. We broke up into our four groups - Drama, Music, Crafts, and Sports - to set up. Once we were ready for the kids, we split them into four groups and they rotated through each of the stations. My group was crafts. 

Since all of the kids spoke spanish only, I sort of became the translator/leader for the group. We started off with a David and Goliath puppet show and I read the story to go with it for the kids in spanish. Then they took out their paper bags, put googly eyes, and drew smiles to make their own puppets! Next were the heart hats. Each kid had a hat in the shape of a heart made out of a paper bag, and decorated it with stickers and drawings to represent God's infinite love. The last craft was a little popsicle stick frame and the kids drew pictures of what they wanted to pray for in the middle.

I had such a blast utilizing my spanish and playing with the kids today. They seemed to be having a good time and their smiles were so inspirational. One thing I noticed were how all of their clothes had american names and characters on them. It made me think about how all they have comes from the waste of america and how fortunate we are to have all we have. Hopefully what we did today made an impact on the town and the ministry. I can't wait for the next VBS and the opportunity to reach out to more kids. 

- Cassidy Lenstrom

On the Worksite!

Here are some more pictures from the day!

Journal Entry, Star-Date: One-Two By (El Rey) Arthur Sima

         Day 1, First hour in Cochabamba: The altitude sickness had not set in yet, most of my fellow comrades have had troubles with their tummies, The people here are friendly and happily helped us load onto a bus, needless to say we  were happy after the long journey  I will continue updating my journals as the days go on.
         Day 1,  seventh hour in Cochabamba: We are about to go to sleep, our living conditions are more than optimal, if fact they are awesome. We have Bunk bends and working showers, which were a luxury in past missions. My other comrades are much better and excited for the sleep we are about to have. Our native leader Mr. Holman has told the team that the land is a harsh and baren place, but we have survived so far.
         Day 2,  8th hour: we have started what we came here for, which is building for others, the working conditions are probably the best I've experienced out of all my missions. there is a reason they call it "The city of eternal spring", it is 70 and there is always a cool breeze. In terms of work being done today, we have started building brick walls for the building and we have laid down a foundation for a wall. More updates later.

         Day 2, 17th hour: The land called Bolivia has been quite awe inspiring, there are mountains surrounding us and the sky is always clear, It truly is amazing being here.

- Arthur Sima

"Transitioning To 8,000 Feet Above Sea Level: An Introduction to Bolivia" - Blog Time with Mike

      The four connecting flights were not as fun as I anticipated. Right when I got to La Paz and on the plane I started to feel the altitude. I was not enjoying being the first one to be victim of altitude sickness, but I got over it right when we got to Cochabamba from our last connecting flight.

       The first thing I noticed when I walked off the plane in Cochabamba was the smell of Piña Colada. It was just as expected. Bolivia has some awesome vintage cars rolling around everywhere. It seems Bolivia is all about color. The busses, houses, and walls are all different colors and are interesting to look at. I don't know why the States doesn't use more color because the color here in Cochabamba gives it a much more lively undertone. The base camp we're staying at is very accommodating. For a guy who had a hard time flying for more than 12 hours, I had no trouble going to sleep 3 hours early.

     Today, everybody's morale has skyrocketed. We also had the first workday today. I've found that we are set to do some very tedious and repetitive work, which has been a change since the last few mission trips I've been on. We are doing a lot of bricklaying and cement churning. Although I dislike not hammering some nails, I'm still stoked about our goal for this building and the impact it will have.

There's a few more things I could write about, but we are on a tight schedule, and I trust that the other team members can convey our Bolivian experience just as well, if not better than I can!

- Mike Anagnostopoulos

Cochabamba at Last

After a long day of traveling, we are HERE IN COCHABAMBA! 

The whole team is incredibly tired, but excited to be here. We are getting acclimated to the altitude, which is challenging... but has not been a huge issue for anyone yet. Everyone has gotten settled in their rooms at the Harvest Guesthouse and we're about to have a pizza dinner before rounding up for a team meeting tonight. The students will begin blogging tomorrow, so keep an eye out for those updates! In the meantime... here is our arrival:

Safe and sound!

We are HERE! Our team has arrived in Santa Cruz, Bolivia--safe and sound. Joe Holman (our contact here) met us at the airport and will go with us the rest of the way. While we wait for our flight, we thought we'd say hi!

We are a bit tired from all the flying...

Mmmm... Cinnabon!

Going over the week's plans with Joe.

All of our luggage made it as well, and we are grateful! Leaving for Cochabamba shortly. Thanks for your continued prayers!

On our way!

We are in the Chicago airport waiting to board our flight to Miami. Some of our team has found interesting ways to entertain themselves...

About to board!

The BIG DAY!

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY! We are so excited to see what the Lord has for us in Bolivia. Our flight departs at 4:15pm, then we will arrive in Cochabamba on Thursday afternoon. Please pray for:

• Safety and health during our travels, as we will be going through various changes in altitude throughout our flights.
• Our team dynamic, that we would grow close as a team and learn how to love and support each other.
• The people we are going to serve -- that their hearts would be ready to receive the gospel, as we go to proclaim His Word.

We will keep you updated along the way! Thank you for your prayers.

Meet Our Team!

We would like to introduce you to the...

SHYG Bolivia Mission Team

Our team verse for the trip is Colossians 3:17 -- “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” 

Welcome to our Blog!

Welcome to our SHYG Bolivia Mission Team blog! Our team departs in just 2 short weeks, and we are excited to share our journey with you along the way. Thank you to all of you who have decided to partner with us both financially and in prayer. We mean it when we say that our team would not be going without your support.

As partners in prayer, we want to keep you informed with the happenings of our trip along the way. Each day, two student team members will be writing blog posts describing what God is doing through our team in Bolivia. We will try to couple those posts with picture recaps of the day wherever possible. Our hope is that you will feel how integral you are to our mission -- we covet your prayers!

A couple of weeks ago, our team and three others (Dominican Republic, India, and Dayton, OH) were commissioned at Christ Church Lake Forest.

Mission Trip Commissioning at Christ Church

We have our final trip meeting tomorrow, where we will finish up necessary preparations for the Kids Bible Club we will be putting on in Bolivia, as well as go over some important travel details. Thank you for standing by us in this journey! We wait in expectation for what He will do.

"IN THE MORNING, O LORD, YOU HEAR MY VOICE; IN THE MORNING I LAY MY REQUESTS BEFORE YOU AND WAIT IN EXPECTATION." -PSALM 5:3