The first store we went to was this Bolivian craft store place, pretty similar to one you might find in America, except for the Spanish speaking and all. We got some stuff there and then went to a wonderful store that it is essentially the Bolivian version of Walmart. Not only did we gather some essential supplies for our new crafts, we also found (and purchased) a wealth of chocolate and candy that we have been deprived of for the past couple of days. I even bought some amazing Bolivian chocolate to share with my family (get excited guys). After this lovely stop, we started making our way towards La Cancha, the big market place we attended earlier in the week, to buy the remaining supplies. This endeavor became much more difficult than we had planned because we encountered at least three blockades in the streets on the way. This meant that the streets were blocked off by protestors so we had to back up the congested Bolivian roads, take a detour, then park and walk (some very impressive driving on Joe's part, I must say). Eventually we found our way to La Cancha and spent a good hour or two wandering through the enormous market trying to find brown paper bags and simple colored fabric. Its amazing how in the States it would take ten minutes to run to Walmart and buy 300 brown paper bags but here the biggest market in South America didn't even have what we're looking for. Anyway, we ended up going to lunch at this great chicken place that was like six stories tall and had really classy bathrooms where I learned a lot about Joe Holman's childhood, backstory, and why he came to Bolivia. I won't get into detail about it here but let's just say his testimony is extremely inspirational and really exemplifies God's power to change lives.
After our delicious lunch, we returned to the worksite to meet up with the rest of the team. Part of me felt bad because they were laying bricks all day in the hot sun while we were shopping and eating chocolate, but at the same time I was grateful for the culture experience that we got to enjoy. Once we got back to the worksite it was hard to be productive again (well for me at least) but later that afternoon Joe started taking groups of us for rides around the neighborhood we were building in. I went on this little car tour last year so I didn't expect this one to be much different, but I was wrong. Seeing the houses (or lack there of) of the families in the community we are building this church for was completely eye opening. Families and extended families live in tiny brick huts with a slab of metal on top and go to the bathroom in a hole outside with a curtain in front of it, if they're lucky. They hardly have enough to eat, barely make enough money to survive, and don't have running water or electricity, but yet they are still so joyful and giving. Every day on the worksite they've cooked us a full blown authentic Bolivian meal, when they hardly have enough to feed themselves. Going on this tour gave me a new perspective on why we are building this church. All of our hard, sweaty, brick-laying work is going towards building a place where all of the underprivileged people in this community can come to learn about Christ and for me to even play a small part in making that happen makes all of the hard work worth it. Please pray for the VBS today and that all would go according to God's plan so that we can make an impact on these kids lives. I am so blessed to be in such a beautiful country with amazing people serving God.
- Cassidy Lenstrom
P.S. Mom and Dad: My back is doing just fine. I am wearing my brace on the worksite and doing my exercises twice a day. I miss and love you, but things are great here. I'll see you soon!! Tell Ry and Gus I say hi :)
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