Today marked our final full day in Bolivia, one that was both hard to let go of but full of gratitude. We woke up at around 7:15 this morning to the smell of fresh coffee and strawberry jam. I started out my morning with my bible and journal sitting in my favorite spot in the world. It is the first landing on the staircase leading up to our rooms. You can see the sun peaking out from right behind the mountains before it rises- a simple reminder of the beautiful places God has created for us to enjoy.
After eating, we loaded up the bus and headed out to the same church/ community center that we have been working on to do a community outreach. This supplied doctors and dentists and their services for free to anyone who needed the medical attention. During their visit, the people were being preached the gospel which resulted in many people coming to Christ. While some people were working on the medical services, like cleaning the tools for the doctors, others were helping in other ways. For example, we were given a 6 foot tall bag of something similar to what we would know as popcorn. When I say 6 feet that is no joke- this bag was taller than I am. We then bagged the popcorn to give to the people receiving care and their children which mostly consisted of work ( and eating a lot of it....oops??) Then we ate a great lunch which consisted of rice, yucca ( a root vegetable that tastes like potatoes), and chicken.
After that we headed over to Teo's church and got to see the city which had the most beautiful flowers all over it. This car ride was on of my favorite parts of the day. When we got back we played with 1 week old puppies who all simultaneously fell asleep on us and snuggled into our warm and cozy t-shirts. It was incredible how trusting the mother was. She let us hold her puppies and just sat next to us calmly, only getting up to sniff them every so often. After that, we gave the remaining food to all of the children who beamed with joy. We take eating food and a full pantry for granted all the time, but these kids are always wondering where their next meal is coming from and if they are even getting one. It was so rewarding to give them some food knowing how grateful they are for it.
We then all gathered in the main room of the church to pray. The room was intermixed with us and the Bolivians, all singing together and praying. It is so incredible that even though here is this huge language barrier, we can still worship the same god together. The Bolivians are big on goodbyes and we took a long time to hug them all and show them our appreciation. They made us feel so welcome; we were family the minute we said hello to them. I have never met more kind and thoughtful people in my life who radiate Gods glory.
Their hospitality and kind hearts ares a wonderful reminder that you don't need to have an abundance of money or materialistic items to be happy. Saying goodbye really sparked my allergies (no, I wasn't crying... okay, maybe I was) because once these people touch your heart, it is hard to imagine living your life without them. I am beyond grateful that I had the opportunity to meet these beautiful people. Now we are sitting at home, playing games, and waiting for Dan to arrive with some really great pizza.
- Emily
- Emily
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