El equipo de Potosí de 2015

Saludos a todos!  
Me hace alegre tener el privilegio presentar el equipo de Potosí para el 2015.  Siempre digo que el Señor escoga cada persona que va, y este año es el mismo!  Estoy feliz por los queines han decidido ir, y será un grupo diverso, aunque la mayoria son de Bolivia. Les pido que por favor oren por nosotros.  Hay unos otros interesados, y pido que oren por ellos también. Si queiren apoyar el equipo o ayudar a comprar regalitos para los niños, avisenme, y les daré más información. 

El doctor Jorge es de Potosí y recibió el Señor cuando estaba estudiando para ser Doctor en Sucre.  Fundó Red Vida de Esperanza después de involucrarse en un ministerio de médicos quienes viajaban a lugares alejados, y reconocieron las necesidades físicas y espirituales. 

Eduardo vive en Cochabamba aunque trabaja mucha en la selva.  Es mecanico y ha participado en tres viajes a Potosí con nosotros.  Siempre ha sido una gran ayuda. 

Cristina ha vivido en Bolivia por un año y medio. Trabaja con niños y esta muy agradecida poder compartir Cristo con ellos.  Ella está anticipando la oportunidad compartir el evangelio con los niños de Potosí más. 

Cristian: "actualmente estudio Ingeniería Financiera en la UMSS y trabajo en "ITM" (International Tribal Ministries). Trato siempre de mostrar a la gente el amor de Dios a travez de mi vida".  (Cristian also plays the guitar.) 

Katie es de Colorado pero ha vivido en Cochabamba hace 6 años. Toma clases en el seminario, pero su responsabilidad primaria es ser profesor en un centro de apoyo escolar.  Recién recibió su licencia de manejar.  Es tía orgullosa de Matias, también! 

Jesael está estudiando ingeniería en la universidad en Santa Cruz.  Está involucrado de lider en OANSA en su iglesia y ha sido muy animado de esta viaje--tambien a invitar a todos! Es su primer viaje a Potosí. 

Ruth es de Santa Cruz, "estudio psicologia y lo que mas me gusta hacer es cantar leer y crear".

Raquel es hermana de Ruth y está en la universidad también. Está involucrada en su iglesia y eso será su primer viaje a Potosí. 

Kristen.  Será mi noveno viaje a Potosí pero nunca me canso del experiencia.  Estoy agradecida por la oportunidad viajar otra vez a ver que está haciendo Él allá. Me encanta compartir con ellos de Dios, y ver a los líderes de la iglesia y los cristianos crecer en su relación con Dios.  

Introducing: Team Potosí 2015

Greetings friends! 

I’m pleased to introduce to you our team for 2015!  I really do believe that God handpicks our teams each year...and this year I’m really excited about our team.  It’s a diverse bunch of people even though all but three of us are natives of Bolivia! I’m praying for these brothers and sisters, and I ask you also to Please, PLEASE, PLEEEEEEASE pray for us. :) There are a few others that are still on the fence for one reason or another so I ask you to pray for them too.  If you would like to help buy donations or help team members that need funds to pay their way please let me know.  I’ll be happy to get more information to you.  We will be gone for a week the beginning of January. 

Without further ado, here’s your team (subject to change--hopefully only additions!!):

Dr. Jorge is originally from Potosí and received the Lord while in medical school in Sucre.  He started Red Vida de Esperanza after he began visiting rural communities and seeing the physical and spiritual needs.  

Eduardo is from La Paz but has lived in Cochabamba for many years now. He is a mechanic, three time alumni of Potosí trips, and is a huge help getting teams where they need to be. He currently working in the jungle and returns weekends to help at his church here in the city. 

 I am Christina, I have been living in Bolivia for the last year
and a half ministering to children. I love this beautiful country and
it's people so much and feel so blessed to have the opportunity to
share Christ's love with the children of Cochabamba everyday. I am
looking forward to this trip and the the opportunity to share Jesus
with even more of God's precious little ones in Potosi.

Cristian lives in Cochabamba and is finishing up his college degree in accounting.  He works for International Tribal Mission and enjoys the opportunity to travel to various communities that they work in and help as needed. He attends an international church and plays guitar. 

Katie is from Colorado and has lived in Cochabamba for 6 years now.  She is taking seminary courses on the side, but her main role is as profesora at an after school program in a community on the outskirts of town.  One of her big accomplishments this year has been getting her bolivian drivers’ license and a car! She is also proud aunt of Matias!

Jesael is studying engineering at the university in Santa Cruz.  He is involved in OANSA (AWANA) at church and is probably the best person I’ve met yet at inviting people to go on the Potosí trip-even though he hasn’t gone yet!  For that I hope it’s a super experience for him. 

Ruth is from Santa Cruz.  She's studying Psychology in the university and likes to sing, read, and create!

Raquel is Ruth's older sister. She is also in the university in Santa Cruz.  This will be her first trip to Potosí, but not her first experience working with children.

Kristen.  This is my 9th trip to Potosí and I’m so thankful to the Lord for the opportunity to travel once again.  I love the time to see what God is up to even days away from the city and so far from the comforts it provides.  I love to share with the kids from the Word of God, see the church leaders so eager to learn, and experience a culture so very different from my own. 

North of Potosi...a detour

Hop over to Kallie's blog and read her post "North of Potosi" about her experience this July.  She also has some awesome pictures!!

Kallie quickly endeared herself to the hearts of the ladies from Potosi becasue she was so excited to eat the potatoes they served!

July 2014 Potosi Team

This year we are doing something a little different... Previously we've gone to a different village nearly every day, seen lots of kids, but not had enough time with them (*though we will probably always feel like we don't get enough time with them!)  Well we've brainstormed and decided that rather than taking money and buying toys, we will buy food and invite them to come to a central location and stay for a few days for a Bible camp.  It's exciting to get to share more of the story of God's great love through creation, Old Testament stories, and finally the arrival of a Savior to redeem us. Plus we'll do lots of games, songs, skits, memory verses, etc.
We have a smaller team than the last few times, but that's okay!  We have lots of kinks to work through and I believe we have just the right people to do it!  Without further ado, I present the July Potosi Team!

KALLIE:
Kallie has been living with her husband in Cochabamba, Bolivia for the past year. She worked as a fifth grade teacher at Carachipampa Christian school and will be working this next year with various community development organizations in Cochabamba. Kallie has been pulled toward missions for as long as she can remember, participating in missions trips to Cuba and across Canada while she was in high school. Kallie went on to pursue missions during university where she majored in Global Ministries and undertook a four month internship in Bolivia in her last year. After getting her degree, Kallie spent two years at two different jobs that each compliment the work she does in Bolivia. As a youth leader in a multicultural church located in the core of Montreal, she gained further experience in youth leadership and serving in a cross-cultural context. Her second position was with a face-to-face fundraising organization who perform contract work for NGOs such as Doctors without Borders, UNICEF, and Plan. The company also arranged for her to do a six month internship with Oxfam. Through the posts she held, Kallie was able to hone her administrative and managerial skills while becoming well acquainted with the non-profit world.

ABBY
Hi, I'm Abby and I currently live in Cochabamba. I grew up in midwest USA, but moved to Bolivia after graduating college to work as an elementary teacher at Carachipampa Christian School. I have loved every bit of my year in Bolivia thus far and am excited to expand my experiences to Potosi. I absolutely love working with children and can't wait to share the love of Christ with those we meet on our trip.









LAURA
Laura graduated from the University in December with a degree in Social Pedagogy.  She loves going to Potosi and enjoys helping plan for and hosting teams while in Cochabamba.  She is currently working as a tutor for several students and seeking direction as to where the Lord will have her serve. 







EDUARDO (*pictured on left)

Eduardo is a mechanic works in the jungle (Chapare).   He helps with his youth group on the weekends.  This will be his third trip to Potosi. 












KRISTEN
Kristen is in training for full-time, long-term cross cultural ministry.  She is finishing up at a training center in Santa Cruz, and then Lord willing, will stay on and work in Bolivia to help see unreached people reached with the message of the Gospel.  
















DR. JORGE
Jorge is a doctor and is originally from Potosi.  He speaks Spanish and Quechua and is learning a few other languages too.  He travels to these communities often, and is patient and gracious enough to invite us to come along and help!  He, along with a few others, founded Red Vida de Esperanza (Life of Hope Network) that we help through various fundraisers and short-term trips. It is a joy to serve alongside of this man who loves the Lord and loves these people. 








Please PRAY for us as we are traveling, figuring out what we are doing, teaching, and trying to stay healthy.  We love the opportunity to serve in this way--and to represent those of you who cannot go.  (*But know that you are invited to join us next time!). 

"It all started in Bolivia" (Katie writes)

This is copied from Katie's blog...this is a follow up of what God was doing in her guest post in January and where He's brought her since then...

I went to Bolivia in January for a 10 day mission trip. Upon the return trip, my flight was full and the airline offered me a $500 flight voucher plus accommodations at a 5 star hotel if I would return to the US a few days later. I said 'Of course!' and was happy for a 2 day retreat and also a little bit of extra time with my sister who hung out with me when she wasn't visiting her friends a few miles away at Etnos (New Tribes' mission center in Santa Cruz).

During those two days, I was alone for a good bit of it and enjoyed the time alone with God. I was reflecting on a week of growing in the Lord and being challenged by a very godly team who I had just parted ways with. During that time I pondered my life. Who am I? What is God's purpose for my life? What is my next step?

I didn't have any answers at that time. I began praying for a way to serve and for an opportunity to step outside of my comfort zone, into a new place where I have to trust God. Where I get to experience first-hand that He restores lives. Because in America, I am realizing that often we don't 'need God'. We can live life, fulfill our 'dreams', be successful and its all based on our hard work. But I don't believe that is what He has in mind for His followers.

As I read the Bible, I see the disciples caring for the poor and devoting themselves to the gospel. I don't see that in normal life. I don't see that in my life. I prayed for a change of heart. I prayed that I would be able to serve those who need it. I began hoping that someone would need help, ask me and that I would be able to fill that spot. You see, I am blessed. Ridiculously blessed. I have an incredible family. I was able to pay off student loans and car loans so I have no debts, I have no bills. My health is good. I have people who love me and would support me if I was called to go. 

God asked me why I was keeping it all for myself when there are people elsewhere who have none of those things. I have been given much. That means much is expected of me, right? 

So I surrendered my car to Him, my money to Him. My time--which is something I hold to very tightly--to Him. He is Lord of my life and sometimes a Lord tells you to give up things for the good of His kingdom. Since I love Him, and want to love Him more, I slowly and somewhat reluctantly began to give those things to Him--if He wanted them. You see, kings don't always ask their subjects to give everything up, just sometimes when they are needed. Not all men are always drafted to go fight for their country, but sometimes, they are needed and they are called to go. And they do.

I realized that God had given me a desire to be a mother--actually, I wanted to be a mother since I was still a small child. I would play dolls with my sisters and we would each have as many kids as we could (we would find stuffed animals, baby dolls, whatever we could) to see who would have more kids. I guess that's what coming from a large family does to you.

I asked God why He didn't take away that desire when it was something I wanted so badly, but it was something that it didn't seem like He would fulfill in the near future. And I felt like He gently said, "I am not going to take it away. I gave it to you for a reason. I want you to love and nurture kids, even if they are not your own. You can love and care for children who need a mother." I said, ok. When you put it like that it makes perfect sense.
So I sat down and thought about my life. What do I really want? If I could have any type of work/ministry, what would I want it to be? So I made a list:

I want to work with underprivileged kids in a long term relationship and I want to be able to share Jesus with them.

I decided to pray for all of these things and that I would accept a job/mission if it fulfilled this list.
Guess what...  

See what happened next! 

Strongest at weakest.

My life is forever changed, not because it was a fancy trip or even that we had everything perfectly planned out. No, this missionary trip was different then any other trip I have ever been on. It was raw and real, vulnerable, humbling, not ours what so ever. A small group of passionate people who love Jesus came together and moved mountains! I honestly didn't know what to expect, I only knew three others on the trip. The first village we got to, I will never forget. There was when I truly began embracing the moment. Sharing the love and joy of Christ is my main mission in all I do and I know I fail at times, but in this village it was freeing. God took our willingness and began His work, planted His seeds and all we needed to so was be willing and obey His word. So with that in mind, second village here we come! Had to walk thirty minutes up, over and down a beautiful mountain to get there, but we arrived!! That night it was my turn to give my devotion of what God has been teaching me! This past year was a hard one for me, and God has been ever faithful to teach me about His strength in my weakness. When I don't wanna stand He gives me hope and sheds his light on me in my darkest hours! Not only did I share but I sang too, which is something I don't do, but I felt the need too. God wanted whomever was there to hear the words in the songs I sang, which were "I stand" by Hillsong and "More and More of You" by Worship Mob. Afterwards I felt overwhelmed by His presence and I wanted to cry, I didn't know what to do but leave the room and pray. I thought at first I was being overcome by emotions but I knew shortly after that God was doing something in the people around me and I needed to pray for them. That night I became very very ill with a fever over 100 degrees and blood pressure high. I just taught about God's strength in our weakness, and here I was again feeling very very weak, barely able to walk without feeling the need to throw up. God took my body and used me. He allowed Satin to get to me, because I am certain He knew I would always be forever will be faithful to Him, like Job and many others in the Bible. And how else are we as followers supposed to grasp the appreciation of health He has freely given us. That rest of the week, God continually took me on a journey humbling me and taking away my pride. Ultimately putting the focus on Him, the glory goes to Him! There were many moments I didn't know what to do and I was put to shame, all I had to do was look to God and He, through His people, carried me. I was in constant prayer and felt the Lord's discernment through me in a new and fresh way! I wasn't back to normal health till the day we arrived in Cochabamba, Bolivia. God took my shattered clay and instead of molding it all back the way I thought and assumed He would, He completely brought me in awe and amazement of His wonderful and gloriously ways that are far better then the strange ones I conjure up!! The Lord brought me back to a place of constant prayer, not just for myself but everyone around me. My teammates, the villagers that I met, the bus driver and his family, and all the random people in between. Constant prayer and a wonderful perspective of the spiritual realm is what God instilled in my mind, heart and soul! And like I said at the beginning my life is forever changed through what God taught me in Potosi, Bolivia. I am so very thankful for everything that occurred on the trip!!! Thank you all for your prayers and support, because they were much appreciated and needed!!

Christen is from Cleveland. This was her 2nd trip to Bolivia and she looks forward to her quickly approaching Air Force career! Pray for her as she continues her journey.

Sometimes the hardest days are the best ones. (Chad's experience).

To sum it up, it was one of the hardest times of my life, but also maybe the best time of my life.

(Chad on left shared this reflection from the most recent Bolivia trip

). 

It was one of the hardest times of my life physically (at least when we were travelling to the villages). Our food was bland, but there was at least a decent supply of it, and I ate as much as I could, since I knew that the time might come when it would it would be coming back up and I wouldn’t be able to eat anything (and that time came). We often had to get up early. Sleep was priceless because, even though we had plenty of time where sleep was an option (like the many hours on the bus), it was just difficult to get to sleep. Most people were really tired when they got back from the trip and could get plenty of sleep in their own nice, warm beds. Most people seemed to have been in poor health at some point in the trip due to sickness, injury, dehydration, etc. Also, white people who have spent the last couple of winter months inside don’t do too well when they are suddenly put under the blazing Bolivian sun for hours at a time (next time I will bring a hat and some sun screen). We quickly ran out of clean clothes, and there were no showers or washing machines. Maybe I should have asked Rosa if she would wash some of my clothes for me (just kidding). The altitude was pretty rough too. I would get tired and light headed after a tiny amount of exercise, and a lot of times my head would start throbbing when I moved it (like it does when I have the flu).  I’m not complaining; that’s just my honest opinion of how it was. But as bad as that all was, for me the good far outweighed the bad.

None of the insignificant things mattered much in the villages, like how a person's clothes look or how the person smells, or things like that. And we found ourselves caring less and less about these things, largely because we couldn't do anything about it, since we didn't have anywhere to shower or enough clean clothes. Instead we were caring less about ourselves and more about others. 

We pulled together and shared our resources, since we each individually didn’t have everything we needed, but together we had much more. Actually, it was a lot like the early church in Jerusalem, as described in Acts 4:32, "Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common." The team got along very well, and everyone was willing to help. I got sick for a day or two, and everyone took great care of me when I was sick, and I think the same was t

rue for everyone else who got sick or injured. It was a group of Christians acting like we should. I'm not trying to romanticize it, but it was definitely a wonderful and unique experience for me.

As I listened to the testimonies, I realized that most of the people on the trip had gone through a period of significant spiritual growth sometime in the last few years, where they had turned their lives more completely over to God. It was exciting to see that it was a group of people who were not stagnant in their faith, but were passionate about the Word of God and about serving God.

Under those conditions, being stuck with the same people pretty much all of the time for ten days, we developed relationships very quickly. It strengthened my existing friendships, and I made some new friends as well. All of our different personalities seemed to work well together, and our differences made us stronger rather than weaker. We had a great time just enjoying each other’s company.

The time in the villages was a lot of fun, for us and for the kids we were ministering to. The kids loved the attention, the gifts, and the entertainment, and we loved spending time with them. The villagers were helpful and friendly. I sensed no hostility toward us or our message (but I also don’t speak their languages, so I could be wrong).

I must admit that I was a little skeptical about how effective this method of evangelism would be, but now I see the merit of it. The majority of our time was spent in playing with/entertaining the kids rather than explaining the gospel. But since the kids wanted to come and do those things with us, they did half of the work for us by spreading the word and getting people to come from hours around to gather in one spot. Otherwise, it would have been difficult to reach that many people in such a short amount of time. 

It was convicting to see how little the people were content with, and how they were willing to walk for hours over the mountains to go to school or church, and how the teachers and pastors would choose to live that way so that they can teach.

Altogether, it was a great trip. It strengthened my existing friendships, and I made some new friends as well. I had a lot of fun. I got to see what life is like in another culture. I got to see Christians acting like Christians, and I got a little bit stronger, physically and spiritually. I would love to go back, and I recommend it to anyone who is considering it. 

God with us. God in us.

Exerpt from Katie (in the green vest):

There are so many things from the week that struck my jaded heart. 

The faces of Nallely and Alexandra who laughed and smiled as they said 'what's your name' and 'how old are you' and then would respond to the question ten thousand times in hopes that they would earn English.

Experiencing the joy of worshipping the Lord together with our Bolivian brothers and sisters, singing with abandon--for hours; never wondering what time it was or when we could leave-- as I often do at my own church. We wanted to be there, soaking up every minute of it.

The church leaders who gave a week of their time to travel to their neighboring villages to meet people there that they could encourage and follow up with at a later time.

The gentle serving of my brothers and sisters as they loved on children they had never met and each other. There was such respect and kindness in their interactions that I rarely see in others or even in myself.  

And through the whole week resting in the fact that God is with us. Always with us. May I always see Him and seek Him as the treasure of highest price.

When the things of the world are stripped away (technology, materialism, self-centeredness) and replaced with the things of Christ (presentness, contentment and serving) we get a glimpse of heaven. Of life how I'm sure He meant it to be. 

I wondered how I would go back to work. A place that is mostly absent of the things of Christ--because the people in it are of the world. But as I walked into my workplace Monday morning God said, "YOU. You are a glimpse of heaven to a world that needs to see it".