Bolivia City Team 2015

Hi family, Francis here! We miss all of you like crazy, but are having so much fun here in Bolivia. We really wanted to update y'all daily, but have been so busy with doing God's work. So here is a synopsis of what our days have entailed...

Wednesday 6/24: A couple of people went furniture shopping for Iglesias Kairos with Vanessa, while another group stayed at the church to finish up painting and cleaning. The church looks amazing. Even though we are great painters now, we don't want our families getting any ideas! Of all the places to eat, today we ate Burger King for lunch. That's another thing… lunches here are eaten late in the day and the people take 2-3 hours for lunch time. All of the shops close for three hours. I want to take that aspect back home!

After that we went to meet with some ladies from El Alfarero, which is a University Student Help Center that has a branch similar to a Bolivian True to Life Ministries! Then we went to the University and  half of the team played a game called, Solarion with different students and the other half passed out flyers advertising El Alfarero and prayed with students. That game consists of a deck of cards with different images used to gain insight on each of the student's perspective and relationship with God. Even though we got kicked out by the security guards, it was such an amazing experience that impacted numerous students as well as ourselves.

We had the honor of not only attending bible study at Iglesias Kairos, but leading the bible study with a message on forgiveness. Rosie, Brittney, and I prepared fried pickles, a vegetable tray, and ranch dressing (which Bolivians LOVE) for the night. Everyone loved the fried pickles and ate every single one. We are going to have some Texans at heart over here!! Brittney was amazing and led our study with Chuy, Nancy, and I each giving our testimonies. Each of us gave a personal testimony in regards to forgiving ourselves, others and God.  Not sure what it is about telling your story, but even though it is tough, seeing the impact it has on someone else truly a blessing.

We continued to have fellowship with the people of the church and really got to know one another. When bible study ended we went to Boston Grill, with some of our new friends to have a late night dinner. We were tired, but if someone puts food in front of you here, you EAT IT!

Thursday 6/25: HAPPY BIRTHDAY CORAL!! This lady here is such an amazing person!

Woohoo! We got to sleep in a bit extra today. We have been super exhausted, but God continues to refuel us in every aspect. A couple of people started to feel sick with the weather change (it's cold and rainy) so we appreciated the extra rest. Brittney stayed home sick today with a horrible cold, so we are asking for prayers for healing.

Today, the gals and guys split up so we could get the finishing touches done. While the guys finished up the church, hanging things up and playing with power tools, us chica's went in to town for more supplies. When we finished up, we met up to have lunch together at Cafe Republica. We celebrated Coral's birthday and surprised her with a delicious cake.

After the celebration, we split up again to go back to work. We finalized everything that needed to be done for Iglesias Kairos' renovation. Iglesias Kairos now looks even more beautiful and with the church members  it all blows me away.

We were invited to visit a plant church in San Isidro and Chuy was asked to give a lesson on 'Jonah and the Whale' to the children. This church is in the middle of a yard owned by a gentleman named Manuel. It is sandwiched between two of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Santa Cruz. He gives the space so that people can hear the word of God every Thursday. The way the children praised and worshiped gave me such an overwhelming joy and the holy spirit was so evident as it moved amongst them.



Chuy was able to interact with the kids during the lesson and made them laugh. They were so excited when answering questions about the story and knew that God loved them to no limit. Some of the kids came to us and talked to us. Kids sure do have so many questions, but they were all so welcoming and full of joy after worshiping and listening to the lesson. The opportunity to love on these kids and receive the same from them is a blessing from our Lord.

The night ended with a yummy caldo that was made by our house mom, Noemi. There was no talking at the dinner table, because it was so good. Now, we are all gathered around the living room at the moment, discussing our day and sending you all greetings from Bolivia!
Buen Noche.