Back from Bolivia!

We returned from our mission trip to Bolivia last Sunday, but I have been so busy with work and school and Bible studies and misc. stuff that I have not had a chance to do a blog update on it. I really don't have time right now either, but thought I would do a brief update for now......

First of all, our trip was amazing!! It was so much better than anything we had anticipated and we are so thankful to have had this opportunity to go together. This trip was a mix of a mission trip/vision trip. What I mean is that part of the time we were able to visit the orphanages and help out wherever we could, and part of the time we were able to shadow Mike Timmer and get an idea of what exactly being a missionary there entails. We loved every moment of spending time at the orphanages and we also enjoyed getting a first hand look at the behind the scenes of being a missionary there. We loved both!

When we arrived on Saturday, there were two teams already there: a team of 3 from New Hampshire (Ellen, Adam, and Paul) and a team of 1 from Detroit (Samuel). Jared and I did not know anyone else would be there, so this was a very pleasant surprise and we are so glad to have met these people. The New Hampshire team stayed through Tuesday and Samuel from Detroit is actually still there for another week.

Throughout the week were able to tour Cochabamba, visit the orphanage there, visit the Bolivia's Best coffee roasting plant, and visit Cochabamba International Church - the church where Mike's family attends, along with some other misc. stops along the way. Cochabamba was like any other bustling city. Most people took taxis everywhere and we were able to do that too later in the week. We loved the feel of the city and could totally see ourselves living there. The people were so nice and we felt safe the entire time. We were also able to visit La Cancha to purchase supplies with Mike. La Cancha is the biggest open air market in South America and it was quite the experience. The weather in Coch is awesome. It is dry and ranges from 60-80 degrees all year.

At one point we were able to see the coffee roasting plant that is used to make the coffee that they sell to support the orphanages. The coffee is called Bolivia's Best, and Mike uses it as a micro-business to raise funds to support the orphanages there. The coffee is really good...they use arabica beans and they buy them from a co-op of about 100 Bolivian families (so the money go straight to the families.) Then they have the beans either shipped to the States where it is roasted for people here or it goes to the roaster in Coch. We were able to visit the Cochabamba roaster and we ground the coffee, sealed it, and bagged it up for shipment! 100% of the proceeds made from selling this coffee goes straight to the orphanages!!! So if you would like to support this ministry and help them raise money for the orphanages please visit this website and buy some coffee....or if you have a church that serves coffee, perhaps you could talk to them about using this coffee instead or at least have a brochure with some samples or bags of coffee for the congregation to buy.... http://boliviasbestcoffee.com.

On Thursday we drove about an hour out to a little village area called La Candalaria. This is the location of a Christian camp as well as the site for 4 new orphanage homes. We toured the area and then we were able to meet a dear family. Simone is the mother and she lives in a very humble house with her father and her five young children. They were such a sweet sweet family and we miss them so much. We were able to play with two of her children, Zaida and Armando....they were the sweetest kids!!

On Friday we drove about 4 hours out to the Chaparre region, which is pretty much the rain forest. There is an orphanage there that is in the process of being built, so Mike and Remburto (the man who builds the orphanages) wanted to go and check on some measurements as well as bring some roofing tiles to put up so the rain wouldn't leak through. Jared, Samuel, Caroline, and I tagged along for the trip. Caroline is an intern who is working there for 10 months. She and her husband Ted and their little boy Jude have been there since June and will go back to the States next March. We all played with the orphans while Mike and Remburto did some construction work. It was so fun but soooo hot and humid!! It made Houston seem dry.

On the way back from the orphanage visit, we stopped at a monkey rehabilitation center that was smack in the middle of the rain forest. It was a place for monkeys that had been owned by people and now they are being rehabilitated so they can go back to the wild. Caroline and I were totally creeped out by the monkeys, but Jared and Samuel let them climb all over them. Samuel got some great pics of it so we will have to get them from him when he gets back to the States.

We were able to see a good deal of the city and we met a sweet Cochabamba family - the Villanueve's (Kattia, Carla, Karen, and Patto)! This was a family that Samuel had met when he was in Coch last December. He invited me and Jared to their home for Spanish lessons a couple evenings that week. Those were the best Spanish lessons we have ever had!! Once we entered their home we were not allowed to speak English at all, so it really forced our brains to dig into the Spanish. Of course we were horrible, but the Villanueves were very helpful and gracious. Patto is a worship leader there, so we would always sing worship songs when we were with them too. We enjoyed hanging out with them so much!!!

Well, that is a little snapshot of our week. We spent a lot of time with Mike working on anything he needed us to help him with, be it church related things, helping with the orphanages, making trip to La Cancha for supplies, etc. We don't know what the LORD has planned for us, but we are soooo open to going back to Coch for a longer service session, whether it be a year or two years or whatever. We'll just have to wait and see what He has planned for us. If anything we will definitely be in touch with the ministry team there and help to support them as best we can from the States.

I will see if I can put together another blog with some more details, but it just depends. I am really busy with my job and classwork right now, and we are leaving for Georgia on Wednesday to celebrate Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family! And at some point this week I need to write a paper that I haven't even had a chance to start!! It just seems like there is never a break nor is there enough time in my day to get everything done that I need to get done.

Below I attached some links to pictures, maps, and a video from the week....Enjoy!!


Here is a link to see all of the pictures we took during our trip...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=4091&id=100000420219371&l=7a8a17c1b7


Here is a google map that Jared put together. You can see all of the places we visited while we were there....
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=103019397379710717762.00047880088c82c0eff55&ll=-17.39348,-66.14821&spn=0.0292,0.038581&t=k&z=15


Here is a video of us singing a worship song with the Villanueve family at the Hacienda....
http://www.vimeo.com/7581552



Thank you soooo much to all of you who supported us through prayer or financial donation! We will be sending a full update and thank you card to all of you as soon as we can!

Carissa