A Thousand Splendid Seeds

Whenever I thought of missions, I thought of doing some kind of work that required physical labor, such as building homes.  In Bolivia, we didn't really do any of this.

We spent the majority of our time at the university giving seminars on various topics such as self-esteem issues, dating, leadership, and building good studying habits. There were more topics, and they varied depending on which department we were assigned.  I was with a group that was assigned to the school of communications.   Given the nature of the school, we found the use of media to be the most effective way to capture the students' attention.  Hence, most of 

our seminars consisted of showing short films, produced by the Bolivian staff of Campus Crusades, to the students and holding discussions thereafter.  Eventually all the discussions were led towards the four spiritual laws (a booklet that explains the essentials of christian faith), and ended with an invitation to accept Christ.

The response from the students was overwhelmingly positive.  The comment cards returned to us almost always had something nice to say.  Through the use of these comment cards we also got a better idea of how many people had accepted Christ.  For each class that we went to, it seemed like at least 90% would check off "yes, I invited Christ into my heart."

I was so surprised at the numbers that at one point I began doubting the students' hearts.  For the first few days I couldn't help but think that the students were just being polite and checking off the "Yes" box merely because they couldn't say no.   Then I began to doubt the effectiveness of the campus approach we were taking.  My faith was being clouded by doubt.  Who was I to question their hearts anyway?

It wasn't until the follow-ups that God started to open my eyes to the bigger picture.  The follow-ups were for students who were interested in learning more about Christ.   Typically, they would come to our hostel, we'd get to know them a bit more, and do more studies with them.   We also held various events in the lobby, such as pizza night, for all students that were interested.  To my surprise,  the work we were doing wasn't just for those who didn't know Christ; it also turned out to be a great opportunity for believers to meet other believers in their class.   In one of the gatherings,

 we met a girl, Daniela, who was christian.  As she met other students that had come to the event, she realized she hadn't been alone and teared up as she shared about how hard and discouraging it had been to be without community, and how good it felt to now know that there were others who shared in the same faith.  As we all sat in a circle, I could sense the relief and excitement in Daniela and those around her.   I was thankful to God and prayed that He would bless their new relationships.

In the time that we were there, I also got to know the  Bolivian CC staff better.   I learned that some of them had accepted Christ in the same way that students were accepting Christ in the classrooms.   Someone on campus, while they were still in school, had explained the four laws to them.  Then I remembered something: when we first arrived in Sucre and met with the Bolivian nationals of Campus Crusades, we were told  that there were people in Santa Cruz (where the Campus Crusades headquarters is located) praying that God would raise 5 people that would step up to lead the movement in Sucre. 

When we left for Santa Cruz, one of the Bolivian staff members, Chavi, decided to stay an extra week in Sucre to continue meeting with the students.  In that week, students continued to stop by the hostel eager to learn more about Jesus.  

With the movement clearly alive in Sucre, Campus Crusades-Bolivia plans to send out a team once a month to Sucre so that they can continue meeting with the students.  Our prayer is that God will convict the hearts of the students and that He will make leaders  out of them just as He had done with the Bolivian CC staff.

By the time we left Sucre,  over a thousand students had noted on the comment cards that they had accepted Christ.  How many of them sincerely received Christ is something only God knows.   Still, I like to believe that over a thousand seeds have been planted and it's exciting to think of how many of them will come into fruition.

Thank you all for your support in making this mission trip possible.  

-Vero

We're BACK!

Well we're back in the USA, with mixed feelings. It's good to be home around what's familiar and our family and friends, but it's also sad to be so far away from new friends we have made while in Bolivia.
The Lord blessed us with so many great friendships with the Bolivian Campus Crusade staff, student leaders and the students at San Fransisco Xavier Universtiy in Sucre.
Last night we all meet together to debrief our trip and we began our time with sharing some highlights from our trip. Some of them you've already read about in previous entries. But others we just didn't have enough time and reliable wireless internet in order to write and post them on our blog while we were gone. So I thought that I'd write about a few of our highlights and show you some more pictures from our time.
The Orphanages...
Toward the end our time in Surcre we visited two state orphanages, a girls and a boys. In the past we have handed out clothes and care packages including snacks, socks, toothbrush and paste and even sometimes shoes.
This year we wanted to spend some more time interacting with the kids and also intentionally presenting the gospel in a way that they could really understand.
So we had a time of singing with motions (of course) that was led by some high schoolers on the trip and then we played crazy games like the hula hoop pass (seen above), dodge ball and the human knot. Then we broke into smaller group and did an activity called the Treasure. This is an activity where the kids have to try to make it across a path only stepping on small pieces of newspaper and not touching any part of their body on the floor. The goal is to reach the other side where a leader is holding a treasure that they desperately want to share with each child who can make it to them. It's designed to look possible but is impossible. When the kids touch the floor, we yell, DIE! or MUERTO! and they have to dramatically fall to the ground. The leader than says "Que Lastima!" or "How Terrible!" you couldn't make it to the treasure on your own, but because of my great love for you, I'm going to make a bridge for you to make it over to me and recieve the treasure. But you each have to tell me if you want my help. So the leader rolls out toilet paper from where they're standing to each child and offers them their hand. The kids usually accepted it and they walked across the toilet paper to recieve the treasure.
We then sat them down and explained to them the parralles between the activity and our relationship with God. And then end with an opportunity for them to recieve Christ as their Savior. Many of the kids GOT IT, and prayed.
We also gave out some new and used clothes along with a care package with snacks socks and hygiene stuff. Unfortunately we didn't buy shoes this year, but you can see

from the picture they really needed new shoes.

Mid Afternoon Tea Time

Besides the daily siesta that we could take, I think that my other favorite daily routine was having afternoon tea. This great woman standing next to me would bring her baskets filled with freshly backed pastries around 4 PM everyday right outside our Hostel. And I loved buying cunapes from her, they are round cheese breads eaten with tea, along with other things like sonso (yucca with cheese put on a scewer and browned) and empenadas. I loved the food and the friendships you get to enjoy throughout the day.

--Donna

Hola!

A lot has happened this past week that we haven't had time to really write!  Sorry about that.  But here's what's been going on.  We've had about 40 seminars in various departments at the university! Between seminars we've been meeting up with students for follow-ups to share more about Jesus and what it means to have a relationship with him.  

For me, I have been having meetings with one girl, Rocio, and another girl, Cristina.  I met Rocio during one of the seminars when we showed a short film, La Busqueda; a story similar to the Prodigal Son of the Bible.  She really liked the film and I invited her to meet with me to go through the 6 follow-up booklets to learn more about what it means to be a follower of Jesus.  She is really good at English so it has been easy to talk to her (especially with my limited Spanish).  We've been meeting almost daily and going through the booklets.  Although she was previously a believer, I am glad I was able to help her in her relationship and growth with Jesus.  

The other girl, Cristina, is a student I met at the first seminar we had.  I remember the first time I talked to her, I was very intimidated by her but still decided to talk to her.  I'm glad I did because she turned out to be one of the sweetest people I have ever met.  When I asked her to meet up with me for a follow-up, I did not know if she was a believer or not.  At our first meeting, I learned that she decided to accept Christ that very day!  How exciting!  We met every day thereafter and finished all 6 follow-up lessons with her.  During one of our meetings, she brought her nail-polish kit because I had previously complimented her on her beautiful nails--she wanted to paint my nails!  She had an exam in 10 minutes but she still continued to diligently paint my nails!!  At another meeting, she had bought me some chocolate from a delicious chocolate store!  Although her English was as good as my Spanish, I was still able to communicate to her about what it means to follow Jesus (with the help of a Spanish/English dictionary, of course).  I find this so amazing that even with this huge language barrier, we could study the Word, pray together, share about our lives, and become good friends.  

Even though I've been having physical and spiritual attacks, I see how good God is and I'm glad to be a part of it.  I will definitely be sad leaving here in a few days...

-Brenda  :)

First day at the English class

Monday 6-23-08

Wow, after a very burdened afternoon, the evening was completely different. I seriously saw God move at the University tonight. At the Facultad de Idiomas (Language Department), we invited students to attend our English seminar. We presented a lecture about self-esteem, and then conversed with students in English. At the beginning, technical difficulties made me nervous. It brought up burdens from the afternoon, in which I worried constantly about Powerpoint presentations we were using, if they would function properly at each seminar, if the classroom would have adequate plugs, if the laptops we brought would have the correct connections to the projectors, etc. I hate technical difficulties, because I feel it distracts people from the message we're trying to convey. But it's simply unavoidable on missions. I felt God telling me I did my best to minimize technical difficulties, and I was being too hard on myself. So, in the end, it worked out well, and Nancy gave an excellent presentation.

I even got to meet students. Me, the shy guy... That was seriously God working in me. I met two brothers, Pablo and Prudi, who were interested in improving their English skills. Their English wasn't bad, and my limited Spanish helped the conversation (awkwardly) progress. They seemed interested in meeting again, and I was so impressed. Once again, ALL God.
On a side note, two girls asked me for my e-mail address. I'd like to think I got hit on by two Latinas! :P

At sharing tonight, on the rooftop terrace with fireworks from the San Juan celebration all over town, we learned so much about God's movement at all the departments in the University. In our Language Department, I learned that 15 of the 16 students commented that they accepted Christ. Praise Him! Seriously amazing work by God tonight! After an afternoon worrying too much about technical difficulties, God showed up, telling me to let Him take care of it. And He did, bringing 15 students to Christ from one class.

I pray that He'll continue the good work. It's only the first day, and it's going to get even better. I'm so excited to see God more and more.

- Nelson

Iglesia Nueva Jerusalem

In the evening we went to a church in the outskirts of the city.  Gio and Nelson helped set up the equipment to show "Magdalena," a film about Jesus in the point of view  of Mary Magdalene.  Once the technical equipment and chairs were set up we formed several groups, each led by Quechua church members,  and headed out into the neighborhood. We knocked on the doors of all the nearby houses and invited those who were home to join us in viewing the film on the "gran pantalla."  As we walked around, we came across so many stray dogs that we immediately regretted not getting rabies shots. There were dogs everywhere!  Big dogs, small dogs, running dogs, sleeping dogs.  Gio insists he saw a gigantic pig... we're not sure if we should believe him though :)  Anyway, the good news it that no one got bitten.  So we went back to the church at about 6:45pm and waited for people to arrive.  The church was filled, the movie was played and all eyes were focused on the images on the wall.

The greatest blessing of the evening was seeing about a dozen people come to Christ that night. We had heard it in countless testimonies, but seeing God work before our very own eyes was simply amazing.

cWOW!

6-22-2008

Sunday morning after breakfast a few of us decided to go the park to do a devotional on the armor of God together. As we opened up in prayer a man approached us offering various items for sale. Immediately thereafter, a group of kids ages 7-12 came and sat directly infront of us on their shoe-shining kits. Without even asking us if they could shine our shoes, one of them started playing the traditional wind flute. We listened, bewildered at what had just happened as we prayed for God to move. One of the kids, Julio, sat next to Donna and greeted us. While the other kids were jumping and fooling around, we noticed that Julio was the leader of the group. He seemed mature and calm for his age, playing close attention to what we were saying and responding with answers that reflected his knowledge of Christ. Another kid standing next to him was wearing a gospel bracelet. When asked if he knew what the colors of the beads represented, we were surprised to hear him answer correctly. This is what began our conversations on Christ and it gave us an opportunity to teach them about the love and of the peace of God.

We had made a deal with the kids: if they participated in our devotional and prayed with us, then we would invite them to a warm meal. The kids, filled with excitement, agreed and without realizing it, we began our time of church without walls (cwow!). It seemed like the armor of God was a great theme because the kids were attentive and ready to talk about what an armor looks like. Shields, helmets, belts and swords...somehow these reminded the kids of wrestling and we laughed out loud as one of the youngest imitated several characters from the wwe (world wrestling entertainment).

When we finished the devotional, the kids were so excited for the warm meal ahead. We went to the local market and when we entered the cafeteria area, several ladies from different open restaurants rushed to us to pressure us to buy from them. We treated nine kids but more of them appeared from  nowhere.  The kids who listened to the devotional said that they didn't want to share food with the ones who had come late.  Upon hearing this, we told them that just as God had provided us with the money to buy them lunch, that we hoped they would share what they had with others.

It was an amazing experience.  Although we were a bit discouraged when seeing some of the kids not paying attention, we were also reminded that we are seed planters rather than harversters of these kids and that God is in charge of changing their lives. In other words, our acts of love and the words of truth we shared from the bible are preparing the soil of their hearts for a deeper faith that will come in the future.

En Camino (En Route) A Bolivia

Hola! We all got here safely after 31 hours of traveling and only about 6 hours of sleep over two days. Please spread the Word that something great has got to happen because we{ve seen so very crazy things happen already!

Wow! What an eventful day of travel- We got caught in a thunderstorm so we had to circle near Miami before we got the OK to land.
We later learned that we were one of two planes that snuck in to land before another big storm came in- I didn{t mention that our original plane in LA was taken out of service at 6 AM so we waited until 7AM to be rerouted to another plane for Miami.

The good thing about the thunder storm was that all the departing flights were grounded also, meaning our connection flight was there boarding after running for 10 MINUTES, from one terminal to another.

What seemed like it was going to be the beginning of one flight of being delayed to cause a ripple effect to our next 2 connecting flights- was a lesson on readjusting our time scale to be event oriented rather than time oriented.

Actually, this is one of the things that I look forward to a when I come to Bolivia, the centrality of relationships and events you do together to trust God and serve Him.

Why is this event centered and relationship centered life so hard when I return to LA? I{m pulled between being "trustworthy and timely" and yet valuing relationships and events rather than focusin on staying on schedule.

This is where my European roots and upbringing kick in and are juxtaposed to my love for people and my heart to make a sustaining impact on people{s lives

Food for thought: Have you experienced this? How do you keep your priorities of relationships in you daily life?