Harvard kids aren't as nerdy as I previously had thought

Shortly after my family, left it was back to “work”. So I hopped on a bus down to a city called Cochabamba, to help “lead” short term mission team for the next two weeks. The team consisted of 8 high schoolers from all over the United States, 9 Harvard students and 5 older leaders. I had a lot of concerns as I rode through the Bolivian countryside. For example; I hadn’t even been to this city before, and I was expected to help lead a group there. I was supposed to help with translating…..that’s just scary. And the biggest concern that was on my mind…….. was that Harvard students were coming. I had this whole idea of what students from Harvard were going to be like, and I was scared. But you know what I found,…...they’re normal, or at least the ones that came down were. Yeah sure the probably doubled my SAT score, but they didn’t hold it against me.
So for the next two weeks we worked and played. The work was painting two churches, laying a cobble stone driveway for one of the churches and laying the foundation for another church. We also went and did outreach events at high schools and in plazas, which usually consisted of some dancing, a drama or two and some autograph signing. The days were long and the work was hard, but it bonded the group all the more. So many new relationships were built, as we worked for one purpose, “show God’s incredible love to others.” It was amazing for me to see, how for many the language barrier prevented them from long in depth conversations with the Bolivians, but the words were spoken through their willingness to serve others. It is amazing how the body of Christ can affect people when we all work together as brothers and sisters, not worrying about denominations or theology, but instead worrying about how we are serving others.

In short the trip was a great experience for everyone on it. And the only injuries were; a broken arm, a couple of stitches, a dog bite or two and one came out with typhoid fever (which really isn’t an injury, but oh well.) Not bad huh….?

P.S. I painted and mixed enough concrete to tide me over for a very long time. And to everyone on the trip especially Sarah, if you are reading, I was not the one who tried to flush the fish. Even though I talked the talk about getting rid of them I didn’t walk the walk.

Even better than in the spanish text books

I have a memory of sitting in 5th grade spanish class, kind of zoning out and looking at a picture of Machu Picchu for almost the entire class. I remember thinking how cool it would be to stand up ontop of those mountains in a whole different country and be right there where that picture was taken. And then 9 years later I found myself standing on that exact mountain that was in the book looking over the amazing construction of the ancient Incas. But it was one notch better than I could have imagined also because my mom, dad and sister were all there with me. It was such a fun time to spend with the fam and see new and amazing things. And let me tell you,...Machu Picchu is amazing! From a semi-nerdy engineer's perspective it was unbelievable. The amount of planning and actual building time that it must have taken blew my mind. The precision with which the Incas built was out of this world. It was so sweet to see that I got to go and see this incredible place because I said yes to God's calling for me to come down here to Bolivia.

So lets rewind a bit. On Saturday the 3rd of June my parents arrived at the El Alto Airport which is about 12,500 ft. in elevation. And with about a day of rest after 20 some hours of plane travel, I threw them all on a fourteen hour bus ride to Cusco, Peru. We then spent four hours on a train gettting to Machu Picchu and another four hour ride back to Cusco the next day. We then had a nice relaxing day exploring the city of Cusco, and that night hopped back on another fourteen hour bus ride back to La Paz, Bolivia. And you know what, not once did my family complain about a thing.......what a bunch of troopers. I then got to spend the next week showing my family around the city, introducing them to the people that I have been building relationships with since I have been down here and showing them all the ways that I work......ok, play, down here. It was such a fun time and so nice to see my family again after 5 months of nothing but phone calls.

Pictures

Sorry I had some difficulties with putting pictures in my last blog so here they are

From the camp with Highlands High School















From the backpacking trip with Colegio Shalom











From Venezuela

I've got some explaining to do...

So how about this whole "one blog per month" thing? Let me try to explain why it seems like I am such a slacker.

Well the 29th of April thru the 1st of May Randy took some of the shoe shiners on a backpacking trip down the Choro trail. We had planned to leave at about 8:00 am on the 29th with group of 9, but as I have learned down here, plans and what actually happenes are two increadibly different things. We ended up having two of the guys show up 2 1/2 hours late. Now this brought up a question between Randy and I. How late is too late. I feel like in the states if you are 15 minutes late to something ( and trust me I have had a lot of experience with this) you are really pushing the limits. So let's do the math 2.5 - .25 = 2.25 hours later than the standard in the states. I feel like the two cultures are a little different.....maybe. But other than that we had a great time. The two guys that came were strong hikers and many times I found myself feeling like I was making great time, and yet sucking wind at the back of the group. We had some good times of just getting to know those two a little deeper. It was very refreshing.

Next, Randy and I sent the two shoe shiners back while we stayed and prepared for a youth camp with an international school that we have been working with every once in a while. I was a little nervious for two reasons, most of the kids coming were kids that I had never met before and Randy asked me to help him lead worship with him for the camp. The first fear seemed to be manifesting when the kids got there. I was put incharge of a room in which I knew absolutely none of the kids, but it is quite amazing to me how God uses the uncomfortable, awkward situations for the betterment of his kindom. By the end of the camp I felt like God had built some pretty good bonds between me and a couple of the guys. It was very encouraging to see that as nervious as I was, God could still use me. The second fear showed me a lot, not so much spiritually, but a lot about how good I could fake playing the guitar. I had so many expectations for myself, and as soon as I got up on stage they all went right out the window. But I guess this experience really did teach me spiritually. It taught me that God is not a God bounded by our expectations. I would venture to say that God actually never follows our expectations.

We got back from the camp on that Friday at around 4 pm and from there turned around and took a group of 20 highschoolers(that most of us had never met until that Friday night) and 6 leaders on another backpacking trip the next morning. This tip was quite a bit different from the last one where we had 2 guys myself and Randy. On the first trip we finished a hike of about 60 Km in about 2 days, where as on this one we finished a 30 Km hike in 2-1/2 days. I feel like the slow pace of the trip was very healthy for me though. I felt like I could relax and get to know the students that were with us and really have some time to think about the important things that God has been unraveling in my life. The students had a blast. For most if not all of them it was the first backpacking trip they had ever been on. It was really encouraging to be part of that blessing for those kids.

We then returned home and had about a week to prepare for a 11 day trip to Caracas, Venezuela.

The main purposes that we had for going to Caracas were; to participate in a conference for Youth for Christ South America, and to find Randy a wife. Now if you feel like a 50% success rate is good, then we did well. We had a great time at the conference. I got to meet other Youth for Christ staff and volunteers all the way from Chile to Jamaica to Canada. It was an amazing eye-oppening experience for me to see that God is a God without borders, and that we as believers are family. I feel like I could go to any off the countries of the people that were at the conference and have a home with doors wide open waiting for me to come in. It was also encouraging to see all the wisdom and experience of a group in the same room, working for the betterment of YFC and God's kingdom. It was all in all a great experience! Not to mention that I got to go to the beach yet again since I have been down here. Suffering for my faith, that's all I have to say.

So we got back to La Paz Friday night after about 24 hours of traveling, and as much as I loved seeing different parts of Sout America, it felt so good to be back in my own bed, and I felt so ready to get back to work with the shoe shiner guys. So.....here I go again!

Like the Sahara with ocean front property!

This last week time came that I had to renew my visa, which reminded me I have been here for three months already. I can’t believe how fast the time is going. Anyway, Hannah, Ali, Pedro and I all hopped on a buss and headed down to a little beach town in northern Chile named Arica. Now if you look up Arica, Chile you will find the fact that it is one of the driest places on earth. This just boggled my mind, how could a beach town be one of the driest places on this planet? And like most things here I tried to figure it out, but eventually gave up and remembered that most things here just don’t make sense and there is nothing I can do about it. The town was great, I ate McDonalds for the first time in three months. The beaches were very nice and had very few people on them. The sunsets were amazing, and the waves were huge, so huge that we almost lost Pedro to them. I love the beach, that is all there is to it. If I could find somewhere where I could ski and be close to the beach……well lets just call that heaven. It was just a good time for some rest and relaxation before the storm. Now I am ready to take the next month head on.

Banana Pancakes

First things first, Bolivians know how to barbeque! It is like a dream come true. Tons and tons of perfectly seasoned meat, and all I can eat, wow!!!......that is all I can say.

Secondly, banana pancakes are incredible! I think they might be my new favorite food. And eating banana pancakes while listening to the song Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson is an almost out of body experience.

Ok, now to the less serious stuff. Our shoeshinner church has really been flourishing lately. We have had anywhere from 4 to 16 guys attending every week. One week I actually lead the study…..in Spanish, talk about a scary experience. We have gone through 30 Bibles, ten of which we left at the store that we bought them at and haven’t seen since, but 20 that we have given to all the guys that have come. Now all these numbers and all are great, but really mean nothing, what is really great is that this study is not just us talking the whole time, it is a place where we start off the conversation on a certain topic and the guys take it from there, asking questions, and dialoging with us about this whole thing we call Christianity. It is a safe community where the guys can talk about what they really think, they are very involved, and I can really see God changing their hearts, and that is so incredible to watch.

Business has really slowed down for me in the area of shoe shinning. I guess I just had beginners luck at first, making 4 Bs. (50 cents) per day. Now I am averaging about 50 centavos (6.25 cents) per day. I think that I may have to start looking for another day job. But all money matters aside, I am really having a great time spending time with the guys on the streets. I am making my way into their world. Charlie had a really encouraging comment for me last week, he said, “to most people here you look like a gringo, but to me you look like one of us.” That got me so pumped. God is good… no ve (you know)!

Sheer madness

Man I have really been slacking on the whole blogging thing. Sorry to all you who keep taking your time to check up on me, and find that I haven’t updated you for close to a month. I will try my best to be more on top of things, but I am not promising that it will get a whole lot better. These next 5-6 weeks are going to be sheer madness. Here is the list of my schedule:
Weekend of April 29th: Taking a group of about 6 shoeshiner guys(who weren’t able to attend the previous trip) on a backpacking trip into the Bolivian jungle.
Once we arrive to our final destination Randy and I will send the guys back to La Paz, but we will be staying the next week at a youth camp. We will be doing everything from leading worship to being group leaders.
The next weekend we then have another backpacking trip with a group of 20 Bolivian high scholars. We’ll see how that one turns out. Were going to need some big time prayer support for that one.
We get back from that and the following weekend travel to a Bolivian city called Oruro.
We return from Oruro, and the next week we are off to Venezuela for 10 days more or less, for a Youth for Christ Leaders Conference. I am so excited for that. The Caribbean, doesn’t that just sound amazing.
We will get back a few days before we have a group consisting of my family, Ali’s parents, Ross’s dad, Hannah’s sister and a couple of Randy’s friends. The day after the group arrives we will be hopping on a buss to Peru, where we will be visiting the ancient ruins of Machu Pichu.
After the families and friends leave a short term mission team is coming in and we will be heading to a city called Cochabamba for the next 10 days or so.
Then finally we will be returning back to La Paz for about a month of normal life…..or as normal as it gets around here.
So that is my next month + in a nutshell. I am so excited for all of it, and also not excited at all for how exhausted I am going to be in the end.

Hmmmmmmm......
Well, where do I start? Sorry for the log absence from my blogging. I have been extremely busy, and there is so much to blog about that I am a little afraid to start now. But here we go. Last weekend we took a group of 13 shoe shiners, and 12 high scholars from an international school on a backpacking trip. We hiked a trail called Tekshi, which in the native Aymaran language means, “ all down hill.”( Ok, I don’t know any Aymaran, and that last statement is not a fact, but it could be, who knows). The trip went very smoothly and I got to spend a lot of good quality time with the guys. Probably the most exciting and terrifying part of the whole trip though was the ride home. We took a road named “Camino de las Yungas” which in all respect was more like a trail that allowed tour busses to drive on it. The “road” was a narrow one-lane, dirt road that for about 90% of the trip dropped of hundreds of feet on one side or the other. All the shoeshinner guys seemed to love it, while I was sweating, clutching the chair in front of me and leaning thinking that my weight shift might help the bus stay on the road. It really got me thinking, “How much do I trust that God has a plan for my life.” No other car ride has ever made me think this deep about my life. We obviously made it back, I was a little sore the next day from my whole body being tense for a good hour and a half, but the trip as a whole went rather well.

The next week there was a celebration called “Dia del mar” for those of you who don’t hablar espanol it means Day of the sea. Sounds like a totally normal holiday, …….right? Well if you look at a map you will find that Bolivia is the only land locked country in all of South America. Hmmmmm… I finally put my logic aside and went out to walk the streets with Randy. We were on a crowded side street when I saw a car out of the corner of my eye, coming strangely close to Randy. When I took a closer look I noticed that the car was going backwards, and not only was it going backward, it was lacking a driver. The car proceeded to barely miss at least 15 people and crash into a store, where it finally came to rest, and where Randy and I noticed that there were two kids in it as well. We rushed to the scene, Randy pulled the kids out, checked them for injuries, gave them to their hysterical mother and we went on our way. Just another day on the streets of Bolivia.

Getting tired of reading yet? Don’t worry there is still plenty more. So that brings me to last weekend. Saturday night we had an outreach night, which consisted of Mario Cart, Street Fighter Live (I would explain it but it would take a while, and it is something that I want to bring back with me and selfishly claim as my own), and all you could eat cereal. Let me just say, that was a dream come true. Ever since I could remember I have dreamed of the day that I could eat all the cereal I wanted with nothing holding me back, I guess there are some benefits to this ministry thing.

One of the most exciting parts of the last two weeks was Wednesday night. We, as a group of gringos, have had a dream to start a shoeshiner church, and Wednesday those dreams were brought to life. We had our first “church service”. We had 11 shiners show up ready and eager to listen and ask questions. We talked for about an hour out of Acts about the first church and community. One thing that is different about this church is that the guys were like a family beforehand, so community is something that they have been doing all along. All we did was showed them what they already had, and how God fits into the picture. I feel that Rob Bell puts it well when he says, “ Missions is less about transportation of God from one place to another and more about the identification of the God who is already there.” This is our goal with the guys, not to bring God into their lives, but point out to them where He already is.

So that brings me to right now. Right now I am sitting in an office working. Doing what? You might ask. Well this is another dream come true. I am substitute teaching for the high school PE class at the international school here in La Paz. I am subbing for about three classes a day, playing softball, racquetball, soccer and lifting weights. It’s a rough job but someone has to do it. Another thing that makes it fun is that the “kids” that I am teaching, range from only 1 to 3 years younger than me. When did you ever have a teacher that was 1 year older then you? I have kept this detail to myself, in fear that if they only knew there would be some kind of mutiny. And with the beard that I am in the process of growing I feel that my little secret is safe.

Throughout all these fun activities these last couple weeks I ran into something more important. I really saw what the lives of the guys were like. I saw the good times, and the bad. This last week I saw a lot of pain, a lot of hurt, a lot of tears. I came to realize that these guys are really hurting, they are really looking for something, anything. I saw that life really isn’t fair, in the worst kinds of ways. And through all this I saw God working. I feel that He is really breaking some of the guys down, and readying them to be picked back up. Things are going to start happening, and I am so ready.

Working Hard

Well it is going to sound like I do nothing here but play ... which is kind of true .... but I promise I really do "work" every once in a while. This week we went down to the southern zone, with the international students, and had an intense game of penguin football. For those of you who haven't heard of this sport, I am sorry that you have had to go so many years deprived of this source of hours of fun. This game consists of two teams, one of girls and the other of guys. It is a game of full contact backyard football, but there is a catch, the guys have to ductape their feet together (thus the penguin). This allows any girl, no matter how small she is, to flatten almost any guy that she wants. It is so great because it really evens the playing feild. The guys have to play with all that they have in order to save their pride, and the girls get to take out any frusterations on any guy without fear of a fast retaliation. In the game to two touchdowns the girls came out strong putting the first touchdown on the board early on. But I guess that is what it took to scare the guys into playing their hearts out, and in the end emerge victorious. It was a hard fought game, and the girls put up quite the fight, but in the end the right team, although exhausted and sore, came off the field holding their heads a little higher. I am not going to lie I got flattened quite a few times but I was just sacrificing for the betterment of the team.

The event was actually for the International youth group. We were able to get about 1/3 of the highschool to come join us. We are hoping to get a club going with this school where students can come hear a quick talk, and then just have a good time with us and eachother. It was encouraging to have such a turn out, and I know that God is going to move through some of the kids.

If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball

How many people do you know, who can say that they have won a dodgeball tournament in La Paz, Bolivia? Well ..... now you know one more. Last saturday, wrenches in hand, the team consisting of Randy, Jon, Hannah, Ali, Ross and myself entered the gymnasium in which we were to become champions. Our team also known as "the mechanics" started off the day by losing our first game to a team called the "Elder Force", (which consisted of 6 adults who had probably played their first game of dodgeball 20 years before I was even born) but throughout the next five hours we would emerge victorious. With plays like dual carborater, under the hood, the socket wrench and the midus touch and a intimidating pregame chant we struck fear into the hearts of our opponents and generations to come in the dodgeball world. We are now awaiting our invitation into Bolivian Dodgeball Association of Bolivia hall of fame, and learning to cope with increadible amounts of publicity. Randy is working on a contract with Nike, and Ross is starring in a new Gatorade commercial. We were informed that highlights of the championship would be run on ESPN 8 "the ocho". I hope you will all be able to tune in and see the physical brillince with wich we played.

Disclaimer: The last 4 sentences of this blog entery are a complete exaggeration and are not to be taken seriously. In fact nothing in them is true except for the "physical brilliance" part. This is the first championship that I have ever won in anything, so sorry if I got a little carried away.