Helping Without Hurting

As we enter the month of September, the weather is warming up. I remember realizing how hot it was when I had to do a short walk with a tray of ice from the big house to the clinic. By the time I arrived at the clinic, the ice was more than half melted. With this heat, comes other problems such as fires, the effect on the plants, and dehydration for us and the kids. Last year, the SM’s dealt with significant fires near Familia Feliz, but this year we have been blessed to not be affected as badly. However, there is still significant smoke, leaving the campus appearing overcast. This week, we also had a mission group with a couple of doctors and dentists visit.

Sunday, I began my week as I normally do, watching the gate during visitation hours. Every Sunday, kids are visited by family members they may have. While Familia Feliz is often called an orphanage, many of the kids have one parent or grandparents who cannot take care of them and therefore are left at Familia Feliz where they can be provided for. So, from 2 pm – 6 pm, I sit by the gate, to let in visitors and keep track of who comes to visit. I honestly really enjoy watching the gate, and it’s interesting to see all the families interact. Many times, the kids will bring me little snacks from their family “picnics,” and it’s so sweet to see them eager to share.

The thing that kept us the busiest this week, was the group of missionaries that came. Some arrived Sunday afternoon, and the bulk of them arrived Monday evening. They set up a sort of clinic in the school classrooms. They had people coming in from the nearby towns for health check-ups and fit in our kids between the outside patients. The mission group was helpful in some ways, and in others, I saw the concept of how sometimes short-term mission trips can be harmful. Before I ever left for Bolivia, my SM group and I had to take a mission class at school. There we were taught to “help without hurting.” A concept that describes how many times groups enter the mission field trying to change everything, without taking into consideration the culture, economics/resources, and society. At the time that I was taking the class, I thought to myself, “Oh yeah, that makes total sense, no way any group will go into a mission project and think they can change everything in a few days.” To say the least, I saw a glimpse of how a short-term group may not take into consideration a community’s resources and economics. While this group did a lot to help, their presence on campus made for an exhausting week for the SMs.

My group of SMs has also started getting together on Friday nights to kind of debrief from the week and just have some English conversations. Sometimes, each set of house parents will bring snacks or leftovers from the meals to have a little snack during our meeting. We are beginning to be a little bit more of a cohesive group. We all present our different challenges and frustrations. We also have a pretty musical group, so we had a little jam session at our previous meeting. Additionally, we were able to do a small SM Bible study on Sabbath. The lesson we concluded for this week was “Less of me, and more of You,” as well as focusing our mission on “unity;” in which we are all provided with spiritual gifts, and should work together for the benefit of those we are serving.

Overall, daily life in Bolivia has gotten easier to manage. I was speaking with a fellow SM this week, and they said something that I have found to be incredibly true. They said, “life in Bolivia, really is just life in Bolivia; there is no before and no after… just Bolivia.” Somehow, my mind has forgotten what I used to do at home, Bolivia is the new normal, and trying to think of what I will be doing when I get back to the States is only a foggy thought. While this may seem like a bad thing, I believe it has made it easier to focus on the kids here, and truly pour into them. I ask for continued prayers for the remaining months, and wisdom for us to carry out the plan God has for us here in Bolivia.

Ariana, one of the girls from Las Lila’s (the older girls’ house), had been complaining of tooth pain for about a week, and I had been giving her something for pain in the evenings so she could sleep, but I could tell it was getting too much for her. I ended up having to take her to the dentist twice, and on both trips, I saw how God really sends answers to prayer. On the first trip, we left in the morning. The Ariana and I began our wait for a taxi around 8:45 am. We waited and waited, decided to walk down the road a little, and waited some more. As we waited, the sun got stronger, and it began getting hotter. I then decided to call my mom, as I try to talk to her every day, and it would help pass the time. We talked for a while, and as she was getting ready to hang up, she asked if I had prayed yet for a taxi. I was a little embarrassed to answer her that it had not even crossed my mind. So, before hanging up the phone, my mom, Ariana, and I prayed for a taxi to pass by soon. By the time we finished praying and I hung up the phone, it had been about an hour since we had begun our wait for a taxi. But now I trusted that God would send someone soon. As we continued our wait, an older man began walking towards us. As he got closer, I sent up a silent prayer for safety on this trip into town. He then approached me and held out his hand as if to greet me. I was hesitant, as we were on the side of the road and the only others nearby were the passing cars. It felt awkward, so I reluctantly shook his hand. To my surprise and concern, he did not let go of my hand after shaking it. He mumbled something and asked where I was from and if i lived nearby. I answered that I lived a little up the road, trying to end any form of a conversation. I then tried to smile and pull my hand away, while saying goodbye. But he seemed determined not to let go. He kept on mumbling words that I could not comprehend. I then turned my shoulder towards him, and yet again tried to pull my hand away. Finally, he let go. Ariana and I then began walking away, and the man too walked off in the opposite direction. I let up yet another prayer, this time of thanksgiving, for keeping us safe. Just moments after this odd interaction, a taxi approached and picked us up, and even charged half of what is normally charged to go into town. Again, I let up a prayer of thanksgiving for the answers to prayer God had provided within minutes of each other. I was reminded about how important prayer is. This experience made me wonder how many times I forget to pray for things because they don’t seem that important. But God has endless blessings waiting for us, we only have to ask. I found a good reminder of this in Philippians 4:6-7 which says, “do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” I am glad to say that the I rest of the trip into town and to the dentist went smoothly, and we made it safely back to Familia Feliz. A few days later, Ariana and I had to return into town for a follow up appointment. This time I remember to pray for safety and to find a ride into town. This time, minutes after we walked out of the gate of Familia Feliz, a car passed by who happened to be the son of a woman who lived across the street. He was visiting his mom from Milan, Italy, and offered us a free ride in since he knew about Familia Feliz. I continue to count my blessings here in Bolivia.

Unfortunately, between these trips into town, taking care of sick kids, and being in a new environment overall, my energy and immune system have been cut down drastically. This week has been a bit more difficult than in the past. I have been sick for a little over a week now. I've dealt with some of the worst headaches, mild dehydration, and fevers. I think I am starting to get better. But for some reason I seem to have good davs where I think I am better, immediately followed by bad days. I am currently writing this between naps, and I am trying to rest on my day off. Therefore, I do not have a lot to write about this week, but I am so thankful for all of you who read and continually pray for me and my mission group.