It creeps into conversations more and more these days. Both with a growing sense of excitement and the pang of the reality of how deeply we don’t want this adventure to end.
With less than 50 days left out on the field, going home is increasingly present on our minds, but never for long, as we continue to pour deeper and deeper into the blessing of the time here we still have left.
Apparently they say it takes 200 hours of time spent together to become best friends with someone. If we took the time to actually do the math, our current team, has spent something like over 3,300 together so far. I don’t know what that makes us at this point, but what I do know, is that I can’t imagine a life away from these people. I can’t imagine what an adjustment life back home is going to be. But what we CAN do, today, is love each other harder than each day before. We CAN keep pouring everything we have into the communities still ahead of us. And we CAN keep choosing to give these last days all we’ve got.
And to keep doing that, I still need your help!
I’ve got just under a month left to raise the $805 I need to not only get to continue on through Peru and Ecuador, but also to fund my flight back home so I can tell you all about all of our incredible adventures and all the ways you all were a part of seeing God’s love move in ENORMOUS ways all around the world!
Would you prayerfully consider supporting me through my last days of this season? Donations can be sent through both PayPal and the orange “donate” button above! Don’t have the current funds to support us financially? That’s okay too! If that’s the case, would you be willing to continue to fight for the work we’re doing out here as a prayer warrior, and by sharing our journey with someone you know that may be willing to join you in support as well?
I can’t thank you all enough for making this life a reality for us. Jesus is such an incredible provider, and it’s such a blessing to have been able to be a part of the work he is building through everything you all have been so willing to give over this last year!
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Now the part I know you’ve been waiting for – our month 10 update, brought to you all the way from Santa Cruz, Bolivia!
For those of you that don’t know, getting to Bolivia didn’t give our squad an easy start. Getting visas took hours of tedious paperwork that had to be spot on in order to be accepted, our bus (purposefully) left us at the border because the driver decided the visa process was taking longer than he cared to wait, we ended up having to shove fourteen people plus our fourteen human sized bags into a van for a three hour ride to the next bus station, and our last team to try to come through ended up getting denied visas four times and even deported, leaving them to have no other option but to head to Peru early, where we will be meeting up with them later this month!
Thankfully, #GetPsalm made it through our 36+ hours of bus rides mostly without a hitch after that and were able to safely make it to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, where we are staying with the local YWAM base. Youth With A Mission is a missionary training program that has bases all over the world, one of which we were lucky enough to get to partner with during our time here!
Each week here has held a very tightly packed schedule, with a different ministry assignment each week, which has left us more than exhausted a lot of days, but with hearts that literally could not be fuller. Because you guys – these kids we’ve got to work with here, goodness have they stolen our hearts once again. I’ve always knew I loved working with kids, but these little guys got us extra deep in all of our soft spots. So here’s a little peak into what our weeks held:
Week 1: Los Preciosos
Casa de Los Preciosos is a home for children with special needs that have been abandoned or have parents that aren’t able to fully/properly care for all of their needs. Our days were often filled with music and sensory therapy, feedings, playing in the ball pit, and just loving these kids so dang hard. Even after 9 hour days, I still was begging to get to spend more of our time here. These smiles lit up our whole world. (Faces hidden to protect identities)
Week 2: Bible Story Class
This week we worked with kids at the local Christian school ranging anywhere from 5-18 as teachers and preachers and game officiators and everything in between. We told testimonies, acted out Daniel and the Lions Den, taught about what it looks like to know and declare our identities as chosen and treasured sons/daughters of God, and danced our hearts out to Boom Chicka Boom until we didn’t have anymore breath in our lungs. It’s strange how normal this feels these days, but also what an insanely cool opportunity it continually proves to be.
Week 3: Potter’s Place
Each day this week, we would take a small bus, crowded with far too many people, for a 30 minute ride outside of the city, to a little retreat called Potter’s Place, a home for teenage girls in crisis. Most of the girls here come from extremely hard backgrounds. Abuse, prostitution, loss of parents, teenage pregnancy, rape, drug use, homelessness – they’ve faced it all. But the beautiful part is, they choose this place. This isn’t an orphanage, a rehab program, or a place they’re forced to be. When these girls come in off the streets, it’s by their choice, because they want something more. And what an honor it was for them to give us their time, to listen to our stories and let us get to be a part of theirs. We played endless hours of volleyball, shared meals, told our testimonies, did crafts, taught each other about grace, wrestled through the hard questions of what it looks like to follow our faith in a world of shame and fear and past mistakes, and built each other up in sisterhood in a way I can’t even describe the way I felt the depths of. (Faces hidden to protect identities)
Aaannnddd in between this all we also led two youth group services, helped prepare for/ serve at/ and tear town a wedding reception, and worked at a lunch fundraiser for the base. Exhausted is an understatement, but the love we’ve got to share in has been so abundantly worth it.
So what’s up next? A quick stop in Peru, and then off to Quito, Ecuador for our 11th and final stop!
Final landing date in America: Shhh. It’s a surprise! ????
