On Sunday (4 de septiembre), the streets of La Paz were almost eerily quiet due to the Día del Peatón (Day of the Pedestrian). No one was allowed to drive between 9AM and 4PM--except police, of course--while everyone was encouraged to walk, bike, go to the park, play futbol, and such. Also, the sale of alcoholic beverages was banned all day on Sunday. All of this meant that tons people were outdoors, enjoying the beautiful weather, and prime targets for getting invited to church by the eager disciples roaming the streets.
A group of about 20 people, disciples and visitors, met on picnic blankets under shady trees in one of the many parks in Zona Sur (the southern part of the city). My dad shared a quick lesson (translated by Lin) about God's love, reading scriptures from Romans 8 and Isaiah 49 and other incredibly encouraging chapters. It was an amazing thing to be reminded of God's unstoppable love for us, as we listened to His word, totally surrounded by His awe-inspiring mountains, and sitting among other brothers and sisters belonging to Him. We took communion, prayed, and afterwards fellowshipped over a variety of PB&Js and Bolivian chicken sandwiches.
On Monday, the work began! My father, Lin, and Gwen started their first day at Hospital Arco Iris, and came back home fairly encouraged, slightly overwhelmed, but completely fired up about the work set before them. My dad and Lin have already started looking into the prospect of a new hospital building in Zona Sur, while Gwen is eager to begin training nurses and nurses' assistants. Their first day at HAI gave all three of the team members vision, direction, and anticipation to get going!
Meanwhile, my mother, Ivelisse, Jordyn and I spent the morning touring the Niñas Obrajes home, Centro Betaña, and the Betaña nursery. (If you want, go to www.arcoirisbolivia.org for descriptions of all the projects... there's an english version of the website, no te preocupes...) All four of us were utterly impacted by many of the kids' stories and were craving time with each individual child, while all the time being inspired by the good work that Arco Iris is doing and the way each project strives to meet each child's needs. Today, after a morning of fun sorting-out of Bolivia visas/residencies, the four of us took a quick tour of Casa de Paso. On the top floor of this building, where the children of ages 1 to 5 years spend the day--while most of their mothers work as prostitutes--is where I found my heart... but that's another story for another (longer) post!
Truly God is doing amazing things in Bolivia. It's been only a week for most of the team, and already each of our hearts have been softened and moved. Please keep the disciples, FAI workers/volunteers, and especially the street children and orphans of La Paz in your prayers.
P.S. A team blog is in the making, in which every member of the team will take turns in sharing their thoughts, stories, and testimonies of how they see the hand of God in their work! We'll keep you posted! (Please note the pun.)
P.S.S. A few pictures from the Betaña nursery...
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| Ivelisse and some of the incredibly endearing kids |
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| Me in my happy place! |
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| Beautiful little girl in nursery |
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| View of Alto Obrajes outside the Betaña center |
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| some more beautiful children... |
Oh my goodness you look like your'e having so much fun!! I wish we had a Pedestrian Day! It looks so beautiful there!! The air is soo crisp! Even here in Asheville we have haze :/ mostly due to the mountains holding in all the pollution...Asheville is soo much fun though! Theres so much to do and the downtown is just soo amazing, there's this one coffee shop downtown thats a London Double-Decker bus!! It is so awesome inside, like its own little culture in itself! (Indie I know haha) Sooooo yea Brie, this is me blogging about Asheville. Luke's not going to do a mohoawk, and I think he wont be able to grow a beard for a good while hahahe. Ew ew ew why would you dare your friend to not shave her leg for this entire trip!!?!?!?!??!?!? EEEWWWWWWWWWW--and thats coming from a guy in Asheville! Haha, you're skyping from the servant's room hehehe. I wish I could take a siesta, I usually do around this time, AJ's taking one right now....lucky duck. Now we're talking about being sick and pooping, fun fun. Ha your friends and family already like me, thats gotta be a record!! Aight I dont know what else to "blog" about sooo Im gonna get off this now. Told you I was blogging :P
ReplyDelete-Sincerely Andrew Brennan Giggey
p.s. YAY FIRST COMMENT!!!!!!!!!
(Luke was present in the occurence of this primary blog comment, therefore he must get partial credit, for without him I would have never found this website)
Well, there's your first comment. But seriously, it looks like you're right at home there and I bet it'll be the time of your life. Can't say that I'm not jealous but we're all where we need to be for the time being. I look forward to reading more of your adventures and seeing all the pictures! (even though I know they don't do it justice) Have fun and stop getting sick!
ReplyDelete- Mike