"You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body." -C.S. Lewis

There's a monton of things I want to talk about in this post, but I'm sick again (surprise) and henceforth too lazy to write in an organized and creative manner. So here's a list of things to catch you all up on, in no particular order:

My little girl!

- Mark Ottenweller's in town! For those of you who know him, you understand what a delight it is to have him here in La Paz. For those of you who don't know him, I'll explain a little about the uniquely marvelous kind of man Mark is... Dr. Ottenweller is the father of three incredible (and all married since three weeks ago!) children, a widower of four years, and an inspiration all around the world. He's an employee of HOPEworldwide, specifically overseeing all of Africa concerning HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness. He lived in Africa for over eighteen years--Ivory Coast and South Africa, to be exact--and has travelled all over the continent working with HIV+/AIDS-stricken populations, encouraging churches, and being the awesome servant that he is. Basically, before I go on a surely common Mark-O.-is-so-great rant, he's one incredible man of God and ambassador of Christ. And as much as I'd like to say he just came to Bolivia to visit my family (of whom he's a dear and old friend), the purpose of his visit is likely 95% because he happens to be dating Lin. The Mark and Lin Story has, of course, been told all around the world to the delight of every hearing ear, and for good reason. But I won't share it; I'll just say it's a testimony to God's glory, power, infinite plan for our lives and His sovereign wisdom.

Mark and Lin, being those cute
heroes in the faith that they are.

Anyway, he's here and he's encouraging all of us simply by his presence! He preached at church on Sunday about being motivated by God's grace, and later for our weekly HOPE family devotional, he shared about what it means to be Spirit-led, especially regarding working with the poor. Let's just say most of us were in tears at some point; I can't explain how my soul was totally uplifted when I was reminded that I'm not doing any of this on my own... in fact, I'm doing nothing at all! I'm being filled daily with the Spirit of the living God! This week, Mark will be seeing our favorite parts of La Paz with us (aka Lin) and will also be traveling with us to Machu Picchu on Thursday! That's right, MACHU PICCHU! Which brings me to my second point...

- We're going to Machu Picchu on Thursday! :) The whole HOPE team is going (minus James, unfortunately) and we're beyond excited! We fly to Cuzco Thursday morning, have some hikes and tours planned between the city and the site, and we're taking an 18-hour bus ride back Sunday evening. I'll be sure to make a blog post about it when we get back!

Some of the group goofing off, like usual.

- November 9th was my mom's birthday, and her being the selfless and ever-passionate Noelle Broyles that the world knows, all she wanted was to spend time with the girls in the orphanage (her job anyway!). We spend a couple hours on Sunday afternoon hanging out with the girls, playing with beach balls, playing "Uno", eating lollipops, goofing off, singing Justin Beiber, etc. But this time it wasn't just the normal group that went to visit the home; we were joined by Dad, Lin, and Mark. It was all of their first times meeting the girls, and it was a blast! It was animating to watch our whole HOPE family just being silly with these orphans... I especially couldn't help but laugh when, as always, Matt/"Mateo" was immediately swarmed by tons of teenage girls who always seem to be on the brink of declaring their undying love for him. What's funny is the fact that he lives in the orphanage and probably deals with this on a daily basis.

Ive (left) with two disciple sisters.

- Today Ivelisse left Bolivia. Heartbreak at its finest. That beautiful sister has lifted up the church and the team with her intense passion, sacrificial love, profound wisdom and unceasingly positive encouragement. She planted seeds and God watered them--as a matter of fact, two "seeds" that she planted resulted in baptisms! At the moment Ive is traveling to Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Chicago, Puerto Rico, and God knows where else. She is dearly loved and will be severely missed here!


- It's been on my heart to share about the individual kids that I'm working with, with photos and brief biographies and what not, kind of like what Matt did on his blog. I was planning on introducing two kids from CEIKU (the guardería in Casa de Paso) in this post, but due to my lack of pictures and wanting more information on their stories and (let's be honest) laziness, I'll wait until the next post.

- Thanksgiving is coming up and I'm bursting at the seams with excitement about it because it's also my third spiritual birthday. What an appropriate day of giving thanks. Because the holiday is only celebrated in America, no work or school stops around this time in Bolivia. In fact, all the FAI volunteers ended up having a mandatory day-long workshop on Thanksgiving day... even though the talleres are normally fun and enjoyable, the American crew is a little bummed at the choice of date. Nevertheless, the HOPE team is planning a dinner, and Lin brought back pumpkin bread mix from the US! And it's Trader Joe's brand, no less!

- I also want to ramble on and on and list all my mixed feelings about the month of December. But since you came to read about my experience serving in Bolivia and not my teenage girl emotions, I'll simple clarify what's happening. Bad part first: Lin and Jordyn are leaving. I've been dreading their departure since the day we arrived, but now that's it's coming closer and plans are being made and tickets are being bought... ahh! What a loss to Bolivia, the HOPE team, and my own desire for one of my best friends to be by my side all the time! Anyway, since that's not until December 20th, I'll cry about it on my blog after they leave.
And the good (no, GREAT!) news: my sister's coming in the beginning of the month until the end, and I could not be MORE anxious to see her. Alongside her on the journey will be her boyfriend Morgan, Lin's son and Jordyn's brother and basically my big brother, who will arrive with my sister and leave with his family on the 20th. And another recent piece of awesome news: Matt Walker's mom and brother are coming to visit for nine days, including spending Christmas with us! This especially pumps me up since both of them are special to me; Renee is an incredible woman of God who's like another momma to me, and Luke is one of my best friends. In other words, my sister, my casi big brother, my second momma, and my best friend are all coming to Bolivia within a span of four weeks! I'm thrilled and blessed!
And yet another big happening in December: the Basilio family is finally gonna get here! So yeah, yeah, John and Migdalia may be great spiritual inspirations and heroes in the faith and all, but it's their kids I'm most excited about! (Sorry, parents.) I've been craving to hug Gabriela, Ariana and Papito ever since I left the States and now I'm finally going to have them here in La Paz to hug at my disposal! :)

In conclusion, I'm feeling God's showers of blessings pouring down on us here in Bolivia, and I couldn't be more grateful or enthusiastic to be witnessing His miracles. To Him be all the glory, and please keep praying for the La Paz church, the HOPE team, and the city's children. Thanks for reading!