Hearing Care Course and Visiting My Girls

I'm sorry it's been a while since I posted an update. I just got back home last night from a week in Cochabamba.

From Tuesday till Friday morning of last week I was attending a course on hearing care and deafness prevention. It was interesting and practical. The main expositor was Dr. Diego Santana, an Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist who is a missionary from Spain and works in the department of Beni. Apparently about 50% of hearing deficit and deafness cases could be prevented! Although my interest mainly lies in working with those who already are deaf, it was interesting to learn more about the prevention side of things as well.

Friday afternoon I had the opportunity to briefly visit my girls at the deaf center in Vinto. I was very warmly received with lots of hugs! Seeing these precious girls made me realize how much I love and miss them! It was fun taking them some gifts that had been sent for them in a package from a dear friend in Canada (the girls say "Thank you!" Amanda)

Over the weekend I enjoyed seeing and spending some time with friends in Cochabamba.

I made the trip home on Monday. On the way I saw a couple of major accidents. One accident looked like it was a head-on collision between two buses. I thought about the fact it could have been MY bus in that accident! I praise God for His protection over my life! I had just been reading Psalm 139. In verse 16 it says: "All the days ordained for me were written in your book." How wonderful as Christians to know that nothing can touch us until our work here on earth is done!

Closing a Chapter, Tour Guide, Small Accident

I spent last week in my hometown--Potosí. My week was full catching up with old friends. One of the things I love about being from a small city is that you are constantly bumping into people you know! It's lovely! Since being back in Bolivia, I hadn't yet been to the city of Sucre to see friends there, so I I also took advantage of being only a couple of hours away to make a quick trip there.

My parents are in the process of selling our home in Potosi, so it was a bittersweet time to enjoy being in our apartment one last time. One of my favourite things about the apartment is the hammock up on the roof, so I spent some time reading up there. I also spent some time sorting through some of our stuff. The selling of our home kind of feels like the closing of a chapter in our lives. I spent almost 18 years of my life in Potosi, and it will always have a special place in my heart!

Early Friday morning, Janelle, Rachael, Katie (Horton) and Matt (Shannon)--four Canadian friends--arrived. For the next two days I greatly enjoyed being a tour guide. Friday's highlight was a trip to the "laguna," a natural pool of hot water in an old volcano crater. My family used to go there every Monday, and there I learnt to swim! Lots of memories!

On Saturday my dad's friend, Wilson, came by and picked us up. He took us to a place where we got all geared up and then headed up the Cerro Rico ("Rich Mountain") to have a tour of one of the many mines. It was quite the intense experience walking through damp narrow tunnels. At one point we really jumped at an explosion, which it turned out came from well below us.

This last week back in La Paz, I have been taking care of Elisa while my parents are in Potosi finalizing things with the sale of the house. I have also been hanging out with a friend visiting from Santa Cruz, and a couple of times we got to hang out with Rachael, Katie and Matt. On Tuesday we went out to Mallasa (on the outskirts of La Paz) and visited the zoo. After that we rented and had fun on three quads. I was riding on the back of a quad, and we were on our way back to the rental place, when all of a sudden we hit a bump. Suddenly I found myself falling backwards and next thing I knew I was on the ground! Kind of embarassing! I just laughed and got back on the quad (my friend who was driving felt pretty bad!) Thankfully I escaped from the incident with only some scrapes and a little sore. :-)

Prayer Scarf and Precious Sister

It's a bright sunny Sunday afternoon in San Miguel, La Paz, Bolivia. The sunshine is welcome after a long rainy season.

Last night I was asked if I would be willing to help out with Sunday School this morning. I warned the pastor's wife that I am not good with children, but if they needed help, I was willing to do what I could. Let me just say, I admire all those of you who love working with children and do such an amazing job of it! This morning wasn't too bad, but working with children definitely doesn't come naturally to me!

Last Sunday my mom shared a story with me that blessed and encouraged me, reminding me of the power of prayer. Let me share it with you as an encouragement that God does hear our prayers! A few years ago I was a student at Emmaus Bible College. I had a friend who taught me how to crochet. I decided to crochet a scarf and send it down to Bolivia with my brother Caleb, who was going down for Christmas. I told my mom I wanted her to give it to one of the prisoners at the prison where she did ministry. I sent a letter with the scarf talking about God's love and saying I was praying for whoever got the scarf. My mom prayed about who to give the scarf to and ended up giving the scarf to Boris, a hardened criminal who was in solitary confinement at the time--he was surprised. This was in the prison in Potosi. Now, a few years later, my mom is ministering at a prison outside of La Paz. It turns out that at some point Boris was transfered here, and he has been coming to the meetings! A week ago Saturday he talked to my mom and told her that he is being transfered to a different prison again, but that he knows God goes with him. After talking to Boris, my mom felt confident that he now has a relationship with God! How exciting to realize that those prayers for an unknown man, recipient of the scarf I made, were answered by God!

During this time I continue keeping busy as "secretary," "cook" and "chauffeur." I am trying to really appreciate and take advantage of this time with my family. Who knows if I will ever have a time like this again! I am also trying to take advantage of the time with my precious, not so little sister! I hope this may be a time where I can really invest in her life and in our relationship! She keeps very busy with two hours of gymnastics every day (Monday-Friday) and with her various church activities and many friends! But we have started trying to keep Tuesdays as our day to do things together. The pictures above are from the other week when we made Lemon Zuchinni Cookies.

I just want to say, I appreciate all those of you who take an interest!

Celina

Weekend in Arica

Here in Bolivia it's the fourth day of the long "Carnaval" weekend. It's a very pagan holiday with lots of drinking, dancing and immorality going on. You could say it's people's last fling at fun before "lent." 

Some friends and I decided to go away to Arica, Chile, for the weekend and enjoy the beach! Pictured above from left to right: Fabiola (Bolivian friend from La Paz), me =), Rachael (Canadian friend) and Janelle (Canadian friend). 

The adventures started on the way to Arica. The eight hour bus trip turned into a twelve hour trip because of long waits at the Bolivian and Chilean border. We had finally crossed the border and were well on our way into Chile, when we had to stop because of engine trouble and wait for another bus to come and take us the rest of the way! 

I had a neat experience of God taking care of me. Arriving at Chilean immigrations, I realized that somehow I had left my Bolivian ID card way back at Bolivian immigrations. I was tempted to feel quite upset, but I decided to rest in God and trust that He would work everything out--and He did! Thankfully I had decided to travel with both my Bolivian ID card as well as my Bolivian passport! I was able to use my Bolivian passport to get into Chile, and then on our way back into Bolivia, I was able to recover my Bolivian ID card! It was just a little reminder to me that when we run into unexpected "problems" God is still in control and taking care of things. There is nothing too big or too small for Him to handle. 

Living in a landlocked country, it was a real treat to enjoy the beach! It was also fun to see Fabiola experience the ocean for the first time! We spent long hours at the beach on Saturday. The result was some terribly painful burns! My worst burns were on the back of my legs, and I was walking around like an old lady the next day! 

We four girls shared a condo with three of Janelle's girlfriends. On Sunday night we seven girls had a lot of fun going out to eat and celebrate Valentine's Day. We found a cute little eating place all decorated with hearts on a little side street in downtown Arica.  I think we had more fun being all girls than most of the couples there! :-) 

Our last night, Rachael, Fabiola and I walked down to the beach with our towels. We laid on the beach, gazed up at the stars and enjoyed listening to the crashing of the waves. It was such a special time to meditate on the greatness of God's creation! I thought of how insignificant we are, and yet the fact that God notices and pours out His love on each individual makes each life so significant and special!

Childhood Friend and Seminar

Last week I was excited to get a phone call from Tatiana, a childhood friend from Potosí who now lives in the city of Sucre. She told me she was coming to La Paz to do some paperwork, and right away I invited her to come and stay with us. It was special to have her here for five days, and we did a fair bit of catching up. In the past, when I have visited Sucre, Tati and her family have always been very good to me, so I was happy for the chance to be good to her during her stay in La Paz. 

Over the weekend there was a seminar called "Ancient Paths" (on Biblical principles for family life) being held at the church I am currently attending. My mom and I were both going, and I signed Tati up to go with us. We were all blessed by the seminar. 

Summer Holidays Are Over

Monday morning, February 1st, kids could be seen in their school uniforms heading back to school. I must say I don't miss those days of being a student! Even so, summer holidays are over for me too, and I am currently filling three positions!

I am currently working as my dad's "secretary." He has a bunch of projects he's too busy for that he has passed on to me. This semester he is teaching the Christology class at the seminary. He has a full class of 70+ students, so as things pick up, he probably will have me help him with some grading, etc.

I am also filling in as "cook" these days. As my mom is sometimes busy homeschooling my sister Elisa, off to the prison doing ministry or, these days, going up to town to do paperwork (my parents have been trying to become Bolivian citizens for the last 5 1/2 years, and the bureaucracy here is ridiculous!) I have been making lunch, which is the main meal here in Bolivia. It's a great opportunity to practice and perfect my cooking skills! Some days meals turn out alright, and others not so good. Yesterday I thought I had turned off the rice, when in fact I had turned it on "high." Needless to say, the rice was quite burnt (I'm grateful for a patient and understanding family when meals aren't so great!)

My third position is that of "chauffeur." Elisa is quite a busy individual (I don't see much of her!) when she's not here at the house doing school, she's off to gymnastics or off to her church for some activity. My mom has been relieved to have me take over driving her to her different activities. Driving in Bolivia is definitely a different experience altogether. Just yesterday I had a couple of not so pleasant experiences. First, I got pulled over by a police officer who told me I was missing some sort of "inspection" sticker and wanted to see my license. I had no idea what he was talking about (for all I knew he only wanted to get money out of me!), but thankfully I was able to get away with telling him I didn't know anything about it, but I would inform my dad, the owner of the car. Second, I ended up going the wrong way on a one-way street! Two guards from the French Embassy saw me, but thankfully they were very gracious, and told me to wait till a car was past and then to cautiously keep going down the street (there wasn't much room to turn around).

Some of you may be wondering what my plans are for this year. At this point, I really feel like God wants me to take advantage of this time with my family and be a support to them (my wonderful parents are the couple in the above picture). In the meantime, it is also a time for me to wait on God for future plans. Please join me in prayer for clear guidance!

Exotic Locations

It's already late January and this is my first blog post of the year! It's summer here in the southern hemisphere, and I decided to get some traveling in before commitments started tying me down to La Paz.

After Christmas I made a two-day trip to Copacabana with Rachael and Janelle (my two Canadian girlfriends). Copacabana is a small town on Lake Titicaca (the highest navigable lake in the world). Our hostel was this place with a Mediterranean feel to it overlooking the beautiful lake! We enjoyed some good reading time in the hammocks.

On the 3rd of January my parents, Elisa (my sister) and I traveled to the city of Santa Cruz for a few days of family vacation. Santa Cruz is the city where I was born and is located in the lowlands of Bolivia. The climate is very hot and humid (definitely tropical). With the heat, Elisa and I very much enjoyed the hotel pools!

After four days, my parents headed back to La Paz, and I stayed on to visit different friends. I enjoyed spending several days with the Ojeda family, close family friends who know me since I was a baby. There was lots of reminiscing. From there I went and spent some days with a friend who I actually met at college in Iowa. The remainder of my time I spent with the Guzmán family. Ruth, Mrs. Guzmán, owns a hotel. Her ministry involves having missionaries or other full-time workers stay at her hotel for free whenever they go through Santa Cruz (that is how my family first met her about six years ago). Her and I often dreamed about me going and working with her and learning about hotel management (as I enjoy hospitality). I took advantage of these days with Ruth to learn a little bit about what it entails to run a hotel. I had fun manning reception a few times.

Let me share the most exciting thing that happened while I was in Santa Cruz! One day I ended up having a conversation with Janet, a young woman who is working cleaning rooms at the hotel over summer break. Somehow we ended up talking about spiritual things. I asked her something about where she would go if she were to die. She told me she would go to hell. I asked her if she wasn't afraid to die. She said she actually would like to die--that life seemed purposeless. My heart lifted up a prayer for God to help me, and I proceeded to share the beautiful gospel message. When I was done talking, there was a brief silence. Then Janet told me, "You know what? When you were talking right now--it wasn't you that was talking!" Could it be that God spoke through me?! I felt so excited, honored and humbled at the same time! Janet didn't make a decision that day, but I can tell she is really searching. Right then she had to go home, but she told me that she would really like to talk to me about some things. Sadly, there wasn't enough time left for me to get together with her before returning to La Paz. I promised her I would try to get a certain book for her (which I will have to try to send to her in the mail). I would appreciate it if you would please pray with me for Janet's salvation.

I'll sign off for now, but hopefully my updates will be a little more regular again!