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The 2009 Practicum has begun! This marks our second week of classes. Most of last week was spent learning “the basics” – computer and Internet training, cross cultural studies and learning important Southern words/phrases, such as y’all. This fall, one of our American students, Katherine Harrison, will be writing about her experiences for our blog. Below is one of her reflections from last week, introducing herself and why she is participating in the Practicum. Katherine is a member of Brookhaven UMC (Brookhaven, Miss.) and was a member of their SIFAT mission team to Ecuador in July 2009. Katherine is also keeping a personal blog here. Through more tears than I can count and a strange meandering path, God has brought me here to the SIFAT campus. I say He brought me here because I was unsure I would be able to attend. In fact, by the middle of last week, I had begun making plans not to attend and to continue on this spiritual journey at home (for the moment). But God and Kathy Bryson had other plans and the SIFAT door kept opening back up even though I was steady trying to close it. I have an image of me leveraging my weight against a door to close it and there’s this big God-sized foot lodged in there to keep it open. So here I am and I can honestly tell you I have no idea why or where it may lead. That’s not to say I am not focused or enthusiastic about being here. I am! I feel so blessed! I also feel a bit unworthy. I am not a community leader, a pastor, the head of some organization or a full-time missionary. These people are established and they know their place in God’s kingdom. They have specific missions to carry out. God may change those plans mid-stream, I know, but they at least have a stream. I don’t. Yet.
This fall’s CARES program is Around the World. Students have the opportunity to visit homes in our Global Village, where they learn about the country represented and participate in hands-on activities. From folk dancing in the Philippines to making tortillas in Guatemala, students (and their chaperones!) tour the world in just a few hours. Quick Facts:
To book a CARES event, please contact cares@sifat.org.
Brookhaven UMC is hosting DecembeRadio this Sunday, Aug. 30th, at 6 p.m. at the Multi-Purpose Arena in Brookhaven, Miss. Proceeds from this concert (tickets are only $10!) will help us finish Mama Yoli’s House. DecembeRadio won the 2009 Dove award for Rock Album of the Year. We hope you come out to enjoy this Christian concert and support SIFAT in the process. The address for the venue is 1096 Beltline Road, Brookhaven, MS. Click here to download a flier. Is your group hosting a SIFAT fundraiser? We’d love to help get the word out by posting an announcement here. Contact Marie, lanierm@sifat.org, for more information. Our current intern in Ixiamas, Bolivia, is 2008 Practicum graduate Becky Forrest. During Practicum, Becky shared her experience on our blog. Now that she is in an intern in Bolivia, she will post updates as our interns in 2008 did. Becky served on short-term mission trips in 2007 and 2008 in Ixiamas.
Yeah! I have finally finished with all the paper work at immigration. It is a relief to finally have all that over. I really can’t believe I have been here over six months–the time has gone by so quickly. Less than a week back in Ixiamas and back to classes with the kids. It is so great to know I won’t have to be traveling back and forth to LaPaz anymore. I can fully concentrate on what I came here to do.
The last month has been very busy. We had a wonderful week with the team from Christ Community Church. We reached out to 200 children of Ixiamas with Bible School. The team did not get to meet all of the kids of the Internado because of extended vacation, but some of them came back early so at least they got to spend some time with most of them. The team did some painting, helped to finish the chicken house intern Chas Jordan began and many other small projects that really needed to be done. We also visited the community of two of our girls and held Bible School for all the children of that community. This community had never had a visit with a team from the US, and they took us on a tour of one of the farms. It is really interesting to see how the locals work their fields. It was a great day enjoyed by all. Katie Acker came with the team and stayed with us at the Internado for three weeks. The girls at the Internado had a wonderful time with Katie.She taught them a dance to “I Surrender All†by Michael W. Smith that they performed it at the anniversary celebration at church.
Our director Mateo left Bolivia with Chas and Katie August 3rd for the US. Mateo will be attending the Practicum at SIFAT at the end of the month. He was very excited to be visiting the US and the SIFAT campus in Alabama. It is hard to believe that one year ago I was preparing to go to the Practicum. My life has changed so very much in the last year. God has used many circumstances to strengthen my faith and placed so many new brothers and sisters from all over the world into my life.  Marlene (Mateo’s cousin), the young lady that was my interpreter on the trips to Peru and visits to immigration, is leaving next week for Seattle, Wash., to be an au pair with a very lucky family. It is interesting to watch these two family members take off for the US within a week of each other. Please keep both of them in your prayers.
I really want to let everyone that has supported me throughout the year know how much this year has meant to me and the spiritual growth I have had. When you are out of your comfort zone, you depend much more on God than when you live in your comfortable house and your weekly pay check. I encourage everyone to step out of the box, if for only a few days. It will really make a difference in your walk with God.  “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.â€Â                  Num. 6:24 – 26      God Bless Becky Two summer interns joined Becky in Ixiamas, Bolivia. Although they did not post throughout their time, we asked them to share about their experiences. This is the fourth (and final!) part in a multi-post series. My first weekend was a little long to be honest. We worked on the chicken coop, went to the internet and hung out with the kids. It wasn’t bad, but just not the busy life that I usually have back home. Sunday we got up early and went to church. It was good, but really long. When you don’t know the language that well, sitting through four hours of songs and messages can be kind of hard. We also took a lot of pictures during our spare time. I love photography, so to be able to take pictures of the beautiful people and awesome sunsets was great. One thing that God has taught me from being down here for a couple of weeks is to just wait on him. It’s so easy to get caught up in everything and lose focus, even in a situation that involves mission work. Just sitting in the hammock and listening to creation is an amazing thing. I love that there is so much time to spend with the Lord and really seek him. Another thing that really has stuck with me throughout the whole trip is something Pastor Keith talked about in one of the devotionals. Basically, he said we don’t need to see people of a different culture as scenery or machinery, but to see them as people who Christ loves. I guess that’s been a big thing for me. Just loving these people and realizing that they are just as valuable to Christ as we are to him. This past week Rachel, Mateo, and Miss Becky came back. I was pretty happy to see them. Also, the kids went back to school, which meant all of them would be back at the Internado. Speaking of the kids, they are all amazing. I’ve enjoyed being around them so much. Especially the girls, they have helped me in a lot of ways. Rosa, Nancy and Patty all helped me with washing my clothes in the river. What a learning experience. They are so committed to each article of clothing. They won’t wash one shirt really good and then half way do another. They do every single piece with power and efficiency. I wish I could say I washed ALL my clothes, but when it came to my jeans, I gave in and asked for help. After we got done washing, they talked me into going for a swim in the “frio†water. I thought the shower was cold, that river was freezing. Oh, and side note. When braving the cold waters of the shower, you must slowly submerge yourself. Getting in quick is just simply not an option. Okay, back to the river story. So I decided to be all cool and jump from the tree. Well there is a tree right beside the one you jump off of that has huge thorns all over it. I took the first step to the top and my foot slipped and it went right into the thorns. My foot was sliced up and bloody that day. The girls didn’t freak out or anything, so I figured it would be fine. The boys are fun too. We got in the yard one day and did flips and cartwheels, of course they showed me up. Each kid is different and unique; I know God has big plans in store for them. Towards the beginning of this week, I started working with the girls on a dance. I had no idea they would be performing in church. We just kind of had fun with it and had some good worship time in the process; until the girls found out they would be doing it at the Saturday night service. We found out Saturday morning so we began practicing over and over again. The words “Otra vez†have been imbedded into my brain, which means “again†in English. They danced that night, and it was great. It made me remember how much I enjoy working with young girls through dance. I feel like I’ve grown as a person and grown up a little bit. It’s only been three weeks, but God can do a lot when you’re just open and willing to do whatever he wants. I have to say, I’ve enjoyed being off on my own. It’s not the easiest thing, but a lot can change in a short period of time when comfort is at a minimum. I mean, if you can get past the cold showers and eating rice three times a day, you’re good to go. I would definitely encourage anybody who reads this to just get out the box. Do something different. Ask God to lead you in a new direction and just follow. Follow the one who loves you unconditionally and wants the best for your life. I’m the worst at being on fire one minute and then being below lukewarm the next. However, God is a constant God and that is what I’ve held on to this whole trip. Ixiamas, Bolivia is an awesome place. God is doing so much down here and to be a part of it for a short time has been a great experience. My summer’s almost over. I’m about to move, and I’m stepping into the next chapter of my life. Being here in Bolivia has probably been the most perfect, God-orchestrated thing for me just in the sense that it’s hopefully prepared me for what’s coming in my life. I pray I get to come down here again and be here a little longer, because it has been an amazing ride. I leave for La Paz in a couple of days; I’m pretty stoked about having a hot shower and eating some good food. I would like to thank the people who have been praying and supporting me throughout this trip, words can’t express how much you all mean to me. So, thank you so much and may the Lord bless you all. -Katie |
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The dates for our 2009-2010 CARES events are now posted on our website. Visit 
