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 second part in a multi-post series.

So prepare, because this might be long and it might be mushy. Sorry.

I’ll start with the Holy Spirit because truly He or It has been what I have thought to be the strangest or most unknown relationship. I now call Him (or It..hah) my wonderful friend. I read through some books and prayed, but where I understood the most of whom this Holy Spirit is was through the Bible, and well I guess, himself. The Bible says the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth, for the Holy Spirit is with me constantly, convicting me when I mess up, telling me to seek forgiveness or encouraging me when I’m down. During the day I’m constantly talking to him, telling him how I feel or how thankful I am for his presence. He has become a great friend to me, a truly wonderful counselor, always pointing me into the right direction. I do love him.

After that my respect and appreciation for Christ increased. Well, everything about him increased. I read through Donald Miller’s Searching for God Knows What about three times. I’m reading it for the third time now. There are many chapters talking about Jesus in ways I haven’t thought about before, and it strongly encourages the reader, at least I think, to read through the gospels and take a good hard look at who the person Jesus was while he was here on Earth. Man, I did that, and I can’t say it enough of how much I am thankful for a Savior, a redeemer. He is my rescuer, my Lord, my best friend who I don’t deserve but nonetheless have. I owe him technically and just because my life. I realized Jesus did the most beautiful thing that could have ever been done. Without him my life would be headed nowhere. There would be no peace, no true life, no God, at least no God that I would have a relationship with. Yes, I do love him so very much. Thank you Jesus. Thank you.

And lastly my beautiful Father in Heaven. I grew with him through the Old Testament and prayer. I looked back at how he faithfully guided his people through Moses. I looked at how amazing Eden was, how things were intended. I imagined and thought about how hard it must have been seeing the life intended was now gone, and the price He knew would have to be paid if He wanted a relationship with us. And boy he does. God, He created the heavens, the earth, and every clear night when I could clearly see he created those wonderful stars. They don’t shine brighter anywhere else I have been. He made me and because of everything He has done, I know him. He has spoken life into me. His affirmation and He fulfills me. I have my identity and my purpose in Him.  I know who I am, and I know who He is, and we have a wonderful relationship that will never end, and that knowledge alone is enough to change anyone’s life. Forever. I love you Father, you are so wonderful.

So sorry for the mushiness, but we’re done with that part. So lastly the thing I got from this trip was a calling. When I was in Australia, I of course got my calling to South America, but the Lord also asked me to stay in Columbus for a few years to go to school, minister to my family, serve my church and help my community. Last year when I left Bolivia, the Lord highlighted my family. I would like to say that I was wholly dedicated to them since I left Bolivia and returned but that would be a lie. I did however love them, pray for them and allow God to work. And so many of my siblings now come to church with me. We, as a family, have had a long year, some unexpected bumps, but overall I think we have all grown a little closer to the Lord.  So this years calling is for my community. We will see where that ends up, but I know right now I have accepted a job to work in local high schools with sophomores, juniors and seniors in a wonderful amazing organization known as Teen Advisors…if you want to know more (teenadvisors.org) And I have said this once, and I’ll say it many more times I think that organization is one of the biggest community changers in Columbus, and we just don’t even know it. But the Lord is showing me more than just that. I can’t wait.

Well I know its long, I’m sorry and there is so much more, but I don’t want to make you cry if I were to write it all. So if you want to know more, gladly I will tell you. Just buy me dinner one night, and you will learn everything I can think of…haha. I pray you are all well, wherever you are. I love you. Thank you for your support and prayers, and may you continue to grow closer to our Savior, our Wonderful Friend and our Father in heaven. Amen.

Chas Jordan

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.

Finally after six very long weeks, I have returned to the Internado. This trip back was only 30 hours because we had rain in Rurre again, but not as bad a last time. The bus was finally able to cross.  Words cannot express how great it is to be home again and to see the kids. My papers were finally given to immigration on Friday, May 29th — thank the Lord! The kids will be on winter vacation the last week of June and first week of July, so I will head back to La Paz at that time to pick up my ID card and passport with my resident visa, which will be good for one year. I guess that means I will return next year since I went to all this trouble to get the visa.

The last six weeks have been very emotional and a learning experience for me. I hit so many roadblocks on this journey. Each time the first thing out of my mouth was “Well maybe I should just go back home”, and the next thought was “No! God wants me here, and I will fight to get my visa”. I had some wonderful folks helping me here, especially a young lady named Marlene, who was my translator and traveling companion. Marlene has been studying English for several years and was in need of someone with whom to practice, so I hope I helped her as much as she helped me by letting me cry on her shoulder and praise God with her. Then, there was Pastor Ivan Roman (Bully); we also cried together when I had doors close, but he was really good at getting them to open up again.

I learned a lot about trusting God and that He has a big plan for us, even if we don’t always understand why things happen the way they do. He is in control. He opened up border crossings for me and always provided someone to inspire me to continue the fight. It would come in form of an email at just the right moment or a stranger on a bus or traveling through La Paz. I met people from my home state and all around the world. Each one heard my story and had one to tell me that would keep me going.

I did get to visit the floating islands on Lake Titicaca while in Puno, Peru. What an amazing place. There are around 40 islands built from reeds that people live on and have for centuries. We were taken on a ride in a boat made entirely from reeds. Lake Titicaca is so large that in places it looks like the ocean because all you can see is water on the horizon. In most places, you can see the peaks of the Andes Mountains surrounding it. I will try to get back to posting a blog every two weeks and look for blogs written by Chas Jordan our summer intern.

 

In Christ,

Becky

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 intetn 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.

I can’t believe I have been in Ixiamas for more than a month. Time is just flying. Everything is going well here. I started my English and computer classes today. I am sure I will learn much more than the kids will. I just pray I will be able to do a good job for them. I am a little nervous, since I have never really been a teacher before, but I am trusting God to give me what I need to instruct the kids of the internado. After the classes get going well, we are going to offer English classes to the kids in town. So, everyone please pray for my teaching abilities.

I wanted to share with everyone about the internado animals today. I’ll start with the dogs. Scotty and Stronger are not really internado dogs any more, since they have chosen to spend more time as town strays.  They show up from time to time when they want a rest. Somehow, they always know when we are in town. The first Sunday I was here we were sitting in church and here comes Scotty. He just walks right in over to Rachel and curls up at her feet for a nap. When any of us are in town, they just always come up to greet us. A couple of weeks ago Sneakers became an adult female dog and Stronger was her protector when several of the male dogs from town came to visit in the middle of the night. We feel like the pups should be arriving around the first of May and that Stronger is the father It is hard to believe that Sneakers–the cute little pup from last summer–is going to have pups.

Then, we have Bolivar the cat. He is a very small cat and always finds a seat by some kind heart at meal time to get a few scraps of food since Sneakers never wants to share her table scraps. Believe me, no food scraps go in the trash around here. We have one pig. Actually, he is a large hog that we hope will sire more pigs now that the new pig house is finished. He sort of wrecked the wooden house he had and now has a nice brick one with a concrete floor.

One of my chores is feeding the rabbits every morning and cleaning out the cages. They get most of the kitchen scraps, and surprisingly, one of their favorites is the red onions. Last summer members of the UMVIM team I was here with helped construct the Bunny Hut. A team that followed us finished, and one of the parents put up the roof. We now have 5 rabbits: 3 females and 2 males; as soon as the females get a little older, we will start breeding. The new male we got last week is part angora, and he looked so hot that Rachel and I decided he needed a haircut yesterday. We did a very good job, and he isn’t too gapped up. I unfortunately nicked him a little trying to cut out a mat in his fur. The rabbits will help add protein to our diet when they start breeding and take a big hunk out of the food bill. I am trying not to name them, but it is really hard because they are so cute.

That just leaves the little frog that sits in my window every night to eat bugs. I hope he really likes mosquitoes because they sure do like me. I told my grandson Miles about him, and he suggested a name for him. Flamerod sometimes just sits and looks at me when I talk to him. Well that’s about it except for the horses, cows and chickens that occasionally wander in for grass that is greener on the other side of the fence, but the dogs don’t allow them to stay very long.

All of us at the Internado send our love and covet your prayers.

Grace, peace and love,

Becky

 

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 intetn 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.

We are continuing the rice harvest, and I am beginning to get the feel of it, even though the kids and everyone else works rings around me. The neat thing about being out there is the sounds. There are so many different kinds of birds with some very strange sounding songs, singing constantly. One day, we were working near the tree line and things kept falling out of this really big tree. The kids said there was a monkey up there, but we never saw it. Saturday, a couple of pairs of parrots were sitting high up in a palm tree making all sorts of sounds. You can hear all the insects and their songs. The field is beautiful with really tall trees all around it, and when the wind blows in the field through the tops of rice, making a sort of rattling sound. Everyone is spread out cutting the rice tassels many times in silence just working away in their own thoughts as they cut the rice trying to get more done than the person working just a few meters away. Sometimes someone will start singing, and the song floats across the field. Occasionally, a cooling shower of rain will come along or it could be a downpour, most of the time when we leave our clothes are soaking wet from sweat. That is when I am glad to have these nice cold water showers.

Several people have asked if I am really eating rice three times a day. No, but close. Some days we have noodles. My favorite, being a southern girl, is having black-eyed peas and rice twice a week. We have an excellent cook that seasons everything really well. Several times a week, we have rice and a salad made with cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers and red onions. On Saturday, we have potato salad made with potatoes, carrots and chicken mixed up with homemade mayo. We have a little meat of some sort daily. It is usually ground beef, chicken, canned meat sort of like spam and canned fish with a tomato sauce. We have soup several times a week; one of my favorites has a grain called quinoa which is very high in protein. My least favorite breakfast is rice with beets and onions. I like beets okay, just not for breakfast. We have fried plantains with almost every meal. The rice and noodles are always browned before cooking. The reason for this I don´t know yet, except that is how it is done in Bolivia.

Thanks for all the prayers and financial support, so I can be here in Bolivia to live this fascinating journey God is taking me on.

Grace, love and peace

Hermana Rebecca (Becky)

Greetings from SIFAT, Alabama! I should have written this a week ago, coming back here in the USA, I slid back to the norm  (?) of  busy, busy  and fast -track American life. Anyway, here is  to share with you my last couple of days in Bolivia, and also to share some of my reflection on my 7 -month life in Bolivia. 

I had a good visit with the family of Ivan Roman (a.k.a. Bully), as they had been a great host for me everytime I was in La Paz. I really enjoyed my time with their kids. Also I congratulate them with their  new bundle of blessing, Anna Irena, their 1- month old baby. I was also blessed to have a little time of visit with a couple of sisters in their Fellowship, Maria and Naomi Ruth. 

On my last evening,Sunday night, I was happy to get together with the former dorm supervisors of Internado, Judith and Ruth. We had fun talking and reminiscing Internado memories while having coffee in Calle Sagarnaga. We all then had to say good bye, with tears in our eyes, as we do not know if we will see each other again in this lifetime. I was thankful to the Lord as those two sisters have been my good friends. I told them, they were my first Boliviano friends.

I thought that was my last good- bye in Bolivia, but then another surprise. Monday early morning, Isaac Paredes and his  dad,  Benjo drove me to the airport. It was my a blessing to meet for the first time  Mr.Benjo, an ever faithful servant of God. 

When I boarded the plane for the flight La Paz-Sta. Cruz to Miami, just after I buckled my belt and wore my shades,  the  long over due tears finally rolled down  my cheeks. It was I think from all the overwhelming mixed -emotions. Knowing it’s time to go, I was of course very sad to leave the children from Internado and to say good-bye to some great people in Bolivia who became friends.

I was also overwhelmed with God’s grace and good ness and I kept telling myself, “Lord, I do not deserve your goodness”.

Maria, a dear sister from a church, asked me something like, how I would remember Bolivia. Of course I said that Bolivia is a beautiful country and I like the diversity (it was true though). I told her that “Bolivia people are the most beautiful and nicest people I ‘ve met”.  They are very humble, polite, friendly and kind. Now I understand why Ms.Sarah Corson just love these people.

I am truly thankful and blessed with the way the people of Ixiamas and La Paz had received me eventhough they did not really know me, a total stranger, from a different culture and far away place.

I am grateful for the opportunity to serve with the Internado folks.  My time with the children of Internado  was fun  and exciting. Eventhough it was not that long, my 7 month time being with the kids I hope had been a positive influence in their lives. It was fun to see them use the service of computer with their studies. I know I didn’t do much, but at least they were able to be familiar with the use of computer. With  my limited language, I still had fun times with the kids.  I they  they had felt the love of  Christ in me eventhough my Spanish was not very good.  They know that I will miss them, I’m just thankful that most of them left for home after the school year before I left.  (At least, it was not too bad,  they left first :))

I am grateful to all the folks, churches and individuals who have been supporting the work in Internado, Ixiamas for the past few years. The Internado (Boarding Home) has a unique opportunity to reach out and train the young people of Ixiamas and other communities around. I am blessed to work with Rachel and the staff at the Internado. Again, I am thankful to the SIFAT folks in Alabama for the opportunity they had given me to serve in Ixiamas.  I am most thankful to all the staff of SIFAT for their prayers, love and support. I also thank the Lord for Ms.Sarah Corson who had been an inspiration, an encouragement and a friend especially during some difficult times.

For those who have been reading my stories in the blog and had prayed for the Internado folks and for me, thank you so much to yall!

It was a blessed and fun year of new adventures being in  Bolivia.  He has taught me a lot of things, and has changed me and space is not enough to write them all. The Lord bless yall!

Ciao to yall, hasta la vista!

Vicky

   

  

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