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I just made this short video of photos/videos for you to enjoy.  I hope you do!    

             After being here for two months I have learned a lot about Bolivia. There are many things that I found here that have changed my perspective. Here are some of those things: It’s fine to call and be called a “gordita” (little faty) The trunk is not off limits when it comes to taxi seating 25 oranges or bananas costs less than a dollar If you buy a beverage in a glass bottle, be prepared to kiss your bottle goodbye and enjoy your liquid out of a bag.   Eating antiqucho (grilled cow heart) is a delicacy God’s creation is spectacular Movies are rarely in English   Brownie batter can be scrambled   Birthday parties are awesome   There is no such thing as too big of a pizza, only t…

Father God, I praise you for sisters — for adventure. the kind that is like laffy taffy salt water, cherry flavor you know — the best kind. the kind that puckers the senses and streches into strings and strings of long, flexible delicious candy. laffy taffy salt water, cherry flavor our siserhood — warmed and streched, sweet and sticky between our molars. hand in hand with Jesus´ arms reaching over this city — Cochabamba, our home the home of our sisterhood. we are home, sisters in Christ.    

For those of you who don´t know me well, let me share just a glimpse of my heart and passion.  Since I can remember, I have always known that God was calling me to work with children.  At what capacitiy, I was unsure, but I knew that one day I would be able to do what I love.    I wanted to do something that would impact children in such a way that they could change tomorrow and make it a better place.  For the longest time, I believed that a teacher was the only thing I could ever be if I wanted to impact the life of a child.  And for a little over 5 years, I had the opportunity to work with children at an outdoor school and summer camps.  It was great!   Recently, I have found that teaching is not the only way and I also found out exactly w…

      Last weekend our group decided to close out our last two weeks by really consecrating our little time here to the Lord. In order to really focus and dedicate ourselves Anna suggested that we all pray about something to fast. As I was praying about it I knew the Lord was calling me to fast something… but I just could not put my finger on what!           I had been feeling God calling me to get more into the Word so I decided to combine the Lord´s call and my fast… So I decided to fast an hour of sleep every morning! For those of you who know me you know I HATE getting up early. I avoid it at all costs and treasure every moment of sleep I can get. I am definently a ¨night owl¨, NOT an ¨ear…

All of our ministries are wrapping up here in Cochabamba, we said our final goodbyes to Casa de Amistad, Casa de Amor, and I taught my last day of classes for the missionary kids yesterday.  Today is our last day of baby washing and the last youth service in Kara Kara.  Tomorrow is our last day of church in Kara Kara.  Next week we´ll have one last ministry opportunity to do door to door evangelism in Kara Kara and then we´ll have debrief monday through wednesday, cleaning up and packing thursday/friday and hanging out with the CED students and missionaries we´ve grown to love and then Friday night we´ll leave Cochabamba… It doesn´t feel like we´ve spent two months here, and I don´t even see these two months as a ¨trip¨, but I lived life here for two months. …

 I just wanted to share a recent email from the organization Treasures.  Here it is below:   There is a well-told story of a man, lying on a mat, who had been disabled for 38 years. In it, Jesus asks him a question: ‘Do you want to get well?’ (John 5) At that point, the man started coming up with excuses, saying that nobody would help him, and every time he tried to get better, somebody got in his way. Ultimately, Jesus instructs the man to ‘Take up his mat and walk.’ He follows this instruction and is miraculously healed. I believe that Jesus is asking you and me the same question: “Do you want to get well?” Sometimes we think we want to get better, but when it comes down to it, we have a million excuses as to why we can’t. We complain that “Nobody will help…

       This past week has been a hard week for me. As we approached the two weeks left here mark it really hit me like a ton of bricks that in two weeks I am not going to wake up every morning and see the beautiful mountains and be greeted by the wonderful people. I am not going to be crammed into a small car with the other seven girls and I am not going to buy my fruits and vegetables on the streets of ¨La Cancha.¨ As I was beginning to be saddened by the thought of leaving the life I have established here I realized that I am not losing things or relationships or memories. I have gained more than I could have ever asked for. I have gained a whole new spiritual family here, seven more sisters, a new heart of love for God and His people,…

                                                              On Tuesday we had the opportunity to go to ¨the Cristo, ¨ which for those of you who do not know is the largest statue of Jesus in the world. It is 33.5 meters high (one meter for every year of his life.) This statue is situated on a high hill looking out over the city and has become our landmark for where we are in the city when we are out, as it is able to be seen from almost anywhere within Cochabamba. This s…

¨You are the salt of the earth…¨ matthew 5:13 I´ve decided recently to reread Matthew and I´ve been praying that God reveals the gospel to me in a new way and that I would see Jesus´ life in a new light.  So yesterday I took a day off of ministry to be in devotion with God and I came across Matthew 5:13- ÿou are the salt of the earth¨. I have read that verse a million times but yesterday when I was sitting infront of the magnificant lake and the beautiful view it had a different meaning. I just kept on repeating- you are the salt of the earth. you are the salt of the earth. Rachel Ross you are the salt of the earth. God you are the salt of the earth. And i had a new revealtion about this verse… In high school I used to think, if I really love God and my whole life is devoted …