Hola Amigos y Familia!
This week has gone by so quickly and Bolivia is starting to feel more like home! God has blessed us this whole time with gorgeous weather. There hasn’t been a cloud in the sky since we’ve arrived. When I see sunny skies and feel no wind I dress for summer, but the Bolivians think I am a bit crazy! It is their winter right now so they are bundled up 24/7.
This week has been full of ministry and time to spend with God in devotion. Although I have felt so at home with my wonderful team, earlier this week I had a hard day where I struggled with the feeling of homesickness. I prayed that God would help me surrender that and soon after one of the missionaries here from Bolivia, Elsa, invited me into her home. She and I, among other soccer fanatics enjoyed the world cup of Paraguay vs italy and ate tangerines on her couch. I felt at home in that time and knew God had provided me that comfort from me seeking it.
This verse has been encouraging to me… Luke 18: 29-30
“I tell you the truth,” Jesus said to them, ‘ No one who has left home or wife or brothers, or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.”
Our ministries this week have been such a blessing. I have been teaching 7th 8th and 4th grade history to the kids in the missionary school here at Palabra de Vida. They are such sweet kids and very respectful. We have also been doing some work around the camp here like cleaning the gym, making beds for the mission team coming this week, and cleaning out the dorms for those missionaries.
A new ministry that we are involved in here in Cochabamba is helping out in a school called Casa de Amestad. This school is right next to the prisons here in the city. The kids who go to the school actually LIVE in the prisons with their families. Here in Bolivia it is acceptable for families who have a husband or wife in prison to just move into jail with them. so that means the kindergardeners I have been helping with in the classrooms go home after school to their parents prison cells. It is heartbreaking. God has put us in their lives to show them LOVE. To give them attention they CRAVE.
I hope I have given you a brief picture of what my time here has been like this past week. I hope you are with me in prayer as I am seeking to live out the love God has put in my heart. And I hope you know that God has a purpose for you and your time this summer wherever you may be.
I love you all and am praying for you! Please comment if you have any special prayer requests, or email me… amandaborges_7@hotmail.com
Amanda
