Highlights- Week 5 (one week late)

I arrived safely home from La Paz this morning, and just as promised, I will fill you in on the second half of the Arrowhead team's time here. 

I went for a goodbye meal with Samantha, who has served here with me for five months.

The team finished working and debriefed with ice cream.  Yum!

I will miss my big sister!

Orange chaco picture that I really liked and had to include.

Ellen!

Huge highlight!  Abby (who has sent me care packages before) sent me one in March that I just got now.  Hello crasins!  Hello deliciousness!  She also sent the shirt that I'm wearing in various pictures.

Then I had to say goodbye to friends I have grown close to.

:(  Had to go back to dentist's office for work on my root canal.  :(

Wait for me

I am leaving for LaPaz in a few minutes!  No time to post pictures, so wait for next week for highlights of two weeks.  Think on this: Proverbs 4:25-27

Highlights- Week 4

It really is crazy to think that I only have two more weeks of Bolivia goodness to post after this update.  I don't think that I will really be able to sit down and put into words all that God has been doing here in the last four weeks until I have some time to sit and think.  For now, life is going at full speed.  The Arrowhead team is doing a great job here, and I have taken a morning off to quickly get many errands run and tasks done.  Here are a few pictures of the last week to keep you updated, along with a few highlights I don't want to forget.

The team arrived late Sunday night, so while they were sleeping Monday morning I sneaked out to have coffee with my church friends.  I will miss them so much!  They have let me be one of them even though I'm not, and their love has helped me make it through this year.  I will miss them!

I will get to go to La Paz with these wonderful ladies.

Since the team came, we've been plunging toilets...

...playing with cute kids...

....saying goodbyes to kids I've gotten close to

...being goofy...

...and working REALLY hard to give them a better place to live (these pictures were taken at two different orphanages, even though we're mainly working at Cristo Viene)

Other highlights of the last week:
- Running errands for the team often, which I love.    
- Running errands with Ellen, who I love.
- Watching and helping high school boys dig a giant trench with joy and a heart of worship
- Having good talks with so many of the team members here. I am emotionally exhausted and restored at the same time.
- Serving mate, a traditional drink, for the first time to team members.




Look forward to highlights with the team this Saturday and a trip to La Paz with North Americans and Bolivians the week after.  

Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.  I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.  For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

-Psalm 86:11-13

Highlights- Week 3

Ok, so it's Wednesday and I haven't updated yet.  This will probably be my only post this week because having teams is CRAZY!  So, here are pictures with labels:

I stayed in my first hostel in a mountain town not far from my city.  It was very cute!

View of the city from a beautiful garden!

Tea that was part of a delicious meal at same garden

Cute and FREEZING breakfast at cute hostel.

We went to a refuge for abandoned animals and had monkeys sit on us!

I took a picture with a pig because the monkeys weren't behaving.  :)

For the US Independence Day we had a North American celebration with brats!

Then I tried my hand at making Bolivian food for a special goodbye service that the church had for me and one other boy who was leaving.  This is the beginning of Sonzo, which is a Bolivian appetizer with yuca and cheese.

This is the worship team I have been a part of all year!  I will miss these wonderful people!

People came up front and said words of encouragement (the way I am most loved!) to Steven and I.  I was very blessed by this time.

So, overall, last week was the calm in-between the storms.  I rested, I enjoyed time with friends, and I was able to begin ending my time here well.  


This week things are crazy, but God is being very good to me.

International

Short story about God's work in Bolivia:


Just today I began to realize what it means that I taught at an international school this year.  One of my students who is half Korean and half Bolivian and his Korean mom took me out for lunch.  His mom is a missionary with Child Evangelism Fellowship here in Bolivia, and our lunch was delightful.  We ate lots of meat, and a waiter in a vest came and poured sparkling water into my glass.  We chatted about the weather, our plans, and the previous school year.  


True to Bolivian custom, we didn't actually start talking until we had finished our meal and had only a Coca-Cola in front of us.  Then, my student's mom started telling me her testimony.  Raised in Korea, Borneo, and Bolivia, her story starts with a Buddhist grandfather who was highly respected for having many wives and lost his fortune supporting his many children.  Her grandmother beat her because she ate bread that a missionary once gave her.  She went to VBS in Borneo, but didn't begin to trust God until a Bolivian Catholic priest shared the gospel with her.  


Cross-cultural, common thread.  God's word followed her through three countries and all kinds of religions and cultures.  I have been filled with joy in the way God works.  I am seeing how teaching this year has prepared me more to continue to do God's work of sharing His good news with the nations.

Highlights- Week 2

God has been faithful to me again, just like he always is.  This week I spent many hours with wonderful high school students and got to see them grow in their faith and be challenged to live for God at all times.  


I was not as faithful.  In taking pictures, that is.  However, I like to try to make up for my faults.  So... I, the artist (snicker snicker) drew you pictures on Paint to show you the highlights of my week.  Please enjoy.

This is at BASIC with high school students.  The students are happy because they learned so much about God.  Their hair is curly and wild to represent their youth.  I am happy because God taught me more about Himself.  My hair is straight because I am an adult.

Then, the students left on Friday, and I began my week of long and hard goodbyes.  First, I brought my friend Ally some coffee at her house.

Note the steam coming from the cups.  Picture not quite to scale.

On Saturday I had the opportunity to go to a cancer hospital in the city to share the gospel with some of the patients.  It was one of the first times I've had to share the gospel with so little context and in Spanish.  I loved the experience and hope to try again before I leave since we tried to bring some toys for the kids but were told to come back another day for that.

This is me holding a Bible and sharing the gospel.  

Today I had a wonderful (also pictureless) day at church and with the team who is down.  


Look forward to (with real pictures): A trip to the mountains with the team, more goodbyes, and moving out of my room.

And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.

- 2 Timothy 2:2

My Big Sister

My cousin Anton came down to visit us in January.  He made an amazing documentary of Heather’s work here in Bolivia, which can be seen on his Vimeo site.  I’ll let the video speak for itself.

Chiropractic On Mission from Anton Seim on Vimeo.

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

- Isaiah 52:7