Our Last Days

Even though we were not able to update for the last few days, we want to let you know that we are all safe and doing well. It is a bittersweet time because today we are leaving Cochabamba and flying to La Paz. Our last two days have included working at the houses, a Mother's Day celebration at the school which included many traditional dances, shopping at the market, and many other activities. Last nightwe had a closing dinner with the entire MAP staff at a restaurant and afterwards we danced the night away. It was wonderful to spend our last evening here with the people we have been working with. Today we had a processing time about our experiences and we talked about how what we learned here will affect the rest our lives. Very soon we leave for La Paz and then we will be going to Lake Titicaca. We won't be able to update at all, but will still appreciate your prayers and support. On Tuesday the majority of the group will be returning to the United States. Here is our flight information (especially for parents to pick us up):

From Bolivia:Saturday May 26 Aero Sur 116B Cochabamba Bolivia to La Paz Bolivia 2:35PM-3:10PMTuesday May 29 American Airlines 922 La Paz Bolivia to Miami 7:05AM-4:00PMTuesday May 29 American Airlines 866 Miami to Philadelphia 8:30PM-11:35PM Aero Sur Flights111B 15 May LPB-CBB 0700-0735116B 26 May CBB-LPB 1435-1510


Thank you so much for everything and we will look forward to seeing you when we return!

Our Last Days

Even though we were not able to update for the last few days, we want to let you know that we are all safe and doing well. It is a bittersweet time because today we are leaving Cochabamba and flying to La Paz. Our last two days have included working at the houses, a Mother's Day celebration at the school which included many traditional dances, shopping at the market, and many other activities. Last nightwe had a closing dinner with the entire MAP staff at a restaurant and afterwards we danced the night away. It was wonderful to spend our last evening here with the people we have been working with. Today we had a processing time about our experiences and we talked about how what we learned here will affect the rest our lives. Very soon we leave for La Paz and then we will be going to Lake Titicaca. We won't be able to update at all, but will still appreciate your prayers and support. On Tuesday the majority of the group will be returning to the United States. Here is our flight information (especially for parents to pick us up):

From Bolivia:Saturday May 26 Aero Sur 116B Cochabamba Bolivia to La Paz Bolivia 2:35PM-3:10PMTuesday May 29 American Airlines 922 La Paz Bolivia to Miami 7:05AM-4:00PMTuesday May 29 American Airlines 866 Miami to Philadelphia 8:30PM-11:35PM Aero Sur Flights111B 15 May LPB-CBB 0700-0735116B 26 May CBB-LPB 1435-1510


Thank you so much for everything and we will look forward to seeing you when we return!

Our Last Days

Even though we were not able to update for the last few days, we want to let you know that we are all safe and doing well. It is a bittersweet time because today we are leaving Cochabamba and flying to La Paz. Our last two days have included working at the houses, a Mother's Day celebration at the school which included many traditional dances, shopping at the market, and many other activities. Last nightwe had a closing dinner with the entire MAP staff at a restaurant and afterwards we danced the night away. It was wonderful to spend our last evening here with the people we have been working with. Today we had a processing time about our experiences and we talked about how what we learned here will affect the rest our lives. Very soon we leave for La Paz and then we will be going to Lake Titicaca. We won't be able to update at all, but will still appreciate your prayers and support. On Tuesday the majority of the group will be returning to the United States. Here is our flight information (especially for parents to pick us up):

From Bolivia:Saturday May 26 Aero Sur 116B Cochabamba Bolivia to La Paz Bolivia 2:35PM-3:10PMTuesday May 29 American Airlines 922 La Paz Bolivia to Miami 7:05AM-4:00PMTuesday May 29 American Airlines 866 Miami to Philadelphia 8:30PM-11:35PM Aero Sur Flights111B 15 May LPB-CBB 0700-0735116B 26 May CBB-LPB 1435-1510


Thank you so much for everything and we will look forward to seeing you when we return!

Our Last Days

Even though we were not able to update for the last few days, we want to let you know that we are all safe and doing well. It is a bittersweet time because today we are leaving Cochabamba and flying to La Paz. Our last two days have included working at the houses, a Mother's Day celebration at the school which included many traditional dances, shopping at the market, and many other activities. Last nightwe had a closing dinner with the entire MAP staff at a restaurant and afterwards we danced the night away. It was wonderful to spend our last evening here with the people we have been working with. Today we had a processing time about our experiences and we talked about how what we learned here will affect the rest our lives. Very soon we leave for La Paz and then we will be going to Lake Titicaca. We won't be able to update at all, but will still appreciate your prayers and support. On Tuesday the majority of the group will be returning to the United States. Here is our flight information (especially for parents to pick us up):

From Bolivia:
Saturday May 26 Aero Sur 116B Cochabamba Bolivia to La Paz Bolivia 2:35PM-3:10PM
Tuesday May 29 American Airlines 922 La Paz Bolivia to Miami 7:05AM-4:00PM
Tuesday May 29 American Airlines 866 Miami to Philadelphia 8:30PM-11:35PM

Aero Sur Flights
111B 15 May LPB-CBB 0700-0735116B 26 May CBB-LPB 1435-1510


Thank you so much for everything and we will look forward to seeing you when we return!

Another day in Cochabamba....

It was good to be back at our ¨home¨ in Cochabamba today. We started out by having a little meeting with all of the MAP staff. They told us who they are and what they did and we sang together in Spanish. Then we had a time of prayer together which was very meaningful. We are all so amazed at their committment to helping the people and their dedication to sharing God´s love with the people around them. We then piled into a bus and headed to CUBE (the sexual abuse center) and we heard a presentation about the center, the impact it is making in Bolivia, and had a tour of the center. It was very difficult to hear about the situation that many children face, but it is amazing to hear that much progress has been made in the last three years. After the trip to the center, we had lunch and celebrated Miriam´s 22nd birthday with some delicious cake that we all appreciated! We then went to the school to look around at the science fair that the kids had. They made beautiful projects and it was fun to talk to them about what they made. In the afternoon we split into three groups: two groups worked on houses and the other group worked on the chapel. As always, we finished the afternoon with sore backs, a bit of sunburn, and all of us were covered in dust. However, it is wondeful to work together with the people, talk with them as we work, and see the progress that is being made. Tonight we had a presentation from the MAP workers who deal with disabilities in the community. Usually disabled people are rejected from society, but MAP tries to teach people to respect them and tries to give the people and children with disablities purpose and self esteem. After the presentation, they gave us each a little gift with this poem inside that we want to share with you:
Who is Disabled?
If you don´t see the person
without just seeing the disablity
then who is blind?

If you can´t hear the cry
for justice of your brother
who is deaf?

If your heart or mind
is not moving towards your neighbor
who has the mental disability?

If you can´t communicate with your sister
but instead push her away
who is disabled?

If you can´t stand up
for the rights of all people
who is the paralydic?

Your attitude towards people with disabilities
can be our biggest disadvantage
and also yours.



Please continue to pray for all of us as we are learning about the hardships that these people face daily. It is difficult to face reality, but we are also learning that there is hope and we are amazed at the strength that the people have. Please pray for our health so that we can fully engage in our last few days here. Especially pray for Allison who has been sick for a lot of our time here. Thanks for all of your support and prayers.

The Mountain Adventure

Well let me start by thanking all of you for your prayers. Our trip up into the Andes was certainly the adventure of a lifetime. We left early Monday morning and arrived at a rural hotel in Sacaca about 8 hours later. The roads started off lovely but quickly turned to dirt and rock. God was really testing all of us in our faith, but some more than others. However, as always, God is faithful and pulled us through. We were very thankful for the worship books Elisha prepared so that we could focus on God. Alison was sick the entire trip with flu-like symptoms and could not participate in any of the activities. However, she is feeling much better tonight and will hopefully be able to be more active tomorrow. Monday evening we had a meeting at the rural hospital in Sacaca to hear about how they are partnering with MAP´s health promoters. God´s work through MAP is greatly changing the rural communities. The people in Sacaca were greatly accepting of us as demonstrated by their willingness to include us in one of their most significant cultural ceremonies of thanksgiving to God. It was great to be included since these ceremonies are almost never shared with others, especially strangers. This was significant because it meant that they fully accepted us and wanted to learn about our lives and have us return again in the future. Tuesday morning we traveled about an hour past Sacaca to another rural village with a health promoter from MAP. The people here also warmly greated us and shared with us about their lives and hardships. We learned all about their struggles and how they are improving their community. They are so excited about the things their people are learning from MAP that they invited us to return next year so that we could see the improvements that they are sure will come. They also shared with us their cultural music and dances and invited us to participate. The women also showed us how to twist sheep wool into string that they then dye with plants to make their clothing. We also visited their school, which only goes up to 3rd grade. We headed back to Sacaca for lunch and left for Cochabamba from there. We just returned and were warmly greeted by the MAP staff that we have been working with the past week. We are all headed for the shower now as we are all covered in dust because it is the dry season and dust storms were frequent. Tomorrow we are headed to the sexual abuse center for children, which is called CUBE, for the morning. Then in the afternoon it is back to construction. Please pray for us to be able to connect with the children at CUBE tomorrow and for the construction to move along quickly. We really want to finish all 4 of our projects before we leave, but at this point that seems a bit of a big goal. Also, please continue to pray for the team´s health, especially for Alison.

day 6 - the fiesta

i was able to snag a few minutes to write. This morning we had a worship service for our sunday service. following there was a carnival led by the school. The carnival was to promote health with in the community and different map staff had different stands about good health. The kids and the parents put on traditional dance performances and they excitedly made us join with them. We ate unique the most popular dish was a combination of french fries, onions, tomatoes, pig, beef, and peppers. Surprisingly most of the studetns enjoyed it. We were able to develop community with the families and see the different interactions of the parents with their children. In the afternoon we went to el cristo del mundo, the biggest statue of christ in the world. Half of the students hiked there as the others took a bus. There was an opportunity to climb up the christ and peer out of his armpits for a view of cochobamba.
brisa and jada are feeling better today. Alison is still sick and spent the day at the house. Tommorrow we will be departuring for the mountains!
Pray for us! we will be returning tuesday night.