Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Hey all...
Just to echo what Kristen said: we had such an amazing time in Bolivia ministering (and being ministered to), and we really do need to thank all of you. Thank you for your support; through finances, thoughts and prayers, and even through the encouraging words you have left here on the blog.
Please continue to pray for the country of Bolivia, and keep in mind the ministries which we were a part of for the last month in Bolivia.
Be blessed blog readers... until next time, this is Phil Hamilton signing out.
Ciao!
- Felipe
Please continue to pray for the country of Bolivia, and keep in mind the ministries which we were a part of for the last month in Bolivia.
Be blessed blog readers... until next time, this is Phil Hamilton signing out.
Ciao!
- Felipe
Friday, June 1, 2007
Home Again
Well all our dear family, friends, supporters, and random people who like to check out our swanky blog :)
We are home. Safe and sound.
To update you from the last point, our last days in Bolivia were incredible. Sunday we were at Calama for church first where we lead the worship, then went to the church of the school we'd been working at. The Janks had us over for the evening for a time to talk about our trip and say bye. They had five men come and play some amazing Bolivian folk music and got to hear about their ministry. It was an amazing evening of fellowship and sharing.
We were at the school Monday and Tuesday morning. Monday afternoon we finally finished painting the lounge at the Seminary and it acutally looks so good!!! Tuesday afternoon we went back to the market and spent the night packing everything.
So sad to say good bye! We had a precious gift of a bunch of the students from the school who came to say bye to us at the airport, as well as our three friends Saul, Paula, and Jackie from the seminary. There were smiles and tears and lots of hugs all around! We left around noonish and 40 minutes later we were in Santa Cruz where we had to kill a bunch of hours. A man from the Baptist church there picked us up and gave us a tour of Santa Cruz and took us to the zoo where we saw all manner of super cool animals and birds and stuff....and i may or may not have gotten bird terd down my back....giggle...he took us back to the airport and our flight to Miami was from about 11-6ish....another layover...and we pulled into Toronto around 2ish. So it was long....nice to be back on solid ground that's for sure!
I know for myself I'm still processing everything and it's so hard to pinpoint the best parts and figure out everything learned, but the one thing that I've shared is that as Christians called to minister to those around us, it is something we can do no matter where we are. The only difference is location. But no matter where you are or what you're doing, you can spend time FOR God till you're blue in the face, but unless you spend time WITH God you are not getting anywhere.
It was an absolutely amazing trip. Incredibleto see so much and experience so much. Thank you all so much for all your prayers and support. It meant so much to us all knowing you were there with us in spirit and that your prayers were being lifted up around us.
Love you all.
May God bless you and keep you all.
Kristen
We are home. Safe and sound.
To update you from the last point, our last days in Bolivia were incredible. Sunday we were at Calama for church first where we lead the worship, then went to the church of the school we'd been working at. The Janks had us over for the evening for a time to talk about our trip and say bye. They had five men come and play some amazing Bolivian folk music and got to hear about their ministry. It was an amazing evening of fellowship and sharing.
We were at the school Monday and Tuesday morning. Monday afternoon we finally finished painting the lounge at the Seminary and it acutally looks so good!!! Tuesday afternoon we went back to the market and spent the night packing everything.
So sad to say good bye! We had a precious gift of a bunch of the students from the school who came to say bye to us at the airport, as well as our three friends Saul, Paula, and Jackie from the seminary. There were smiles and tears and lots of hugs all around! We left around noonish and 40 minutes later we were in Santa Cruz where we had to kill a bunch of hours. A man from the Baptist church there picked us up and gave us a tour of Santa Cruz and took us to the zoo where we saw all manner of super cool animals and birds and stuff....and i may or may not have gotten bird terd down my back....giggle...he took us back to the airport and our flight to Miami was from about 11-6ish....another layover...and we pulled into Toronto around 2ish. So it was long....nice to be back on solid ground that's for sure!
I know for myself I'm still processing everything and it's so hard to pinpoint the best parts and figure out everything learned, but the one thing that I've shared is that as Christians called to minister to those around us, it is something we can do no matter where we are. The only difference is location. But no matter where you are or what you're doing, you can spend time FOR God till you're blue in the face, but unless you spend time WITH God you are not getting anywhere.
It was an absolutely amazing trip. Incredibleto see so much and experience so much. Thank you all so much for all your prayers and support. It meant so much to us all knowing you were there with us in spirit and that your prayers were being lifted up around us.
Love you all.
May God bless you and keep you all.
Kristen
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Happy Bolivian Mother´s Day Mommies!!!
Yup. This weekend is Mother´s Day here in Bolivia and it´s almost as big as Christmas! lol...we´ve now been to ... uh...at least three Mother´s day celebrations which are the coolest! HAPPY MOTHER´S DAY MOMMY BOVEN, WILSON, HAMILTON, HUTT and PHILIP :)
So sorry about not updating this for the past week! Man..time gets away before you know it. Our week was pretty packed between going to school every morning; monday and tuesday afternoon we spent at La Casa De Amistad (a school for kids who´s parents are in jail...one of the most heartbreaking things i´ve ever had to do was walk tiny kids back to jail after school was done to go back to their mom or dad for the night....); monday evening we played horrible volleyball with the church league; tuesday evening we had a surprise good bye party for Ivan who left for Canada; wednesday we were at school in the morning, painted at the seminary, and went to the Mother´s Day service at the church; thursday we were at school for the morning, painting at the seminary at night; friday at school we spent the morning gettting ready for the Mother´s Day celebration at night, left to go painting at the seminary, and then back to the school for the celebration. It was so wonderful to see the kids we´ve been working with in a different light and meet their parents and stuff...
and today we took some time this morning to practice worship for tomorrow (we are leading it for the english service in the morning) and then went to Jireh for their Mother´s day celebration and then to babywashing in the center square, and tonight to the church for a youth meeting.
So yeah...that´s pretty much it in a nutshell...our last three days are pretty full, and just so you know, we are actually leaving cochabamba earlier wednesday to make sure we get our connecting flight to Miami. So we´re leaving around noonish and will have to spend the day in the Santa Cruz airport waiting for our overnight flight.
Oh yeah...and one more thing. we are now sleeping in a hostel across the road. The place we´ve been (the Baptist Center) had been rented out before we got switched to coming here, so we had to move. It´s all good!! and we have seperate rooms..none of this all one room stuff...no worries :)
Love you all dearly! Have a wonderful day tomorrow!
Love from your buddies over here :)
So sorry about not updating this for the past week! Man..time gets away before you know it. Our week was pretty packed between going to school every morning; monday and tuesday afternoon we spent at La Casa De Amistad (a school for kids who´s parents are in jail...one of the most heartbreaking things i´ve ever had to do was walk tiny kids back to jail after school was done to go back to their mom or dad for the night....); monday evening we played horrible volleyball with the church league; tuesday evening we had a surprise good bye party for Ivan who left for Canada; wednesday we were at school in the morning, painted at the seminary, and went to the Mother´s Day service at the church; thursday we were at school for the morning, painting at the seminary at night; friday at school we spent the morning gettting ready for the Mother´s Day celebration at night, left to go painting at the seminary, and then back to the school for the celebration. It was so wonderful to see the kids we´ve been working with in a different light and meet their parents and stuff...
and today we took some time this morning to practice worship for tomorrow (we are leading it for the english service in the morning) and then went to Jireh for their Mother´s day celebration and then to babywashing in the center square, and tonight to the church for a youth meeting.
So yeah...that´s pretty much it in a nutshell...our last three days are pretty full, and just so you know, we are actually leaving cochabamba earlier wednesday to make sure we get our connecting flight to Miami. So we´re leaving around noonish and will have to spend the day in the Santa Cruz airport waiting for our overnight flight.
Oh yeah...and one more thing. we are now sleeping in a hostel across the road. The place we´ve been (the Baptist Center) had been rented out before we got switched to coming here, so we had to move. It´s all good!! and we have seperate rooms..none of this all one room stuff...no worries :)
Love you all dearly! Have a wonderful day tomorrow!
Love from your buddies over here :)
Saturday, May 19, 2007
¡ TITICACA !
Hola everyone,
The reason for our lack of updates for the last few days is due to the fact that we have been in La Paz since Thursday morning. We left early Thursday morning for the highest capital city in the world (La Paz), and the highest salt-water lake in the world (lake Titicaca).
The drive to La Paz was scary, to say the least, we needed to climb to 11000 ft. above sea level up mountains on roads with hairpin turns, broken gaurdrails and memorial crosses everywhere. I was, as always, the most calm and collected member of the group during this terrifying time (by that I mean, I may or may not have passed out a few times... haha). As you can all tell, we did live to tell about it (barely, haha). Dispite the fear which gripped me for the majority of the ride, the view was breathtaking... and after 8 hours of travel we made it to La Paz.
While in La Paz we had the opportunity to visit the local market where we saw the locals and experienced more of the sad truth that Bolivia is the poorest country in South America. We also saw many shops which sold Incan idols, good luck charms, spiritual remedies and dead animals to sacrifice to the earth. We also saw lake Titicaca, where the Bolivians don´t swim (because the lake is sacred), and we got to see some reed boats and the people who live on the lake making boats and goods to sell. The encouraging thing about the natives at lake Titicaca was that the majority of them were evangelical Christians. The influence of the Baptist church in the Titicaca farming areas was huge and we saw several churches in Titicaca.
We are now back in Cochabamba after another long day of travelling and we are preparing for another night of baby washing in the city square followed by young-adults Bible study and fellowship this evening... Anyways, Ivan is here to pick us up, so we are off for now.
Ciao,
- Felipè
The reason for our lack of updates for the last few days is due to the fact that we have been in La Paz since Thursday morning. We left early Thursday morning for the highest capital city in the world (La Paz), and the highest salt-water lake in the world (lake Titicaca).
The drive to La Paz was scary, to say the least, we needed to climb to 11000 ft. above sea level up mountains on roads with hairpin turns, broken gaurdrails and memorial crosses everywhere. I was, as always, the most calm and collected member of the group during this terrifying time (by that I mean, I may or may not have passed out a few times... haha). As you can all tell, we did live to tell about it (barely, haha). Dispite the fear which gripped me for the majority of the ride, the view was breathtaking... and after 8 hours of travel we made it to La Paz.
While in La Paz we had the opportunity to visit the local market where we saw the locals and experienced more of the sad truth that Bolivia is the poorest country in South America. We also saw many shops which sold Incan idols, good luck charms, spiritual remedies and dead animals to sacrifice to the earth. We also saw lake Titicaca, where the Bolivians don´t swim (because the lake is sacred), and we got to see some reed boats and the people who live on the lake making boats and goods to sell. The encouraging thing about the natives at lake Titicaca was that the majority of them were evangelical Christians. The influence of the Baptist church in the Titicaca farming areas was huge and we saw several churches in Titicaca.
We are now back in Cochabamba after another long day of travelling and we are preparing for another night of baby washing in the city square followed by young-adults Bible study and fellowship this evening... Anyways, Ivan is here to pick us up, so we are off for now.
Ciao,
- Felipè
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Hola
...and that´s the beginning of my limited Espaniol. lol. This is Kristen coming to you...finally again to update you all on how we´ve been doing. There´s just so much, but I´ll try to fill you in as best I can.
We are all healthy! Praise the Lord for that! There is nothing worse than puking, pooing and sleeping all day to make for a long one...but as of right now we feel right back to normal. We are heading to La Paz tomorrow which is a few thousand feet higher than we are now, so we are praying that we won´t get altitude sickness in the next few days.
We´ve been at the Baptist school every morning helping with classes any way we can. Ryan´s in love with the kindergarten kids, Phil´s an awesome English teacher, and the rest of us go where we´re needed....or pulled and prodded to go by the children:) We spent yesterday afternoon painting the principal´s office which was an absolute blast! and very encouraging for the principal to have an office that´s now been painted within the last 50 years...
The afternoons are filled however and wherever we can find a place to work. We´ve been to Jire a couple times and just hung out with the kids. It´s a ministry that gives shoeshiner kids and kids that spend more time working than doing school a place to go after school and get help with homework. There are ESL classes at the church Ivan goes to that we sat in and helped one night. The guys went and sang at the six hour praise night that night I was in bed sleeping my grossness away. Saturday we got to go wash babies in the center park. SO cool!!! This missionary couple comes every saturday and sets up a tent with five or so little plastic tubs in it to wash kids in. All the mothers line up with the kids outside and one my one they are taken inside the tent, washed and given new clean clothes and then get milk and bread. It was one of the most incredible things I´ve ever seen done!!!
Amoung our ministry opportunities, Ivan has been introducing us to different aspects of culture by taking us different places. We went and saw the Christo (a massive statue of Jesus that looks out over the city of Cochabamba), he took us to the market and gave us some funky fruit that had the hugest seeds in it EVER..but it tasted good..and if you are ever sick, rumour has it to drink ´coka tea´. That would be tea make out of the leaves from coke plants. Sounds a bit sketchy, but it actually is the natural cure for pretty much everything around here!
I realize this is pretty condensed and not really that detailed, but I hope it gives a bit of an update for you!
Thank you all so much for your prayers and encouraging comments...especially the ones from when we were sick...they were super cute :) Please keep us in your prayers as we head out to La Paz tomorrow till Saturday and as we continue to be seeking and learning new things. There are times it all seems so overwhelming, but we are continually reminded that even though we´re halfway across the world...or is it the whole way??? I don´t know...it´s too late to be thinking....anyway, even though we´re so far from home, God remains the same. He is working just as powerfully here as there and has been holding us just as close as ever.
Love you all in Christ,
Kristen
We are all healthy! Praise the Lord for that! There is nothing worse than puking, pooing and sleeping all day to make for a long one...but as of right now we feel right back to normal. We are heading to La Paz tomorrow which is a few thousand feet higher than we are now, so we are praying that we won´t get altitude sickness in the next few days.
We´ve been at the Baptist school every morning helping with classes any way we can. Ryan´s in love with the kindergarten kids, Phil´s an awesome English teacher, and the rest of us go where we´re needed....or pulled and prodded to go by the children:) We spent yesterday afternoon painting the principal´s office which was an absolute blast! and very encouraging for the principal to have an office that´s now been painted within the last 50 years...
The afternoons are filled however and wherever we can find a place to work. We´ve been to Jire a couple times and just hung out with the kids. It´s a ministry that gives shoeshiner kids and kids that spend more time working than doing school a place to go after school and get help with homework. There are ESL classes at the church Ivan goes to that we sat in and helped one night. The guys went and sang at the six hour praise night that night I was in bed sleeping my grossness away. Saturday we got to go wash babies in the center park. SO cool!!! This missionary couple comes every saturday and sets up a tent with five or so little plastic tubs in it to wash kids in. All the mothers line up with the kids outside and one my one they are taken inside the tent, washed and given new clean clothes and then get milk and bread. It was one of the most incredible things I´ve ever seen done!!!
Amoung our ministry opportunities, Ivan has been introducing us to different aspects of culture by taking us different places. We went and saw the Christo (a massive statue of Jesus that looks out over the city of Cochabamba), he took us to the market and gave us some funky fruit that had the hugest seeds in it EVER..but it tasted good..and if you are ever sick, rumour has it to drink ´coka tea´. That would be tea make out of the leaves from coke plants. Sounds a bit sketchy, but it actually is the natural cure for pretty much everything around here!
I realize this is pretty condensed and not really that detailed, but I hope it gives a bit of an update for you!
Thank you all so much for your prayers and encouraging comments...especially the ones from when we were sick...they were super cute :) Please keep us in your prayers as we head out to La Paz tomorrow till Saturday and as we continue to be seeking and learning new things. There are times it all seems so overwhelming, but we are continually reminded that even though we´re halfway across the world...or is it the whole way??? I don´t know...it´s too late to be thinking....anyway, even though we´re so far from home, God remains the same. He is working just as powerfully here as there and has been holding us just as close as ever.
Love you all in Christ,
Kristen
Friday, May 11, 2007
Hola amigos!
So we finally got the blog to work here, so now you have the sweet luxury of finding out how we are. Pardon my typing, it´s a Spanish keyboard so it´s a little crazy. So we arrived here about 8:30 Wednesday morning and had an opportunity just to relax and get settled in, arriving safely
of course! We pretty much spent the afternoon sleeping, especially me because planes are the most uncomfortable sleep to try and fit 6´-5´body into without getting smoked on the head by people walking by. Yesterday was our first day at the baptist school they have here, and we each had the opportunity to help out and sit in on some classes. Tonight we have a 6 hour worship service we are attending and playing in, so we are pretty excited.
Last night, however, two of the five of us came down with some sickness, and then Kristen our team leader this morning as well. We werent quite sure what it was or is, so if you could pray for health that would be great. Phil is doing ok now, and Dan is still a little under the weather, and Kristen has it quite badly. We talkedf about it and it was strange how we talked last night about splitting the groups up and have Phil and Dan be the translators, and they were the first two to go down creating a problem for the ´language barrier´. Kristen then went down this morning, our team leader...so if you could also pray against the warfare that might be existing here as we do not believe this is coincidence. Ivan, the host here was very considerate and helped the sick ones out through drugs and he got a doctor as well, so it is amazing and we are blessed to have such a great host.
So, we still have a lot ahead of us, and if you could pray for health and safety througout the trip that would be wonderful. We are excited to continue on with things, especially the school we will go to every weekday morning. The language barrier is an obstacle, however the effort and the humility these people have is incredible. We will hopefully be able to continue to update somewhat regularly hoping it continues to work. Thanks fort your prayers and support and thougts already, as they are greatly appreciated! Blessings,
The Missions Team
of course! We pretty much spent the afternoon sleeping, especially me because planes are the most uncomfortable sleep to try and fit 6´-5´body into without getting smoked on the head by people walking by. Yesterday was our first day at the baptist school they have here, and we each had the opportunity to help out and sit in on some classes. Tonight we have a 6 hour worship service we are attending and playing in, so we are pretty excited.
Last night, however, two of the five of us came down with some sickness, and then Kristen our team leader this morning as well. We werent quite sure what it was or is, so if you could pray for health that would be great. Phil is doing ok now, and Dan is still a little under the weather, and Kristen has it quite badly. We talkedf about it and it was strange how we talked last night about splitting the groups up and have Phil and Dan be the translators, and they were the first two to go down creating a problem for the ´language barrier´. Kristen then went down this morning, our team leader...so if you could also pray against the warfare that might be existing here as we do not believe this is coincidence. Ivan, the host here was very considerate and helped the sick ones out through drugs and he got a doctor as well, so it is amazing and we are blessed to have such a great host.
So, we still have a lot ahead of us, and if you could pray for health and safety througout the trip that would be wonderful. We are excited to continue on with things, especially the school we will go to every weekday morning. The language barrier is an obstacle, however the effort and the humility these people have is incredible. We will hopefully be able to continue to update somewhat regularly hoping it continues to work. Thanks fort your prayers and support and thougts already, as they are greatly appreciated! Blessings,
The Missions Team
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