almost time to go....

i can´t believe it has already almost been 5 weeks! it seems like it has flown by yet at the same time i feel like i have been here for a long time. i leave on wednesday around 12 and should get home around 1 on thursday! it´s bittersweet saying bye to everyone yet i feel like it´s good time for me to be leaving. the orphanage at villa israel has a new set of house parents that started on friday. they are really young but seem to work well with the boys and from what i can tell the boys respond well to them. the other orphanage just got a new 5 year old little girl this weekend from the burn center her name is viviana. she is an orphan from a tribe that is in the deep pàrt of the jungle. her body was 60% burnt and she has been in recovery all summer. bonnie met her at the burn center and they were able to take her to the orphanage. they say her and the other kids are getting along pretty well...she´s just very shy which is understandable...she also didnt learn spanish until this summer...her tribe spòke another language so im sure she isn´t quite confident with her speaking skills yet. also the timmer girls are starting school tomorrow....so overall things seem to be settling down which is good...and i feel like it´s a good time to go. these next 2 days im sure will consist of lots of kisses on the cheek and hugs as i say bye to the kids at the center and both orphanages. thank you so much to everyone for all of your support and all of the prayer...please continue to pray for me during this last week! i am so excited to be coming home and to see everyone! i hope that all of you have a great week!
love,
CARRiE

mt. tunari

"when i look at the galaxies on a clear night- when i look at the brillance of creation, and think that this is what God is like, then, instead of feeling intimidated adn diminished by it, i am enlarged- i rejoice that i am part of it."
Madeline L´Engle

the stars in mt. tunari and chapare are just insane...i always enjoy looking at the stars either at the lake, clarksville, murfreesboro, or bolivia! i have probably seen 2 shooting starts my whole life until i came here. i had a chance to see one in the chapare jungle and at mt. tunari. the stars really do remind me of how big our God is and to me shooting stars and like it´s Him saying i´m here with you. when i saw the one at mt. tunari i almost starting laughing because it was in the middle of the night when i was sick and i glanced up then saw the shooting star...it was pretty cool! the mountains were gorgeous...probably one of the hardest things i have done physically was climbing up that mountain along with altitude sickness...but we made it...i wish everyone could see the view from up there...it was crazy! we made it back from our 2 night backpacking adventure sunday afternoon. this week we are focusing on the orphanages and center here in cochabamba. there is possibly a chance that on friday i am going to get to go with mrs. bonnie to the childrens burn center here in coch to visit with the kids there...please pray that i will have strength while there..she says it´s pretty intense. also please keep in prayer about parents for the villa israel orphange...they still havent found a new set of parents but the boys seeem to be responding well to the temporary tia. i appreciate all of yalls encouragement and prayers. thank you so much for everything my family and i both really do appreciate it! i will try and update again sometime this week! i hope that all of you are enjoying your last few days or weeks of summer!

Chapare Jungle

So we just got back from the Chapare Jungle Tuesday night around 11:00! It was really so amazing to spend a week there and very humbling. we stayed in a small town where everyone knows eachother and they are all so sweet. the site where we are building the orphanage is right next to the church (the only church in the town) that we are partnered up with. we slept in hammocks in the church which was pretty interesting but i liked it and the weather was perfect...hot during the day and chilly at night. a lady from the church owns a restaurant so she cooked lunch and dinner for us every day. also pretty much every day there was some kind of a celebration for example thursday was day of the indigenous people and monday was the birthday of bolivia. so the kids basically didn´t go to school the whole time we were there and there were about 4 different parades we got to watch. the parades just consisited of everyone in the town marching down the street and a band playing the same song for about 45 minutes straight...it was quite humorous. we were able to get a lot of construction done and some of the kids we grew close to even helped some we had a great time working. on monday morning we were able to go walk through the jungle for about an hour....it was so cool...we saw parrots,monkeys,tons of ants, beautiful flowers, wild fruits growing. so basically we had a great time in the chapare...im so glad that i was able to stay there for a week but it is good to be back in cochabamba.
thank you so much to everyone who has been praying for me and sending me encouragement. it has meant so much to both me and my family. the Lord really was able to let me feel at peace this past week and really taught me how He is the only thing that can fully bring me satisfaction and He is the ultimate comforter...also i know that He is in complete control and like many of you have even said to me He sent me here during this time knowing that mammaw would pass away and so I know He has a plan for me being here. He has already taught me so much and has really been able to work in my life and let me work in bolivia....that i am so thankful for.
it´s crazy to think that i only have 2 more weeks here and then i will be back...so please continue to pray for me that i can work hard these next 2 weeks with whatever i do. also please continue to pray for the orphanage at villa israel with the 3 brothers...there is a temporary woman staying there but there really needs to be a new set of house parents soon so that the boys can have some parents there. also several of the other interns have been getting sick off and on so please keep them in your prayers also. seriously thank you so much everyone for everything! i cant wait to see each of you individually and talk with you about bolivia!
love you,
CARRiE