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
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
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!
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!
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
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
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
Monday, July 30, 2007
2 weeks!
it´s crazy to think that i have already been here for 2 weeks! thank you so much everyone that has left comments and emails...it means so much to me to read what all of you have to say...and everyone is so encouraging!
as most of you know these last couple of days have been kinda crazy with everything happening with my mammaw...but i know that so many people have been praying for me and it really makes a difference! it was a hard decision to stay here in bolivia that i probably wouldnt have made if it wasnt for my wonderful parents, family, and friends encouraging me to really seek what the Lord wants me to do. i have decided to stay and these past 2 days i have really gotten a peace about it all. it still isnt easy being here and all of my family being home with my grandmother but it is okay...i know the Lord isn´t quite ready for me to leave bolivia yet. so thank you everyone who has been praying for me and has told other people to pray for me!
the past couple of days i have really been spending a lot of time at the orphanage in villa israel which is about an hour away from our hacienda. it is the orphanage that is newer and has 4 brothers living in it. the house parents are having a difficult time with the boys....considering they have always raised themselves until the last 2 weeks and the parents have actually decided to leave. they gave mike a 3 day notice which is really difficult to find new house parents for the four boys who are finally starting to get adapted to their new lives. an answer to pray mike thinks he might have found a couple that can start in about a week or so and a couple to possibly stay there temporarily until the other couple can come. so please be in prayer for that. the boys are a handful but they have never really had parents and have never gone to school plus they are little boys so they would be a handful no matter what! but we have found they all they really need is some attention and love. when we put them in our laps and love on them they are pretty good! today the house mom made lunch for us and it was quite interesting...as most of you know i am a picky eater...it was soup with some mysterious things in it...one thing looked like grapes with the skin peeled off and dyed black....we asked her what is was but when she explained it we really had no idea what she was talking about! this afternoon we went to the center to play with the kids there and i was able to talk with the wife of the man who runs the center for a while in spanish about our families so that was pretty cool!
wednesday we are suppose to be leaving for the jungle for one week! i am excited but kinda nervous about that.....we are mainly going to be doing construction so it will be hard work all day with little sleep so please pray that the Lord will give us strength each day and that we will be able to get a lot done in building the next orphanages!
i will update again as soon as possible! thank you so much for all of your encouragement for myself and my family during this time i really appreciate it! sorry i am rambling on...it´s hard to get all of my thoughts together really quick!
bendiciones (blessings),
CARRiE
as most of you know these last couple of days have been kinda crazy with everything happening with my mammaw...but i know that so many people have been praying for me and it really makes a difference! it was a hard decision to stay here in bolivia that i probably wouldnt have made if it wasnt for my wonderful parents, family, and friends encouraging me to really seek what the Lord wants me to do. i have decided to stay and these past 2 days i have really gotten a peace about it all. it still isnt easy being here and all of my family being home with my grandmother but it is okay...i know the Lord isn´t quite ready for me to leave bolivia yet. so thank you everyone who has been praying for me and has told other people to pray for me!
the past couple of days i have really been spending a lot of time at the orphanage in villa israel which is about an hour away from our hacienda. it is the orphanage that is newer and has 4 brothers living in it. the house parents are having a difficult time with the boys....considering they have always raised themselves until the last 2 weeks and the parents have actually decided to leave. they gave mike a 3 day notice which is really difficult to find new house parents for the four boys who are finally starting to get adapted to their new lives. an answer to pray mike thinks he might have found a couple that can start in about a week or so and a couple to possibly stay there temporarily until the other couple can come. so please be in prayer for that. the boys are a handful but they have never really had parents and have never gone to school plus they are little boys so they would be a handful no matter what! but we have found they all they really need is some attention and love. when we put them in our laps and love on them they are pretty good! today the house mom made lunch for us and it was quite interesting...as most of you know i am a picky eater...it was soup with some mysterious things in it...one thing looked like grapes with the skin peeled off and dyed black....we asked her what is was but when she explained it we really had no idea what she was talking about! this afternoon we went to the center to play with the kids there and i was able to talk with the wife of the man who runs the center for a while in spanish about our families so that was pretty cool!
wednesday we are suppose to be leaving for the jungle for one week! i am excited but kinda nervous about that.....we are mainly going to be doing construction so it will be hard work all day with little sleep so please pray that the Lord will give us strength each day and that we will be able to get a lot done in building the next orphanages!
i will update again as soon as possible! thank you so much for all of your encouragement for myself and my family during this time i really appreciate it! sorry i am rambling on...it´s hard to get all of my thoughts together really quick!
bendiciones (blessings),
CARRiE
Monday, July 23, 2007
GOT MY LUGGAGE TODAY!
hey everyone! thank you so much for all of the encouragement and prayers it really means so much to me to know that i have so many people supporting me here in bolivia! everything is going really well right now! saturday was my favorite day so far...we went to mt. tunari the highest point in chochabamba to the san miguel village...it felt like we were at the end of the earth where we were...the area was beautiful just like the people. we watched them chop up their lamas for meat and get their wool to sell. the people there speak ketucha and there was one man in the village that knew spanish so we would have someone speaking in english someone translate that to spanish and then the man translate that to ketchua it was so surreal sitting in the little clay house with all kinds of people, madres nursing their babies, people holding baby lambs, little kids laughing..it was amazing..i´m pretty sure those people had never seen a puppet show so it was cool to see their response to that! after we left tunari we went to the town zocalo, square..and did baby washing. i really enjoyed that also... we had a tent set up and they would bring in about 3 babies at a time and we had big basins we would sit them in pour water all over them, lather them up , then rinse off! we had to take turns doing that so after my turn was over i got to brush the little girls hair and braid it.
the timmers are an amazing family...bonnie has already cooked dinner for us 2 different nights and had us over to their house to eat so that has been nice. i have really grown close to their two oldest daughters that are still here..mallory and sidney.. sunday after going to the cristo with the team that is here we had the afternoon free so another intern joli, myself, sidney, and mallory went to go see a movie...it was a lot of fun and really relaxing. the whole timmer family is just an encouragement with their testimonies of coming to bolivia and the process of adopting their bolivian daughter gracie. i look up to each of them for how they have allowed the lord to transform their lives.
i finally got my luggage today which is a huge answer to prayer...as soon as i got it i changed clothes...so nice! i have really enjoyed the other interns too...right now there is 15 of us staying at the hacienda..it´s kinda like the real world missionary style! last night we cooked dinner for the team that is here and all sat by a fire talking and eating. sadly enough 8 of the 15 are leaving in the next week. but all of them are really cool and i have enjoyed getting to hear their testimonies and their hearts.
once again thanks for the prayers everyone! i´m not sure what all we are doing this week...today we went to the center which a after school program that is christian based and played with the children...i think tomorrow we are going to the orphanages that are already complete and hanging out with the kids there! hopefully i will be able to get on again soon...but just incase i can´t email my mom at fivenhim@aol.com and tell her you want to be on the list of email updates and prayer requests that she sends out for me!
some prayer requests for right now...one of the interns ashley has an infected ankle from a bug bite..the doctor said that if it gets worse she will have to go the clinic and here if you go to the clinic you have to check in over night! they gave her some medicine so pray she will be healed. also mrs. bonnie´s mom is having tests and surgery this week...it´s really hard on here to be in here in bolivia and her mom in the states having an operation so pray for her mom but also for mrs. bonnie. the team here from south carolina left tonight so travel mercies for them and the team from minnesota is leaving wednesday...also the other interns leaving this week! for me just pray that i will allow the lord to use me in any way that he wants to and that i will just be able to use my spanish and understand it effectively to talk with the people here in bolivia!
thank you so much again and i love each of you!
hasta luego,
CARRiE
the timmers are an amazing family...bonnie has already cooked dinner for us 2 different nights and had us over to their house to eat so that has been nice. i have really grown close to their two oldest daughters that are still here..mallory and sidney.. sunday after going to the cristo with the team that is here we had the afternoon free so another intern joli, myself, sidney, and mallory went to go see a movie...it was a lot of fun and really relaxing. the whole timmer family is just an encouragement with their testimonies of coming to bolivia and the process of adopting their bolivian daughter gracie. i look up to each of them for how they have allowed the lord to transform their lives.
i finally got my luggage today which is a huge answer to prayer...as soon as i got it i changed clothes...so nice! i have really enjoyed the other interns too...right now there is 15 of us staying at the hacienda..it´s kinda like the real world missionary style! last night we cooked dinner for the team that is here and all sat by a fire talking and eating. sadly enough 8 of the 15 are leaving in the next week. but all of them are really cool and i have enjoyed getting to hear their testimonies and their hearts.
once again thanks for the prayers everyone! i´m not sure what all we are doing this week...today we went to the center which a after school program that is christian based and played with the children...i think tomorrow we are going to the orphanages that are already complete and hanging out with the kids there! hopefully i will be able to get on again soon...but just incase i can´t email my mom at fivenhim@aol.com and tell her you want to be on the list of email updates and prayer requests that she sends out for me!
some prayer requests for right now...one of the interns ashley has an infected ankle from a bug bite..the doctor said that if it gets worse she will have to go the clinic and here if you go to the clinic you have to check in over night! they gave her some medicine so pray she will be healed. also mrs. bonnie´s mom is having tests and surgery this week...it´s really hard on here to be in here in bolivia and her mom in the states having an operation so pray for her mom but also for mrs. bonnie. the team here from south carolina left tonight so travel mercies for them and the team from minnesota is leaving wednesday...also the other interns leaving this week! for me just pray that i will allow the lord to use me in any way that he wants to and that i will just be able to use my spanish and understand it effectively to talk with the people here in bolivia!
thank you so much again and i love each of you!
hasta luego,
CARRiE
Friday, July 20, 2007
here and safe!
i arrived in chochabamba around 8 am on wednesday morning after going through some craziness in the airport however my luggage didnt make it. mr. mike took me to the hacienda where i showered and fortunately had an extra tee shirt in my carry on to put on...it was freezing so i borrowed a sweat shirt to wear and sweat pants to sleep in from the closet that is for donation clothes. he picked me up around 11 and with two of his daughters we headed to the zhapari jungle...we drove for about 4 hours and stopped to see on group of interns that were working on an orphanage there was about 6 of them and then we drove another 2 hours to where the team from south carolina and 5 other interns were working. we stayed at a hostal that night and then woke up early the next morning and worked until 11 pm on concreting a new home they are building next to a baptist church. the orphanages that the timmers build and run here and home with house parents that have been partnered up with a church that have 8-10 children in them so far there are two up and going and two in the process of being built. thursday while we were working during our breaks we would play with the kids..mainly soccer...that night i spent the night in the church with the other interns while the team went back to the hostal. we slept in hammocks they had hanging up..it was pretty interesting i must say. friday..today.. we drove back which took the whole day pretty much. now all of the interns and team is staying at the hacienda. i still havent been havent been able to get my luggage so please pray that we can go get it and that it will have arrived soon...wearing the same clothes for 3 days gets pretty old. also please pray for strength it´s very different to be considered an intern rather than with my church group...a lot more independence and work! it´s all good though. i miss everyone very much and already can´t wait to share some of my experiences with you personally. thank you everyone who wrote me a letter it has meant so much to be able to read those and also the scripture that several people of given me has been so encouraging!
love ya´ll
CARRiE
love ya´ll
CARRiE
Monday, July 16, 2007
LEAVING TOMORROW!!!!
Well tomorrow (tuesday) is the big day! I am so excited that God is going to allow me to be part of His work in Bolivia for the next 5 weeks. The past couple of days have been busy getting everything ready but finally stuff is starting to go in the suitcase and i've confirmed my airplane tickets. i'm actually going to go! :)
Please continue to be in prayer over the next five weeks for the trip. You can pray that tomorrow everything will go smoothly...i'm most nervous about getting there rather than being there. I will go through 4 different airports and I am nervous about finding all of the right gates and getting my luggage..getting through customs..and so on. So please pray that the Lord will calm my heart as I travel and that it will all be okay. While I am over there you can pray that I will allow the Lord to use me in any way possible, that I will get rest and have energy to do my best the whole time, and that the Lord will speak through me to everyone I come in contact with. Also please pray for comfort for my family and friends as I travel and that they can continue to trust the Lord with everything.
I'm not sure how often I will be able to get online and update this or how often I will be able to call home...When I can though I will make sure to write on here so check it and leave comments! Also my mom has a list of email addresses that I gave her so that if I can't get online she can send out an email to people about what all is going on! THANKS again to everyone for being prayer warriors for me and for all of the encouragement everyone has given me! I can't wait to see what all God is going to be doing in Bolivia and what all He will teach me while I am there!
Love,
CARRiE
Please continue to be in prayer over the next five weeks for the trip. You can pray that tomorrow everything will go smoothly...i'm most nervous about getting there rather than being there. I will go through 4 different airports and I am nervous about finding all of the right gates and getting my luggage..getting through customs..and so on. So please pray that the Lord will calm my heart as I travel and that it will all be okay. While I am over there you can pray that I will allow the Lord to use me in any way possible, that I will get rest and have energy to do my best the whole time, and that the Lord will speak through me to everyone I come in contact with. Also please pray for comfort for my family and friends as I travel and that they can continue to trust the Lord with everything.
I'm not sure how often I will be able to get online and update this or how often I will be able to call home...When I can though I will make sure to write on here so check it and leave comments! Also my mom has a list of email addresses that I gave her so that if I can't get online she can send out an email to people about what all is going on! THANKS again to everyone for being prayer warriors for me and for all of the encouragement everyone has given me! I can't wait to see what all God is going to be doing in Bolivia and what all He will teach me while I am there!
Love,
CARRiE
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