amigos, la paz, y el fin

10 June - Flight 721 from Cochabamba, Bolivia (depart 4:20pm) to LaPaz, Bolivia (arrive 4:55pm)

The capital city of Bolivia, La Paz, seems to fall off the edge of the Altiplano (high plains) into a ragged gorge. Houses cascade down too-steep cliffs and streets ascend and descend at crazy angles. And here I am.

It’s been three days since I said goodbye to Cochabamba and its beautiful weather, delicious food, and incredible friends.

Meanwhile I have had some adventures here in LaPaz:

Eating – I know I shouldn’t count the chicks before they hatch, but with less than 24 hours left in Bolivia I hope I can say that I haven’t been sick at all this year! I did eat at the most unsafe place I have yet…and then yesterday, to cut the onions, the boys sharpened our knife on a shovel laying in the yard. But… what can I say?

Shoeshining – My main purpose for visiting LaPaz was to visit a ministry to shoeshiners. The city of LaPaz has over a thousand young shoeshiners working on the streets for about 15 cents a shine. So I dressed up as a shoeshiner, had a lesson, and went out on the streets to try my skills and take a peek into the lives of shoeshiners in LaPaz. It was an incredible experience, and I came away with a respect and gratitude for those working among these boys to bring hope and true life into their midst. Check out this site: www.kayuparu.org

Working – I had a tour of LaPaz from the back of a cargo truck full of cement blocks that we took up to repair the wall of a young man’s house. This young man, a former shoeshiner, had been beaten by a gang and left partly paralyzed. Without their older brother’s work and leadership, his younger brothers began to fall into drinking and bad behavior. Several members of the church have generously loaned time, money, and materials to help this young man and his brothers.

This picture is me giving my testimony to the guys

Thinking – Having some down time in LaPaz has given me time to think about this past year, and all that it has held. Uppermost in my mind has been the relationships formed between myself and my students, missionaries, co-workers, neighbors, and church-members.

I read this recently: “Even [our] most original thoughts or imaginative creations are indelibly shaped by a lifetime of encounters with artists, theologians, family, and community. We do not interpret the world alone nor do we live without influencing one another profoundly.”

How true. And again, how thankful I am for the people that God placed in my life this year to encourage, challenge, and teach me about Himself or myself or the world around me. From my 7-year-old students who taught me compassion and patience and to love more deeply; to Bolivian young people committed to reach their world for Christ; to deep friendships that caused me to laugh and pray and think, and challenged me to serve and not to be so stubborn J, and gave encouragement and insight and perseverance.

What a privilege and what a duty we have as people in relationship.

14 June – Flight 922 from LaPaz, Bolivia (depart 6:30am) to Charlotte, NC (via Miami, arrive 9:20pm)

Debrief – I spend two nights in Charlotte, NC at the SIM offices for debrief and a short reunion with two friends from Bolivia; and then…

16 June – Flight 3730 from Charlotte, NC (depart 12:55pm) to Milwaukee, WI (arrive 1:57pm)

Home.

And yet not completely. Part of my heart will always be with the friends and country of Bolivia.

Packing It In

Friends,

I am so over-flowingly (I know, not a real word) thankful for so many "back home" who have been constant in prayer and encouragement and generosity. I cannot, and know that I could never, realize how much you have blessed me.
It is unbelievable that an entire year has passed since I first began this journey to (and through) Bolivia. So much has changed, so many lives touched, and so much done that our meeting of paths again in a few weeks as I return will be a difficult task.
Please pray with me for this transition.
On other fronts, however, besides this huge horizon of LEAVING, many things to tell....

I have pierced my ears.












I managed to teach the 5 senses in only 9 days (bad planning on my part).

It's getting cold again here; smells like fall.



Flat Stanley came to visit our class.

I'll be visiting a ministry to young shoe-shiners in LaPaz before I return home.

Still looking for a place to live upon my arrival in Milwaukee.

I am just finishing Watership Down; classic read.

















Alice in Wonderland drama at school.

Favorite quote of the week, after a particularly trying student had to be removed from class by the principal, Camila says: "Miss, you have a great smile!"

Almost missed two days of school last week to possible road blockades.


Bottlecaps! I'm using these for an art project with grade 2.

President of Bolivia, Evo, says that drinking Coca-Cola will make you bald. Be careful!













We decided to go the fair instead of Prom. This was our sign if someone got lost.

My refrigerator is broken.

It will be a strange shock to speak to the cashier in English; I may make a few mistakes at first.

Some neighbor is burning a llama fetus; smells nasty.

Australian word I learned: dink (noun, I'd say) meaning a couple with a double-income-no-kids.

The sermon on Sunday was on Psalm 19:7-11. Wonderful!
















Social Studies presentations!

I played soccer last night.

This is the last week of school.

I am currently listening to Brooke Fraser; this morning, Alister Begg.














We biked down the Death Road in March.

We always pack tons of people into one taxi.
Who wants to share the front seat with me? Who gets the trunk? Four...or five in the middle seat?

Bolivian Mother's Day this Thursday.

I have 63 books checked out from the school library.

"You will be secure, because there is hope; you
will look about you and take your rest in safety."

Amidst it all God is faithful and offers us the Word of Life.


Blessings, Kelly

See you all very soon...

March (...and a bit of April)

Some friends and I as we visit pre-Incan ruins during Easter Break


I sit only two months out from returning home from Bolivia. It is incredible the things that God has done in the past 8 months to change me, challenge me, and give me a bigger view of himself.

Daily I am both challenged and filled with joy as I teach my 16 precious second graders. They can sure test my patience and push my limits of energy, but at the end of the day I can say that it truly has been a privilege to encourage them onwards in life.
Here are few of our class highlights from the past month:

Friendship Day
In response to some unfriendly behavior in class, I decided to forgo much academic learning one day in lieu of some team-building activities, lessons on forgiveness, and role-plays on conflict-resolution. Although "Friendship Day" didn't solve all of our problems, it did open some eyes and brought to light some of the issues between friends.

The kids picked several Bible verses on friendship to put up in the class; here they are making posters of them.



Chapel
Grade 2 performed their last chapel of the year. We chose to dramatize Psalm 23.
Here Celeste and Rodney pose in their sheep costumes.

One of the lessons we learned form Psalm 23 was that as sheep in Jesus' flock, we can always trust our Shepherd to take us to good places.

Field Days
Just before Easter Break the entire school participated in Track and Field Days events. We had two fabulous days in the sun running and jumping and throwing. I helped to measure and judge the long jump. And even with all my practicing between measuring and raking the sand pit, I couldn't even beat the 12/13 age girls record (something over 4 meters)!

Here is me with some of my boys as they wait their turn to run one of the races.


Two second-grade girls won second and third place overall in their age bracket!



Sunday School Through Skype
On Easter Sunday (churches could not have normal Easter services here because elections were scheduled for April 4th, and during election days no cars are allowed to travel) I was able to Skype the Sunday School class at Woodridge and tell them a bit about being a missionary here in Bolivia, and to challenge them to think about missions for themselves.
It was a lot of fun to have a bit of a "live" connection to home.

The Conclusion
Amidst the struggle of decision-making I have felt God calling me home for this next season of life. I will be very sad to leave Bolivia, and the people and country I have come to love in so many ways, but I am also excited to see how and where and what God has planned next.

As I look towards my return home I am praying that God will open up some opportunities where I can live in inner-city Milwaukee and engage in the neighborhood around me. Please pray with me that God will go before me to prepare a place to live and a community of people to work with.

Bolivian food!





This is what happens when I don't grade things for a long time...


Stay tuned for pictures from the Death Road!