Caracas, Venezuela

I just returned from an 11 day trip to Caracas, Venezuela! We went for a YFC regional conference. Ten of us came from Bolivia. There were about 45 people total representing the Latin America and Carribean YFC countries. We had about 3 days of intense meetings and then 2 days at a camp in the jungle to relax, reflect, and discuss the last few days of meetings. It was so great to get to know the YFC family! The group was so diverse, yet united in their love of Christ and their vision for the youth of the world.
While in Caracas we had to chance to take a gondola ride up to the top of El Avila. It's a sweet mountain overlooking the huge city! The views were awesome. On one side you could see out to the ocean and on the other side you could see the entire city of 8 million people!
On Sunday, many of the YFC national directors preached at different churches all around the city. That morning, before church, David, Ross, and I put on our shoeshining outfits and shined shoes at breakfast. We wanted to do this to share some culture of Bolivia and spark interest in some of our ministry activities. Everyone loved it. Donovan, the regional director of the Carribean, was so touched that he wanted to use me as a demonstration during his sermon. Donovan preached at the international church in Caracas and I tagged along to represent the shoeshiners of La Paz. It was great to get to talk to the church about what's happening with the ministry in Bolivia.
The 6 Bolivian gringos stayed in Caracas for a couple days after the conference to enjoy the city! We had the chance to make a trip out to the beach and enjoy the rays. It was my first time to swim in the Carribean sea! And of course, despite applying sun screen, almost all of us got burnt! Oh well, such are the joys of being pale white!
Caracas was a fun experience. It was great to make new friends and travel to a new place and culture! And, besides a couple of weird looks and comments, we didn't face any troubles being Americans in Venezuela.

Lustrabota Soccer Championship

On Saturday, David and I had the privilege of playing in a Bolivian shoe shiner soccer championship! It was the guys that shine in front of the Bisa bank vs. the guys that shine at the post office. David and I played with the Bisa guys. We met early in the morning and caught a bus out to a small town outside the city. The town was pretty fun - there was a lake, horseback riding, 4-wheelers, carnival rides, paddle books, and food! My team arrived at the field around 1030am. The other team was no where to be found so we waited around until they arrived. We finally started the game when Freddy arrived around 1230pm! The post office guys were still short on players, so a few of our guys played with them in exchange for a free lunch. We played 10 on 10. The game was really fun, somewhat intense, and pretty dangerous. The field we played on was ridiculous! It was completely uneven, full of holes (some the size of trenches), covered in rocks.... and had 2 sheep grazing around midfield. Insane. But that's Bolivian soccer for you! Anyways, the game was intense. It went scoreless for about the first 10 minutes and then I scored the first goal, putting the young Bisa team ahead! The score went back and forth well into the 2nd half. Then Charlie got taken out by Freddy and we were given a penalty kick. We scored and jumped into the lead 4-3. We fought hard, and ended in victory 5-3! It was pretty cool to see the young Bisa guys come out on top! They should have bragging rights over the older post office guys for quite a while! Viva la Bisa! After the game we celebrated with our 18 2-liters of soda and enjoyed some of the local activities! We took a boat across the lake and a few of us took a short horse ride! All in all, a fun and victorious day!

Trekking the Andes - That's my Job!

Last weekend we led a backpacking trip in the Andes with 20 Bolivian high school students. We hiked the Takesi trail. I led a group of 4 senior girls - Karina, Yustin, Rosmary, and Jasmin. We were known as team 'Tweety'. My girls were great! They were girly at times, but really hung in and dominated the hike! It was such a blessing to get to know these girls! The hike was beautiful and the weather really held out for us! Very different than my last backpacking experience here in Bolivia. All of the students were great, and they really enjoyed the experience. Pedro talked with each of the students individually and got some great feedback! The most encouraging comment was that the majority of the students reported that the hike encouraged them to return to God! We spoke a little bit about the gospel on the trip, but I think our interaction with the kids spoke the loudest! I am so thankful for these kids, and I look forward to getting to know them better and walking with them in this journey of life!