Bolivian Highlights

i know that many of you who read this blog have not had the chance to get to Bolivia yet so i thought i would make this blog about the highlights, both good and bad, in a typical week here. We have been feeling a little homesick, well, maybe more than a little, for Holland lately, so hopefully seeing the good that goes into a week here written out will take some of that away.

This past Sunday our church was running low on our family supply of coffee so after the service Braeden and i got in the car and drove around looking for the building where our coffee is roasted. We had been there only once but luckily we found it after only having to turn around once. We got to watch the roasted beans get ground and packaged and while we were waiting a new batch of beans was getting roasted so the whole room filled up with the smell of coffee. if you think JP's smells good, try standing next to a fresh batch of roasted beans.

On Monday we had a doctor's appointment for the baby. We have the sweetest doctor from our church who has her own hospital in the middle of town. The best thing about her hospital, her and her husband provide free care to patients who can't afford to pay. The worst part of the hospital, that means the waiting room is always full. We eventually got in to see her and she says everything looks good so far. She had a hard time finding the heartbeat at first because the baby was kicking so much.

On Tuesday we took our intern into town to purchase her ticket to go home and to souveneir shop behind our post office. Our intern wanted to mail a postcard so we figured out the process for doing that, which is surprisingly easy so everyone watch in the mail for some postcards from us!

On Wednesday we worked on, and are currently working on, how to get construction money out to the jungle of San Lorenzo where we are building the next orphanage. Unfortunately you can only fly by small planes into this area and the missionary pilot we work with is gone for the summer. Since my parents left we have been calling every few days to ask the hangar to find out when the next flight to San Lorenzo will be and we never get straight answers. We will call one day to hear that there are no flights that week and then call to re-check the next day and they will tell us there was a flight the day before. Our construction workers are getting frustrated and so are we.

On Thursday i was going to make homemade Chinese food for Braeden like i used to do back home but they had run out of every type of asian sauce at the grocery store and had no vinegar to make it from scratch. So we switched to tacos only to find that they were also out of every kind of meat. We had grilled cheese that night.

On Friday Braeden and i went for a walk around our neighborhood and found some piles of dead leaves that looked and smelled just like October in Michigan. Apparently Bolivia does get other seasons. That night we were invited to a teacher's house from the school my sisters go to. We did something i always try to avoid, taking a trufi. its the local transportation here, a bus that takes you along a specific route for only about 25 cents a person and you never know what kind of driver you are going to get. We got one that thought he was driving a racecar and not a huge bus filled with people standing in the aisle.

On Saturday we got ready for baby washing which includes loading the car up with four washtubs, a stack of large towels, a stack of small towels, four buckets with shampoo, soap, washcloths, gloves, a bag of hair ties, brushes, nail polish, five bags of oranges or bananas, two suitcases of clothes that have to be sorted every week to make sure that we have enough of each size for boys and girls, and six large jugs of hot water that Braeden fills up every week from the kitchen. Plus ourselves. Baby washing went well this week. We didn't have as much help as normal but our regular volunteers were so generous in jumping in where ever they were needed.

And that is a typical week here, each day fairly similar with all the phone calls and the same responses to frequently asked questions, but also refreshingly different with surprise visits to the coffee roaster and the water going out a day before baby washing. Today we are getting ready to pay the bills for the ministry which involves taking money out of ATM machines that sometimes eat your cards or don't have American dollars that day. i am sure we will have some interesting story to tell by the end of the day.

Mike and Bonnie need a hug

The next time you run into my parents, give them a huge hug. They deserve it. Braeden and I knew that running the ministry would take some effort on our part but we had no idea all of the time and energy that my parents have to put into each day to keep the ministry going. And we don't even have complete responsibility for everything. From organizing flights to delivering money to new orphanage sites, coordinating the intern schedules, trying to get doors varnished before they warp and keeping the Hacienda running, it has definitely been a busy two weeks since my parents have left. Not to mention the numerous phone calls a day requesting everything from information about a little girl's eye operation to payment for a load of bricks. It requires extreme patience at times, especially when you are trying to answer the question in a different language while you are in the car and the phone is breaking up on the other end. I have always felt that my dad is the most patient person I have ever met, but after these past two weeks, I am in awe that it is possible for him to be as happy and laid back as he is all the time and be dealing with the pressure of this ministry's responsibilities. Not to mention my mother, who goes day after day not knowing what new surprises will pop up from the water pump burning out and the plumber out of town, to mothers at baby washing asking for different medications for their children. What we have learned so far from doing what my parents do on a daily basis is that you have to seriously love and be obsessed with the ministry to continue on for eight years and still be as happy as my parents are.

Prayer Request

We have a prayer request for a missionary family that goes to our church here in Bolivia. For those of you who have heard the story of the long process our family has gone through to adopt Gracie, you understand how frustrating the adoption system here is and how it really doesn't make sense at times with the bribery and all of the meaningless paperwork and people you have to go through. We have had Gracie for six years and she still hasn't been officially adopted.

The Summerfields are a family here in Bolivia that have two adopted children in high school. They were adopted from Peru. For the past six months this family has been acting as a foster family for a one year old Bolivian boy named Angelito. The Summerfields want to adopt Angelito but they are over the legal age to adopt. There is a law down here that states that if a child has been with a family for more than two years, they cannot be taken away. The child is legally yours after two years and the Summerfields have been hoping that this is what would happen.

He has only been with them six months and he is already a part of the family. He is an enormous ball of energy, running around at church and all the school events like basketball games and school plays. Braeden and i went over to babysit one night and he is certainly a handful trying to keep him away from the stairs and out of the garbage cans. But he is the sweetest little boy, always smiling, never cranky and definitely not shy with anyone.

A few weeks ago the Summerfields were told that there is a Bolivian family who would like to adopt Angelito. if all of the court hearings go through, he will be leaving in July. Because it is a Bolivian family, the process will be much easier and there is a greater chance that the adoption will go through. it has been very frustrating to us to understand why the government would let a child be taken away from a family who desperately wants to adopt him when there are thousands and thousands who are in state run orphanages not being taken care of by a loving family. Mrs. Summerfield has called him her baby since she first got him and as Braeden and i get ready to have our very first in a few months, i can't imagine being told that your child is going to be taken away. Through all of this the Summerfields have been so grateful to God for the time that they have been able to spend with Angelito and are always saying that it is in God's hands whether he goes or stays. Please pray for this family, that there will be a miracle and Angelito will be able to stay with the Summerfields, or if not, that their healing will be quick and there will be understanding that God is in every part of his life.