July 5, 2008

Happy (late) 4th of July!

We arrived home from Villa Alba late yesterday afternoon and I am now CLEAN and RESTED! :)

The camp was a success and the trip in general went pretty well. On Tuesday-Thursday we spent the mornings doing praise & worship and teaching with the kids that came to the camp. It was a new experience for most of us as these children have never really heard the gospel message. We're accustomed to the La Palmera camps where everyone knows the Bible pretty well and is certainly familiar with the gospel. Only a few of these kids knew who Moses and Abraham are and not a single one had a Bible! But were (mostly) receptive to the messages and a good handful accepted Christ before the camp was over. Please pray that they will be able to continue growing and learning in their faith... there isn't really much opportunity for that in a place like Villa Alba.

In the afternoons everyone else did activities and sports with the kids, and I was able to work on my project! I went to 10 homes to talk with families and had a really great time doing it. It was extremely interesting and I learned quite a lot. Unfortunately my camera broke (too much dust!!!) so I didn't get all the photos I would have liked. I did, however, create a comprehensive map of Villa Alba and I should be able to pinpoint the village on a map of Bolivia!

Finally, in the evenings we had time just for the youth group that was leading the camp. We had teaching amongst ourselves and played a lot of games. In addition to the kids that were saved, 2 of the leaders from Trinidad became Christians as well! It was a good time of bonding...

As far as the primitive conditions of the trip, it really wasn't so bad. We ended up sleeping inside the school and I put up my tent inside a classroom! So I was pretty well protected from bugs. There was no electricity, but we did use a generator at times to play music and even showed a video the kids/families. Water was scarce... we only had it at certain times, but it always worked out okay! On the first day, the guys from the group made us a shower from some wood posts and a tarp. When we had water available, showering meant filling a bucket with water and using half of a coconut shell to wash! As I said, primitive, but really not so bad!

On the last day (yesterday), we spent the morning doing projects for the community. We split into 4 groups and went to 4 different homes to do whatever they asked us. My group completed deconstructed a tiny little house. I was actually thrilled with this project as it gave me the opportunity to see close-up EXACTLY how the home was constructed... and their construction techniques are actually quite brilliant. So we started by using ropes and teamwork to pull down the palm-leaf roof - as it fell we all had to run because dozens and dozens of bats came flying out of the roof!! After that we knocked the adobe out of the walls and then took down the wood and bamboo posts. We found - and cut in half - one snake and saw lots of bugs! It took us quite a few hours but I actually had a REALLY fun time! And I can now say I've used a machete! :)
The family we were helping was very grateful and helped us out with the deconstruction as well as making us lunch. I wasn't brave enough to try to raw fish (it looked like they had lifted it out of the lake, chopped it in 3 pieces, and set it right on the plate!) but I did eat some meat and drank Chicha.

After the service work we piled and the bus and headed home. Since arriving home, I've had three showers and slept in late this morning! :)

God bless!
Laura