The Down Low: What We're Doing in Bolivia

Everyone from parents to neighbors to my dental hygienist (truth!) has been asking, "So, what exactly are you doing in Bolivia?". A week and a half ago Daniel & I got the opportunity to share at our church- West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship about just that. Sharing our story in person was an uplifting (and slightly nerve wracking) experience. For all of you that weren't there this post is an attempt at summarizing what we shared...

The Basics
We got married on August 20th- Adventure #1.
We leave for Bolivia on October 9th- Adventure #2. :)
We hope to stay until the end of May (more on that later). 
We will be living and working in a small rural town outside of Cochabamba, Bolivia called Chilimarca.
We will be working as unpaid volunteers with MAP International.

MAP International in Bolivia
To understand what we are doing n Bolivia you should get to know the organization we're working with. As we learn more about them we will be sure to pass the info on to you as well.

MAP stands for Medical Assistance Program and that is where MAP's roots lie. MAP began as a Christian NGO focusing on the health needs of those in poverty. Since its beginning (almost 20 years ago) MAP has progressed into a holistic development organization that meets many needs of the community.

Three programs we want to highlight are:

• Health Clinic- Provides primary health care to the community of Chilimarca, treats diseases and illnesses.
• School- An elementary school providing formal education in Chilimarca. This is the only school in the community.
• Centro Una Brisa de Esperanza (CUBE)- Spanish for "A Breeze of Hope Center". A center entirely devoted to fighting child sexual abuse in Bolivia. CUBE provides many services including free psychological, medical, and legal support to children and adolescents that have been abused. Also, CUBE advocates for public policy and judicial system reforms.

Hopefully, that gives you a glimpse of MAP's work. Once we get there we will definitely share more.

The Why
Most people know that I (Rachel) am getting my MA in International Development from Eastern University. The last portion of the program requires me to take two classes online and to complete a three month field practicum. Therefore, one of the main purposes of this trip is for me to finish my degree.

But, for Daniel & I, this trip is much more than an academic requirement. We have desired to do development work for a long time and see this as the beginning of our career as development workers. We see ourselves spending much of our lives doing this type of work. I have been itching to get back to "the field" since I did my SALT term in Guatemala (2008-2009) and I am so excited to be going back. This time I will be with my life partner and very best friend. :)

The What
Ok so finally, WHAT ARE WE DOING in Bolivia? We have one main project with MAP and that is to assist them with an evaluation. The first part of it will include reading a bunch of written documents about MAP's work. Things like their mission, purpose, guiding principles, etc. Then, Daniel & I will write a summary document.

The next step of the evaluation will entail visiting MAP's programs and analyzing their fieldwork. Basically, we will be comparing the written documents with how their programs are conducted.

Other than this project (which I think will take a lot of time and energy) we will be working at the school & CUBE. We will help document MAP's programs for donors and assist with project proposals and grants. I will be taking my classes online. Daniel will be attending language classes and I will be working on improving my Spanish. It seems like we will be pretty busy!

I will write another post soon with details about how you can be praying for us!

Abrazos,
Rachel

An Introduction: Transitioning Transitions

I remember reading somewhere, someplace, that "to transition is to be alive." Well if this is the case, I do not believe anyone could be more alive than Rachel and I right now. We both moved from our previous locations into a temporary living situation, gradually storing our possessions in my parents' basement and brother's attic, coming together in marriage and starting a life together as husband and wife, and soon packing a very limited amount of personal belongings to move to a country we have never been to, a country that we only know about through books, internet, and other people's personal experiences there, a country that I can barely speak the language of... and all of this happening in a two month span.

Transition is never an easy thing, particularly when it is so multifaceted as this is, and the range of emotions that come out in such a time are widespread. On one side, the struggles, or bumps in the road so to speak, of the situation can cause frustration, despair, and a desire to give up in complete apathy. The anticipation to finally be done with the transition brings anxiety, a test of patience, and an incredible desire to "be there" instead being "in the moment". And the utter complete disorganization of midstream transition in our lives heightens frustration and anxiety even more.

But if transition is to be alive, then it cannot be all bad. Of course there needs to be a positive side to such major changes, with positive emotions to go along with it. The sheer awesomeness of marrying the person of your dreams creates a happiness and contentment inside oneself that no amount of words on this blog could ever express. Having a clear partner, doing everything as two instead of one brings out empathy that overcomes any above noted apathy and exudes a feeling of peace that no matter what happens you have that person to comfort you. And most importantly, this transition ends with us finally fulfilling our dream of working together to do development work, working with and serving the marginalized. The feeling that comes out of this long awaited fulfillment, is what this blog is centered on: the feeling of love (amor) that drives us to serving each other, humanity, and God; and the feeling and belief of hope (esperanza) in God's divine providence that calls us to start our ministry of service together, in Bolivia and beyond.

In order for us to better explain this theme of love and hope for our Bolivian adventure, we have two biblical passages to help clarify what love and hope mean to us. We find Romans 12 and Isaiah 58 fitting to be our key passages for our Bolivian experience not only for their help to define our call to love and hope, but also because they help define who Rachel and I are and why we are together beginning this adventure in the first place. Romans 12 is commonly known for its beginning, with Paul calling his readers out to be living sacrifices to live out their call to worship through action. For me though, verses 9-21 stand out above the rest and help explain what it is to be a living sacrifice. The ESV bible I use titles this section "Marks of a True Christian", but I think this is not open and broad enough. I would title it "Marks of Someone in Love with God's Creation." Everyone likes to use 1 Corinthians 13 to talk about love, but here in Romans 12, Paul not only tells us how to love, but specifically mentions who to love: your brothers, those in low places around you, and loving the "enemies" attempting to stop you in your ministry.

From love in God, we gain our hope in God, which we feel is embodied through Isaiah 58. This passage is a message of hope to all that are willing to struggle and suffer for the sake of those who are in continual struggle, suffering, and oppression. I think it is easy to read this passage and say if we do this then God will do this for us, but that is not the point at all. To me, the point is that when we are weary from the long road of attempting to live out one's calling to love God and God's creation, when we feel like we cannot go on, that God will go on, God will restore us, God will provide, and God will make us like new so that our walk will continue. The hope in this passage is not the kind where one wishes something will happen rather this kind of hope rests in the belief that it will happen. So there we have it, a call to love as it being our act of worship, and a call to hope believing that God will provide in the midst of our journey.

Eventually this blog will be more about sharing and explaining our work in Bolivia, but for now it is good to focus on not what we will be doing, but why we are doing it. To close this very long blog post, it is prudent to return to the beginning of this post, as well as the beginning of Daniel and Rachel. The first time Rachel and I met, we had a long conversation about the development organizations we like, and how we both would love to do development work overseas in our lives. Now I most definitely do not believe in love at first sight, to me that is more of a movie thing. But I will say this, by the end of that first night of meeting Rachel, I had a different kind of "____ at first sight". I couldn't put it into words then, but after years of dwelling on it I can now. It was, "I can transition with this girl" at first sight. Something in me knew all the way back then, that this was a girl I could "be alive" with. Well here we are, about to start this "aventura de amor y esperanza" (adventure of love and hope) together. I hope you enjoy our sharing and we hope our words and experiences help inspire you to love and hope in the days, weeks, and months to come.

Peace,
Daniel

Welcome!

Hi y'all! Welcome to our blog. We will be posting soon. We are excited to share more about what we're doing in Bolivia so be sure to check back :)

Blessings,
Rachel