2016 NYAC VIM Bolivia YAM Mission: "In this Moment We Are Infinite"

February 15, 2016

Shadae Gooding wrote:

Today was our first day at the worksite. So far so good. We were able to see more of Cochabamba on our way there. Once we arrived, we separated into our work groups. Some of us did VBS (vacation bible school) and the other did construction work. My group did VBS and the children loved it. They were very happy. Everyone introduced themselves and began to work. A bible verse was read in Spanish about Noah’s Arc and the children were asked to draw a picture based on those verses. They drew their favorite animal. Some drew alligators, chicken and much more. Their drawings were very beautiful, some better than what I can do. We helped them to hang their drawing up in the form of an arc. The young children did the same. Also they made hats and fortune teller’s out of paper. They were very creative and excited. They enjoyed the activities that they did today. Once everyone was finished, we helped to give out snacks and prepared to leave. We sung “Jesus Loves Me” to them and with the help of our leaders, they were able to sing it in English. We also learned how to sing “Jesus Loves Me” in Spanish. We all took a walk into the community to see their houses and how the neighborhood looked. It was really nice to see the children happy. They love to take pictures too !!! Even though we couldn’t understand most of the Spanish, we were still able to bond and help each other.

February 17, 2016

Aryana Fernandez writes:

Today I woke up homesick. I really miss the smell of my house, my mom and my cats. But my sad moment went away as soon as I went downstairs for breakfast. We had pancakes!! It was the most filling pancakes I ever had. After that we had devotion (hosted by Chris’ family). Everyone starts off their day the same. We all do construction in the morning and lunch at 12:30 – 1:00 pm. At the construction site we tied rebar to create the structure of the second floor. I saw the blueprint for the church. It looks really nice. I am so proud of how much our team has accomplished in just 3 days. The workers wives surprised us with freshly boiled potatoes and lima beans. The food was provided by a nearby farm. It was so good, it reminds me that not all food needs to be seasoned to be good. After lunch, my family group (Jill) hosted VBS. Today our theme was God’s Creation.” We sang songs and cut out paper hands as the creative activity. Tomorrow we plan to surprise them for their last day of VBS. We are going to form a cross from the cut-out hands. I can’t wait to see the look on their faces. Later that evening we went to youth group with other teens from local churches in Cochabamba. We taught them an American game and they taught us a game they play in Cochabamba. It was a lot of fun!! I can’t wait for what we are going to do tomorrow.

February 18, 2016

Annie Blay writes:

Today was a very emotional day. Working on construction was not fun at all, but working with the children was great. Baby Nicole has stolen my heart. She is amazing. I love her. She is the cutest baby every! To night was an unforgettable night. We got to see the pop culture from the Bolivian youth. How they dance and they music they listen to. It was so amazing to see how language ceased to be a barrier when music intervened. Everyone was completely immersed in the experience. At one point we were all outside running around in a circle and I just couldn’t help but give myself in to the entire experience. I’ve never experienced anything so raw and neat. It all felt so natural and exciting. It reminded me of one of my favorite quotes by Stephen Clebosky and I really did feel that … “In this moment we are infinite.”

February 18, 2016

Mackenzie Henris writes:

Wow can you imagine it has been 5 days. Finally we got our phones back!!! I was waiting for today for 2 reasons. One was because today was the last day of VBS. It was so cute to see all of their faces, and seeing them having so much fun with such little toys. Of course today I had to do construction work. It was actually fun today. We taught Louis (one of the workers) to say “come on man, Let’s go” it was so funny. After work the construction group went to VBS for the last time. I was dancing with the little boys and girls. When we took the group picture two kids sat on my lap. Everyone was laughing and having fun. Seeing the smiles on their faces are so priceless, it is such a beautiful moment. So after the last VBS we went on the bus and the kids were running after us. I want to say here longer. It’s beautiful and very sunny! Well can’t wait for more experiences to come! See all of ya’ll on Monday!

February 18, 2016

Shaneil Webley Roberts writes:

Today has been such a good day so far. As usual, we started the day off with breakfast and then headed over to the work site. For the whole morning I’ve been tying rebar. It’s not a heard job, but it does get a little repetitive. Also, since we were on the top floor with no roof it was getting really hot It was so hot, that I’m pretty sure that my neck is as dark as the night sky (slight exaggeration but you know what I mean). However, despite these complaints, it was pretty relaxing and a great way to make progress on the construction of the church. After lunch, it was time for my group (Chris’ family) to run VBS. We had quite a few complications that made VBS so stressful. For the first hour or so we did not have translator present. This made it very difficult to communicate with the children. It was so hard that we decided to scratch out one of our activities we had and replaced it with more songs and time for the children to draw and color. When the translator finally arrived we were able to prepare and distribute T-shirts to the children. When the children put on their T-shirts they were so happy. We took a group picture and played around with the children afterwards. Today has officially become my favorite day because of the children and I’m going to miss them so much.