¨Casual Missions¨

So, there´s this T-Shirt that the CIN made a few years ago that say ¨Missions Extreme: Bolivia.¨ We have definitely had our few weeks of Missions Extreme, but this week we dubbed the start of ¨Missions Casual¨. We still did work projects, but exchanged out machetes and shovels for Sharpees and paintbrushes and brochures. After painting the ceiling of a few bathrooms and the social worker´s office, we began to Sharpee the names on the bricks in the Walkway of Life. These are the names of the people who believed in the BLC before it even opened, and their support helped build this home. These bricks are the first steps that a new boy walks on into his new home. It´s so neat, and such a special walkway to think about. When we got tired of bricks, we would head upstairs to begin our casual project of folding brochures of the new program that the CIN is starting up. We still have 2500 to go, so there is always something to do in the apartment...

One work projects of sorts has been to give the children letters from their sponsors, and get them to write letters back. This is suchh a fun process, because their eyes LIGHT UP when they get permission to come into the room, and then they read their letters as FAST as they can, and then they take forever perfecting their pictures and letters to be sent back. (Not all of them act like this, but the ones that do are absolutely touching.)

Other than our not-so-taxing work projects, we have been having some LEGIT fun in these parts!! On Tuesday, we took ALL the grandes (23 in all) to the bowling alley for the first time in their lives. It was a riot. When we first got there, most of them were so uncomfortable though... This is a place where only rich people go, and they felt like they stuck out like sore thumbs. But as I looked at these boys, dressed in nice jeans, Hollister or Abercrombie shirts (or a knock off of them at least), I would not have picked them out to be a group of orphans. They were all hesitant to start, because they did not know how, but I took 4 boys on my lane and we were the first to start. After a few lessons, Alejandro took is first turn, and got 8 pins! AFter 3 rounds, Allison (the other gringo with me) and I were LOSING to all of them! (Granted, we did have bumpers). But it was awesome to watch them begin to shed their layer of discomfort and really begin to enjoy themselves. I loved every frame. One of the boys was especially embarassed, and did not even want to bowl. It was Cristian, who has grown to have a really special place in my heart, so I was really bummed that he was so uncomfortable. But after we took a walk, and Anna and Sandra invited him to play with only them 3 on a lane, he finalllly accepted... THEN HE GOT THE HIGHEST SCORE OUT OF ANYONE THERE, GRINGO OR BOLIVIANO! We have a little hustler in our midst! In five consecutive frames, he bowled a strike, strike, strike, spare, strike.... So needless to say, he began to show a little smile and enjoy himself. It was such a wonderful outing, and such a wonderful first experience to share with these boys. I hope one day they take their families bowling because of the fond memories of their first times.

We also learned a new sport- walleyball. The hosts met up with one of Anna´s friends in Cochabamba, then headed to a house-turned walleyball/raquetball center. Basically, walleyball is played in a raquetball court, and all the walls except the back ones are fair came. It was SO FUN to play, and we were laughing at each other as we ran into walls and did splits on the floor and all that stuff. It was quite an experience.

Other than that, the Brummería is getting more and more use each day. We bought about 30 movies from La Cancha yesterday (my contribution was HSM 1,2 and 3), and I am SO excited about watching them with the boys. We also have special dates with the pequeños and medianos this week, for a little ice cream social in the cafeteria, then straight to a movie night in the Brummería (since we took the grandes bowling, we had to make it all fair... you know the routine). I am SOOO excited! The pequeños´night is tonight, and I think we are watching ¨Up.¨It´s gonna be awesome.

Finally, the finishing touches were put on our new sand volleyball court this week! It has been a blast to play... the boys are now FEARLESS because they are in sand. They dive for anything. The sand pit is now also used for wrestling, because it hurts less, learning how to do backflips, and burying each other in, as well as each other´s shoes, snacks for the day, anything. It´s been a source of entertainment this week, that´s for sure.

Well, this is my last blog that will post while I am in Bolivia. I can´t believe it. The time has gone so fast. I have learned so much, grown so much, but still am very much me. I am so thankful for my time here, and my heart is already hurting thinking about leaving these boys. I am already praying that God will call me back here next summer, but I´ll have to wait to see what HE has up His sleeve for me. For all you pray-ers reading, I would love a little prayer sent up about this last week- that I let all these boys know their worth and my love for them!

CON AMOR!