Jhoseline

This week has gone by pretty fast. I have started to get into a routine, but still wish I could be doing more to help. During my time at the Burn Center I mostly help bath the kids, feed them, read to them, play with them, and try to make them as happy as possible. Yesterday I was asked to help calm Jhoseline down after they had put some sort of gel/cream on the burn on her face. She was hysterical, but I held her hand and talked to her. I tried to get her not to focus on the pain and just talk to me. As she was sobbing she asked me if I had ever been burned. I have never been burned, but at that point I wished that I could somehow empathize with her and tell her that I know how it feels. One traumatic event in these kids' lives changes their life as they knew it. They endure pain that most people could never even imagine. Jhoseline is an incredibly strong 10 year old girl. She is one the the oldest children at the burn center and I have watched her take the cookies, that her mother has given to her, and hand them out to each of the other children. I am not sure if she is a christian, but yesterday while she was sobbing I asked her if she like music. She told me she likes "musica de Dios" (music about God) and she started to sing quietly one of the songs that they sing in her church. This brought tears to my eyes because here is this little girl who is in an incredible amount of pain and she starts to sing songs about God. This convicted me because there are so many times that I am just having a bad day and I ask God- why? and yet there are people like Jhoseline that while crying from the pain she starts to sing a song, praising God.

1 week in Bolivia

So a week ago today I arrived in Bolivia. Its hard to imagine- it feels like I have been here for a long time! I am getting a little more settled, but am still trying to find my place in the Burn Center. I have gotten to know a couple of the kids pretty well- Jhoseline (10) and Juan (4). It has been fun to see how the kids are progressing and slowly talk a little more. The older kids have been enjoying the crayons and the coloring books. Today Jhoseline and Juan colored a picture for the mothers because Mother's Day is Wednesday. It has been interesting learning about burns and the long process that each individual has to go through.
Please be praying that I would a light at the Burn Center and that I would be able to find my place there.

First 24 hours in Bolivia

We (Jake and I) arrived Monday night- our only complication: delayed flight.... which we lived through:) We got to spend 6 hours in the La Paz airport luckily neither one of us got sick. That night we met the 4 other medical students that will be here for about 3 weeks. We found out when we arrived that Jake's good friend Rudy had been in an accident and his girlfriend was killed. Pray for recovery for Rudy and that God would use this tragedy to bring many to know Christ. Also pray that God would give Rudy a sense of peace.
Tuesday morning we all got up at arrived at the Hospital around 8am. The 4 medical students were shown where they will be working for the next couple of weeks. I helped at the Burn Center. I got to meet many of the children as well as play and feed them. I didn't have a hard time seeing the burns, but rather seeing these young kids having to endure such pain.
It sure makes me realize how truely blessed I am.

Countdown! 5, ,4 3, 2, 1!

Never thought that this time would come! I leave in exactly 5 days! I have started to pack some, but am finding it really hard to pack for 3 months!?!? As the time gets nearer and nearer I start to get nervous- but the verse that keeps coming to my mind is Philippians 4:6,7 "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding , will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." This summer will be an experience and I know that God will use it to grow me and teach me to fully lean on Him in all areas of my life. 

Pray for safe travel as many family and friends are going down to Peru for Jaime and Anna's wedding! Pray that the wedding plans would all come together and that it would be a fun time celebrating Jaime and Anna getting married! Pray that I would be able to quickly find my place at the Burn Center and get involved in a Bolivian church!