Very Much Overdue Update

Hi everyone ☺
So I realize that it’s been over a month since my last post and I apologize for that, things have been sort of chaotic and stressful here and I’ve been feeling discouraged and just haven’t wanted to share how disappointed I am. But I recognize now how important it is to keep those who supporting me updated about what is going on here and so I will try to post more regularly regardless of how I’m feeling about this trip.
The riots stopped shortly after my last post (so forever ago). Since then I’ve been working in el Centro de Motivación full time. However, the center is currently rewriting their mission statement and creating new therapeutic approaches in order to match that statement so all street work has been shut down since January and there is not much for me to help with. With no girls in the center and paperwork to be done that I can’t help with I spend most of my days sitting in the couch in the director’s office reading books, playing solitaire, and just generally trying to stay out of the way. I am told that there will be girls at the center by next Wednesday but I’ve been told that every week up until now so I’ll just have to wait and see.
In addition to being bored and frustrated I’ve also been sick and have gone through two courses of antibiotics. I’m currently doing well in terms of my physical health and would appreciate prayers that my health would continue to be good and that no more illness would interfere with my work here.
Things are not all bad here though; while sickness and boredom seem to have been the norm the last two months there have also been lots of wonderful that have happened and are happening here. My Spanish has improved to the point where a little boy asked me “What is Argentina like? That’s where you’re from, right?” I am building relationships with the people in the church I am attending and I am participating in a small group Bible study every Tuesday night. Also, my mentor and I are starting to become close, which I am incredibly thankful for because things felt very tense between the two of us at the beginning of my trip.
As of last week I am spending three mornings a week in Albergue, one of Mosoj Yan’s other centers, working with the girls there (yes, there are actually girls there!). I am not doing anything there that’s terribly impressive, just hanging out with the girls and helping them with their homework. But even after just three mornings there, as I was getting up to leave on Friday one of the girls rugby-tackled me with a huge hug. This is a girl who wouldn’t even talk to me when I arrived on Monday morning and who has been through horrific abuse; a girl who I wouldn’t expect to trust anyone, so that hug was really beautiful and encouraging. Any doubts that I have had about whether or not I should be there have been dashed from spending time with the girls at Albergue and I just pray that I will be able to bless them as much as they have already blessed me.
And that is where things stand now. Things are still frustrating here and sometimes I miss New York but I am learning to be patient and trust that God will work everything out for the good. I ask for your prayers for my work in both centers, for continued health and personal safety, and for peace in this country.
I promise I’ll post again soon!!!
God bless!

Yogurt Riots and Ginger Tea

Hi all,

Sorry for the lapse in updates, it seems to be flu season in Cochabamba and I've been out of commission for about a week now. After a week of being curled up on the couch in the parsonage watching Disney movies, drinking my weight in Gatorade and ginger tea, and sleeping 16 hours a day, I seem to have made a full recovery. And as miserable as the flu was, I’m grateful that it was just that instead of some sort of parasite.
My body’s timing couldn’t have been better, since the entire city has been virtually shut down due to riots over increased public transportation fees and the cost of yogurt (I’m serious… yogurt). So even if I had been healthy and a schedule had been in place for me at the beginning of last week I still would have been shut up in the house with nothing to do. At least with the flu I got to watch Disney movies. The riots have gotten worse and all the main streets have been barricaded, making it impossible to get to and from Mosoj Yan. However, once the riots subside, a schedule has been put together for me and I’ll be able to start up my work with Mosoj Yan’s street ministry. For the time being, where I’m staying is safe and secure and the only thing to do is to wait for peace to fall on Cochabamba. Thank you all for your prayers and support, I miss you and think of everyone often.
God bless!

The First Few Days

It’s been a week now since I arrived at my home in Cochabamba and I’m starting to adjust to living in a new house and my brain is getting used to hearing Spanish in the place of English. I feel as if I have a basic understanding of the layout of the city and I’m beginning to recognize which buses will take me where. Finding vegetarian food in Bolivia since typical meals include things like chicken hearts and cow udders (ick!), but I’ve been making due with the options available to me.

            Over the weekend I attended Saturday night youth group and the Sunday morning service at the church La Trinidad and received a warm welcome from the church family there – I even participated in a skit during youth group and had a speaking role! I will be attending this church for the remainder of my time here so I’m very thankful that the first weekend went smoothly.

            After several meetings with the staff at Mosoj Yan there is still some confusion about where exactly they need me the most. Although the plan was originally for me to work in la Casa de Motivación I’m now being told that this center won’t be up and running until April at the earliest and the director is attempting to find somewhere else to use me. Sitting by the phone each day waiting to hear what I’ll be doing here has been really frustrating and I’m feeling bored, irritated, and homesick. However, I know that God only has good plans for me and that he is working in me and through me already. God presents trials to those he loves and I need to remember that at this point and count all these trials as joy; signs of God’s love for me.  I ask for your prayers while plans are sorted out; that I would be patient and joyful during this time. Please pray for the operations at Mosoj Yan so that my work there can begin quickly.

I’ll keep you all posted as progress is made.

The Word of God is a Sword

My first night in Bolivia was an exciting one, as I was welcomed to the country by numerous different species. After a four-hour delay in Santa Cruz, a member of the local church picked me up and dropped me off at the Bishop’s house, which I was told I had to myself. However, I was soon greeted by three friendly dogs and one cat, who kept me company before retreating to the kitchen. Thinking they were the last new friends I would be making that evening, I went to the guest room to relax. Just as I was climbing into bed I saw something scurry across the floor. At first I thought it was a large spider, but on second glance I realized it was a SCORPION! Terrified, I decided to just leave it alone and hope that it wouldn’t come up into the bed and bother me. Luckily, I was on Skype at the time and my boyfriend coached my through killing the pest. Unfortunately, the only hardcover book I brought along with me was my gigantic Spanish-English Bible; therefore, I stood on the Word of God and used it as a sword and I am happy to report that the scorpion is very dead ☺

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword…”

Introduction

The title ‘The Girls at the Well’ was inspired by the story of the Samaritan woman in John 4: 6-42.  While in Cochabamba I will be working with Mosoj Yan, a ministry geared towards women and children. Working specifically in the ministry’s Casa de Motivación (House of Motivation), I will be serving on the streets in the roughest neighborhoods in Cochabamba, sharing the Gospel with girls from the streets.

            The Samaritan woman lived a life plagued by sin, having been married five times and living in sin with a man to whom she was not married. Due to her lowly status, the woman goes to the well during the hottest point in the day in order to avoid being the topic of her fellow townspeople’s gossip and is surprised when a Jew, who would generally have no dealings with Samaritans, requests water from her. The girls living on the streets of Cochabamba no doubt also live lives plagued with sin, placing themselves in compromising situations in order to survive each day. Equally low in status, these girls are probably filled with shame and may not understand that the love of Christ extends across all social ranks, and that there is forgiveness and redemption in the blood of Christ.

            Jesus speaks to the woman about living water, which gives eternal life. The things of this world will always leave us hungry and craving more, but the Holy Spirit satisfies our spirits. It is only through the grace of God that anyone, including the girls on the streets of Cochabamba, will find eternal life in the presence of the Father, where all thirst is quenched.

            I pray that God would use me to spread his love and promises to the girls of Cochabamba, and that through reading this blog you will be blessed hearing the work that God is doing here in Bolivia. I ask for your prayers for the ministry of Mosoj Yan, the Church of the Trinity where I will attend while in Bolivia, my safety, and my health, both physically and spiritually. I am still in the process of raising funds for this mission, so I ask that if you are lead to do so you consider partnering with me financially so that I can complete the work I’ve come here to do.  Support can be sent to my missionary organization via snail mail at

           

            SAMS

            PO Box 399

            Ambridge, PA 15003

or donations can be made electronically by going to www.sams-usa.org and following the link to ‘online giving.’ Please be sure that my name (Rebecca Hunter) is on the memo line of any checks or, in the case of online giving, that under the ‘designation’ pull down menu, you select ‘Bridgers Interns’ and then find my name under the subcategories. Thank you for taking to time to read this, God bless and I look forward to sharing my adventures with you!