We got picked up yesterday morning by a whole welcoming committee of people from Luz Divina church. We had a lot of fun trying to overcome the language barrier. In our group we have about six people who know Spanish...so between them we could ask questions and answer questions. Last night they had a welcome service with singing and tambourine dancing done by little girls...so cute. Then we played two games and it was not that easy, what with the language barrier and all. Then we went down the street to a basketball court and they set up a volleyball net and we played with them. Then they challenged us and beat us. Which is sad, considering that we have seven guys six feet and over and they are all shorter than six feet. The pastor's daughter is Tatiana (I am not sure about the spelling of names) and befriended me immediately. She appears to be the best English-speaker the church has, except for the pastor and another man that might be an assistant pastor. So I hung out with Tatiana and her friends last night and received the best Spanish lesson I have ever taken I think. I found out that I can't even pronounce some of their syllables. They would introduce themselves and I would try and then they would laugh and say their name syllable-by-syllable. And then I would try and not be able to pronounce one of the syllables. I got introduced to so many people that I'm going to go back today and not remember any names but about five or six. Our hotel (picture attached; not very enlightening; I shall try to get a picture) room gets WiFi and I am so glad that it does. I left my iPhone at home so I don't think you're going to get many, if any, pictures. This morning the missionary (who is fluent in both English and Spanish :) ) is here and is going to take half our team to visit a different church while his son Philip takes the other half to visit another church. And then tonight we will go back to Luz Divina church.
There is a complimentary breakfast every morning and we are right by "The Plaza", the center of town. If you look up a map of Santa Cruz, it is one of the most organized cities in Bolivia. It is like a wheel, with a center and seven or eight main streets that circle it, getting wider and wider. We are practically in the center. Their driving is another thing that really shocks me. They just push around and there aren't merging or parking laws that we have, that I can see. And when you need to cross the street, you watch for an opening and then walk.
I hope that I have the right attitude here...please pray for me that I am open to whatever God is doing here and whatever He wants me to do. I have this attitude that it's about me and it's like a vacation but it really isn't-it shouldn't be. This is us serving them. We are supposed to be here helping them, not them driving us around and catering to our needs. And, really, I guess my whole perspective on life ought to be that, in whatever I do. And I don't think that it is.
Talk to you all later! Please continue to pray for us and our safety and that we bless many many people. May God bless all of you who are left at home.
Rebecca
