New Intern: Kim Bishop

Hello everybody! My name is Kim and I am from Weare, New Hampshire. I am 20 years old and going into my sophmore year of college at Liberty University in Virginia.
So where to begin writing my story is always the hardest part. Do I start with what first brought me to Bolivia or go even farther back to what brought me into missions? I guess the beginning is always best...
I was first introduced to ¨missions¨ and ¨missionaries¨ at a Christian summer camp when I was about 9. It sounds young, but that´s where the spark began. Since then I traveled a lot with my family which grew a love for traveling and I saw my parent´s relationship with Christ which encouraged me to grow deeper in love with my Savior. All of these things mixed together in highschool to make me want to do missions trips when the opportunities were provided. My first missions trip was 10 days in Ukraine during my freshman year of highschool. I absolutely loved it. I returned during my junior year and did another trip to Mississippi with my school during my senior year. These 3 trips confirmed my passion for missions, yet I was unsure how that would turn out when I went to college.
Bolivia came into the picture when my church decided to begin missions trips here and ironically my dad was the first person to come here and ¨scout it out¨ for my church. He fell in love with the place and I continued to hear more through the missions trips that followed. I just decided to plan a trip here with a friend and all the details came together!
So far my time here has been challenging and so amazing at the same time. I am only here for another 11 days, which will turn out to be almost a month in total, yet I can tell already that I will have to be back!

New Intern: Elaina DeStefano

Hi my name is Elaina DeStefano, I am 18 years old and from New Hampshire. This is my first time in South America , and working with Iteams, and God has been very good since my time here! I go to Liberty University in Virginia, and next year I will be a sophmore. In attending Liberty Univeristy I have already seen a growth in my faith, and I love how Liberty pushes you to continue to grow in your realtionship with christ. My first experience with missions in another country was when I was a junior in high school. I got the amazing opportuntiy to go, along with other juniors around New England to the Dominican Republic. I was there for 10 days, and that trip really opened my eyes to how many things could be done to help God´s people, there just needed to be poeple willing to do them. Since than I have been to Uganda as well, and each of these experiences have made me want to continue to do missions even more. I am here in Bolivia for about two more weeks (all together it will be a month). Interning has been really good so far, and it has also allowed me to experince true Bolivian culture! I have already developed a heart for the people here, and I am sure I speak for the rest of the interns when I say we all have. It is my prayer that God can use all of us in anyway he sees fit to bring glory to His name, and bring love to His people.

Interview with Michelle.

This week we are going to highlight Michelle!!! Michelle will be leaving us in a week. We’re super sorry to see her go, but we know this is how God wants it…for now at least.

I took a few minutes on the bus to ask Michelle some questions about her experiences here and how God brought her here.

Michelle is from California. She accepted Christ at age 6 after hearing about God´s power to change Saul´s life, she then realized that if God could change Saul´s life and use him so greatly that surely he could use her too.

She has a BA from Biola University in Intercultural Studies and a minor in Bible. She explained to me that all that she learned there gave her more of an insight into missions and God’s heart for the nations. She has a love for Mexico and explained how her involvement with Tijuana Ministries (Mexico) grew her love for Hispanics, their language and ministry with them. Tijuana Ministries was an every other weekend trip where they would go to a battered women’s shelter of sorts. They spent time building relationships with the women, doing VBS with the kids, and basically just helping them get back on their feet.

Michelle shared that her favorite thing here is tutoring the kids. She enjoys spending time with the kids, and feels that it’s very rewarding to watch the kids progress. (Side note: the kids she tutors got their evaluations back yesterday and did very well. Go Michelle!!) She also feels as though her eyes have been opened a lot to the poor and their needs.

She confesses that the first thing she’s going to eat when she gets back to California is some authentic Mexican food…mainly just the frijoles, though!!

One life change that Michelle has learned here and feels that she will maintain when she gets back to the states is patience!!

We LOVE this girl and know that God will use her no matter where she is in this great big world!

Person of the Week!

Martha Telleria ....

is a very important person in the Villa Israel home. She is Lizeth´s mother and she is also a huge help to the home. Martha lives next door to this orphanage and each day comes to cook and clean as a way to help out Lizeth and Charlie. Martha is also a help in teaching the children how to live the the way of the Lord.

How she got started being apart of this home:

Martha was building her home at the same time the Villa Israel was being built right next door. She met Mike and the International Teams staff this way. It was through Martha that Lizeth and Charlie heard about the opportunity to serve as house parents. Martha was also excited in the idea that she too might have the opportunity to work with orphans.

Martha has always had a heart for children. Her and her husband have 4 of their own. Lizeth is the oldest with two other sisters, and the youngest is a 3yr. old boy. Five years ago Martha also had the pleasure of looking after a young baby girl from Brazil and caring for her as she was her own. The mother was here in Cochabamba and gave her to Martha because she said she could not care for her. She looked after this little one from the time she was 5 mos to 3 years old. The child then developed a health problem and she had to give her up to those who could care for her more properly. This really grew her desire to work with needy children.

One of the pleasures she says of working with these children is to see them grow up. She also wants to see them grow in the fear of the Lord. This is a pleasure and it is also a challenge she says and a huge responsibilty she feels blessed to have.

Please pray for Martha as she works to make a difference for these children! Thank you!

Barnabas's from Bedford

Greetings!

Kristen here, just wanted to give you a little update on what’s going on for us interns.

Michelle and Jaclyn are winding down their stay here, but are not any less passionate or dedicated to their work. Finish strong! That’s what I always say. We’ll have four more girls joining us next week. Two from North Park University and two from New Hampshire (they’re associated with the church Bedford that was just here).

Matt and Elsa (the couple that arrived from Chicago about two months ago) just started a bible study and dinner night with us interns at their house. That’s been an amazing time of fellowship, learning and sharing struggles. What an answer to prayer!

Last week we had a team from Bedford Church (BCC) in New Hampshire. (Check out their blog if you want to read more about their experiences here).

We did a lot of things while they were here as far as visiting the orphanages, malnutrition center, going to a futbol game, up to the Cristo, doing a bread run to Sipe Sipe, visiting the Incan Ruins, visiting the center and doing some work projects there. It was a VERY busy week, but we loved it! I personally, and I think ALL of the interns, were incredibly encouraged by this team. They challenged us in our relationship with God, offered a new perspective to the ministry we are doing here which sometimes starts to feel…well, a little monotonous, and spoiled us. When they left they just encouraged us in what we were doing, challenged us to grow in our walks with God and even left some parting gifts (a new radio for the hacienda). We were floored!! This church that they come from has been a big supporter of the ministry here for years and plans to continue to be committed for the long haul. They're an inspiration to us all!

And while I know that the house parents, the kids, and the Timmers were all encouraged by this team, we interns were especially thankful for this team of Barnabas’s. ("Son of Encouragement". See Acts 4, 11-13).

New Intern-Adrian Nickols

Monday we received a new intern, Adrian Nickols from Tasmania, Austrailia. His home city is Hobart, Tasmania. Adrian is 26 years old. He will be with us here in Cochabamba for 4 months, and will then join another team in Ecuador through International Teams.

Before coming to Bolivia Adrian worked for three years as a Business Analyst through the Tasmanian government Dept. of Health and Human Services. Adrian came to Bolivia because he desired to take a break from work but also to give back to those in need in a different part of the world. He says he desires to learn about a different culture and to make a difference in these kids lives here, even though he is only here a short time. One of his good memories from this last week was when we watched the kids for the house parents of the Muyurina home for a couple hours while they spent time with Nathan and Kate Spies. We watched Toy Story and ate pansitos (really good bread) and Coca-Cola!

Here are some more fun facts about Adrian:
His favorite food is: Chicken Parmasen
Sport: Cricket
Fav. Team: Sydney Swans (football)


Thank you for your prayers for Adrian as he adjusts to life and work here. Also, please pray for Justin Barrett, as he went home to Texas this morning after being here 11 months. Please pray for his adjustment back home.

HOUSE PARENTS OF VILLA ISRAEL

(Charlie and Lizeth pictured with Miguel at his Birthday party two months ago)

Since we have been interviewing all the children from both homes, we figured it would be good for all of you to know who the house parents are. The house parents of the Villa Israel Home are:

Charlie and Lizeth Lamas Rivera

This young couple are the loving house parents to 7 children currenly living in this home. Charlie will be 24 years old on April 22nd, and Lizeth is 20 years old. Her Birthday is Sept. 16th. Charlie and Lizeth have been married a little over a year and half and have a baby of their own named Andrea. Charlie is currenly in school working on his Master´s Degree in Micro-Biology. He would like to work in a laboratory when he finishes. He enjoys doing medical research. Lizeth has been a Christian for 12 years and met the Lord through her Christian family. When she met Charlie, her and her family ended up leading him to the Lord!

Charlie and Lizeth have been house parents to this home for 8 months, since it´s beginning last August. They learned about the opening to be house parents through Lizeth´s mother who actually lives next door to the property. These house parents consider their job here as a blessing.They say it is a great opportunity to teach these children about the things of the Lord and to instill in them what a Christian family should look like.

One of the things Lizeth says was hard when they first started working with these children was that many of them came from hard family situations. They carried a lot of baggage with them and this affected how they would behave. For example, some of the children used to tell her that they wanted to leave. They would also give them a hard time about going to church and would just play in church as well when they did go. Now she says it is such a blesssing because their home is like a family. The children call her and Charlie Mom and Dad. She says as a whole they act like a family and also do things as a family like going places and eating meals together. Now she says the children do not want to leave, but consider this their home.

Thank you for your prayers for Charlie and Lizeth as they have a huge responsiblity to raise these beautiful children.

-Michelle Anthony