Nuevo Amigos

After arriving at the airport, we loaded a bus to go to Fay Alegria retreat center in Cochabamba. This is where we are participating in a youth retreat with youth from Emmanuel Methodist Church. It is a beautiful center with a courtyard in the middle. The palm trees in the courtyard are so huge they look like giant pineapples. The weather is cool in the evenings and warm during the days. It is truly springlike weather. Cochabamba has an altitude of 8,000 ft. so we are drinking a lot of water to adjust our systems. Thursday morning we went into town to be introduced to Bolivian culture by going to a p

Save as Draft

arade. Friday is their Independence Day so they have a weekend worth of parades. Each school marched in the parade including bands. It was such a festive celebration! The youth had exams during the day and joined us Thursday evening to begin the retreat. As soon as they got off the bus Pastor Gustavo from Emmanuel Methodist Church introduced us and we exchanged hugs and kisses with our Bolivian brothers and sisters. We spent the evening getting to know one another.


After dinner we gathered in the courtyard and exchanged songs. They would sing one in Spanish and then we would sing one in English. The songs with hand motions went over the best. If we had been competing the Bolivians definitely would have won! Then Pastor Gustavo had us line up and go into a dark room. We each received candles as we entered. As we were all coming in, you could tell that people were clinging to their close friends for comfort. It was very dark. When we all got in the room, they shut the door and Pastor Gustavo told us to link up with a person from Bolivia if we were from America, and an American if we were from Bolivia. We did this quickly. He explained that with darkness comes fear. When we are children we are scared of the dark. Darkness brings insecurity as we are unsure of our surroundings. The theme tonight was about light. They told the parable of the match and the candle. In this parable the candle does not want to be lit by the match because as soon as it is lit, it will begin to lose its shape and be all consumed. Its days will surely be number when it is lit. But the match explains that the candle is needed to share the light with the world, just as the match's job is to pass the light to the candle so that the light will carry on. At this understanding, the candle can’t wait to be lit and the match carries out its call to light the candle. Pastor Gustavo then talks about the light of Christ that lives in us. We all light our candles from the one Christ candle and the room is illumined with the light our candles collectively bring into the space. It was a beautiful, interactive encounter with God and one another.

The youth and adults are overcoming the language barrier and having a great time with one another. We had a bonfire last night and played several silly games that made us laugh so hard we couldn't breathe! It is a beautiful fellowship that we are experiencing through the Holy Spirit!
We have so much more to tell but we must get back to our amigos for now!

Blessings,
Katy