Autumn's Bolivia Update #3:

On Wednesday morning, we went to the largest outdoor market in South America. La Cancha has everything from used clothes to pirated movies to incense for demon worship.  At La Cancha we were able to get souvenirs, a big wool blanket, and take a look at the used clothes donated from Goodwill. We also got to walk through the witches market where we saw lots of creepy things. There were llama carcasses for sacrificing, people who would read tandom cards, and even "witches" who would cast spells on people. The smell of the incense burning gave me a headache, and I could feel the presence of evil as I walked through that section. Needless to say, I was happy to move on to the souvenir section after that.

For lunch my mom and I split a Silpancho from a restaurant in La Cancha. One of the hardest things to do here has been to refuse those selling food on the streets. All of it looks so good, but because of dangerous food handling and the dirty water used in everything, it's just not safe to eat. Since La Cancha is so huge it took us a whole day to meander through a third of it. That night we had Silpancho again at "La Casa Del Silpancho" Thankfully, I like Silpancho so much that I could have it several times in row before getting sick of it!

After dinner Faith, David, Hope and I went to go meet some friends and play "Wallyball". It is basically the same as Volleyball, except that the court is smaller and you can bounce the ball off the walls to play.

Thursday morning, we visited the orphanage again and had another famous dish called "Pique Macho" for lunch. This dish has strips of meat, potatoes, tomatoes, and onions on a bed of rice. It was really good, but I still like Silpancho better. All of the orphanage staff had a meeting that afternoon from 1 to 4, so Faith, my mom and I had a little bit more responsibility than normal. I went down to help the preschoolers with their homework while Faith and my mom watched the babies. Thankfully, the middle aged kids didn't wake up for a while, so we only had a little bit of the chaos which comes from a 3:22 helper to kid ratio. I definitely think that my babysitting jobs will seem easier from now on, considering I've now watched so many kids at once!
On the way home from the orphanage, we stopped at a tienda to buy some Coke. When the owner said that she was out of glass bottles, Faith told us that we could get glass bottles and

drink them there, or have "Coke in a Bag". We were curious, so we asked for "Coke in a Bag". The owner poured the soda into 3 plastic bags, put in a plastic straw, and tied up the bags. Now we could walk home with our drinks instead of staying at the tienda to drink them.

Friday morning, when we went to the orphanage, we had to take the babies to get vaccinated. We were able to get a few extra helpers so that we could each be in charge of 1 baby at a time. It was hard to watch them cry when they got their shots, but thankfully it didn't take very long.

That afternoon I spent some time with the preschoolers again and held the babies too. At the end of the day we were exhausted and ready to go home, but sad to say goodbye to the kids. That night, Faith, David, Hope and I went to youth group again and study Daniel 2. We took some friends home with us for a sleepover that night and watched several episodes of Doctor Who.

The next morning we slept in and then went to the Saturday fruit market. When we got home, we got ready to go eat burgers at Frankfurt's and then go to El Cristo. After eating, we drove up the road to get to El Cristo. The view was amazing, but it was a bit nerve-racking to drive so close to the edge on a narrow mountain road. Once we saw it up close we realized just how big it was. We even got to climb up the inside to see the view. It was amazing!

After visiting El Cristo, we headed to a downtown area to help out with a weekly ministry. Every Saturday, volunteers help wash babies and young children who live on the street and are never able to bathe on their own. They also give them new clothes to wear, a piece of bread to eat, and let the moms and older children wash their hair. it was a fun, new experience that I was glad to help with.

Saturday night, Faith and I went to her friend's youth group again. It was definitely easier to participate this time, having a whole week of Spanish practice under my belt. The immersion has definitely helped me understand Spanish better. and it has gotten easier to interact with people.

It is going to be hard to leave today, as I have fallen in love with Cochabamba. This has definitely been a great experience and certainly one that I will not forget. Please pray that we will stay safe as we travel this afternoon. We will have to get to a hotel in Santa Cruz by ourselves tonight and get up early the next morning for our next flight.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and encouragement, it means so much to us!

In Christ,

Autumn and Lauren Carlson

Autumn's Bolivia update #2:
I sent out my first email update early Saturday morning, so I will tell you about what we did the rest of the day and continue from there.

 

After sending out an update my mom, Faith, Mr. Holman, and I went to the Saturday fruit market. I got to learn about and experience two new things that morning. When you park your car on the street, there are normally several people standing near who will ask you if they can watch your car. Even though these people do not watch your car very well, Mr. Holman told me that they will often steal things from your car themselves if you deny their offer. After getting someone to watch our car, a street boy pushing a wheelbarrow asked us if we wanted his help. Street kids in Bolivia will rent wheelbarrows from someone for around 1b (about 14 cents) per day. They will then go to one of the local markets around town and ask people if they want them to carry what the people purchase. After  buying some fruit and trying some cotton candy, the boy wheeling our stuff followed us to our car.  It was exciting to see his face light up when Mr. Holman handed him 10bs (about $1.40), as these kids are normally payed only 50 centavos (7 cents) to 1b (14 cents). We also made sure to pay the guy who had watched our car before leaving.

 

At 2:30, we all left to go to kid’s club so that we would make it there by 3:00. On the way, as Mr. Holman was telling us about how taxis and buses worked, he accidentally ran a red light. There happened to be a policeman on a motorcycle who had seen us, and Mr. Holman realized that he did not have his license. The policeman pulled us over and when Mr. Holman explained that he did not have his license, the cop told us to get in our car and follow him. We were nervous because the last time this had happened, the Holmans had spent 3 hours at the police station and payed about $40 in bribe money before being allowed to go back home. We were following the cop, and he surprisingly had us stop at the Cine Center, where I had gone with friends after youth group on Friday. The policeman asked us to have friends bring Mr. Holman's license to the Cine Center, so we called some people. I prayed that God would allow us to minister to the kids at kid’s club, but to do His will even if that was not it. After praying, I felt confident that we would be safe and God would follow through with His will. When the friends arrived with his license, Mr. Holman took some bribe money and walked over to the policeman. To his shock, the cop looked at his license, and told him to drive safely. Faith told me that in the 7 years they had lived there, they had never been pulled over without having to pay a bribe. I was blessed to see the fruit and power of prayer that day, and was excited to be able to help at kid’s club still.

When we got to Kids' Club, there were about 100 kids ages 3-15 running around and playing. After saying hello and playing a game of freeze tag, we went inside a small building to sing some songs. Here is the link to  VIDEOS of them singing.                        

It was amazing to watch them sing and do the hand motions from memory, and you could tell that they were glad to be there. Almost every child there is abused at home, yet they find joy in the simple things. After singing, the kids split up into classes for different age groups and learned about trusting God. The group I helped out with learned about Jonah and the Whale and memorized Jonah 2:16. I was encouraged to see how much Bible memory was emphasized, as it is the only way for these kids to recall scripture during the week. 

After they were done with their classes, I passed out all 100 of the rainbow loom bracelets that everyone donated. The kids LOVED them!

David Holman also did magic tricks!                     

We also gave out water, bananas, popcorn, and cooked potatoes for the kids to eat. It was sad to think that they would not be able to eat again until getting lunch at school on Monday, but I was happy that we could feed them for that day.                                     

 

After stopping to get pizza for dinner, Faith and I went to another youth group, except this one was at a Bolivian church, so it was all in Spanish. It was hard to fully participate because of my lack of language skills, but it was still fun.

On Sunday morning, we all went to the international church where Mr. Holman preaches. It was fun to be able to talk to some of the people I had met at youth group again.

After church we went to a restaurant called "El Catorce" and had sandwiches.  After going home to rest for a bit, Faith, David, Hope and I left to go play soccer with some friends. Unfortunately, we got pelted with water balloons on the way. A celebration called Carnival (which is meant to "scare off the rain demons") had just officially ended, but it had still been raining, so the people continued to try and "scare off the demons". After playing soccer, we went to the Holman's guest house for a Sunday movie night. We had snacks and watched our first ever episode of Doctor Who!

Monday morning, Faith, my mom and I headed back to the orphanage to help with the kids. That afternoon at the orphanage, a little girl named Juliana had her first ever birthday party. We celebrated with jello, cake, playing outside, and a present for her. She was very happy to have a doll of her own that day. Here is the LINK to a video of us singing "Feliz Cumpleanos" to her.    

  

On Tuesday we had another fun day at the orphanage, and I even got to help out with the preschoolers a bit.  I was happy to be able to reinforce my Spanish vocabulary by asking the kids what was in the puzzles they had completed. One of the workers at the orphanage, asked me if I would teach them some words in English, so I taught them how to say the basic colors in English. By the end of another 10 hour day, we were tired!

That night, David took my Mom, Hope, and me to the grocery store to get some things. It was a fun, new experience.

 

I hope you guys are enjoying receiving these updates and keeping up with what we are doing. Thank you to everyone who donated rubber band bracelets, the kids LOVED them! Thank you all for your encouragement and support!

 

In Christ,

Autumn and Lauren