Bolivia during quarantine

I have been struggling to write this for the last couple of weeks as I feel as if not much has changed since my last prayer letter. However, I am realising it is important to share the reality of how I am feeling and what I am experiencing during this period. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, for your prayers, support and love.

From last Monday Bolivia has moved to a flexible quarantine nationwide where each department can decide if the rules can be lessened in certain areas. Cochabamba, where I am currently living, has decided to extend the strict quarantine until at least the end of May. This decision has been made as there is concern that the hospitals are on the verge of being overwhelmed and the number of cases is still increasing. The amount of testing being undertaken is also very limited and therefore it is very hard to know the true scale of the virus here in Bolivia.

Many Bolivians are struggling with the prolonged, strict quarantine and there have been more cases of people disobeying the rules. In Cochabamba, over the last few days, there has been a blockade of one of the main roads out of the city as people protest the current regulations. Sadly, I have also heard that there have been some displays of anger against health workers in some places as people fear getting infected. Please pray for Bolivia and the Bolivian people as they deal with the virus and also more and more with the more pressing concerns of having enough money and feeding their families.

Personally, I am doing fine, and I am very well but I have definitely had difficult days and found my emotions have been fluctuating much more than I am used to or expected. I have experienced doubts about why I am here and what is God’s purpose for me at this moment. It is especially difficult when I receive emails from the British Embassy, informing about the limited flights out of Bolivia. Nevertheless, I still feel that Bolivia is my home and God is calling me here for a reason. The earliest I might be able to move to Oruro is around the 7^th of June, but this might change again.

I am still taking Spanish classes with the school here in Cochabamba via Skype and I am slowly improving. This week I had the opportunity to help out at the foodbank here in Cochabamba, which a close friend helps run. It was incredible to see how the organisation has expanded to meet the current need in the city. I helped deliver 70 food packages to a school in the community for further distribution to people who really need them. After this, we took individual packages to local families who had asked for help, or the foodbank had been informed were struggling. It was incredible to get out of the house for the first time properly, see the city and interact with people. However, it was sad to see how much people are suffering and how needed the foodbank is right now. I am grateful to my friend for inviting me along and it was a privilege to work alongside them. I am very grateful that God has put the foodbank in place for just such a time as this.

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.

Jeremiah 29:4-5

Over the last few days, I have been thinking about the period of exile of the Israelites, how that was a period of waiting and frustration, but God told the people to settle in and that he would keep his promises and be with them. I feel like this time of quarantine could also just be a period of waiting but in fact, God wants me to open my eyes to the opportunities he is giving me and to the things he has for me to learn and grow in right now.

Thank you again, I am praying for you all, thank you to those who have been in touch. There have been definitely been times when I have felt a little isolated and lonely. Hope you have a blessed week.

3 months in Bolivia

I have now been living in Bolivia for three months, incredibly. I am still studying at the language school; over the last two weeks, I have been learning three versions of the past tense. I am slowly but surely improving and love my lessons and teachers. I have also now submitted my application for a two-year residency visa. Thank you for praying for this and for my Spanish, please continue to do so.

It has been a blessing and a joy to spend more time with the Bolivian friends I already had before I came, especially the guys who live here in Cochabamba. I have also loved getting to know some of their friends and learning about the lives of their siblings (who are all incredible) I have also enjoyed getting to know some of the people at church and some other people who are linked to the school.

Over the last few Saturdays, it has been great to go on some hikes, into the mountains around Cochabamba, that have been organised by the school. It has been a lovely opportunity to be part of a community and develop friendships. One example of this is that I was walking with one of my teachers, who has become an awesome and wise friend, and she wasn’t feeling great and ended up being sick. I have realised that these memorable moments though not fun at the time can be some of the most important in developing friendships. While comforting her and sharing some of many similar ill moments we were able to really get to know one another and cement our friendships, which has meant so much to me as I settle in here. It is astonishing how God can use such moments.

These experiences reminded me of an experience at a Scripture Union camp several years ago on Arran where a young person was sick in the middle of the night. As unpleasant and difficult as this was for the young person, it was one of my favourite moments of the camp. As we were able to have great conversations with the young person and fun-filled chats with the other young people in the tent, while I sorted out the vomit, these were a blessing. (Although I did spectacularly fail to efficiently clean the vomit off the grass). Further, I think these experiences were essential in building relationships with these Christ-centred lovely young people, who I have now had the privilege to serve alongside as adults at various Christian events. I am so grateful for the relationships God has put in my life and excited for the ones that are being formed now and will come here and in Oruro.  

I have had moments here where I have missed being in Scotland especially when camps and events I would normally be involved with have been happening back home. But I have been reminded that God has placed me here, I chose to follow this path and know that God has a purpose for me here. I love hearing what is happening in Scotland and praying for you. I am so grateful for your interest, support and prayers for me.

I am so appreciative of the time I’ve had here in Coch to spend with God and listen to what he is saying to me. Over the last month or so I have been strongly challenged on obeying God and trusting in his timing. Please pray for me as I try to take more of the opportunities that God presents to me. Please also pray for me as I move to Oruro in April.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  James 1:2-4 NIV

Thank you again so much for all your love. Please message me, I love keeping in touch.

Also, I have been watching this series about the life of Jesus, which is called The Chosen, which you can download an app to watch. I can’t recommend it highly enough, it is beautiful.

A glimpse into the first month

 

Hey, hope you are enjoying or have enjoyed a blessed Christmas period, and this gives an insight into what I have been up to in Bolivia. 

I have been in Bolivia for almost 1 month and it has absolutely flown by. The majority of my time has been spent settling into life in Cochabamba (which is a beautiful city in the centre of Bolivia) and beginning my Spanish studies. I am attending a school that is very near to my house and normally I have four one-on-one classes a day. My three teachers are exceptional and very different from one another. My classes are enjoyable and the idea of becoming fluent in Spanish now seems possible. The regular language confusion in both English and Spanish can be very amusing. 

It has also been a joy and a privilege to reunite with friends across Bolivia in Santa Cruz, La Paz and here in Cochabamba. It is such a reassurance and blessing to have this beautiful family across the country. It has made settling in so much easier and I have loved praying with and catching up with them. I am so glad that I can continue to strengthen these friendships over the next couple of years. 

        

Starting new friendships has also been fun, and a challenge with my limited Spanish. I am looking forward to having even more Bolivian friends. Although my Spanish teachers keep tell me not to use google translate, I think it is wonderful. As it has allowed me to start to form friendships, including with some of the guys I will be volunteering alongside in Oruro. This morning I also found out that when a girl asks you how old you think she is it is still dangerous to answer in Bolivia. 

        

I also had the opportunity to attend a three-day camp in Oruro for 37 children of prisoners. The campsite was basic, but this was a beautiful experience. It was amazing to get to know these children in a small way and exchange a few words in Spanish and English. I am excited to work more with these children and to really get to know them. It was also reassuring to know that the same things cause amusement and astonishment in Bolivia as in Scotland: my height; the size of my feet; the size of my Adam's apple and my laugh. With random small Bolivian girls running up to me and saying ‘haha haha’ then laughing with me. One small Bolivian boy in Santa Cruz did astound me with his kindness by saying I look 20 years old and suit my spots. I am looking forward to future interactions with more Bolivian children. God is also challenging me on how I love every single individual that I encounter and I hope to grow in this.

It has been incredible to see how friendships and relationships can begin in spite of the lack of a shared language. However, it is a huge motivator for me in my Spanish learning to know that deeper relationships require fluency.  

It is also a blessed reassurance to know God is alongside me and remains the same.

        Love and blessings,

                                           Andrew 

Please Pray For

• A continued focus and reliance upon God 
• Me to continually attempt to view every person in the same way that God does 
• Progress in language learning  
• The development of deeper relationships
• The children I worked with in Oruro 

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14