Its unbelievable to think that 1.0109 years ago I arrived in
Bolivia to take my first breath of South American air. A recent nightmare the
other day made me realize that wow I really am on the downwind leg of my journey
here..Ahhh!….but I am really grateful to God for his goodness for keeping me
here for over a year now. At least I can say my heart has made deep roots
here(even if my stomach is still struggling to plant itself in). I really
wanted to use this month to take a personal retreat somewhere to reflect on the
past year and to remember God’s passage through my life here. Unfortunately it’s
the beginning of the school year right now, sooo I’ll have to wait to have my extended
personal time with God.
I came across the
bible passage Exodus 33 recently in the Bible when God and Moses were talking together.
Moses was asking to see God’s face. God responded with well not right now but “you
will see my back.” So often that’s how I see the presence of the Lord in my
life. Tracing back his footsteps at the end of the day, recalling the entire day
where He was in all the good times. I wish that I had time to make a 10 things
learned kind of post for this reflection. Instead I’ll share 10 memories that
come to the top of my mind that I really enjoyed experiencing as a Salesian Lay
Missioner this past year in Bolivia.
1.
I currently live at a boarding school in the
country tues-fri. At night, when I’m closing door # 4, all the boys in that
room ask me to lead a personal prayer before going to sleep. Their request is
music to my ears at the end of a long day. It makes me smile that they prefer meee
to be the one to lead a Spanish conversation with God.
2.
Mondays
are my off days and I like to spend those days at the seminary in San Carlos. Monday
nights the Salesian community has mass in their chapel, followed by a dinner, and
then a rosary. There something about praying the rosary together and walking
pass the statues of Jesus and Mary that helps me enter into the mysteries
better. The Holy Family becomes so much more alive when I pray with others. It
reminds me of how Jesus is more present and nearer when 2 or more are gathered.
3.
Before Bolivia I envisioned myself playing the
guitar in the country for the kids and at masses. Well was I wrong! Turned out
God had other plans in which for me to invest my time. I still like to sing in
public lol even if I’m not that good. I like to take a church missal out into
the plaza at night on weekends and sit on a bench. The kids love to play in the
plaza at night and approach me. Eventually they ask me, can I see what you have in your hands? and before you know it we
are singing church songs together! and we all know we are not even in church!..
And there is no guitar in sight!
4.
Sometimes a good morning can turn into a bad
afternoon. “The problems” can pile up throughout the day. I get to the point
where I think that people slighting me or when I feel sick is the worse cross
to carry. Occasionally, Father Arturo likes to make a hospital visit and I like
to go along with him for the following reason. The humbling experience there after
seeing the sick and injured has such a transformative change on my attitude. I
realize my problems and crosses are so little compared to the sick in the
hospital. I need this reminder “con
frecuencia.”
5.
I like to take walks to different catholic
schools in yapacani to talk to kids during recreation time. One time at a school I was visiting, a group
of teenage kids came up to me and asked me to talk in English, so I was like
alright I can do that. I was thinking… what should I say to them when it hit me
ahhh I’ll pray the Hail Mary!. so I began praying the Hail Mary in English. After
I finished they thought it was so beautiful. They wanted me to teach them the
prayer in English during their recreation time. So I told them I would print
copies of that prayer in English to pass out the next day. And so I did and we
prayed it together word by word the next day. I now bring a prayer booklet to
that school each time I visit… (As I was writing this blog, a girl from that
school found me in the office and asked me to repeat the words from the Cristo Conmigo prayer that I prayed with
them the other day!)
6.
When I was studying Spanish in Cochabamba, I got
to experience Holy week there. The week following up to Easter was so fun and
motivating. Holy week made the entire city come alive. I remember in that week
I liked praying the stations of the cross in my neighborhood with the parish
community. I really liked visiting and praying in 18 decorated churches on the night
of Holy Thursday. Mains streets were shut down and blocked off for Good Friday
processions. My Spanish teacher invited me to spend Easter with him and his
family and we visited pueblos outside of the city where Easter was being
celebrated with festivals.
7.
One thing I really liked doing at my old mission
site (Okinawa, Bolivia) was going to novenas for relatives that passed away of
the students. Novenas in this sense are when family and friends go to the home
of the deceased and pray there for 9 nights. My first night In Okinawa (after I brought my
luggage into the volunteer house) my site partners invited me to a Novena of
one of the students they knew at school. We each hopped on a moto bike taxi and
rode off onto the muddy roads in the dark to the family home where I was hugged
by kids I didn’t know. It was the first time I was on moto in Bolivia and my
first night on mission so that particular experience has stayed in my mind. We
returned each night for the rest of the Novena. I got to see how this beautiful
Novena tradition can be a really great tool for God to heal the Bolivians who have
lost a loved one.
8.
One of my favorite things to do is translate
personal letters between sponsor children and their sponsors in Canada. I
receive the gift and privilege to be a bridge between hearts. I feel the hand
of Jesus on my shoulder showing me the struggles inside of hearts so that I can
communicate His love better to the kids. Only once a year sponsors receive a
photo of their sponsored children. While here I am in person receiving the honor
to play with their kids, joke with them, listen to their problems, give hugs, give
encouragement, and go to mass with their sponsored children.
9.
One Sunday Padre Arturo was celebrating mass at
a school run by Salesian sisters. At the end of mass during the announcements, one
of the sisters announced it was Padre’s birthday. Out of the blue came running a
little 6 year old girl from the congregation. She ran up to Padre while Padre
hands were up in the air about to give the final blessing. The little girl tugged
at his vestments to get his attention and when Padre bent down the little girl
gave a kiss on his left and right cheek. A uniform awww was heard in the crowd.
I tell you Padre has so many spiritual children that love him.
10.
At the end of a long day in Yapacani, Connor and
I would take a shared taxi (trufi) back to San Carlos where we live. We walk up
the hill on the street toward the church. When we reach the top of the hill we can see
the sun setting over the mountains past the city. It’s so beautiful when there are
clouds on top of the mountains because its becomes more difficult to see where
the mountain peaks end and the bottom of the clouds begin. This makes the
sunset so much more beautiful. It’s hard to put God’s beauty into words so you
can visualize it. I take that heavenly masterpiece that last only a few moments
as God’s way of thanking me for my daily effort.
Well I have to stop the list at 10 haha I can keep going!
Good thing I keep a journal to keep track of everything. I know that new
memories and experiences are waiting to be created. I hope to use the experiences
and wisdom that I received in the past year to make more of an impact on Bolivian
hearts in the following months. I’m really looking forward to making bolder attempts
to centralize the kids on the love of Jesus.
