A Jesuit mission church of the Chiquitos

Over a year ago when I was in Cochabamba walking along the streets, I saw a man selling postcards. Thinking that I should probably send a few post cards home, I decided to look at what he had. I remember the image of one postcard catching my eye, and never fleeing my memory. It was a photo of a beautiful church with a unique and distinct style. Alongside of it was a tall bell tower just as magnificent. I remember thinking, wherever that church is, I want to see it.

Concepcion

 

Above the doors a Bible verse from Genesis is written in Spanish "casa de Dios, puerta del cielo" which means "house of God, gate of heaven."

17 months later, I found myself on a 6 hour bus ride from Santa Cruz to the desolate North Eastern part of Bolivia just to go see that church. The Spanish name of the church is “Concepcion” and was built in the 1750s. Concepcion is just one of the original 10 mission churches built by Jesuit priests and local tribes in 17^th and 18^th centuries. Jesuits came over from Spain with a goal to Christianize nomadic tribes in the regions of early Brazil, Paraguay, and North Eastern Bolivia and to also teach them trades. I read somewhere that the tribes they met were at first hostile but then warmed up to the European Jesuits after they found out they had a different mission from their brethren Spanish Conquistadors. Many Indians who joined the missions were looking for protection from Portuguese slave traders or the unfair tax system of the Spanish conquistadors.¹ The Jesuits certainly had their handful when it came to converting the tribes, some tribes had a rule of only one child per family and so would kill their second son or daughter if they had more children. The mission communities created by the Jesuits, called reductions, were self-sufficient, with thriving economies and virtually autonomous from the Spanish crown.² The government of Spain accused the Jesuits of hiding money from Spain in their missions and further also accused the Jesuit order of starting riots in Madrid. All in all this snowballed into the Jesuits being evicted from their missions in 1767. I read that for the Jesuit mission for Concepcion, a group of soldiers arrived into the mission town and ordered their eviction of the Jesuit priests.

Today, the church in the pueblo, also called Concepcion, is recognized as a world heritage site. Many of the Jesuit mission churches survived after the Jesuits were evicted because of the local tribes wanting to preserve their memories with what the Jesuits had done for them. A major restoration project was carried out in the 1970s-1990s by a Swiss Architect named Hans Roth. Centuries later he and his team of local Bolivians restored the churches in Eastern Bolivia that still remained. He dedicated the rest of his life to restoring the mission churches.

The statue of the Immaculate Conception

Connor and I arrived in the town at night and we saw the church across the plaza and it was closed. We went to eat at a place called Buen Gusto and afterwards we started walking back to our hotel. Connor asked me if I wanted to pray the rosary on our way back. As we were praying, we walked past the church and low and behold the doors were now open. So we decided to pause our rosary and go inside the church and check it out. The church was so beautiful. You can see the European styles incorporated in the church along with designs of native flowers and other native traditions, a nice blend of the indigenous and European traditions. The pews were so beautiful. The pews were hand carved with different depictions from the bible carved into them. The pews in the back had designs from Old Testament while the pews in the front were of the New Testament. We figured out why the church was open, a Rosary group was praying the rosary in front of the Immaculate Conception statue. So Connor and I sat down next to them and continued our Rosary that we were praying outside. I must say praying the rosary inside of a beautiful decorated church certainly beat praying the rosary walking in the dark outside.

 

An original column from the 1750s that was used to support the
roof of the church. Now this column is in the museum in the plaza.

In the workshop in the pueblo making the new columns
 during the renovations in the 1970s.

Centuries later the impact of the Jesuits can be seen in the Santa Cruz department. I was talking  to the carpenter at the boarding school here in Yapacani and he told me that he went to a trade school that taught wood carving techniques that the Jesuits taught in their workshops in the Chiquitania region. Many of the churches throughout Santa Cruz have the traditional spiral columns that are a characteristic of the Jesuit churches. A matter of fact the altar area for the mass in Santa Cruz for the visit of Pope Francis here in Bolivia was based off the front of Concepcion.

The Concepción based altar área at the Holy Mass in Santa Cruz. Pope Francis is at the lecturn on the left giving his Homily!

I had a great time at Concepcion, It would be nice to see the other Jesuit mission churches in Bolivia. They are far away from each other though. I like making trips to holy places. Maybe one day I will return to Bolivia and have the opportunity to visit the other churches but if I do not that’s ok. I’m just happy I got to see Concepcion.

Our San Carlos misión and another town recieved the left over 10,000 consecrated hosts that Pope Francis consecrated. Its been a month and we are still recieving the same hosts from the Papal Mass. 

 

^1,2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesuit_reduction

First Sundays

First Sundays of each month here are exciting and are a little different than following Sundays.  I want to talk about the devotion to the Divine Child in one pueblo and I also want to talk about the beauty of the Baptisms in Yapacani.

There is a pueblo called Buen Retiro (Good Retreat). It is about 13 km (8 miles), a 4 hour walk, from San Carlos where I live. They have a church there named after the Divino Nino (Divine Child). Every first Sunday of the month people from all over Bolivia make a pilgrimage to the Church. If you are looking for a place to worship Baby Jesus in Bolivia, than this is the place you want to be. People arrive in mini buses and trufis. The major influx of people brings many food and memorabilia vendors. Its like an outdoor flee market. The inside of the church is packed with the faithful shoulder to shoulder. I am always happy to watch people pray in front of the giant baby Jesus statue. That might sound weird but I don’t care, I’m inspired by their faith and I pray for them while they pray to Jesus.

 The first time I went to this small pueblo for daily mass with Padre Carlos, I was wondering why the church was so big for such a small community. He told me that a lot of people come to mass on first Sundays. Further he told me that they are planning on building a larger church.  I remember taking a look around and seeing hundreds of pews inside and even outside the church. I was thinking you could fit the population of Buen Retiro into this church with room to spare….But that was before I ever experienced a first Sunday mass here.

The mini buses that people come in

 

 

Last week confirmation classes from Yapacani, Montero,and Buena Vista made an annual hike from San Carlos to Buen Retiro for Mass at the Divino Nino Temple.

There is no more room inside the church so there are pews outside the church.

 

A little shrine outside next to the church where people can pray to Baby Jesus

 

Who wants a Divine Child souvenir

 

 

One of the sisters blessing peoples' cars outside of church at the end of mass

 

Now, over the river and through the woods (literally), we are back in Yapacani. At the end of first Sunday masses we have baptisms of little children after Mass. We are not just talking about 3 or 4 babies receiving the sacrament of baptism; It’s more like 30 or 40 little children becoming little brothers and sisters in Christ. Baptisms take place at the end of Mass, its usually quite a sight. The babies are very cute in their outfits.

Babies certainly have the power to move and soften hearts. If babies are good at “wooing” hearts, than Baby Jesus who is perfect in His being will be able to “woo” your heart all the more. I’m finding myself more comfortable praying to Baby Jesus to soften my heart, asking the Lord to help me to love those that are difficult to love. Connor and I were joking that we prefer to pray to grown up Jesus when we pray. Ha! but we know our prayers to Baby Jesus will be heard and God’s will be carried out. To quote Tommy Pickles from Rugrats, “a baby’s gotta do what a baby’s gotta do.”

Baptisms can be a little disorganized inside the church in Yapacani.

 

 

One of the secretaries that we know in the sponsorship office had her daughter baptized. This is a photo from the dinner after mass at her home.

 

The Rehabilitation Center for Malnourished Children

In San Carlos, there is a malnourished children center that is run by religious sisters. The center provides care to children from newly born up to the age of 5. It is a pretty well-known place because there are some babies that are from the city of Santa Cruz which is 2 hours away. San Carlos is a quiet town. The malnourished children center is located at the end of a paved road on top of a big hill, so the scenic view it overlooks is really nice. It’s a great environment for the kids. Connor and I like to volunteer there on Mondays. I do not spend too much time with the newborns, I like to play and help with the kids that are just beginning to walk, the toddlers. They are the funniest and you can really see their unique characteristics and personalities that make them different from one

that’s the walking toddler Belen with his baby face

another. There is the one toddler Yoselin who likes to give the girl babies kisses but does not get along well with the boys. Alejandro who bites and pinches the other babies. Franco the very shy baby with the crying quivering lip. Erlinda the baby loving to strangers. Esperanza, the baby that is scared of strangers. Belen, the toddler that still has a baby face. Fabiola the smiling and very happy baby. This is the time of their lives when they think they are invulnerable. Sometimes I will be sitting down with my hands literally full with babies and I can see across the hall a daredevil standing precariously on a bench or worse a swing taking the world/nursery into view. I think to myself “If you fall, I will not have lightning speed and be able to catch you” Don’t they know that they have only 2 months experience of standing on their own and that they don’t have reliable enough stability to be doing those things?! Gosh! Crazy little minds! You know back in yapacani I just finished translating a letter from a Bolivian mother who is asking for funding for her 10 year old daughter who is in a wheel chair and is going through therapy because she fell off of something onto her back when she was 5 years old. So ya the little toddlers’ decisions now can actually impact their future. Guardian angles stay nearby!

 

They love to climb on things, you name it benches, tables, each other, and me. Whats great though is that some engineers invented these wheelie chair things that the toddlers can be put into and my level of alertness can go down like 70%!

I love to see them happy. The other day a bird flew into their play area and was just walking around. The expressions on three of the toddlers’ faces were like.. What.. is.. that?! The bird brought so much happiness, pointing fingers, and smiles to their faces. I think that’s why I love going there. Their genuine happiness and discovery of new things, brings me happiness….and  I am not even related to them. The more time I spend with them, the more I want to meet their families, the souls that love them the most

Leido calls me Tio (uncle) so when the women that work there see me approaching they say to the toddlers “look Tio is coming!”… Leido was giving rides to the toddlers on his moto.

 

Unfortunately for me the kids have to leave the center eventually. They do have parents and so this love for me is on loan. I asked one of the sisters who helps there if she becomes sad after the children leave. I mean getting to know the children for a couple of months, learning their names, playing with them, feeding them, etc,, one’s heart becomes bonded to theirs. She said that she has gotten use to them coming and going. She reminded me to thank God that they do get better and that they get to go back home to their families, healthier than they were before. A Catholic book author Father James Martin says that love is freely given and freely accepted. Love is not necessarily ours to keep forever. Sometimes God entrusts us with the gift of being able to love one of his children for a limited amount of time. We take turns with His works of love, teaching each other and building each other up. This give me peace and keeps me looking forward to the new souls I will be getting to know in the future here at the center and back at home in the USA.

 

The kids love Madre

and they love Connor too!

Almost all of the kids names mentioned in this blog have completed their treatment and have gone back to their homes. Muchas Gracias a Dios!

A Trip to Santa Cruz

One of the memorable days this month was going to see the Rector major Fr. Angel Fernandez in Santa Cruz. Fr. Angel Fernandez is the 10^th successor of St. John Bosco. At our dining room table in San Carlos, we have a bulletin board where you can always find a picture of him at a Salesian school somewhere around the world. He is either at a school in India, at a festival in Africa, or elsewhere. So I was pretty excited to know that he was doing a South America tour. He winded up making a stop in Bolivia for a few days. One of the cities that he visited was Santa Cruz, only two and half hours from where we live in Yapacani. Two sisters from Yapacani organized a bus for a group of women to go to Santa Cruz so Connor and I tagged along. We went to the Colegio Don Bosco in Santa Cruz. This high school is huge, like colossal. The gym was packed with kids who wanted to see him. There were a lot of dances during the assembly for the Rector Major.

 

After the assembly, Fr. Angel celebrated mass in the church connected to the school. The message he kept stressing in the assembly and in his Homily was that we need to be witnesses of Christ at all times. It was a wonderful message, we can wear the clothes and rosary beads around our necks on the outside, but we truly need to be Christians on the inside. Later on during mass I received Holy Communion from St. John Bosco´s Successor… That last sentence sounds so cool btw. I was thinking so many Salesian priests and brothers I know would have appreciated that time with the Fr. Angel more than me. Therefore I felt so grateful and thankful to God for giving me the gift to meet such a Holy and righteous Man of God, especially to be in the presence of the one who has taken the place of St. John Bosco.

At the end of the assembly, Fr. Angel was taking pictures with groups of kids. Connor and I waited for the very end to get a picture with him.

 

Ok this picture was taken from Google images when Pope Francis and Fr. Angel were in Rome. But I think it’s kind of cool to have shaken someone’s hand who shook the hand of Pope Francis. No?

 

On our bus ride back that night we stopped at a supermarket. Connor and I were so excited; we didn’t think the day could get any better. Side note: we do not encounter supermarkets too often. There was an American food section and we bought imported Tositos chips, salsa, cheese sauce from the state of “Tejas”, and guacamole. I even got to hold a bag of Fritos in my hands but I didn’t have enough money to buy them, it was either the Tositos or the corn chips. Before we knew it Sister Dolores came in to the supermarket attempting to pull us by the ears because everyone was waiting for us on the bus.

On our way back to Yapacani, passing Montero, we encountered a blockade of cars in Puerto Chuello at around 10pm. Teachers at a nearby university were responsible for putting up the blockade. Apparently they don’t like the new administrator at the school so the teachers decided to block off the one main road between the two cities of Montero and Cochabamba in order to get attention. (Bolivia needs more highways).(Bolivia also needs bulldozers) The Bolivian women on our bus wanted to wait out the blockade on our bus, but the two sisters invited anybody who wanted to go back to Montero with them and sleep at a salesian kindergarten.(connections). Close to midnight, Connor and I decided to go back to Montero with the two sisters. So after 1 motorcycle ride, and 2 taxis later, we arrived at the school. The school had mattresses and so we just slept in the kindergarten classroom. The next morning the two sisters woke us up and told us that the blockade was open for a small window of time and so that we should leave now. Also the kindergarteners wanted their class back. Long story short we cruised back to Yapacani no problem and Connor and I had our nachos that next day.

Often that is what my life is like; a wall is just put in front of my camino when things are going well. Things can be going smoothly; I’m feeling grateful and then all of a sudden Bam! An outside force causes my plans to change. Gratefulness quickly turns into impatience. However over time the thought that knocks on my mind has been well things could always be worse. Probably a more virtuous state of mind would be to remain in a state of gratitude. I still need to pray for more grace to get to that point.

 

 

St. Joseph pray for us

Once a year the sponsors in Canada receive an update report from their sponsored children here in Yapacani, Bolivia. This report includes an interview with their child, a letter from their child, a drawing from their child, and a photo of their child. We asked the kids to come to our offices during the first and second weeks of March to write their letters and so that we could interview them. There are kids in the sponsorship program that live way outside the vicinity of the city, the focal point of our sponsorship program. One day we had about 30 students come from a pueblo called Los Pozos which is located more than 1 hour outside of the Yapacani.

 

I enjoyed carrying out the interviews with the children from Los Pozos and the other pueblos. We had a list of questions that we needed to ask them. I kind of felt like a psychiatrist asking them questions. How do you feel? How is your outlook on life? How is your general well being?..the typical and overused response was.. “bien no mas” which basically means “just good, nothing more.” I have to admit sometimes it did get tedious asking the same questions over and over but my Spanish was like rapid fire especially with the questions noted above. Some days I would have a line of 8 kids waiting for the interview and only a half an hour to spare before “siesta” so I had to ask the questions quickly. So quickly that the questions and the “good” responses sounded like it had a rhythm or musical tone to it.  I would get the “good,” “good,” “good,” pattern of responses and eventually laughter would burst out from the kids waiting in line because every answer was “good” from some kids.

 I think that I learned in this month the type of questions to ask to kids in order to see what they hide in their hearts. I was able to see pain and hurt inside some of their hearts. Everyone has something inside that needs to be healed. It is good for me to know their hearts so that I can try to better communicate God’s caring love to them. Listening to the children, I realized how important the relationship between parents and children are here in Bolivia. Many of the problems the kids have can be avoided by the “good” example of their parents.

 We celebrated the feast day of Saint Joseph this month in Yapacani. Padre Arturo told me that Saint Joseph was chosen to be the patron Saint of Yapacani. As we know in the Gospels, Saint Joseph was the foster father of Jesus and he was a righteous man. One of his titles in litanies is the “Mainstay of the family.” I thought to myself during some of the interviews, if only your parents looked up to Saint Joseph for how to be a good parent and spouse. Saint Joseph loved his family selflessly and patiently. Parents need to teach kids the values like good judgment, patience, fairness, and persistence. All values that Jesus most probably learned from Saint Joseph while growing up under his guidance in the workshop. The same values that helped Jesus in his later ministry when Saint Joseph was not there.  For me, I have realized how important it is to maintain my Christian values and to not let the culture change them. I try to give the message to the teenagers that our natural inclinations (like getting drunk, pre-marital sex, doing drugs, stealing) are not always the most choice worthy decisions, the same message Jesus gives, the same message our Church gives. I’m still trying to figure out how to wave the cross in front of them and giving them the message that they need to curb their desires without discouraging them. Many teenagers have the mindset that living out a Christian life is boring and a life without fun. It is actually the opposite, it is full of Love, fun, and adventure. When you give God the reins to direct you, your life will fully flower into tons of wonderful memories that you can look back on.

 Two farmers from Canada recently visited one of our farms at the Saint Joseph trade school to figure out why the 23 cows here were not producing the daily quota of milk for the local milk company and why the herd is not growing. My site partner and I had our mouths full with translating back and forth between the Canadians and Bolivians on the farm. I can tell you Connor and I learned a lot about the life cycle of cows that day haha. At the end of the day we had a beer with the Canadians back at the rectory and we started talking about Christian values and the cultural values of Bolivia. A good point that one of the farmers shared with us that evening is that many people share the common view that the Ten Commandments are a set of rules to hinder people from doing what they want and to make them feel uncomfortable. However in reality the Ten Commandments are really a recipe for Joy. I think if I can just get the teenagers to pause for a second and look at the Christian Life in that kind of light more often, they would see how joyful, comforting, healing, and exhilarating Life with Christ really can be! The reality that I hope that they can pass on to their kids one day.

 

 

Water balloon toss at a catholic youth conference in San Juan

 

 

you will see my back

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.

Villa Feliz!

Happy New Year! I am very excited for 2015. This is the bicentennial year of the founder of the Salesians. St. John Bosco was born in Italy on August 16^th 1815. Our church celebrates his feast day on Jan 31^st each year, the day he entered the kingdom of God in Heaven.

The kids start school in February. We had a 2 week back to school camp for the kids at our church Maria Auxiliadora. The camp was called “Villa Feliz.” The theme of Villa Feliz this year was on the life of Don Bosco. I had a group that consisted of 11 year old boys and girls. In a meeting with some of my teenage helpers, we planned on presenting the histories and lessons of St. John Bosco through skits, games, and magic tricks. One of the days involved me trying to impersonate John Bosco by dressing up in priestly vestments, sorry I have no picture of that to show you.  

In the second week of camp we had a boys and girls soccer competition with the other groups in the camp. We split the girls into one team and the boys into another. Before the girls had their first game and the boys had their first game, we prayed like little saints that no one would get hurt and that God would help us to do our best.

So determined to be successful, the girls and boys of my group both happened to win in their respective “leagues”. Their rewards from me were encouraging words, some hugs, coca cola, and cookies.

In preparing for this camp I thought it would be good for me to restudy the biography of St. John Bosco. His life as a young boy serves as a good model for the kids to emulate especially when it comes to working hard in school and helping the family at home. St. John Bosco completed 3 years of high school in 1 scholastic school year and 1 summer.¹ He made an effort to balance his school work with his farm work at home. St. John Bosco was a husky little boy because of all the farm work he did to help support his mother and the rest of his family (he was fatherless after the age of two). One teacher, on finding the husky farm lad in his class, almost dwarfing the smaller town boys, remarked, “ What are you, a giant moron or a genius?” John’s ready answer was “Somewhere in between,.. just a pupil who is determined to study hard and learn.”¹ When Saint John Bosco became a priest, he taught the kids that the road to sanctity was easy.  Simply do your horizontal duties in school and in society but also live out your vertical duties to God, offering your life to Jesus wherever you are. I think for most of us God does not want us to be a Blessed Mother Teresa and open orphanages around the world or to be a doctor of the church like Saint Thomas Aquinas. The canonized saints are important witnesses to our faith, who show and teach us a great deal of living out our vocations awakened by our desires. For most of us our roads to heaven are much quieter, humbler, and littler than the roads of the canonized saints. Jesus simply wants us to be the fullest we can be with Him. Fully as in giving him Lordship over all our desires and areas of our life, generously offering our lives to Him where we live… Wow that sounds crazy!, God is asking for way too much! How can you expect an eleven year old bolivian kid to give such a commitment to Christ? ..Its ok though, the point is to trust in God to make up for what you lack. Sincerely try and try and try to live a holy life and be confident that God’s infinite mercy will fill in the gaps to make you a Saint. Trying is what matters to God, being “determined” like John Bosco.

As this month comes to end and we draw nearer to the feast day of St. John Bosco, I tip my hat to Don Bosco in thanks. I’m very thankful for his life and his inspiring example of tirelessly serving God here on earth. I mean if it was not for him, I would not be here in Bolivia right now. So thank you St. John Bosco, I’m very happy to be a part of the Salesian family here in Bolivia.

A picture after praying a Rosary with our new Rosary beads. Thank you Mrs. Elaine Dudash from Greenbrook, N.J for the Rosary Beads!

 

For more information on Don Bosco, you can click on the patrons saints tab in my blog. http://www.donboscowest.org/saints/donbosco¹ also provides a nice easy read of the Don Bosco. Much of that information was placed in this blog. In putting together the topics to teach the kids that I discussed in this blog, I often turned back to the books My Life with the Saints by Fr. James Martin and Consoling the Heart of Jesus by Fr. Michael Gaitley. These are additional good reads about how God wants us to be and act before Him.

 

Here is a video made by my site partner of the Christmas camp in December that was posted as a commerical on T.V in our small city https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZbb4VJ6en0&feature=youtu.be