(This page was written on March 17, 2010, before I was living in San Fernando. I will go down to Santa Cruz, Bolivia April 20th, 2010, and hopefully go out to live in San Fernando by May.)
Q: WHY have you gone to Bolivia, and why are you going back?
Q: What will you do in San Fernando?
A: We will encourage and disciple the Christians there, through friendship and a church leadership development training program. Also we will brainstorm and help Christians start outreach ministries, such as children’s clubs, and Bible studies. FIRST HOWEVER, we will just learn how to live in San Fernando. We will build relationships with people in the town, with much visiting and listening to people to build trusting relationships. Eventually I would like to make and keep a garden, as well as learn how to cook their way in a mud stove and oven, and be able to invite ladies over to our house. Hopefully our presence will strengthen and grow the body of believers in San Fernando
A: No. There is a young Bolivian woman who is in her final year of Seminary in Santa Cruz who feels called to go with me. We will be a team. We will live in the same house, and minister to the town together. I will be the only North American missionary in the town. Also every day I will communicate, by short-wave radio, with the SAMAIR hangar in Santa Cruz.
A: Rice, rice, meat, bread and more rice. Chicken is the most common meat. Maybe I will have some chickens. They do have fish from the river, but I don’t think anyone eats much fish. And there are cows, but I don’t think anyone eats much beef because there is no refrigeration. They sell the the cows to make money. Also there is yucca, it’s much like potato. There are mangos, bananas and other things which I’m sure I will learn more about when I go there.The diet is very simple, and there is not much variety.
A: While living in a small town in June and July 2007, one eveing I was walking from the center of the town down the long dark road to the room I was renting. I didn’t have my flash light, but I was told it was safe, and no one would attack me. As I walked, I saw a figure in the middle of the road, I greeted him/her. I thought it was odd when they didn’t say anything IT WAS VERY DARK OUT, I WAS GETTING CONCERNED, AND SAID SOMETHING AGAIN, to realize I was talking to a donkey!
A: When I was eleven years old I realized God loved all the people of the whole world, and wanted me to go and tell them about HIM! In Matthew 28:18-20NIV, Before Jesus finally ascended into heaven He told his disciples to GO to all the world, and make disciples; to tell others about Him! It’s a mandate. And not only do I know I should do it, I WANT TO. IT’S THE DESIRE OF MY HEART TO REACH THE UNREACHED WITH GOD’S LOVE! To teach the untaught and love the forgotten. And every day is an adventure!
From August 2004 until basically until May 2009 I taught art to grades Pre-K through 12th at Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center, as well as many other things in my community, as I learned Spanish. Yet, now I am going back to Bolivia to live in San Fernando and help the people there.
Q: What will you do in San Fernando?
A: We will encourage and disciple the Christians there, through friendship and a church leadership development training program. Also we will brainstorm and help Christians start outreach ministries, such as children’s clubs, and Bible studies. FIRST HOWEVER, we will just learn how to live in San Fernando. We will build relationships with people in the town, with much visiting and listening to people to build trusting relationships. Eventually I would like to make and keep a garden, as well as learn how to cook their way in a mud stove and oven, and be able to invite ladies over to our house. Hopefully our presence will strengthen and grow the body of believers in San FernandoQ: Will you live/be alone?
A: No. There is a young Bolivian woman who is in her final year of Seminary in Santa Cruz who feels called to go with me. We will be a team. We will live in the same house, and minister to the town together. I will be the only North American missionary in the town. Also every day I will communicate, by short-wave radio, with the SAMAIR hangar in Santa Cruz. .
Q: What will you eat in San Fernando?
Q: Is it dangerous?
A: Well, that is debatable. We are the safest in God’s hands in the center of His will for us. However, there are possible dangers. Being that there is no doctor or nurse in the town, that poses issues of health emergencies. I have received training in jungle health emergencies and illnesses. Also, the missionary pilot and airplane are just a call away. The people in the village like North Americans. There are poisonous snakes and insects, but the people in the village know how to keep them at bay. I am trusting God.
Q: How long will you be in Bolivia?
A. My current commitment is two more years, from April 2010 until some time in 2012. Then I will come back to the States, visit my supporters and see what God wants me to do next.
Q: If you won't have electricity or internet or phones, how will you communicate?
A: It will be very simple. I will be able to communicate by radio to the SAMAIR hangar in Santa Cruz. I will contact the hangar every day.Each week, I will give an update, prayer requests and concerns to a missionary friend over the radio. She will email that information out, which will hopefully get posted on here, so you can know what’s going on with me. If someone wants to communicate with me, they have to email or Skype my friend Dana Wilson at dwilson@southamericamission.org and she will tell me what was said. Please keep it simple. Also, once a month, the missionary pilot will fly into San Fernando with mail or other material needs, such as food. I can send letters with him, and hopefully receive letters from all of you. You can mail letters to
Katie Wells, Casilla 2010, Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
Q: Are you fluent in Spanish?
A: More or less, but I will be more fluent in two years!
Q: Did you know Spanish when you went to Bolivia?
A:No. I dropped Spanish class in high school, because it was so hard for me to learn in the classroom. I learned Spanish for the first time when I lived with a Bolivian family in Santa Cruz for five years, while I was teaching at Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center. I would sit with all of my "Bolivian family" as they talked to each other, and I would listen. Also, the Bolivian church I attended had a great group of young women who took me under their wings. I love them still, and I count them as some of my closest friends. They helped me learn Spanish, too. As well, I spent time at an orphanage, and the little girls there were sweet and forgiving as I practiced my Spanish and got to know them.
Q: What are your life verses?
A: Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commended you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” I also love Psalm 139 just as much. I am known by God. How amazing is that? And Romans 10:14-15 motivates me…. I want to have beautiful feel in God’s eyes.
Q: What will you miss the most about the States?
My family.
FUNNY FAQ’S
Q: WHAT’S THE WEIRDEST THING YOU’VE EVER EATEN?
A: Cow brain soup, cow tongue, chicken heart, and pirana.
Q: WHAT’S THE MOST FUN THING YOU HAVE DONE IN SOUTH AMERICA?
A: Paragliding ofF the cliffs of Lima, Peru! Camping on the top of a Mountain in Santiago de Chiquitos, Bolivia. Hiking through Machupiccu, Peru. Sleeping in hammocks on a barge for two weeks while visiting villages along rivers in northern Bolivia with a traveling clinic and childrens program/evening church. Visiting with my friend Rosa who I watched become a Christian, and then watched her grow in Christ and get baptized. Watching friends' marriages healed through prayer after betrayal.
And NOW, LIVING IN SAN FERNANDO, BOLIVIA
Q: WHAT ARE THE BATHROOMS LIKE?
In the large city of Santa Cruz, the bathrooms are nice, but you have to put toilet paper in a waste basket next to the toilet. Some bathrooms outside the city might have running water, but there is no lid, just the porcelin part, and you may have to put the water in the top to make it flush, or pull a string of the tank mounted high on the wall. Or you might find a “squatty potty”, where it’s just a hole in the ground. In the countryside, far from “civilization”, there are just outhouses, very simple. I’m writing this before I go to live in San Fernando, so I don’t know exactly what my bathroom will be like.
Q: WHAT’S THE FUNNIEST THING THAT HAPPEN TO YOU IN BOLIVIA?
A: While living in a small town in June and July 2007, one eveing I was walking from the center of the town down the long dark road to the room I was renting. I didn’t have my flash light, but I was told it was safe, and no one would attack me. As I walked, I saw a figure in the middle of the road, I greeted him/her. I thought it was odd when they didn’t say anything IT WAS VERY DARK OUT, I WAS GETTING CONCERNED, AND SAID SOMETHING AGAIN, to realize I was talking to a donkey!
