Introducing: Bolivia
Bolivia is located right beneath Brazil in South America. It is a landlocked country, and right in the middle of the Andes Mountain Range. Their official languages are Spanish and Quechua, an ancient Incan language. In January, Bolivia will be in the middle of its summer and rainy season, and weather should be temperate. Bolivia is said to have the least stable government in South America with over 200 coups/revolutions since its independence in 1825. Leaders have faced continued problems of poverty, social unrest, and drug production – a source of income for many Bolivians. Bolivia is also the poorest country in South America. There are 72,000 wandering street children. “Street Children” are children that are literally living on the streets with no functional family, no home to return to, and no family protection. 95% report some type of abuse by police, and 40% of the girls will resort to prostitution at some point.
So lets go...
In Bolivia we will serve at a children’s camp that draws over 700 children each year. We will serve at orphanages and old people homes, and we will take part in a ministry that washes the homeless people’s babies and gives them new clothes. We will be able to go to a place called Kjara Kjara, which is a large dump that hundreds of families live in, in the city of Cochabamba, Bolivia. There is currently a new church plant in Kjara Kjara, which represents the very first church in the area. We will be working with the poorest of the poor. Going on a mission trip to Bolivia will be a priceless experience of seeing how God works in a world unfamiliar to anything you’ve ever seen before.
We will be partnering with the organization Helping Hands Foreign Misssions. You can check out their website at http://www.helpinghandsmissions.org/
Waters Edge has never been to Bolivia before, but here are some pictures from Helping Hands.
The Kids Camp
A little girl at an orphanage holding a craft she made.
A Bolivian Nursing Home.
Missionaries Teaching a Group of Little Kids
