True Feelings: The Vents of an Inexperienced Missionary (#7)

8/9/10

What an interesting day. This journal entry is coming from my iPhone notes while I'm sitting in the airport waiting for my flight at 1:30am. This is the beautiful side of mission work, right? Our flight was supposed to be leaving at 1:20, but we were informed when we got here that it would be delayed 2 hours. But... While we were sitting in the airport lobby with a friend just sharing stories, an employee told us the flight was on time and was boarding. This was at 1:15. So we stressfully sprinted through security. We were met by tired, thorough employees who searched every crumb on the bottom of my carry on bag, despite our need to get to our gate ASAP. I swear mental stress is more tiring than physical stress. We finally make it through the sluggish security and start our run towards our gate only to be met by the news that our flight was in fact delayed. Got to love the things lost in translation I suppose.

Today was our shopping day. We got to go downtown and shop for souvenirs and sight see parts of the city we didn't have time for this past week. Unfortunately, the last 2 days I've had a severe-to-deathly sore throat. It still hurts as I type. fortunately, there are advantages of getting sick on medical mission trips. I'm already on antibiotics, for no cost. Praise the Lord. It was tough saying bye to the team. I've REALLY enjoyed their company this past week. We really meshed well and have grown close.

What kind of people go on mission trips over four thousand miles away from home? Amazing, passionate, genuine, fire-filled Christians. I've had the best conversations with these people. You don't find many flaky Christians sleeping in sleeping bags, working long days for no tangible benefit in the Third world. They've all inspired me so much. I kept a tab in my notes on my phone that I just kept quotes from them when they would say something I could learn from. Considering I'm the youngest member of our team, they all have so much experience for me to learn from. Take this for example, I've been thinking about it lately: "How you treat the creation reflects how you feel about the creator". There is such wisdom in that. I've collected several little quotes like this in my phone. They didn't even know I was listening. These are the little things I've enjoyed so much on this trip. I think I've been blessed more than I could have blessed anyone else. Now, I'm going to lie down on this bench and get a quick nap in before my flight.

I sure am going to miss this place.

P.S. It's now 2:00 and I'm still waiting
P.S.S it's now 2:30 and I'm still waiting
3:03. Still waiting.
3:35 Take off
3:36 Just kidding. Drunk guys on plane just got us taxied back to terminal.
4:06 Take off again.

True Feelings: Vents of an Inexperienced Missionary (#6)

8/6/10

What an incredible, fun day. It was independence day here in Bolivia. We went to a huge parade downtown. There was just a great spirit among the people. Bolivian flags flew proudly all over the city. I actually got on Google today and noticed they redesigned their front page with Bolivian flag colors. It made me feel really proud to be here. There was a lot of drama in the La Paz, the capitol, last night with people quarantined in the palace. I'm not sure what exactly happened but it had something to do with drugs. Whatever exactly happened, it prevented President Morales from attending the Santa Cruz parade. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise. Morales doesn't have much respect for the people in Santa Cruz. The feelings are mutual. Morales is a socialist, borderline communist. The Bolivian constitution states that a president can only serve two, four year terms in office. Morales just recently changed the constitution and is currently serving in his third term. As far as his background, he has no formal education whatsoever. He gained his power through the coca growing industry. Yes, coca leaves is the base for cocaine production. In fact, Morales is STILL the president of the coca growing association as well as president of the country. Like most socialist/communist reigns, Morales has the support of the poorer class, which of course is the majority of the population. Be in prayer for the politics of Bolivia.
When pro-Morales supporters marched in the parade , members of the crowd booed and threw trash at them. The moments got a little tense with hundreds of militants holding guns and tear gas containers. The primitive, angry resentment was exciting to me (a sheltered American city boy). After the parade, we went to a local pastors house who also owns a very successful business. His house would have been an upper class home in any city in America. It was refreshing to get to relax. He just let us hang out and he also cook out on his grill for us. It was an amazing time to just chill and talk to our team members. Our team is full of incredible people. I am taking by all of their stories. I've gained so much wisdom from them this past week. I'm really going to miss them. I feel like they've almost become family. We've all had to depend on each other. I feel very bittersweet about my return "home". I know Tulsa will always be my physical home, but I've never felt more at home than now. I am excited to see my friends and family, but I really do love it here. I love the people. I love our team. This trip has done more for me than I could ever have done for the people we're here to serve. Most importantly, I am in love with Jesus. Your walk with Him is so close when you have nothing else. See you all in a couple of days.
Love,
Stephen

True Feelings: The Vents of an Inexperienced Missionary (#5)

8/5/10


What an exciting day. We did a traveling clinic to an old people’s home. It was about an hour long drive out there, but it was totally worth it. This is one the most unique ministries I've ever come across. Their unofficial motto is: "Preparing people for heaven". This facility has a clinic, garden, outdoor bread oven, a full kitchen, and even a sugar cane press. They don't have any housing yet, but are in the process of building a very nice one. We got to eat fresh tangerines, lemons, and even fresh cane juice. There are probably about 120 people who travel in from surrounding villages to be at this ministry. From the minute we arrived we couldn't get away from the people. They were that nice and inviting. They all called me, "Dr. Stephen", which deepens my desire for my future. I was also met with sloppy wet kisses from all the teethless old women. It was wonderful... The retired people actually come to work every day here. They pick fruit, tend to the gardens, and make sugar cane juice. Their background in farming and very hard work ethics makes this place very special to them. It gives them meaning again. It makes them feel valued and useful.

As far as the clinic went today, we got to see goiters, numerous high blood pressures, arthritis, and even another case of Chagas disease. These people were truly grateful for what they received today. One man broke down in tears during our clinic. He told us that he often feels, "overwhelmed". It almost made me tear up. It was a very trip defining moment and one that I will not easily forget. What we are doing has a great purpose. We are impacting hundreds of lives. Our clinics are officially over. We've seen over 300 patients this week and had 80-90 people come to know the Lord this week. It has been an incredible time. The next two days we will be relaxing and recuperating from a hard week's work.

Tomorrow marks Bolivia's 188th Independence Day. We will be celebrating at the Santa Cruz parade. As I write, I hear many fireworks all around. I first thought they were gun fire (these initial inclinations are common and understandable in 3rd world countries). Hah! President Morales will be at the parade. This will mark the first time Morales will be in Santa Cruz in two years. Two years ago Santa Cruz almost led a rebellion to overthrow the oppressive government that Morales runs. There was massive amounts of tension that caused all the airports across the countries shutting down, which prevented a Bridge Builders team from entering the country then. Even now, there is tension building with the arrival of Morales in Santa Cruz. All it takes is one crack head to take a shot at Morales at the parade and we probably won't be able to leave the country for another week. That probably wouldn't bother me honestly. I love what we're doing here. The next two days we'll be relaxing and sightseeing. I'm looking forward to it. I miss all of you like crazy. God is so good.

Love,

Stephen

Bolivia Video

I was planning on waiting until the end of my series of journal entries to post this video. But I've decided to post the video so you can get a visual sense of what I'm writing about. It's a simply made video, but I hope you enjoy it regardless.

True Feelings: The Vents of an Inexperienced Missionary (#4)

8/4/10


I felt like I was benefitting from Jim Elliot's life efforts today. We treated 5 or 6 Quechua Indians in our clinic today. They are a branch of the indigenous Indians who migrated down from Ecuador to parts of Bolivia. They are a very unique people. They all dress with 4 to 5 layers including an apron on the outside. Our interpreters have difficulty understanding them. Best of all: They are all very strong and sure of their faith. It's easy to see the influence Jim and his wife have had on their entire culture. I felt honored to come across these people on the mission field. I got a photo of a couple of them that I posted at the bottom of this blog entry.

As far as the clinics went today, I was an official doctor... At least according to the Bolivians. I saw my own patients and made my own diagnoses. I've really learned a lot in just the last three days of doing a clinic. It's been very beneficial to apply things learned in school. One of my patients had Chagas disease, which is only found in Bolivia and Paraguay. This excited our team physician, Dr. Carey. He totally stopped all orders of business to get out a tropical disease textbook and teach us students about the uniqueness of our case. It was really interesting. We've run into cases of tuberculosis, Pneumonia, and even a staph infection. Needless to say, I've used about seven bottles of hand sanitizer. This experience is priceless. Dr. Carey even sent us home with his text book to read more about Chagas disease. Guess you can't avoid homework even when you're on the mission field. (Edit on 8/5/10: I got in trouble for not reading my homework. Uh oh.) I'm merely a beginner. It's so easy to treat the symptoms and not the root cause of the problem. I really have a desire burning deep down to learn more. I want to be knowledgeable. I want to be the best I can possibly be.

I got to have dinner tonight with seven engineers and businessmen. I was easily the poorest and least intelligent person in the room. I tried my best to not foolishly spill my coffee all over the table and interrupt the wealthy aura of the room. Nonetheless, it was a unique opportunity for one of our team members to share his testimony with them. I'm not sure why I was the only other one invited. Maybe it was simply my beautiful face.

I've been too busy to write much lately. And I know I'm too tired to remember all the exciting things I've experienced. This Friday (8/6/10) is Bolivia's 188th Independence Day. There will be a huge parade that we will get to attend. The president, Evo Morales, will be in the parade. Its sub 40 degrees here and my fingers are getting stiff with the lack of a heater. It's time for me to go crawl into my sleeping bag. It's very late and I must wake up early. We are going on a 100 mile journey tomorrow to set up a remote clinic. Over 20 people came to know Christ for the first time today. Praise God. Praying for you.

Love,

Stephen

True Feelings: The Vents of an Inexperienced Missionary (#3)

8/2/10

I woke up at seven this morning and just now got back to our house (11:20pm). It was a very long day at the clinic. Everything I saw today will forever be burned into my memory. I saw and learned to treat impetigo, scabies, third degree burns, large fungal growths/infections, and atopic eczema. Seriously, Google search the images of these skin diseases. Now imagine innocent seven year olds with these skin issues. It's heart breaking, but the excitement on their faces when you provide a solution is one of the most fulfilling couple minutes I've ever experienced. This is what I'm called to do. I love it. I also worked hard taking vitals for over 70 people. It was a hectic day to say the least. Life of a real doctor? I think so.


I've noticed that my natural ability to entertain children transcends borders and cultures. I continually distracted myself from my duties by playing with the children. At one point, I had a group of eight children surrounding me talking to me in a language I can barely understand. My heart breaks for God's children. I will say a prayer tonight for every child I met today. It's devastating to see such beautiful children go home to poverty stricken homes and often times abusive homes as well. I often wonder if they will all remember me. I hope they will. May God be with them every day of their lives.

This is a short post. I'm exhausted. And it's only the first day of clinics. God is my strength. By the way, at least 20 people came to know Christ for the FIRST time today in our clinic. Praise Him. Nothing makes my heart happier. The people here in Bolivia have such a large view of God. I've learned that God can only be as big as we make him. How big do you make God? Are you keeping him in a box? Are you fully dependent? I'm praying for you.

Love,
Stephen

True Feelings: The Vents of an Inexperienced Missionary (#2)

8/1/10

Last night I had this horrible nightmare that I slept outside and was awoken by an Amazonic thunderstorm. Than I realized that it was reality. Due to our large team that is assembling here in Santa Cruz, Bolivia we are running out of bed space. So a couple of the other men and I decided to sleep outside on the patio. We woke up at 4:28am completely soaked by a thunderstorm like none other. Take Tulsa sized raindrops and multiply them by 900x and that is the size of Bolivian raindrops. We drug our soaked sleeping bags inside to attempt to sleep some more despite our conditions. We've learned very early that we can't come into a country like this complaining. They need to hear us speak life. So all we could do at four in the morning is laugh. It really is hilarious when you think about it. A bunch of gringos sleeping outside in a third world country, getting poured on. There is no time to be vain. I'm learning to grow and adapt.

I love Bolivia.

I'm currently listening to our incredibly talented team sing praise and worship. Something truly beautiful happens when people from many backgrounds, cultures, and countries come together for one purpose. We have Bolivians, Peruvians, Paraguayans, Tulsans, Georgians, and a South African working together to spread a simple, yet life changing message: Jesus loves you more than you can comprehend. We went to two different churches today to spread the word about out clinic this week. We got to pray for healing with many people. Their desire and faith is unbelievable. They walk to the alter with expectation. It's really been challenging me. Do I have similar faith? Man, I couldn't be more perfectly in God's will for my life.

Our lead doctor, Dr. Carey, informed me today that tomorrow (Monday) and Tuesday I will be shadowing him with patients. He gave me 20 pages worth of common tropical diseases to study in all my free time. He told me, to my surprise, that by Wednesday I will be seeing my own patients. How crazy is that? From Chemistry lab rat to doctor... I'm only 20 years old! I'm so excited. I've got a sheet of a lot of common medical phrases in Spanish that I must learn. He told me I have two days to significantly grow up. I've never been so excited about a challenge. This is my destiny. God is so good. Dr. Carey also told me that I could shadow him when we are back in Tulsa when we return. I'm excited about the connections I'm making. I respect the spiritual emphasis Dr. Carey puts on his practice. He instructed me to spend at least five minutes with every patient to share the gospel with them. He told me that there is a level of trust and openness to share the gospel with patients because they share their physical secrets with you. I've been absorbing as much as I can from the many experiences people on our team have had. We have one lady who has been to over 188 countries. How incredible.

In other news, I ate a chicken heart today for lunch. No, I'm not kidding, a chicken heart! And it actually tasted... good! Go figure. I washed it down with a cup of passionfruit juice and pineapple juice. I love this place. I was born for this. It's past one in the morning now and I must wake up in a few hours to prepare for clinic. Good night America. I miss you Depot. More than you know. My family as well : ) Be in prayer.

Sincerely,
Stephen

True Feelings: The Vents of an Inexperienced Missionary (First Post)

7/31/10

God is so good. Flying standby can be quite stressful but it presents God numerous opportunities to prove himself faithful. I had no idea how much I would be trusting God yesterday when I woke up at 4:00am to leave the country, All of the flights from Tulsa to Dallas were booked, which shattered my plan. Me and my fellow team member, Gary Jackson, made a last second decision to hop on the flight to Chicago instead. We arrived in the world’s largest airport only 20 minutes before the next flight left for Miami. When I arrived at our gate, I received news that I was taken off the standby list for some unknown reason. This meant I was put at the end of the list now. The lady at the counter told me, "You won't be getting a flight out of Chicago any time soon". I started praying. There are 5 seats available on the flight and I am number 6 on the standby list. The list on the screen slowly starts filing down. One name at a time is removed as their names are being called on the intercom. When only three names remain, the screen goes blank. After a long silent pause the intercom interrupts the boisterous Chicago crowd with, "Jackson and Cliff can now board". Praise God. We get the last two seats available on the entire flight. For whatever reason, one person in front of me did not show up to claim their seat. The same story happens in Miami going to Bolivia. And we end up getting first class for our nine hour flight. God is always faithful. There is nothing more rewarding that living perfectly in God's will.


My heart breaks for Bolivia. They are in such great need of help in every way possible. From the minute I stepped off my plane, my heart grew. We got in past one in the morning today, so our goal was to just sleep as soon as possible. When we woke up, Misael has prepared a great breakfast for us. Eggs, ham, cheese, fresh bread, and papayas. After our delicious breakfast, we headed out to the facility that we will be using for our clinic this week. We spent four hours cleaning and disinfecting the place. Driving and walking through Santa Cruz is heart wrenching. We've all seen photos of poverty and we've all heard stories of the living conditions of third world countries. But when you actually walk down a dirt road, stepping over rotting trash while you see children and women dig through garbage for food, something resonates so deeply in your heart. Seeing deathly skinny horses and dogs roaming alley ways seriously messes with your paradigm in which you view "life". There is more to life than living in our AC generated homes, having two car garages, and having massive television sets. We live above and beyond anything these people could hope for, yet we complain about everything... I'm already growing in my area of complaining. I've worn the same underwear and haven't had a shower in 52 hours. Yes, seriously. But you won't hear a complaint out of me. The heart of someone who is fully dependent on God for survival is a beautiful thing. How can you become more dependent on God today? Go it!

"Diarrhea is genetic here in Bolivia. It runs in your 'jeans'"