Pre-Travel Madness

At this time in one week I will be in Bolivia. Crazy isn't it?
 I decided to go on a mission trip to Bolivia with members of Primrose Lutheran Church and Grace United Methodist Church in Belleville last August. I couldn't let myself pass up this amazing opportunity to travel the world and spread God's love and word.
 In Bolivia we will be putting on Vacation Bible Schools for three different groups of Children. Our curriculum for these schools are called "Big Jungle Adventure: A Faith Journey with Jesus". Or, "Una Gran Aventura en la selva: un viaje de fe con Jesus". ;) I think it will prove to be a great experience for both the children and our mission group.
Speaking of which, our mission group includes 9 members (including me!) Kyle, Duane and I are from Primrose. Pastor Edwin, Aline, Nicole, Gordon, Annette, and Taylor are from Grace United. Some of us speak Spanish, some have a very limited Spanish vocabulary.
 In order to afford this trip to South America, we had to do a large amount of fundraising. From Brat Stands to Flower Sales we did it all, and we would like to thank each and every one of you who donated to our trip. Your donations mean so much to us. In fact, today in church we did our last fundraiser for school supplies for our Vacation Bible School. We simply asked for donations after church for supplies. We raised over $300 in just 20 minutes! Thanks be to God!
More happened in church today that really connected with our upcoming mission. The lessons and sermon today were about growth and flourishing. Parables such as the mustard seed were read as lessons and Pastor's sermon included Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tale, "The Leaf from Heaven".(http://www.andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/ALeafFromHeaven_e.html) < you can read it here! Overall, the messages really spoke to me today. As we travel to Bolivia, we will be sowing a tiny mustard seed of faith within the children, and I can only hope that our program and their futures nourish this seed to become a great tree of faith within them and that this faith will glow outward so they can be like the flowers and leaves of the tree in "The Leaf from Heaven" so that they can shine their light of faith onto others.
We leave for Chicago on Saturday the 23rd to spend the night and then depart from Chicago to Washington D.C. on Sunday morning. We go from D.C. to Bolivia after that. I'm so excited! It will be Kyle and Duane's first time on a plane! Pray for them!
 We will also be spending about 5 days in Peru! We are going to see Lake Titicaca, Machu Picchu, and other ruins! This will be the "vacation" aspect of our trip.

 Anyway, my plan for this blog is to type my journal entries up while there at internet cafes (if possible) or all when I get home. I also hope that others on my trip will keep a journal that we can share here so that you don't just hear from me! I'm also going to add our pictures! Enjoy and I will keep you posted!