God´s amazing grace

Apologies for not writing sooner...our last 2 weeks in Cochabamba were a bit of a whirlwind. We worked up to the last week, then attempted to go to Sucre for a 4 day trip (thinking we´d leave our stuff in our apartment since it was paid for, only taking small bags). We packed everything sometime around June 29, went to the bus station and then found there were no tickets...after wandering aimlessly for about 30 minutes, we just got on the trufi and went back home. Andrew felt defeated and I felt relieved...I wasn´t ready to leave anyway. After sleeping on it and talking it over, we decided to just stay through the 5th of July and leave with everything a week later. Sunday, at church, we knew it was exactly what we were supposed to do. We were able to make plans to meet with people for dinners to say good-bye, to plan days to visit the kids at the different homes to say good-bye, and time to clean the house and pack up without all the stress and pressure of some time constraint. It was exactly what we needed...a week in Cochabamba without work and time to just do the things we wanted before leaving. We´ve struggled with many different emotions...at one moment we want to stay here or return to work in Cochabamba as we´ve been so comfortable, while at other moments we are ready to get back to the states to see family and friends. We both felt pretty strongly that we will be back to Cochabamba in the future; thus, it didn´t feel like good-bye, but we´ll see you later. The kids were so kind, writing us cards and giving hugs and loves...the Baker girls even performed a dance for us and made us a cake on our last night. Our landlords even had us over for lunch the day before we left and we spent about 4 hours just talking and sharing about our lives. The Thompson´s fed us and took us to the bus station on July 6th and we headed for Sucre with all our bags loading us down. Can´t believe we´ll be back in the states in 30 days (less now).

Reflecting, we´ve seen how God has been in control the entire way these past 6 months. He has protected us and kept us safe in this huge city, where daily people told us about getting robbed or bothered by attempted pickpockets. He helped us to meet incredible Christians doing amazing work with children who have experienced horrific pasts. Here is one recent situation I wanted to share, that we´ve seen prove His amazing love and grace. It involved a tiny baby named Victoria. About 2 weeks ago, Victoria was brought to Jennifer´s orphanage after some folks found her in a bag down by the river that runs through the center of Cochabamba. Now if that wasn´t enough, the doctors predicted that Vic was about 4 hours old when the people heard her crying (remember temperatures here get down to about 40 at night as it is the middle of winter here)...come to find out she was in the bag with her ambilical cord and placenta still attached. Much longer and she would have been dead. Doctors said she was tiny, about 5 1/2 lbs, but doing all right and after a thorough check up, sent her on with Jennifer (this all happened around 5pm on the night we were having a family celebration for all the employees of Jennifer´s houses, as she just opened a new Casa de Amor III with the Alseth family). Thus, Victoria was brought to the party and loved on from all the tias and staff, a new member of the Casa de Amor family. Strangely though, Victoria has lots of scratches on her arms, legs, hands, and quite a big bump on her head, and after about 3 days with the Alseths, the little bump on her head started moving down. Thus, back to the doctor she went, this time for an x-ray of her tiny head. Next day, x-ray comes back from the technician, showing a 1 1/2 inch fracture in little Victoria´s skull on the side where the bump had been...Vic hadn´t been left by the river, she had been thrown there--a good 20 foot drop to the river bank...tough way to start life. But God´s grace is so amazing...He saved Victoria (a fitting name given her at the hospital)...He sent strangers to find her, He brought her to doctors that cared for her, and now to a family who will love and care for her until a permanent family can be found. This is just a little glimpse of the amazing stories we experienced throughout our 6 months here...each child had a story, some we knew, some we only knew a portion of, yet God saved them, just as He says, ¨he will raise up the needy and the lost, he will have compassion on the orphans...¨Psalms 73:12-13. This has been a life changing experience for both of us, from teaching us about raising children to teaching us to trust all that God has in store for us no matter where we are in the world.

We´ll continue posting as we make our way back to Peru to fly out on Aug. 6. Thanks for coming along on this wild ride with us...we can´t wait to share more with you in person. -Jen