Bolivia Day 8 Blog
Hello everybody! This is Catherine, on Friday, July 15, 2011.
We´ve had some early mornings so far, but today topped them all. We woke up (sort of) at 4:45 to stumble through our morning routines before being picked up at 5:15 by our trusty bus. It was a very quiet and sleepy 3 and ½ hour drive to Lake Titicaca and Copacabana – an important religious center for many South American people. We took a boat across part of lake with the bus on a wooden barge, and ended up at the city´s main church. The majority of Bolivians are Catholics, with indigenous gods and religious practices mixed in. We watched part of a service in the main sanctuary, which was adorned with more gold than we had ever seen in one place. We then went to a tunnel underneath the church where people light candles and pray to the Virgin of Copacabana. It was a new and troubling experience to witness idol worship in such a tangible form.
Before walking back to the lake, we used a Bolivian public bathroom, which was – shall we say – quite the cultural experience. After our bathroom adventure, we headed down to the water again and took a boat to the Island of the Sun, where the Incas believe the sun was born from. A 200 step hike up the side of the island left us all feeling very out of shape, but a couple of rests was enough to fix that. We walked around part of the island, with a stunning view of the lake and distant mountains the whole way. Kep James played quite the trick on a few of us and proved most of the team extremely gullible. Feel free to ask for further explanation on our return! After eating lunch at a lovely little restaurant on the hillside, with lots of new things to try, we headed back across the lake to the mainland.
We had a brief rest, and then got ready to climb the 14 Stations of the Cross. Located on a large hill near the water, the stations are a destination for many pilgrimages, even from as far as Peru. Pilgrims carry rocks up the hill and place them at each cross, as a symbol that they believe cleanses them of their sins. We stopped at each station as Kathy explained the meaning of each and we caught our breath. We had a guide with us who also explained parts, and was a Bolivian Catholic. She spoke some English, and quickly picked up on the fact that we didn´t agree with many of the elements of the religion portrayed by the stations (salvation through works, not faith, for example). Kathy got to explain some of the gospel to her on our walk, but it was hard for us as a team to stay focused on the spiritual needs of the Bolivian people instead of our tiredness and personal distractions. When we got to the top, we decided to have Zach do his devotional there, so we all sat down near the 14th station. Of course, because God is amazing, the verses Zach had chosen were perfect for what we needed, and we were all challenged by Zach´s talk, and Dan, Kep, and Kathy´s reminders that the things we were seeing should cause us to long for the salvation of the Bolivian people and break our hearts because of how much they need the grace of God. Amy, Dan, and Zach prayed, and we were all so humbled by how awesome God is and how great our responsibility is to bring the gospel to those who haven´t heard it before.
After a bit of shopping, we headed home and were blessed with a gorgeous sunset ever the lake and mountains. We passed the time by singing songs, some silly, but eventually we ended up having a mini worship service right there on the bus. All in all, it was an eye-opening day, and we all have a lot to think about and be really thankful for! Well now that I´ve written a small novel, I´m off to bed. I hope you´re all doing great – see you Monday!
3 Responses to “Bolivia Day 8 Blog”
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July 16th, 2011 at 7:41 am
We have so enjoyed keeping up with your daily activities through your messages.Thank you. You have all been very much in our prayers, which will continue. Praise God for the ways that He is working in your lives through the awesome experiences you’re having.
Bob & Wendy Andrews ( Grandma Wendy & G.B. to Jen–we love you!)
July 16th, 2011 at 8:56 pm
So good to hear from you! God is clearly at work in & through all these things from hauling bricks & stones to your casual influence on a tour guide, and we praise him for answered prayer. Looking forward to hearing all the details!
July 21st, 2011 at 2:57 pm
I think I know what trick from Kep you’re talking about, lol