Mark

Stratmann

How could I not do something to help?

I was finally willing, ready and able to do something. The first orphanage I helped to fix the bridge on the swingset, the kids have a fun place to play. The rest of the week I was involved in helping repaint an orphanage on the other side of town. We helped with baby washing, and then the next Monday we left…for the rainforest…where the test came…

Just how far are you willing to go to help? We arrived after several hours in a bus (I’m getting used to spending countless hours traveling!) to Chapare, a village a LONG way down a cobblestone path…I felt as though I had actually went to the edges of the earth this time. There was no real “town” just a simple road of houses and small tiendas (a tienda is a SMALL store, usually with raw meat sitting around, snacks, and if you are lucky, cold drinks). Long walks down the road in either direction yielded very little in the way of civilization. We pitched tents in the orphanage that was 1/2 done…the sun had already started setting, so pitching our tents in the dark is beginning to become a normal thing in life as well. Night drew on quickly as the mosquitos ate…no…the mosquitos feasted once again on our bodies. We fell asleep and woke up to the roosters…at 4…5…6:00 am. Our first complete day in the jungle allowed me to see what we were up against…they had a ladder to climb to the second floor…they needed a stairway…the entire place needed painted…the outside needed cleared out and trees cleared. We had a lot to do…it was time to get busy. Our entire team went straight to work…wasting no time. The sun beat down heating the area VERY quickly…and if you know me, the heat and I don’t get along…we fight all the time. It was the first test…remember, Mark…you are doing this for the orphaned kids…the kids like you met just a week ago. I pressed on, and accepted the heat as I started cutting stair stringers to build a stairway to the 2nd floor of the orphanage.

Lunch is ready…GOOD…I’m hungry, it’s hot…lunch is a good thing. I walked over to the lunch area to find that lunch was prepared…soup….hot soup…hot day…hot soup…are you for real? yep. I embraced it with a not so big smile on my face, but I was there, afterall, not for me but for the orphans…I ate the soup. Kept on with the stairway, cutting many of the timbers used for the landing with a chainsaw…yet another new experience. Afternoon drew to an end, and the painters were all tired and worn down, it was time to quit for the day…hit the shower? hmmmmm….maybe I can wait another day…the shower consists of one shower in the middle of the yard with boards around it…not exactly ideal…I’ll wait. Dinner? Chicken, potatoes and rice of course! mmmmm…ok, I can do this. We ate dinner together, and quickly found ourselves swatting at those mosquitos once again. Oh, and sharing one bathroom for our entire squad. Day two was nearly a repeat of day one…remember Mark, it’s for Jesus and the orphans…you can do this! I braved the shower on day 2.

After you get used to these conditions, it’s really not that bad. After soup for lunch every day I walked with some of the others to one of the tiendas to get apple juice in a bag and some cookies…it was what got me through the days sometimes! Eventually we transpired into bathing in the river together…last month we used Amazon river water to bathe in, this month it’s a random river in Bolivia…this really is my life! The week continued with many many stories of building stairs, painting with watered down paint, varnishing bricks with a varnish / gas mixture, cutting down trees, digging holes, and one fun day of river boating and swimming, we were ready to go…we’d earned our keep that week, and our scent agreed…it was time to go home.

As our bus pulled away Wednesday morning in the rain, I looked at the place that had transformed in a week and a half’s time. The orphanage went from a 1/2 done place to a place nearly ready to be opened. Remberto, the builder in charge was very greatful for our help, he has not much more to do…a railing for the stairway, screens for the windows (no glass, too hot), tile in the kitchen. Remberto is ready to be done, he and his family moved to the jungle over a year ago to build this orphanage, he is a missionary to his own people in Bolivia. His plans when done: a vacation….a well deserved vacation.

I’ve learned this month that we can survive many conditions that we would never think possible. I look at the past 3 months and think of all the times that the itchy legs and arms kept me up at night, and wonder how I did it…how did I manage to make it through sweating all night in a tent, bites raging at me, showering out of a bucket…and yet I see it all as a gain in life. I love my life, serving Christ Jesus in ways that most shutter at…gaining experiences and memories that go for a lifetime. This journey is as much about transforming my life as it is transforming the lives of those I come in contact with throughout the year.

PS….the GPS coordinates for where we were in the rainforest/jungle:

S 16° 46.064
W 65° 20.185

My current support level is at $9,800 with monthly / quarterly supporters raising the total to around $11,000…if you would like to support me to allow me to finish the year off in full I am in need of $2,800. Any amount helps chip away at that total! To support me click on the “Support Me!” link to the left!

THANK YOU to ALL of my supporters! Next week is a large travel week, we leave Cochabamba, Bolivia on Tuesday, head to La Paz where we start 3 full days of flights to get to South Africa where we will board a bus the next day to get to Swaziland….5 full days of pure travel ahead of me…please pray for patience and travel safety!

Bolivia…

I read the story of Moses in Exodus…and found myself in the middle of Bolivia working with International Orphanage Union, a ministry focusing on providing homes for orphans in Bolivia. Their focus is to provide a family experience for orphaned children. Moses was an orphan.

Our first full day in Cochabamba brought us to the middle of town to take part in a ministry called Baby Washing. It is nearly exactly what it sounds like…we washed babies…in the middle of town. While it may sound odd, it really is a great ministry. It started when a missionary was leaving Bolivia, and handed some money to a local contact here to take some shoe shiners out to lunch…shoe shiners are typically boys who hang out in the plaza shining shoes…they’re the outcasts of the area in most people’s eyes. Many have their heads covered because it is considered a shameful way of life. After rounding up many of the shoeshiners and taking them to several restaurants, he was astonished that no restaurant would allow them in because the kids were all too dirty. Out of frustration, he took the kids and bathed them, cleaned them up, got them clean clothes, and took them back, to which he found a restaurant who would take them in. This kept happening, and formed into a weekly baby washing ministry in the heart of Cochabamba. The poor, the homeless, the lost, the broken, pretty much whoever wants can bring their babies or toddlers to the plaza on Saturday afternoons to make sure their children get a bath, and are given a clean set of clothes. We helped out with that on the Saturdays we were in Cochabamba.

We spent our next few days working with the two orphanages that I.O.U. has in operation in and around Cochabamba. Monday morning we walked down the hill from where we were staying, and went to the closest orphanage where we were going to paint and do some repair work. What was I expecting? The typical view of an orphanage (at least in my mind) of tons of kids, mostly sick, laying in bed moaning and groaning…to say the least, that’s not what I walked up to. The house looked like a nice house, it was clean and well manicured…and of course…there was only 8 orphaned kids with house parents. Had I not known that it was an orphanage, I would have guessed it was a middle class house in Bolivia. Hearing some of the stories of how the kids were taken in my the orphanage will break anyone’s heart. One girl was abandoned in the jungle of Bolivia, left to beg to survive, and somehow fell into a large fire (somehow…). She was badly burned, and news got to I.O.U. and they quickly went to the village and rescued the girl…knowing that in many of these villages kids aren’t treated well, and the girl would be left to die and no one would help her unless they quickly went…and they went quickly. After several surgeries the girl still has many ailments, but is functioning well and is on the road to recovery. She was given a chance.

Another set of boys was reported from some villagers to be roaming the area begging, and eating grass to survive….eating grass to survive. When approached about the situation, I.O.U. noted that they had room for all the boys to stay together (they like to keep siblings together whenever possible) and gladly took them in. The boys now live in a nice house, with nice clean clothes and good food, and are attending school…they are given a chance in life…

We also went on Saturday to go on a “Bread Run.” A bread run is where we went to a local bakery and got bread, the market and got milk, cereal, and fruit. We took the food to a local village about 40 minutes away from Cochabamba and handed it out to the people in the village. It was a great ministry, with kids and parents alike very greatful for the food and caring hearts that came with it…it was a favorite of mine!

Story after story meeting the kids that the orphanages house, clothe, feed, and love, I was convinced that no matter what our task here in Bolivia was, it was worth it. These kids have all been born into situations I couldn’t imagine…but I’m seeing. These are great kids that Jesus loves, and finally people are loving…the lost…the abandoned…the forgotten. It was a lesson for me when I heard the stories…after all the poverty I’ve seen…after all the kids I passed by without smiling…how could I ever look at the world the same way again???

To be continued…

The World Race allows you to really embrace the lives of those you live with…it’s almost like a new family for the year, and the relationships you form in this year will become friends and family for life…

My sister Kim made this video of the entire squad as we soon will part ways and seperate into our small teams in Africa for 3 months, coming together once a month to share our stories with each other and work through our issues together. Enjoy!

Family. Jan 2008 WR Squad from Kim on Vimeo.

Here is a video that Rusty put together on a “Bread Run” that we went to on Saturday.  The Bread run entailed us going to a local community and passing out bread, fruit, milk, and cereal.  It was a GREAT day that really reminded me of why I’m on The World Race…to feed the hungry, stand beside the broken, to go and feed the nations for God’s love…enjoy!

Bread Run from Rusty Jackson on Vimeo.

Easter Sunday, 2008…Cochabamba, Bolivia…

Today after church, I boarded a different bus from the other World Racers, I thought the “M” bus was jammed full, and heard someone say we’ll just hop on this “U” bus, so I did. Unfortunately nobody else did, and the bus roared off. Alone in the bus (alone-ness is an odd feeling on the World Race, normally you feel constantly surrounded), I watched for landmarks as we roared up the hill…and up the hill further…and up the hill further. I knew soon that I had missed my stop, but wasn’t sure where. At the end of the bus route, I was told something in Spanish, and was hurded to a different bus that was headed back down the hill, and I used the 5 broken spanish words I kind of know to make a crappy attempt to explain where I was wanting to be, of which the driver nodded and drove off. As we rolled down the hill, I still knew that something wasn’t right, so off the bus I went, disappointed in my sense of direction (afterall, I had been in the area for 36 hours!) I attempted to ask for a different bus letter…and boarded the “O” bus….alone…up the hill…and missed the stop yet again, and went up to the top of the hill…the end of that bus route. Again, hurded to another bus that would take me down the hill, I saw it…the house that is a landmark that I’m close to where I’m supposed to be…I got off, and started walking up the road to where I felt like I was supposed to be…but still nothing seemed right, it seemed as though the roads all went in one direction…the wrong way. Alone, I climbed the hill, finding the right road and roaming up the hill, slowly realizing that it had taken me 2 hours to make a 15 minute trip! I walked up to our temporary residence while here in Cochabamba, and quickly ate lunch, as we were leaving in a few minutes to go sightseeing.

At 2:00, we left to go see what we refer to as the Christo (a real real large statue of Jesus). We took yet another bus, and ended up at a paved trail, so we took it to where the trail head started, and some started up the hiking trail and others started around the side of the mountain to catch the shuttle-like thing that takes you up the side of the mountain to the statue…of course, I want the challenge and head up the trail, encouraged by others. As we walked up, I quickly felt the effect of the altitude we were at, huffing and puffing…but of course, I continued on, as I had a goal in sight…it’s not that far up! I quickly realized that everyone in the group had fled up the hill much quicker than I was, and saw them way off in the distance, still climbing. I took out my camera, took a moment to enjoy the view of the city, catch my breath (as much as you can at this altitude), and get a quick drink of water. I splashed down some water, and quickly realized that I was only falling further and further behind, and attempted to pick up the pace. I lost sight of everyone, and again, felt alone. The next sight I had of my hiking buddies was when I came around a bend in the trail, and looked up, seeing them taking a break way up the mountain under a shade tree…I looked down and saw our starting point, I figured I was 1/2 way up the mountain…and I was fairly tired, but still had it in me to make it…so I quickly chugged some water and put the rubber of my shoes to the trail and headed up even further. It was somewhere in that range that I heard the call from above to head on, I hadn’t made it to that point, and they were headed on…discouraged, I said a little prayer of “God, please give me energy to make it up without dying!” and headed on. It wasn’t until much later that I really felt the effect of the sun, the altitude, my out of shape-ness, and discouragement, and made it to the shade tree they were sitting under much earlier. I sat there on a rock, catching my breath, thinking to myself…maybe I should head back down now, it’s easier going down, if I take my time they’ll catch up to me, they won’t miss me there anyway, I can’t make it to the top, I should go back down, enjoy the sights, and go some other day to the machine that takes me to the top. I saw other hikers coming up the mountain, and looked toward the top…it’s still quite a ways, but that’s ok, I’m going for it…I didn’t come here to wuss out, I’m going the distance! I started off and quickly realized that the steepest part of the hill was in front of me, and my legs already hurt. I continued on, alone, and working as hard as I could…I was definitely at the end of myself and my power, and the day was not going to get the best of me. I got to one point where I could NOT go another step…yet I could not NOT go another step as well. I took a short break and said another desperate prayer to make it up the mountain, and pushed on up the mountain…alone. I heard the people at the top, which gave me the encouragement I needed to go another 5 minutes until I felt the weight of the world on me yet again…but I wasn’t giving up. I got to where I saw the top of the hill, the point where I saw the stone fence, and the opening where you walk through, and once again, I shot off that prayer of desparation…God, PLEASE give me a little more energy! I made it. I looked around and didn’t see anyone right away…did they forget about me altogether? No, they were on the other side, just barely out of my sight. A short cheer from someone, and I sat down on a ledge, resting and huffing/puffing/drinking water. I sat there, glad I had concurred the task.

I took the machine back to the bottom with the rest of the hikers, and walked back around the mountain to the trail that we had origonally taken to the trail head. As I walked, I saw an ant carrying a huge piece of bread, probably 1,000x the area of his body. The ant was carrying it and carrying it, working as hard as it could to make it back to the ant hill…there was no other ant in sight…the ant was alone. I though about it, and thought of how the ant would get back to the ant hill and have to climb up the hill alone with the weight of the bread on it’s back, so I felt sorry for it and of course, I smashed it. I had felt that pain earlier in the day, after working all day, I realized that the hardest part was the end, I wanted to be smashed so that I wouldn’t have to do the last little bit, the hardest part…I had spared the ant the hardest parts of it’s journey.

I felt alone, and darn it, I was entitled to companionship. I deserved it. I nearly stayed back because of the bus trip and how alone I felt then, but went because I wanted to be around people, I didn’t want to be alone all day at the house. Instead, I was alone, in Bolivia, on the side of a mountain…and learned that it’s ok sometimes to be alone. I have met many people this year that strive for any kind of companionship, yet I continue to feel that I deserve more than they have…WHY??? I’m not entitled to it…the ant? unfortunately, it’s no longer going to enjoy the celebration at the ant hill…did my feelings of being entitled to companionship lead me to step on the ant so that the ant didn’t feel the same abandoned feelings? Possibly…and if so, my issues with entitlement led to me killing the ant that was bringing the entire colony of ants food, so the entire colony suffered because of my selfishness. It’s that way with us as a Christian body. When one of the body feels entitled to something more than what God is giving us, the rest of us suffer.

PS…Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my teammates and the people around me, I’ve gotten so used to being surrounded by people now that I don’t know what to do when they aren’t around!!!!!!!!