Keeping up with the Joneses

Serving in Bolivia

through

SIM

Brandon and Jamie Jones.

October 26, 2007

Camp Week

This week has been long but great. We had a wonderful time thanks be to God. And thanks to all of you who prayed for me as I have been sick for quite a while.

Well as most of you know, I have had typhoid and amoebas for about two weeks. It has been tiring more than anything else so I have been going to school even though I was sick. Probably not the best idea but everything happened at the end of the quarter when I needed to get so much done, so I kept going. As the week for camp was arriving, I was becoming more and more apprehensive about going to camps if I was still going to be sick. I rested all the through the weekend before, but on Sunday I was still pretty miserable and I was ready to give up my spot at camps even though I still wanted to go. I also didn't want to miss the kids clubs I had been planning for a few weeks. So I packed ready to go.

Brandon wrote an email to everyone on Sunday night asking for prayer for our week at camps. I have to say that God is wonderful. I wasn't sick even once the whole time that we were there. I was exhausted a few times but I made it through the whole week. I have been so blessed by the relationships that I have made with the students and through the service that we provided to various orphanages all over Cochabamba. God is so good!

We arrived at Palabra de Vida (just outside Cochabamba) Monday morning and spent the day getting settled, learning the ropes of the campus, and playing games. Every night ended with a time for praise and worship and a devotion about service in smaller groups. I really enjoyed my group. They were so open and willing to challenge each other to be servants. I was even challenged by some of the students myself.

Tuesday through Friday went about the same. We started early in the morning eating breakfast and getting ready for heading to our worksites. Each work group left on our separate buses and spent about three hours at each of our sites. My group went the the Villa Israel orphanage. We gathered the kids from the orphanage and some of the neighborhood kids for songs, skits, puppets, crafts, and games. We had a lot of fun with the kids. I was even a clown one day.

The afternoons I actually spent resting because I didn't want a relapse, but the staff at Palabra de Vida planned some great games for our kids. Then the students had free time till dinner and after that was worship and devotions.

Now that the week is over, I can't seem to stop sleeping, but I have been quite blessed by it all. Now Brandon and I have a week of vacation to look forward to. But we will probably find something to do with our free time. I really pray that God continues to challenge our students to serve and glorify Him as they have done this week.