"Yo Tengo Un Amigo Que Me Ama"

         I have found that God often gives us little experiences that we will later use, and we don’t know it at the time. The last time we were at kid washing in downtown Cochabamba there were so many volunteers that it was difficult for me to find a constructive way to help. Toward the end of kid-washing, I remember wandering around and looking at all the people that had been at kid-washing that day. A Bolivian man serving with us pulled out his guitar and began to play some Spanish worship tunes that I had never heard before. I had a difficult time following along with most of them, but there was one that I learned word for word just from listening to it, and it was called “Yo Tengo Un Amigo Que Me Ama.” I enjoyed learning the song, but I didn’t realize at the time that I would use this song again later.

        
           Things have been a little crazy and unsettled here lately. The trufi drivers throughout the country planned a nationwide blockade of all the main roads in Bolivia, and the taxi drivers were on board with this idea as well. I won’t get into all the details, but the trufi drivers were angry because of recent legislation that had been passed by Bolivia’s President, Evo Morales. The blockades were set to begin indefinitely on Monday. As you may imagine, this would have throw a real “kink” into the ministry of Hospitals of Hope. These blockades would keep us from reaching the orphanages we’re serving at and keep people from reaching the hospital. Thankfully, the trufi drivers decided to not blockade the roads, and no one knows why(at least, none of the volunteers knows why). So all is well now, but I have told you all this so that you may know the situation and be prepared to pray for it. The trufi drivers are still not happy, so please pray that Bolivia’s government will seek a solution to end this ongoing turmoil.

            
         Thankfully, we were not planning to go into the city this week, but we actually are doing clinics and a VBS at the local elementary school in the town of Vinto. We are holding the VBS on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and we are now going to orphanages on Tuesday and Thursday since the blockades have been lifted(Tuesday and Thursday are holidays, so the Hospital will be closed). Basically, we give the kids check ups and play games and tell Bible stories to them while they wait in line.

Anna and I planned the Bible lessons for the VBS, and yesterday we took our first stab at delivering them. Unfortunately, the kids were so full of energy that we ended up playing with them more than telling them about Jesus. I grew slightly discouraged, because our language barrier made it difficult for us to share at times. Bible stories that would have been very easy to explain in English were a heavy task in Spanish. Just when I was beginning to ask God to open a door for us, he threw a gate wide open, and he used our skin color to do so.

The children, noticing that we were white, knew that we would know English. Before I could blink there was a crowd of children around Anna and I asking us to teach them some English. We started by teaching them colors and numbers, and they were thrilled, but they wanted to learn more and more. Next, we had the idea to teach them the song “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” in English. This worked out wonderfully, because it was simple enough and the kids knew the song in Spanish. After teaching them a song, they wanted to learn more. I didn’t realize it during kid washing the week before, but this moment was the reason why God had given me the privilege to learn the song “Yo Tengo Un Amigo Que Me Ama.” So I had the idea to teach the kids the song in English, and, thankfully, they were all familiar with it in Spanish. So, Anna and I taught the kids the song in English, and I was so thankful that God had opened that door for us, because they enjoyed the song, they loved learning it, and it was actually beneficial. You should know that in English, the lyrics to that song mean, “I have a friend that loves me, his name is Jesus.” From that point on it seemed that all barriers were down and we were able to communicate clearly.

Please pray that God will continue to open such doors for us and continue to break down language barriers. We will return to the school tomorrow and on Friday. Please pray that things go well and that our kindness will exhibit the love of Christ for the children of Vinto. We have potential for great things here, and God is certainly moving and working. Thank you all for your prayers.

Kevin Quinby   

teaching English to the kids :)