August 2023- Nothing better than a family visit

‘My family does not come to visit me but the Lord touches the hearts of other people to be our family and show us their love, even if it is necessary for them to come from far away.’ – 12 year older from the Amparo Home

– 12 year older from the Amparo Home

Aquiles – Amparo Bolivia National Director

Six years ago I used to avoid teams. I didn’t see the value or benefit of receiving a group of strangers coming to what I thought was tourism to my ministry. Oh how blind I was. Of course I could blame it on the bad experiences and shield myself from my own mistakes but truth is teams have helped me in my journey with Jesus, at a personal level and of course with Amparo. Teams have provided me family all over the world with whom I share the same spirit, the same Lord and the same passion to serve.

Today I highly appreciate teams and I have become an enthusiast of short term teams, especially vision trips. As I have learnt from my boss and friend David Weir short term teams and vision trips are a unique opportunity for mutual transformation and developing long term relationships. As we are exposed to realities completely different from ours, we step into the unknown, where we have to depend on our Lord, both for the ones coming and the ones receiving, to once again remember that He is glorified in our weaknesses and we need each other as the global body of Christ.

What a fool I was trying to do things on my own way and according to my own culture. Now I’m convinced the benefit is huge, not possible to measure I would dare to say, for all people involved if we are humble, have the right heart and plan a proper approach we will be mutually transformed. So… for the ones abroad… when are you coming?

Two weeks ago we received for 4 days a beautiful 9 people team from Brazos Pointe Fellowship (Lake Jackson – Texas, USA). Next I’ll share with you the testimony of three Amparo staff members about their visit.

Nathan Mitterling – Brazos Pointe Fellowship Trip Leader and Amparo Board Member

I have been on ten short term mission trips to Bolivia with my church, including several trips to work with Amparo.  Each trip has been memorable and this most recent one was no exception.

Our team consisted of four members who had previously served at Amparo and five members who traveled to Bolivia for the first time.  With the Prevention Program, we were honored to be able to assist with games, glitter painting, and a medical clinic.  We were also able to stain furniture for the facility.  At the Girls’ Home, we played games with the girls, practiced our Spanish, and watched them perform a dance routine.

The girls at Amparo smiled big, laughed loud, and hugged hard. The staff and volunteers reminded us that this was in spite of the abuse that they have endured.  I was reminded on that even though we live in a world full of sin, including the sin of abuse and trafficking, we serve a good God who loves us more than we can comprehend.  Because of Jesus, we can have hope in the midst of sorrow.

The staff and volunteers at Amparo inspired our team.  They serve God by showing love to the girls on a daily basis.  We were honored to be able to join them in this calling for a few days.  Our trip was filled with laughter, tears, and many memorable moments.  At the end of our time together, it was hard to say “until next time” but we will pray for our Amparo family and look forward to our next trip to Bolivia.

Nathan recieving one of those hard hugs 🙂

Vanessa – Full time Aunt at our Girls Home (Restoration Program)

“‘Why doesn’t my family come to visit me? Why doesn’t my family call? Why don’t they love me? Aunt, do I have the possibility that another family adopt me? I need my family, aunt…’ These were some of the questions that the girls from the Amparo house expressed in their daily lives in the weeks prior to the arrival of the team.

In the grace and mercy of the Lord there are people who provide financially and show them that they are loved. Nonetheless as little girls, they need constant affirmation, affection and physical contact, so loves become tangible for them.

In this season my prayer, as an aunt, was: Lord, what else can we do?

The Brazos Pointe Team was an answer to prayer. ‘If my father and my mother abandoned me, the Lord would take me in.’ – Psalm 27:10

The team literally showed that mother, that father, that aunt, that uncle, brother, sister that they longed to hug, with whom to be, play and chat, to feel that God is present, and as one of the teenagers from the home said, to have that experience of feeling proud to have gringo uncles and aunties.

You may probably think that it was just one more trip, one more visit, but believe us, after the visit, the girls’ prayer changed and is now one of gratitude, something like:

‘Thank you Lord because you have touched the hearts of people from another country. Instead of going to visit people in their country, taking advantage of their vacations to rest, they have decided to come to Bolivia and show us their love even though our family does not.’”

Matilde – Prevention Program Coordinator

The team arrived eager to meet us and learn more about what we do. It was clear that each one had come ready to serve and hungry to learn. It was not difficult to assign them a chore because they were full of predisposition. They did not wait for the situation to be propitious or for the girls to give the first step. They had the initiative. They came willing to not only ‘give us a hand’, but also to listen to our challenges and weep with us over the brokenness caused by sin.

All the teams I have interacted with have been kind and generous. I think something that made this one special was that they opened their hearts to us and allowed us to see that the sufferings of the girls were not alien to them. Nathan and Andrew spread their love for Bolivia to them. It was palpable that Bolivia is in Brazos Pointe’s prayers.

Diego – Operations and Finances Manager

Receiving the Brazos Pointe team was a great blessing, not only because of the donations brought and the projects carried out, but because their presence and work showed a lot of love and affection for what we do in Bolivia and at the same time reminded us that what we do impacts the lives of the girls we serve.

They arrived with a great predisposition to love and bond with the girls. We also saw the love and care among them. They had a great desire to serve and worked hard to finish the projects on time. The visits of these teams are very important to Amparo, both for the staff and for the girls we serve. Many of the girls continue to deal with the abandonment of their parents and this act of love, traveling thousands of kilometers to see them, remembers them that God cares for them, that there are people who love the Lord so much that they not only think about them and donate, but also decide to come to Bolivia to spend a couple of days with them.

Their visit reminded us once again that God’s care has no limits. This act of service allows us to see in a palpable way what Jesus is doing in the place and the people for whom we are praying and donating. Let me ask you, would you dare to experience this opportunity in person?