Light on Light: Emmanuel Moments

It is incredible how the human mind finds patterns and determines a rhythm for each season of life no matter how things differ from day to day. Even as I have been traveling and visiting countries with distinct cultures and traveling with a different intention for each country, even though each day has been unique, eventually traveling also falls into a sort of rhythm and routine. One of my greatest delights in life is to be surprised by Jesus. I just love how He slips into the routine of my day and shows me how great He is and how unordinary life is. I love how it adds a fresh awe to my worship and a spring in my step; how it makes me want to bless everyone who I encounter along the way to share the joy I've received. I had one of these Emmanuel (God is with us) realizations as I embarked on my solo traveling in Bolivia. I was dropped off at the VVI Santa Cruz airport by Tayo and Tito who had graciously schlepped me around the city to find a Bolivian chip for my phone and who helped to finish my errands as well as endured my frazzled search for my camera that almost made me late for my flight (if not for Tayo's speedy maneuvers in midday traffic) and they even made sure I had lunch as Tito made me a sandwich to eat during the crazy car ride, plus they accompanied me all the way up until I passed through the security door-- ahhh it's encouraging to see teenage boys with such good hearts. My destination was Tarija, Bolivia's wine country. My flight was late, but it was no big deal since I would still arrive in the mid afternoon and have hours before my night bus to Tupiza. Upon stepping onto the tarmac of this beautiful country I was struck by how safe Tarija felt nestled in by the mountains. I wasn't staying in Tarija however so I didn't have too long to dwell on this as I made a beeline for the bus station to buy my bus ticket to Tupiza; my intended destination. Much to my dismay, after several fruitless conversations at ticket windows, I realized that although three companies offer the route from Tarija to Tupiza, they were all sold out. Really? There are 150 people in this smallish city who want to take the nightmare 8 hour bus ride around dangerous curves on all dirt roads in the middle of the night in a bus that shakes like Rachel Wilkerson's dryer and has no heat with temperatures below zero? Apparently so.
One company had tickets available for the next night so I bought one in advance and proceeded to search for a place to stay for the night from my 7 year old Tarija information section that my dad had cut out of Beth's old Lonely Planet guide and had stapled together with the rest of the cities I may end up in a predicament in. The adventure of traveling is moments like these where your plan doesn't work out and you are forced to improvise; I am always convinced that these moments bring some of the greatest surprises and pleasures of my traveling experience. I found an overpriced alojamiento (as soon as I stepped into the office with my Scandinavian features the price went up) and then stepped out into the balmy night to see what the next 27 hours in Tarija would bring. My first goal was to find an Internet connection to let someone know where I was. Internet in Tarija is not as plentiful as in other towns, but I found wifi available in a little cafe off of a cute plaza near my alojamiento. The waiter who greeted me at the door suggested some coffee as I had walked in without an appetite and the sole desire to use the wifi, since I'm not a big fan of coffee, I took him up on his second suggestion of chocolate con leche (apparently he was kidding, but I thought it was a good idea!) He laughed at me for my unrefined taste, but brought me my chocolate con leche. My phone wasn't able to grab the connection right away and everyone in the restaurant was able to note this as I walked around trying to get a signal, perhaps to stop my uncouth behavior, the waiter stopped by and offered to let me use his cellphone to connect to the Internet. Because of my inability to correctly type the wifi password (this is why my phone could not connect : ) I go to know the waiter, Francisco, better and to hear a bit of his story; he is 19, new to Tarija, Argentinean, he arrived in Tarija with 200 bolivianos ($25) in his pocket and slept on a park bench in the plaza until he got his job and he plans to work and travel his way to Panama for flight school. I had a feeling that night that I was supposed to have met Francisco and this was confirmed when we met up the next day for licuados (fruit shakes) and postres (desserts) and I got to hear more of his story and to understand where God has been showing up in Francisco's life. It turns out that I am the third person who loves Jesus who Francisco has met recently and Francisco's heart is starting to soften when it comes to God. One of the people who Francisco has befriended gave him a bible which he has been reading and he had a bunch of questions for me about what he had been reading in proverbs (which I loved!). There are few things I enjoy more than answering questions about Jesus and the bible, but what was even better was hearing Francisco's heart for his friend whose life is out of control. Francisco said his friend has done things in his life that he regrets and now he finds himself on the run because of his bad decisions, he is paranoid and despairing of life and Francisco is desperate to help him, but unsure of what to do. I don't know Francisco's friend nor do I know the extent of his problems, but what I do know I was able to share with Francisco: there is always hope. God does not give up on people, no matter how messed up their lives are, for every life is valuable to God. And because Jesus values each life and because there is nothing that is impossible for God with a life surrendered to Him, there is always hope. It was God's message of hope that Francisco needed to hear; I could see this as his countenance became brighter and he told me he was going to let his friend know that there was hope for him. Just as Francisco was encouraged, so was I, and as I said goodbye and climbed on the bus, my heart was full of praise for the God who brings life from the dust and who loves fiercely. The moment reminded me of my encounters with Jake the tow truck driver and how God had powerfully spoken into his life in a personal way. How I delight in these interruptions that Christ brings into life, where a "chance" meeting with a stranger brings forth life from simple truths of God! What an honor it is to be let into the interior of another person's fears and anxiety and to then be able to bring these burdens to the King of Kings who intercedes for His people in the throne room of God.

Fresh OJ in the mañana

The night bus to Tupiza was everything it was advertised to be: cold, bumpy, and I don't think we had all 4 wheels on the road at all times, but I arrived safely in frigid Tupiza at 4:45 a.m. and scrambled to my hostel for a few hours of sleep. Upon waking I signed up for a horseback ride through the pretty canyon country of Tupiza (Rosalita and Ryan this is 40 km from where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were murdered and the same land where they roamed). My guides ended up being 13 and 15 years old respectively and they were quite entertaining to observe as they chatted me up real good and then sold me on extending my 3 hour horse ride to a 5 hour horse ride -- that is a lot of horse riding for someone who hasn't ridden much in the past decade and whose horse, Talia, was pregnant, temperamental, and broke into a gallop whenever the trail turned west (in the direction of home). But, the kids were cute and I knew they needed the money so I agreed to another two hours and saw a few more canyons, an indigenous shepherdess trying to protect her goats from a pack of wild dogs, and tourists trying to control their horses like me.