From Rain to Sunshine

Wow - time flies! It's been almost a month already that I returned back from Europe. I've been completely absorbed with my various tasks here, and I don't even know where to start.

Anyway, I came back to Uchee Pines during a week with lots of rain and little sunshine, which made it rather difficult for me to quickly re-adapt to the time zone. About three weeks ago, we even had a tornado watch in the area. So we were encouraged to take shelter, which only some people on campus actually did. Some were not really aware, since they never received the text message saying "take shelter now", or they just didn't think the situation was serious enough. Well, the tornado touched down about 8 miles (12 km) from here; so the Lord really protected us. Anyway, we had fun sitting in the basement of the lifestyle center!

With my former classmate Joella in the basement during tornado watch

The last lifestyle session was very intense, with 14 guests altogether, which is quite a number given the limited staff we currently have. But it was a beautiful group. This session, we have 9 guests, but even more limited staff. However, I feel more relaxed now, as I start to get more and more comfortable with my assignments. Furthermore, I have a very nice lady to work with this session (and also in the last session by the way). It's such a rewarding experience being here, and I thank the Lord every day for this privilege.

In the meantime, the weather is like summer in Europe, with temperatures up to 92 F (33 Celsius) and lots of sunshine. This past weekend, we went on a camp-out to Camp Alamisco, a place run by the Gulf State Conference only about 1 1/2 hours from here. It was so beautiful and relaxing that I didn't want to leave. But duty was calling!

I will now stay here for one more month until June 18. Then I will go on a 12 day trip to Tennessee to visit some friends, after which I'm going to attend the GC session in San Antonio, Texas. So there are lots of interesting events ahead, and I'm truly thankful for the freedom I currently enjoy. Sorry Brussels, but I'm not really missing you right now...

Happy Group 

With the Robinson family from Tanzania

Children learning how to swim

Mother and Daughter

Little Lifeguard

Outdoor Chapel

Sharing Time

Black Forest

And here as promised a few pictures of the beautiful Black Forest!

View from our balcony

The living room

"Bächle", i. e. little streams in the city of Freiburg

Back and Forth

At the time of this writing, I'm in the Black Forest, enjoying the beautiful landscape at about 900 meters (2700 ft.) above sea level; with sunshine, snow, trees, flowers, little rivers, and marshland. I went with my aunt and grandmother who owns an apartment here. How peaceful and relaxing!

I had intended to post at least one more blog before I leave for my little two-week vacation in Europe, but things went a bit out of hand, and I just didn't get around to sit down and write. What an eventful time!

Since my last blog, I participated in three more sessions at the Lifestyle Center. If I had to summarize this time in a few adjectives, I would maybe describe it as: educational, character building, touching, fun and exciting.

I'm thinking about this 50-year old lady, terminal with breast cancer. She was in agony because of the physical pain she suffered. I distinctly remember her warm, firm grip when I was sitting at her bedside. Or the 20-year old with Type I Diabetes, who called me at night because her blood sugar was low, and something had to be done rather quickly! Or to see the improvement of the 75-year old with four-stage colon cancer, who felt and looked so much better after 17 days of treatment.

Well, the list could go on and on. We've had such wonderful lifestyle guests from all walks of life: a lawyer, a chef, a graphic designer, a diplomat's wife, retirees... Some didn't know much about the eight laws of health at all; others already knew a lot, but were still able to learn quite a bit during the programme. Whatever the case may be, I just love working with them. In fact, I wouldn't really have expected to obtain such high job satisfaction coming back to Uchee Pines. I guess I have matured over these past years, and am now taking this job more seriously. Plus the co-workers are very nice, and the new lifestyle center is just immaculate. I still have a lot to learn though, but I hope to be fully operational soon.

Anyway, this is my conclusion: I have decided to stay longer than originally planned. I will still come back to Europe for the summer as envisaged; however in September I shall return to Uchee and stay for another six months or so. I have no ambitions to go back to the EU yet. There is a time and a season for everything, and I don't think my time to return to my work place has come. I'm just excited that I can stay longer at my Alma Mater! And it's always good to know that you are needed. May the Lord help me to continue caring for His precious children.

What follows are a few random impressions of the awakening spring in Alabama. Some pictures of the Black Forest are soon to follow.

Back to my Alma Mater

As of this writing, I'm sitting in the new Lifestyle Center at Uchee Pines Institute in Alabama. Who would have guessed that I would come back here as a volunteer one day? Well, at least I wouldn't have thought it would happen.

As it is in the nature of such places, a lot of things have changed since I was here as a student and volunteer. Many people have left, and many new people have come. In these past weeks, mainly through conversations with the current students and workers, I got to reflect a lot about the time I was living here, which was from 2006 to 2008. I was trained in the old Lifestyle Center, a nice homy place, yet a little too small to accommodate the number of people who come here for education and treatment. That's why they endeavored to build a new, bigger facility. And after many years of constructing and raising money, constructing and raising money, and of course a lot of prayer, they were finally able to start operations in the spring of 2010. That's the story in a nutshell.

So now I'm back to my Alma Mater. And I'm back as a lifestyle counselor. I must say that I did not specifically ask for this position. I would have been perfectly happy if they had assigned me to the kitchen, to the health food store, or the office - I just wanted to come and volunteer for a little while. However, for them it went without saying that I would do this kind of work again.

The thing is that this facility is new to me, and many things have changed. For example, the LC's (lifestyle counselors) do much more physical exams on the health guests than we used to do. Not to mention the fact that the equipment is mostly different. But this place is very well designed and I begin to feel more comfortable working here. We just ended the first lifestyle session of 2015, which was a rather small one with only 9 guests. I was supposed to shadow one of the female counselors, but I ended up getting much more hands-on experience than I would have expected. In many ways, it was a true blessing to work with the guests, especially with this 92-year old lady (see picture below), and the staff here is very kind and helpful.

Nevertheless, I still need to learn and refresh a LOT! So I can't say that I feel adequate to already work with my own health guest from next session on (starting this Sunday). However, the words of one of the former farm managers of this place are now ringing in my ears: "It's good if we feel inadequate, otherwise we wouldn't depend on the Lord". So with this motto in mind I'm praying for strength, guidance and wisdom for the coming weeks!

Back to my Alma Mater

With Sister Leta - my favorite health guest :-)

Brazil

Well, I guess it's time for an update. I have left Bolivia on the 17th of this month, but I'm still dwelling in South America. I'm currently visiting my friend Carla in Brazil, who lives with her family about 2 1/2 hours north west of Sao Paulo. This small place is called Engenheiro Coelho, and it hosts part of the Sao Paulo Adventist University (UNASP). Carla is a student of architecture here.

My journey turned out a bit complicated, as I unfortunately sprained my right ankle while jogging just the day before I left Samaipata. But with the help of my friends in Bolivia, the trip actually went quite well. Although I've been a bit incapacitated, I'm enjoying my time with Carla. We haven't seen each other for about eight years after all. My foot is slowly improving, and I hope I will be able to be more active in these last few days here. As for the language, of course it's not very easy if you only speak Spanish, but I've been able to communicate with the neighbours a little bit.

Currently, it's quite hot here, about 33 degrees (90 F), but I'm still thankful that I don't have to experience the European winter this year. On Wednesday, I'll be headed to Uchee Pines Institute in Alabama. I'll be volunteering there in the Lifestyle Center. I look forward to this experience, although I'm a bit apprehensive. After all, it's already seven years ago after all that I finished my training and internship as a lifestyle counseler there; and they only opened the new Lifestyle Center after I had left. So I'm praying for an interesting and fruitful time there.

Carla with her husband Ricardo and daughter Kathlyn

The church at UNASP

Graduation of the theology students

And below you can see how sugar cane juice is being made!

Nature's candy!

More Pictures

And here are some more pictures about my experience in Bolivia:

With René and Angelina - the two children I´ve been supporting 

With Claudia, another volunteer, and some of the younger children

The two houses of the orphanage

Angelina is getting a hair cut

The children at House 1

On a mountain tour

At the nearby zoological garden

Life at Fundacion el Sauce

I'm living in the orphanage for several weeks now and I'm enjoying my time here. There are about 20 orphans distributed in two houses. In the house I'm staying, most of the children are already between 13 and 16 years old; there are only two younger girls age 8 and almost 3. The youngest, Angelina, is one of the children I've been supporting. She is here with her mother Virginia who had her at age 13. Most of the orphans went through very difficult times in their young lives. When I read about some of their backgrounds, tears came into my eyes. These are very sad stories - stories of abandonment, abuse, and neglect. Usually, they all do have parents, but have been left behind by them. But this place is a true refuge for them, where they can thrive and grow.

The "parents" in this house are Merce and Lito, a couple from Spain. I haven't met Lito yet though, as he had to go to Spain for a while for family reasons. But from what I can see, they have been doing a great job with the kids.

In the mornings, I usually help out on the farm. Lots of produce is groing here, especially vegetables. The project has a base of customers in Santa Cruz, and every Wednesday, the produce is being delivered there. Although it's sometimes getting strenuous when the sun is shining hot, I appreciate that I can work in the garden. In the afternoons, I spend time with the children. My little friend Angelina likes to go for walks and look at books. I've also been teaching English to the children. The level is very low here, and they are obviously having a hard time with this language, nevertheless they seem to like it.

Last week, I caught a belated "Welcome-to-Bolivia-Bug", which put me out of order for three days. I made the mistake of eating an unwashed fruit at the market, and I think this is what caused my misery. It wasn't pleasant indeed, but Merce took great care of me. Other than that, we had to deal with mice in the house, and at one point I even had one in my room. You may imagine that I was not amused! But these are minor nuisances. All in all, I'm glad to be part of this little world, and I hope I can make a difference in the lives of these precious children.

Below are some every day life pictures of the project. I will upload more in a later post.

Angelina & Ximena - the two youngest in House 1

Angelina with two of her friends of House 2

The children are always discovering something

Jhonny & René

On the farm

Long rows of vegetables

Beautiful views