Monday, June 18, 2012

Bolivia Journal, Part III, LAUS DEO!

A Church Service and Fellowship I will Never Forget...

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Four dancers add richness to the music...

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...of worship in the service.

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Pastor Enrique.

For seven years I worked designing publications for a mission agency. It was a very frustrating exercise as we were routinely rejected when we tried to print photos of people sharing the simple joys of life. We were forced to emphasize the bleakness and poverty of their lives, creating a very one-dimensional picture of the people we represented.

Sharing a laugh, a meal, a bit of the journey has always been a doorway into a relationship. Here in Santa Cruz's poorest neighborhood I was not dissapointed! Here I saw the richness of life in some of the world's poorest people. Here were girls sharing secrets in church, young adults with the same playful spirit as some of my friends at home and kids being kids!

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I suppose these young girls were sharing things that their US counterparts would totally understand during the service.

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After church I photographed these young adults outside...

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...who quickly found their otter natures when they saw the camera!

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The Sunday School kids were picking something out of the planters. I wondered if their teachers had hidden treats there? I also wondered at the little girl's grimace until I saw the rest of the game. I'd caught her in the act of picking pebbles out of the planter before the kids had a pebble fight!

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Susan tries in vain to get these boys to smile...

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...and they do smile, when they see their pictures!

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