Ok Ok I know it has almost been two weeks since my last entry. So I am going to cover the last two weeks in a nutshell which means this entry may be a bit longer than others. Last week the Aggies for Christ arrived and they helped us prepare for the Campaña or Gospel meeting that took place this last weekend. We had the priveledge of serving Christ by door knocking and handing out flyers to invite neighbors to the event and we also were able to walk around one of the plazas and sing as we handed out more flyers. Though man recieved flyers and were invited that isn´t really a good estimate of how many would come but I didn´t want to doubt what God may have had in mind. I was able to spend a lot of time with an Aggie named Frank, a business major, because I was put in charge of building signs at the contact center and church building and he was my "apprentice" so to speak...I ended up learning more from him and he had most of the good ideas for how we should secure the signs so that they couldn´t be taken down. It was fun having so many people my age around for a week and knowing that man still desire to be faithful to God and our fellowship. God is so good! The campaign came and went quickly. Preachers and missionaries from La Paz, Sucre and Santa Cruz came and shared messages with church members and visitors and they were some pretty strong and convicting messages. Though no one was baptized (many have heard the message of baptism many times and its importance just doesn´t click) we can´t humanly measure what went on in people´s hearts this weekend. Only God knows. So I would count it a succesful weekend. This week began with a flight to Tarija which is a smalled, much more tranquil city that cochabamba. But it comes with it´s lows as well. It was a survey trip so we spent time interviewing folks in the plaza´s and even an anabaptist minister from Pennsylvania who shared a lot about the city and it´s religious background. We even met a much older brother who lives there who currently attends the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) there where his sister is a Pastor along with two other women (go figure) . It is a place that is in need of a congregation and with the fact that is is a rapidly growing city, it is fertile. Now I am in Santa Cruz and Ken, our director for this program, has returned to the states to attend another one of our teams in Africa. There are 5 churches here and they are uniquely Bolivian. What I mean is that they recieved little help from the states and they weren´t placed by missionaries. They are here because of Angel, the first Christian of Bolivia from our fellowship (who I have had the priveledge of spending time with this week) . He responded to a newspaper ad about a correspondance course place by and asian lady merely traveling through the country. It is amazing how God works. He uses the tiniest things, such as newspaper ads, to reach the lost. They are training their members in the Bible with a special course so they can be prepared for visitors and to share the gospel with their neighbors. I was able to go to wednesday night Bible class at Angel´s church and afterwards we msut ahve stayed around for almost and hour and a hald talking amongst the members. They really LOVE here. They really desires missionaries from the states to come down and reach out to the five other areas of Bolivia that have been neglected by the church. Yes the church has for the most part looked past Bolivia and that must change. Yesterday I was terribly sick and couldn´t go out and finished recovering today. The girls have been attending a women´s conference and a few of the missionaries from Cochabamba arrived yesterday to spend time here with us and so their wives could attend the conference. Thanks again for being their for me in your prayers and thoughts...I know that your prayers make all the difference and that God hears every single one of them for the "prayer of a righteous man availath much."
Much love and in His name,
Taylor Box

It's end of week three and this weekend I am staying at Gary and Laura Bull's house along with their almost two year old son Nathan. It's been a good week for Spanish and I had many new opportunities to practice my skills. This week Jason (the other guy intern) Jeff (onr of the missionaries) and I decided to see Shrek 3 on monday night. Little did we know that it would be completely in Spanish. Still I got some of the jokes. Tuesday was an off day for me and I could tell that I was missing someone a whole lot but I went to the small group at the church and afterwards out to dinner with Jason and Rachel who I am fast to becoming close friends with. They are just a very fun couple to be around and very good Christian examples. Wednesday I ran into my English student Pablo who proceeded to take me over to the local University in Cochabamba and give me an entire tour of the campus. This he did entirely in Spanish and I understood him and he understood me. It was a lot of fun. After this point I decided to walk around the city by myself since I didn't have to be at the church building till 7:30 to teach English classes. I walked over to the Cine Center (this big movie theatre) and got something to eat and afterwards decided I wanted to take a gander at the local mormon temple. When I got there it was as usual, the workers come up to you and ask you if you have heard of Joseph Smith and the "restored gospel." I told them yes that I had investigated the church. The asked me what my conclusion was and I told them that I believe the Bible is the final Word and final Authority of God. The told me to pray the prayer to know if the church was true and I told them that I had and that God told me that the Latter Day Saints were not Christians. I actually was able to talk with a few about the Christ and having a relationship with him and about the move to restore Biblical Christianity. One of the guys names was Delmer and I invited him to the Gospel meeting we are having in a week. I have had chances to invite taxi drivers I get rides with and others I run into on the street. English class went well that evening and I was able to invite my two students (pablo and Fernando) both catholics to church Sunday and they agreed to come with enthusiasm. We also plan on getting lunch afterwards so we will be able to talk about how they felt about worshipping God with the brothers and sisters. Thursday night I came home early to spend time with my homestay because I felt I had been neglecting them and I hadn't taked time to have dinner with them yet. It was great because my Spanish has improved much and I was able to speak with them and joke with them. I am loving being down here and being able to be immersed in such a different cultural atmosphere. Yesterday I returned to my homestay for a meal called Silpancho which is a traditional Bolivian dish of steak lightly breaded with tomatoe cubes on top and fried eggs and rice. This has to be my favorite traditional dish down here and I hope to have it again soon. After lunch I took a long nap and them went out with Gary to look for lock boxes for the church and contact center. Theft is common down here and everything has to be locked up in some fashion. Other than that we had a special time of singing in Spanish at the church building to practice songs in preparation for the Gospel meeting next weekend. The Aggies for Christ come in on Monday and will be here for a week to door knock, hand out flyers and work on other projects. It will be a very busy and exciting week and please pray that we reach many with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Well I am off and will be getting ready for church tomorrow. Adios amigos!

Quite a week it has been...quite a week...more Spanish...more culture...more food...and to go with it stomach illnesses! The food down here is hard for Americans to get used to to say the least. let's just say I have seen porcelain more times than I can count this week. Yes there were some downs to this week but the individual Spanish classes have really improved my speaking ability and I have been bonding closely to the missionaries by attending visitations with them and helping them with problems that need to be be fixed constructionwise at the contact center and church building. Probably the greatest moment this week was when (you probably are not going to be expecting this)was...baptized! I know you are probably thinking "Wasn't he batized when he was younger?" I was baptized at eleven but I have felt for some time, almost a year, that I never really commited my life to the Lord and that no real change in living had occurred. Let's just say that the peace that passes all understanding has enveloped me like I never knew it could and a lot of questions that worry me and...most of my worries have just melted away. It is an amazing feeling. It is interesting that the night I chose to become a Christian and was expecting to sleep in peace that I hardly slept at all. I got up to the bathroom at least ten times and had a horrible cough (probably because I was waiting outside in the frigid air for a taxi after being born again and hadn't dried my hair). Today just topped it off as a exciting and nerve-rackingweek. I was suppossed to be staying with Josh and Julie Marcum and their two daughters Makayla and Eleana (one of the missionary families) for the weekend. I had gone over to their house and Bruno, a 19 year old church member who was living with them b/c there place was close to his university, was there. We had a dinner of beans and corn bread (good southern style eating) and everything seemed to be fine save for the two girls had been sick with fevers all day long. Well we were up in Bruno's room when right in front of our eyes Makayla (the older sister) feel to the floor in shock. What we found out later was that she was having a fever seizure and here eyes were rolling and she was convulsing. Her father carried her down stairs yelling for his wife who started screaming and her father started saying "Don't fall asleep Makayla, don't fall asleep!" His voice was so upset and I saw his daughter limp in his arms as he yelled to me "Open the car gate!" Him and his wife rushed off as worried as can be and Bruno and I were lefet behind wondering if she was dead. We embraced each other as he said a prayer in Spanish and I finished in English. We ran inside and began calling the other missionaries and we kept asking eachother "What do we do now?" we realized all we could do was pray. I remember having my had buried in the floor when the phone rang and Bruno came running in to tell me she was breathing! They had gotten her to the clinic safely and a doctor was their to assist her. Relief! Thanksgiving! Praise! It was a time of much rejoicing. I found out later that she had been nonresponsive for minutes without any breathing. I remember praying that if she was on the edge or death or dead that god would restore her to life. Many prayers were heard and answered tonight. Makayla is sleeping well in the hospital with her parents and little sister, her mother expecting another one along the way. I'm getting tired from just talking about all the tiresome events. I remember as Bruno and I waited for someone to return to the house that I had no trouble understanding or speaking Spanish. It became a non issue in the face of certain danger, like an adrenaline or Spanish speaking abilities. I know one thing that many are gonna be thanking our Father in Heaven tonight and it is great to know he is being praised. Chao!

Hey There! I know it has already been over a week and I am late putting in this entry because it is already tuesday of week two, but that just means I have more to write about! My first week was quite the experience down here. The three other interns and I arrived in La Paz about 8 in the morning Saturday the 2nd and waited out a 13 hour layover (ended up being 14 because the sense of urgency and promptness means nothing in Latin America) . We decided since we had so much time that we would head down from El Alto (where the airport was located) to downtown La Paz and I mean it when I say we headed down. the altitude was very high and the other three interns got sick and needed oxigen. Going DOWN to La Paz relieved the altitude sickness. We were able to celebrate some sort of festival with the Bolivians as there was a parade going on downtown with much food and activities. People lined the street watching performers in costumes and with various band instruments parade down the street. We took another flight towards Cochabamba at 8 oclock and arrived at 9. There we were greeted by Butch Sandoval and Jeff and Katie Forbess ( a few of the missionaries). They put us up in a hotel since we got in so late as not to bother the homestay tenants. The next morning we had worship in a two story storefront building that the missionaries are renting for the time being until the needs of the congregation require a larger meeting place. We sang many songs in Spanish using a song book called "Cantos del Camino" or "Songs of the Walk" as well as an overhead projector for singing and for the lesson. This congregation has a unique way of sharing communion in that those in the body of Christ (and some who just don't know better) walk up to the front, grab a piece of unleavened bread and a glass cup and either partake while standing up front or return with the Lord´s Supper back to their seats. The congregation does not have very many members at this point and the missionaries have only been here for a little over 18 months ( a majority of it spent learning Spanish and making connections with locals) . The missionaries are very welcoming though a number of them (there are 5 families) have just had children in the past 6 months and are undergoing culture shock (it hits at various times). Overall the work down here is progressing and the other interns and I have had opportunities to take two hours of immersion conversational Spanish class every morning (the married couple Jaosn and Rachel are taking classes in Ayamara a native tongue) and then use our Spanish during the rest of the day though it can be tiring. My favorite activity so far has been teaching conversational English classes to locals (we call them Cochabambinos). Many of them come from a Catholic background and thirst for a knowledge of the Bible. We are teaching from the Gospel of Luke and I teach two classes consisting of two people each. What is interesting is the fact that the locals never have been exposed to the Bible because the Catholic church teaches that only priests can understand God's Word. Many of them had never heard the story of John the Baptist and were very excited to hear a new story from the Bible. I get to teach again tomorrow and I am siked about my students progress in understanding the Gospel. We also participate in small groups on tuesday and thursday nights consisting of Bolivians and missionaries. Monday nights a few of the missionaries take turns teaching Bible Classes at La Connexion Cristiana (the contact center near the center of the city) and they are basically teaching Gospel principles such as the work of the Holy Spirit and baptism. Many students and other's attending classes, small groups and Sunday worship are very close or already prepared to commit their lives to Christ, be forgiven of their sins and be sealed by the Holy Spirit through Baptism. It is a truly exciting time for the missionaries here and a great time to be down here participating in the work and learning. Gary (another missionary) has asked me to head up some minor building projects such as placing signage at the front of the connection center without it being able to be torn down, builing either a permanent or movable wheelchair ramp at the church building and securing the railing on the second floor of the church building and constructing a gate to keep young ones from falling to the first floor and to death or injury. I look forward to the challenges of these Missionary 101 tasks and will be keeping my hands full. I will keep you all updated as much as possible. Well, hasta proxima vez (I think that means until next time) Chao! : )

I'm Ready!

So it's time...I'm off tomorrow and I'm so siked! My stomach has been upside down for the past week with anticipation. I haven't been able to really think about much except that I am off to start a new chapter of my life and it is scary. I mean it...I'm nervous and Satan has been at it trying to discourage me every step of the way. Still I praise God and have continued to trust that he will lead me. He has given me comfort in so many ways over the past couple of weeks and lead me to some very encouraging passages. If anyone reading this gets a chance...read through the Psalms and Proverbs. The Psalms is like a prayer book that is great in times of intense spiritual battle and Proverbs provides awesome wisdom for combating serious temptations. I have also been reading in Leviticus and just to read in depth about the tedious system of sacrifices I am thankful to say that I am saved by the grace of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and he is the ONLY mediator between me and my Father in Heaven. I am grateful that I can go straight to God and ask for forgiveness and I am immediately cleansed. Don;t we have a great God!? Thanks for all the prayers and support. I leave tomorrow evening at 7:50 from Reagan National (that's in D.C. for anyone who doesn't know) and arriving in Miami at 9:45 to meet with my team. Then we will begin the long plan flight across the equator to La Paz, Bolivia in order to catch a bus (I've heard these bus drivers are insane...not to mention dangerous) to Cochabamba. From there on it is two months of being mentored by the four missionary families there and enrolling in Spanish Language immersion school. God will reveal everything we will be doing down there in good time. Pray for our safe arrival and I'll will up date this blog weekly if I have that kind of access to the internet. God Bless and have wonderful summers!

Your Newest Cochabambino,

Taylor Box

Getting ready to go!

So I'm about a week away from meeting up with the other three Global Outreach interns I will be spending two weeks of my summer with. It has been a trying semester and even as I wait and prepare at home my anticipation has become overwhelming. I have been on week long campaigns to the Dominican Republic with Fairfax Church of Christ and to South America with Harding's Study Abroad Program but never have I felt so much nervousness about going out to serve God in a foreign land. The excitement is pumping through my veins as I anticipate the chance to become fluent in Spanish as I witness to Cochabambinos with the Good News of Jesus Christ. At times I have questioned how prepared I am to do God's work this summer and then I realized that he isn't necessarily looking for a list of qualifications, he was more so looking for someone with a willing heart willing to answer the call to go. I have no idea what God has in store for me this summer but I plan to go with a servant heart, ready to be at the Lord's disposal. Well with more than enough money in, all of my shots updated, and packing orders I am ready to go serve!