Coming up for air!

It has been a busy few weeks for the Warden family, yet productive and encouraging none-the-less.  We've been working hard to get our home ready to be placed on the market, and last week it officially went up.  We wanted to get everything ready just before we left for a week visit to South Dakota to see family and do a little fundraising on the side.  Packing for vacation and preparing your home for the market at the same time was a chore but we were able to get it done.  Now we feel our hard work has paid off as we have had two showings the first week!  Please pray that our home sells quickly, as I'm finding that keeping it clean is definitely going to be quite a task with a 14 month old living in the house!  

We had a wonderful time visiting with my family in South Dakota.  It's always refreshing to get away from the fast-pace of city life and enjoy the small town atmosphere.  (Not to mention having extra hands to love on Ella!) 

 While there we also had the chance to visit with the missions board of my parent's church.  It was a wonderful and valuable experience for us to share our vision and passion for our ministry with Food for the Hungry with them.  It was also encouraging for us to see others get excited about our ministry as well.  

Here are a few pictures from our trip! 

Four Generations!

Ella at the Yankton City Pool.

  

Ella in her frog pool at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Weekend of Hunger

It was a busy weekend for the Warden family. On Saturday we had the opportunity to be apart of the grand opening of Kids Against Hunger here in Cincinnati. We packaged food all morning that will go to feed hungry children around the world. There was a feeling of excitement and joy in the warehouse that morning as we all worked together. It was a great event!

Sunday we were able to share with the congregation of Hope Church, our home church and where John works, our plans for serving in Bolivia. It was a wonderful morning! We can't express how much it means when someone approaches us to say how excited they are for us and that they will be praying. It was a very encouraging morning.

Back to hunger.....

So last night I could not get to sleep. It was such a busy weekend my mind would just not stop racing. As I glanced at the clock that read 1:38 am I realized that my stomach was hurting. I felt like I was starving! Then it dawned on me that with the business of the day, getting Ella fed and put to bed, and then starting back in on getting the house ready to sell, I had forgotten to eat supper! As I lay there I began to wonder if I would be able to fall asleep without going downstairs and getting something to eat. I was really hungry! It then hit me like a ton of bricks....there are millions of people that go to bed hungry every night. Their stomachs are aching more than mine was yet they don't have the option of running to the fridge to get something to eat. They will probably wake up in the morning with the same dull pain. I tried to remember the last time I even felt hungry and I could not think of one. We are so blessed that eating is more of an event for our own pleasure than a necessity.

While these are hard thoughts to entertain, I'm glad that the Lord laid these thoughts on my mind last night. So often we don't want to even think of such things and we often use the excuse that I am just one person, what can I really do to help the millions of starving people and children around the world? Deep down I know that thought is a lie and I have been convicted that I need to do more! There are so many opportunities out there for all of us. Donate food to a shelter or local food pantry! Donate money to organizations that help in this cause! Do Something! Be Encouraged!

Cocha....what?

It is a strange name, Cochabamba.  Strange as it is, that is the city we will be living in.  Here is a good description from Wikipedia:

Cochabamba is a city in central Bolivia, located in a valley bearing the same name in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and is the third largest city in Bolivia with a metropolitan population of more than 900,000 people. The name derives from a compound of the Quechua words qhocha, or lake, and pampa, or open plain. Residents of the city and surrounding areas are commonly referred to as Cochabambinos. Cochabamba is known as the "City of Eternal Spring" and "The Garden City" due to its spring-like temperatures year round.

We will be getting an apartment in Cochabamba, which is at about 8000 feet in elevations.  Our ministry will take place mostly in the rural areas outside of Cochabamba up in the Andes which we will be traveling to each week.  Some of these villages are over 14,000 feet in elevation!  Most people in the city speak Spanish.  In the rural villiages, Spanish is also used but Quechua is the more common language spoken.  We will be in language school our first three months.  We are praying that we pick up Spanish quickly.  Once we get Spanish down we may try to tackle some Quechua as well.    

Here are some pictures John took of Cochabamba, and some of the rural villiages when he visited last May. View of the Andes from the airport

A few apartment buildings in Cochabamba

Traveling to the rural villages

 

Pictures of a village

Bolivians are much shorter than Americans.  While this is great news for me, you can see that John is going to stick out like a sore thumb!! (John is actually bending his knees in this pic!)

Sweet village girl.