Milenka

Hey guys

We hope everyone is well and enjoying a bit of spring time temperatures. We arrived back in Santa Cruz Tuesday morning after traveling for 24 hours but finally think we are up to date on sleep now. We will blog on Nica and the Spring Break trip soon...but it was AWESOME!!!

We wanted to tell you the story of little Milenka. You might remember us blogging about getting away one weekend during Carnaval (Bolivia's Mardi Gras) and going to gorgeous Samiapata-maybe one of the prettiest places we have been on our entire trip! It was amazing with mountains surrounding us and great food (actually vegetarian options). A playground for us especially since we are living in Santa Cruz, the biggest city we have ever lived in. So we simply thought it was going to be a weekend to get away and bike, hike, read, and eat-God had other plans.

First of all, since it was such a big holiday and many people want to get away, most places were booked for months. Joe called the Tuesday before we left on Friday and there happened to be a room in a place 5 minutes from town (which was awesome to not hear the bands playing all night) and next to the best restaurant in town. We were a little nervous that when we got there our reserved room would not be reality but it was there waiting for us. The room was nothing to brag about but was clean (which is ALOT for Latin American hotels). We were enjoying ourselves and doing our thing when our 2nd day there we met the daughter-in-law of the owner of the hotel. She is American and comes for months at a time to do humanitarian work to little villages around Samiapata. What's crazy about this is her name is Julie and she is a pharmacist in the States! Small world! We got to talking and there is a little girl named Milenka from Samiapata who the whole town had come together to try to raise support for her to have heart surgery. Milenka, now 7 years old, was born with a hole in her heart. The doctors thought it might potentially grow together but after many tests and years of hope it is still there. We had noticed signs throughout town of a picture of Milenka but never stopped to read it. Her dad is a taxi driver and the mom stays home with her other 3 siblings. One doctor in Santa Cruz had quoted the surgery to be $9000, which in no way could her family afford this kind of money. Julie asked if we had any contacts in Santa Cruz for Milenka and we had just started working at Mission of Hope the week before we came. Crazy enough, Mission of Hope was started and by a lady in Charlottesville and is funded through donations in the US but staffed by Bolivians-really a cool place! Mission of Hope is a free hospital to the poor and the have the oppurtunity to hear the gospel while being healed physically.

We went back to Santa Cruz and talked to Mission of Hope as well as the lady in Charlottesville who said they could get teh surgery done for $7000 but we would have to raise the money ourselves-there were 2 other kids who needed this surgery as well that Mission of Hope was raising funds for at the time so they did not have extra money for Milenka. We were super bummed and emailed Julie and told her the news. She had been supportted many times from her church to do her projects and didn't think she could ask them again to help finicially as we felt the same with our friends and family. The lady from Cville told us..."Don't put God in box-this is possible to raise the funds!" Joe and I actually fasted the day after and prayed for our future and decisions entailing that but also for Milenka. That night, I checked my email and one of Julie's friends, who we actually met in Samiapata that weekend, was donating the entire amount for the surgery. INCREDIBLE! He was still going to write letters for support to reimburse himself but he wanted to follow through with this oppurtunity through Mission of Hope at the discounted price.

We now are about to call Milenka's dad and tell him the good news regarding the funding. We are not sure if he even knows the money is all there and the surgery can be performed. It's really exciting!

I would ask that you pray for Milenka and her family (her dad's name is Freddy) during this time of planning and putting details together as well as a healthy surgery and recovery. The family will have to travel to Cochabamba which is about a 8 hour trip for them for the surgery. It's a Belgium hospital and seems to be top notched. They have to travel there for the initail exams and consults and then probably will travel back for the surgery so just a lot of time on the road and nerves and hopes to tend to. I also ask that you pray for the continuted about of money to reimburse Julie's friend-he really took a step of faith and knew God would provide. He taught Joe and I so much through this action.

So, next time you go on "vacation" to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city, be aware what the Lord has in store for you! His plans are perfect!

Take care!
Julie and Joe