Dear John & Maritza:

This week I received your periodic newsletter, and after reading Teresa Bullard’s story I feel compelled to send you this letter.

In 2003 I was wrestling with not only myself and my faith, but with God Himself. Since I was a child I had a burning feeling that I was made for something more, something more than the way I was living. But often, when I felt God calling to me into action, I purposely ignored Him so I could do things “my way”. I can recall today, as if it was just yesterday, the sermon our pastor gave that Sunday morning in late 2002. It was the type of “one-on-one” sermon whereupon you know that God, through the preacher, is speaking directly to you, and perhaps, you alone. Pastor Moses’ sermon was on getting out of your comfort zone to serve the poor, as we are called to do, and thus, Pastor Moses was promoting our church’s July 2003 inaugural trip to Cochabamba to serve at the Bolivia Life Center. There I was, sitting there, empathizing with the biblical character Jonah, because at that moment I felt like I was Jonah, knowing that God was calling me to serve (in Bolivia), but running away from this calling.

In July of 2003 my 9 year old son, Kyle, and I were two of 22 ministry partners from our home church, Lake Forest Church, who assisted in the construction of the Bolivia Life Center (BLC). In October of 2003 Kyle and I joined five others from our church who returned to Cochabamba to provide medical assessments of many of the boys who now call the BLC home.

During the summer of 2004 our team size doubled as Kyle and I returned to Cochabamba. It was during this trip that my relationship with Ernesto Mamani began. As you and many others know, Ernesto is one of the sweetest, sincere boys, not only at the BLC, but that I have had the privilege to meet and befriend. Our goodbye that summer was very difficult, but not as hard as it was in 2005, and certainly not has hard as this past July.

By the time January 2005 arrived I had stopped running away from God. With our church looking for someone to lead the summer team back to Cochabamba I had to ask myself, “How many times will you go before you’ll step up to the plate and lead?” During our ride from the airport to the BLC I was overcome by emotion, as the thoughts of, “I am back home!” flooded all of my senses. When our bus pulled through the gate, onto the BLC property, off in the distance I saw them; the boys stood there anxiously waiting our arrival. Before our bus had come to a complete stop they ran to the doors; however, only one ran to the front passenger seat door, where I sat. He stood there, with a smile that would melt the coldest of hearts – yes, Ernesto! By the end of our trip Kyle and Ernesto were like brothers; in fact, they had become brothers.

This past July I returned to the BLC. This time, my wife, Jill, and our 9 year old daughter, Abby, joined me and 47 others from our church. I couldn’t wait for Jill and Abby to meet Ernesto, and for Ernesto to meet them. As you recall, for our team, the road to Cochabamba, as well as the road from Cochabamba, was filled with obstacles; two cancelled flights from Miami to Bolivia; the arrival of our luggage hours before our scheduled departure from Bolivia; the missing of our connection flight from Miami home to North Carolina after we finally arrived in Miami at midnight (after arising at 5:00AM), which resulted in our team driving all night from Miami to our church outside of Charlotte. But because of the many obstacles, we were all blessed beyond measure. Watching Ernesto with Jill and Abby seemed so natural. Jill and Abby had heard so much about Ernesto from me and Kyle over the years, and now they were spending time  together.

At every turn, when our team was faced with an obstacle, God responded with a greater blessing. It was 4:00PM on our final day. After our tearful hugs and goodbyes, our team boarded our buses, which were to take us to the airport. Before the ignitions on the buses were even turned, we learned that our flight home had been canceled. Many of the “rookies” were crying beyond comfort – their first goodbye had been so emotional that they weren’t sure if they could go through it again the following day. For me, I was ecstatic; it meant more time with Ernesto and the other boys. That night I asked Ernesto to show me where he slept. We walked side by side to his bed. As I looked around his room, a large open area that contains roughly 20 bunk beds, I noticed that Ernesto was the only boy who didn’t have his new green soccer pillowcase on his pillow (Jill had worked so many hours making them to insure that each boy would have his very own pillowcase, so I wondered “Why” Ernesto didn’t get his).  As he jumped up onto his top bunk I saw the familiar green soccer material peeking out from under his pillow. When I reached under his pillow to pull out the pillowcase I also found his bible. I asked Ernesto if he would like to read from his bible with me. Ernesto’s eyes lit up as he said he would. For over thirty minutes we took turns reading and laughing, with me making funny voices as the gender of my biblical characters changed. Often he corrected my pronunciation – he was the teacher, and I the student. I then spent time telling him more about my family and our home, the climate in North Carolina, and simple trivial topics. He would ask questions and I would do my best to answer, even to the point of illustrating with my pen, on my hand, as well as drawing on the wall with my finger. We had spoken before, but this was more than mere speaking, we were communicating. In all, we spent about an hour and a half together, just he and I, communicating and solidifying a friendship.

At the time I gave no thought about “who” had provided this bible, but did give much thought about how much this bible meant to this one boy. Ernesto’s bible was very worn, an indication that the pages have been turned many times. When I received your newsletter this week, and read Teresa’s story, I then gave a lot of thought to “who” provided Ernesto’s bible. As a whole, our society often falls into Satan’s trap where he convinces us not to walk in faith and brainwashes us into believing that, “You can’t make a difference” and “Why bother, you’re just one person”. I am so thankful that Teresa Bullard didn’t believe the lie. Because of her faithfulness, and the faithfulness of those she has touched in her Sidewalk Sunday School ministry, I was extremely blessed by being given the privilege to read with Ernesto from his bible that night. And better than that, the boys at the BLC are learning of the love of the most important Daddy of all.

I echo Teresa’s words – “I’ll Be Back”!

With the greatest appreciation for your commitment to our Father’s vision, I am sincerely

YBIC (Your Brother In Christ),

Mike Althoff