Our Prodigal Son

The prodigal son is a story very familiar to anyone who grew up in church.  Its the story of a man with two sons, and the younger asks for his inheritance and goes and squanders it in reckless living. A famine occurs and he finds himself hired out to feed pigs.  He's humbled, humiliated, and thinks about how much better things are for his fathers hired hands. He decides to return to his father, very repentant.  When he does so, his father ran from a long way off and met him with compassion and a warm embrace.  His brother deals with jealousy, after working faithfully for his father for all those years, but the father tells him, "Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’” (Luke 15:31-32)

This is the tale of two brothers.  We met them about two years ago.  They were some of the first teens here that we shared the gospel (and our Bolivian life) with.  They came to our home for Bible studies, meals, and to be loved and cared about. One read the Bible we gave him with much eagerness, wanting to know what it was about from cover to cover.  We bought him new glasses to make it less of a strain on his eyes to read.  His brother had some dental issues, so we got him the help he needed.  We loved them both with the affection of Christ.  At Christmas, we did a special "American Christmas" spoiling them with some fun things they wouldn't normally get. And our kids started referring to them as their "Bolivian brothers."  

But the brothers began to become more and more different than the other.  While one, C. changed schools and made new friends, they proved to be bad influences in his life, choking out the word planted in his heart.  He started going to more and more parties, and at every one drinking and having fun according to the world's standards.  He'd come to Seth later and say how he wished he hadn't but, he really enjoyed the parties and couldn't resist the temptation to drink.  Seth was getting to the point of distancing him from our family, as he wasn't receiving wisdom and following after Christ and his commandments.   One night took care of that, when C. was taken from a party by the police for underage drinking.  At 2 in the morning, his brother called and asked Seth to take their mother to get him.  He did so, and when he arrived, Seth let him know how disappointed he was in the boy.  The boy's pride took over, and he said Seth had no right to speak to him that way, and that he was done with Seth and our family.  

In the mean time, his brother A. became very close to our family.  He would accept challenges to grow in his faith, memorizing books of the Bible and verses, cleaning out the videos and apps on his phone, and it was almost like he was trying to make up for some of the deep hurt and disappointment his brother left us.  He really became like a member of our family, and has been a great blessing to us.  He will graduate high school in November and we're so proud of him!  

"The ministry of reconciliation" keeps coming to my mind here lately.  Because for the past 2 weeks, C. has been back in our lives.  He has asked for forgiveness and promises he no longer goes to parties or drinks.  He told Seth he sincerely wants to know God more, and is sorry for how his pride kept him from growing in his faith through discipleship with our family.  I won't say Seth was exactly like the father in the story running to him and celebrating.  Our hearts are definitely more guarded after the hurt he inflicted on us a year ago.  But I can't help but get a little excited at seeing him here for Bible studies and listening to instruction.  I pray that this return is genuine, and that he will become more like his brother(s) in Christ and his spiritual father, Seth. While on furlough we spoke about him, how he was the seed in the parable of the seeds, that was sown among the thorns and was choked by the cares of the world.  We asked our brothers and sisters in churches where we spoke to pray for his heart, and we're seeing the answer to those prayers. Thank you, Jesus, for the ministry of reconciliation.  

2 Corinthians 5:18-21, "All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling[b] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 

House Hunters Cochabamba!

So, as much as I'd love to share all the interesting details about how that 30 minute episode comes together, we signed a release that restricts me from a lot of those behind the scenes details.    We can basically say, "Yup, we were on House Hunters International."   So, I'll tell you what I can.

A crew came to our town last September and we spent quite a bit of time together between house tours, interviews, and going around town shooting at different locations.  They were some of the nicest people you'd ever meet.   We (the kids and myself) cried in the middle of the cancha (the large outdoor market) where we had to say our final goodbyes.   We get attached to Americans who visit us very quickly!  They loved our kids, spoiled us, and showed great patience with all of us as this was a completely new experience for us.   There was the director, a camera man, a sound guy, a fixer, a driver, and a producer from House Hunters.

Our wardrobes were limited to certain things (ex. no words, logos, or small stripes), and at the time, I didn't have a lot of pants that fit and were flattering on me.  So, I wore the same jeans with every wardrobe change.  I should have put more thought into that, because due to the fact that we hang dry our clothes, I couldn't wash them all week!  (No time for drying) So, by the end of filming I was SO glad to get to wear something else!  Also, I didn't have enough shirts that fit their requirements, so at the last minutes a friend let me have two of her shirts to wear.  Thanks for the save, Erin!  (Buying clothes here is a lot of work, and its frustrating to pay Walmart prices for yard sale clothes.)

When we went around in their rental van, they had a food box.  It is exactly what it sounds like.   A box of snacks for everyone.  But to us, it was like a box of gold.  They bought American snacks here that we don't normally buy (imported foods are expensive, and fruit is cheap, so we snack on fruit mostly).  We ate Pringles and I don't remember what else, but it was a treat!

If you saw the episode, you saw Cristian's pension (like a hole-in-the-wall inexpensive restaurant, very common here).   We didn't just eat there for filming, but there were also a few occasions where Cristian catered for the crew.  (Our whole family can eat there for less than $5, so I think they knew a good deal when they found one, ha!)

Why did we want to be filmed for House Hunters?  We thought it would be a great opportunity to show friends and family in the states what Bolivia, and specificallly Cochabamaba, was like. I always tell people, "Bolivia is a completely different world than the US," and its true.  But how can I adequately explain that?  I feel like the show was able to capture a little bit of that...shopping, dining out, life at home, teaching in a Bolivian school.  And too I feel like it was a great opportunity to be a Christian example on the show, both for the filming crew and for viewers.

The film crew on their last day of filming.