Since arriving in Bolivia over two years, I have had the time of my life. I have learned more about myself than I would have sitting in a classroom, and I got to experience God in ways I never had.

I have always “struggled” with my religion, asking God why he allows so much pain and hurt, devastation and sadness to exist. I could never really wrap my head around the fact that, most likely, we are the ones that create the suffering and the anguish. But, working with the amazing children of NCV has opened my eyes to a new beauty of God. God is love. Period. Many of these children have suffered abuse, neglect, abandonment, and trauma; things a child should never have to live through. But, despite these times of sadness and darkness, they still have the ability to love, to trust, to laugh, to smile, and to hug. That is love, and that is God. In their eyes, in their spirits, in their laughter and theoir smiles, in their hugs and their kisses, and in their ability to love immensely and genuinely, I see and experience God.

Thanks to the children of NCV, I have discovered God–his beauty and his love.