Love Like A Child Of Bolivia by the Rev. Robin Hinkle
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
-Matthew 18:1–3
This past summer I had the great joy of returning to the Villa of Amistad in Cochabamba, Bolivia where we sponsor Casa Esperanza, a home for eight children. Amistad is a long-term ministry partner of Saint Michael. It has two programs that are tremendous ministries for the city. The first is the Villa orphanage that has eight houses on it, each of which has a “mama” and a “tia” who are charged with caring for the children in their home. This ministry is cradle-to-career, meaning that we keep the children and raise them through childhood, to teenagers, to young adults. The second program is Amistad for Families, which works with the social service and judicial system to provide services that strengthen families so that the children can remain in their homes with their families. Both of these programs are gold standard, and our foster care system could learn a lot from them.
This summer’s mission was especially sweet in that we were visiting Casa Esperanza when four new children arrived. Amistad is the only orphanage in Cochabamba that takes sibling groups, and we had four sisters arrive during our trip. The head of our house is Mama Jimena. The children who have been there for several years include Matti, Ezekiel, Anderson, and Aylin. The four new arrivals are Jazmin (11), Damaris (7), Briana (5), and Danae (3).
The new girls joined the family Friday and Saturday, and we got to take them on their very first outing with their new home. It was an amazing blessing to watch how the older children took care of the new ones: washing their hands, sharing their toys, including them in play and meals, and telling them “This is a good place.” All of this with zero prompting from any adult. When the littlest one fell asleep on my lap, another child on her own initiative, brought a blanket to cover her.
Everything at Amistad is grounded in faith—times of reflection at chapel, prayer at meals, prayers for one another, prayers in greeting the new family, and prayers in our times of play—they loved making crosses and covering them with gems or painting them. Love for God and one another is so very visible. Love is woven into and a part of the basics of life: school, family, meals, playtime, and church. Woven into beautiful days filled with joy. The children truly see each other and build one another up. It is a natural thing instilled into their character and how they live and deal with the world.
The holiday season at Saint Michael is a time of opportunity for us to live and love like a child of Amistad. These children live in the most modest circumstances, but what they have they share, even if it is just time and care. Our Scripture reminds us that we are called to do the same. We too can share our abundance with the world. This season, I invite each one of you (including your children—involve them in this lesson of faith) to share in at least one of our many service opportunities. Bring a case or two of food to our food drive for NDSM, donate a toy for I Believe in Angels or for the students at Foster Elementary School, send Christmas cards using our Heart of Giving cards, or consider a financial contribution to the Christmas plate when you come to services on Christmas Eve. I invite you to love like a child of Bolivia—after all Christmas is for children and you can be one too!
**This article was written by the Rev. Robin Hinkle and was featured in the 2024 – 2025 Winter Archangel.