Background on the Wilson Family
The Story of How We Met- Andrea's version
Monte never knew what hit him! At least that's how I like to put it! It was June of 2000 and we were serving on a 1-week short-term trip with Hospitals of Hope in Cochabamba, Bolivia. We had been getting to know one another since I'd been selected to serve on the team to Bolivia through Central Christian Church in Wichita, KS. I lived in Hutchinson (45 minutes away) and only attended the church on Sunday evenings when possible. Monte was one of two team leaders and he says he chose me because I spoke Spanish- but I know it's really because he thought I was cute (just kidding)! At any rate, we'd slowly been getting to know one another. It was neat to get to watch one another serve. It was obvious to both of us pretty quickly that we each have servant's hearts and a strong passion to share Christ with others all around the world. We also came to recognize a rather odd sense of humor that we both had in common.
(9yr anniversary photo)
Within a few days of being on the trip, we were spending considerable time together. It happened that one day we were assigned to a similar project- I was walking in mud with another girl (in order to mix it), and Monte was shoveling that mud into buckets to be passed along in order to spread it between the adobe bricks that were being laid for the security wall of HOH's medical facilities. While we were walking in the mud a little sarcasm was being thrown around and a challenge was made that Monte couldn't manage to get either me or my friend into the mud pit. Well, the next thing we knew, he tried to throw both of us down into the mud pit, but being 1 guy against 2 super-intelligent women who're in great shape, he ended up in the mud- with a his leg gushing with blood! Like I said, he never knew what hit him! It turns out that in the midst of the struggle, I had tried to take his shovel away from him so he wouldn't get hurt, but instead he clung to it and its top corner got jammed into his shin! He was covered in thick mud and the blood was throbbing through it- oops! He even had to get stitches!! Well, I figured if that didn't get rid of him nothing would- and sure enough he kept coming around, so I figured he was a keeper!
So there was a little more to the story than that. As you can imagine, as with any love story, there are more details of the romance, etc. Honestly, though, the thing that really drew us to one another was a new ministry. We'd both been praying for the Lord to lead us each to a ministry with young adults. The one I'd been attending in Hutchinson had just ended, and I'd been challenged by an SIM missionary to do something about it. He asked me, "What's holding you back?" This has turned out to be a question I ask myself a lot and like to use to challenge others as well. Anyway, the Lord led us to start this ministry together. We called it The 20th Hour. It was a ministry to young adults, primarily in their 20's and we met at 8:00 (ie- 20:00). During this time of ministry, we again got to watch one another serve and we discovered how well we work together as a team. Monte is great at the "Behind the Scenes" type of stuff (running sound for example), and being a theatre major, I'm more of an "up front" type of person, being involved in communication, etc. God really blessed that ministry and our relationship and we realized very quickly that He had an even bigger plan for us. As the Lord drew us together, we came to realize that we had each limited God by thinking He couldn't or wouldn't bring that perfect person to us. We were obviously pleasantly surprised to see how He gave us each above and beyond what we could ever ask or imagine (Eph 3:20). Praise the Lord that He is bigger than any idea or plan that we could ever come up with!
After less than 1 year of dating, we were married on April 14, 2001. We are blessed to have been happily married for more than 7yrs now and look forward to each new year and the new adventures the Lord brings our way each year. We appreciate your prayers for our marriage as we all know that the enemy likes to attack the marriages of those who are faithful in ministry.
Why We're In Bolivia
Bolivia is a nation with great resources yet is very poor because of poor leadership and planning. As a result, many missionaries have come to serve in Bolivia over the years. Bolivia is actually one of the most evangelized nations in South America. So why are we here?
Well that's a good question. We were originally planning to move to Paraguay, one of the least evangelized nations in South America. We completed our missionary training through SIM and were accepted as appointees. But then God showed us that He had other plans for us. Lots of plans, in fact.
So in June of 2003, we followed His plan for us to come back to Bolivia and serve full-time with Hospitals of Hope as Guest Hosts/Volunteer Coordinators. Our heart was really for evangelism of the people, particularly our patients, so that was our other primary focus- and the harvest was ripe- we were able to lead over one hundred of Bolivians to the Lord in that time. It was also a blessing to watch so many of our short-term missionaries learn and grow and a great number of them are now committed to full-time ministry or missions. Monte would oversee the volunteers for the construction and eventually oversaw the entire project of the hospital construction. We were the Guests Hosts for two years until the Lord allowed us to recruit some other workers. It was good timing because Nicole came to live with us permanently in July of 2005 and Kayla was born in August of the same year! The hospital was inaugurated in April of 2006. In the mean time we had recruited a Bolivian pastor to do the majority of the evangelism. He's amazing- speaking Spanish, Quechua, and English as well as a little Aymara. He is still serving to this day and has led over 3,000 individuals to the Lord!
As a result of recruiting and training others, we essentially worked ourselves out of our jobs! We weren't sure what the Lord had for us next, but we were getting very involved in our church, The Cochabamba International Church. Monte had volunteered to head up the Missions/Outreach Dept and then we were asked to fill in for the youth leaders who were traveling to the States for 6 months. Well, as often happens in life, God changed their plans- and ours. The youth leaders ended up going to serve in Indonesia and in the mean time we were enjoying serving as the Directors of Youth Ministry for the CIC. So when they didn't come back, we were pleased to step up and fill the position full-time. We made the transition from serving with Hospitals of Hope to serving through Ripe for Harvest World Outreach International. It was a smooth transition and we thoroughly enjoyed doing youth ministry. It was funny to plan wacky events for them and line up great speakers, but even more so, it was exciting to see the youth group grow and much more importantly, to watch many of the youth grow spiritually and several of them even committed to full-time ministry.
We served as youth leaders for the CIC for 3years as well. Then the Lord showed us again that He wanted us to change ministries. Since we'd been planning on returning to the States after the adoption, we eventually wound our ministries with the CIC down to a close. After that the Lord showed us that He'd have us here for another year or two more, but serving in different capacities. Now Monte is serving full-time at Following the Master Carpenter and Andrea is discipling a number of ladies and volunteering at Casa de Alegria Girls Home. The Wilsons have also founded a new ministry called The Gathering, an English service targeting 20's and 30's. You can read more about these ministries on our ministries page.
We have a real heart for the Bolivian people and want them to know Christ and to grow in Him and to desire to introduce and train up others in Him as well. It is definitely a privilege to be here and get to serve in this way.
How Nicole Became a Part of Our Lives
24yr old Clementina came to Hospitals of Hope in April of 2004 with five different "unrelated" symptoms. She made an impression on us because her illnesses left her unable to work. She was so young, and a single mother of a shy 4yr old. When the doctor suggested she get a CatScan, we knew there was no way she could afford to get that done. A volunteer felt the Lord calling her to pay for that procedure. Little did we know that this was the beginning of a relationship that would change our lives forever!
Through the next few months, we got to know Clementina and Nicole really well. We were able to visit them in their home and share Christ's love with them. In June she accepted Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior. About the same time, the results of the scan were confirmed- cancer. Astrocitoma is a form of terminal brain cancer that usually takes a patient within 6 months to 2 years of diagnosis- whether treated or left untreated. By the time it was found, the mass in her head was already almost the size of a baseball! In July, with the help of many people from the US and Canada, Clementina was able to receive brain surgery to remove the mass. She came through amazingly well- all of the doctors were shocked at her quick recovery! Little Nicole came to live with us for the three weeks her mother was in the hospital.
Clementina was doing well, but still needed radiation treatment. It also went well. Clementina and Nicole began attending church and Clementina chose to be baptized on September 14, 2004 (Cochabamba Day). She later dedicated Nicole to the Lord and we were chosen as "God parents," which in the evangelical church are called "Tutors." It was an honor for us. Throughout these months we'd gotten to know Clementina even better as Andrea spent time with her and discipled her. We also provided a job for her at the hospital and at our home helping with cooking, cleaning and other projects as she had energy. We enjoyed Clementina's company and Nicole's too. It was probably in October or November of '04 that we realized the Lord was leading us to adopt Nicole. From that time on, the two spent even more time with us. In December we tried to get the paperwork started for the adoption, but came up against many obstacles along the way. Ultimately we discovered that she could only give Nicole in adoption while she was living, meaning she'd have to give up her rights to Nicole in advance of her passing. What a scary and difficult thing for a mother to do! Clementina really wanted to see Nicole enter kindergarten. She also had hope that she would not pass away any time soon. So, we put the adoption on hold. We still spent lots of time together and the two even lived with us for a while. Nicole would often spend the night or a weekend with us.
Eventually Clementina did decline again. We had already agreed that she should not go through another surgery as it was too risky and also such a difficult thing to undergo radiation treatment. As the illness progressed, however, she was determined not to give up. So in July of 2005, she admitted herself in the hospital, leaving Nicole to live with us. The doctor operated again, this time leaving Clementina in a vegetative state. She remained that way for about 6 weeks before she finally passed away on August 21 of 2005. Our new baby, Kayla was born just 4 days prior to that- on August 17. She was God's gift to Nicole, who desperately wanted a baby sister.
As challenging as it may sound, life with Nicole has been wonderful. The Lord had been preparing her all of this time as well. It seems that a sort of burden was lifted when her mother who'd been sick for so very long, finally passed away. She began to relax and play as a kid (something she wasn't able to do, since she'd often had to care for her mom). The Lord gave her a new joy for life. We put her in a new school where she was taught English, but more importantly, where she received love and a solid Christian influence. On November 15 of 2005, she prayed to receive Jesus in her heart. She has continued to blossom and thrive in her new relationship with the Lord. She is a great example now to other children as she loves the Lord so much and has a true servant's heart. We are so blessed to have her as part of our family. For those of you who don't know her, she is also very ornery, and fits in well with our family. She even appreciates Monte's warped sense of humor! We've chosen to call her Nicole "Joy" because not only is she a joyful child, but she brings so much joy to our lives. Thanks to all of you for your prayers for our family and for the adoption process which still continues to this day.
Wilson Family Birthdays:
Monte: June 9th, 1971
Andrea: July 22, 1977
Nicole: February 23, 2000
Kayla: August 17, 2005
Sabrina: October 30, 2007
Wedding Anniversary April 14, 2001
