Burrrrrrrrr......

As many of you know, we are in the middle of winter down here in the Southern Hemisphere.  Typically that means when the sun is down, it can get down into the 50's, maybe high 40's on a cool night.  During the day when the sun is out it can still get up into the high 60's, low 70's.  For this reason, homes are not built with any kind of heating system. 

You may have also heard on the news that South America has been suffering from an unusual cold spell.    Bolivia experienced this in full force two weekends ago.  For three days temps dipped down into the high 20's and with heavy cloud cover.  I'm not sure we got out of the 30's during the days.  When you are living in a home with no heat, it doesn't take long for it to get pretty chilly.  We pretty much lived under blankets and with hats and gloves on for several days.  On Saturday morning, we made a big bed of blankets on our living room floor and had a Toy Story Marathon.  (yes - Toy Story 3 is out on DVD here in Bolivia already...sort of!)    

We were definitely counting our blessings when our landlord arranged for a gas heater to be installed in our apartment on Sat. afternoon.  

While we were cold for several days, we couldn't imagine how many people in Bolivia were managing the cold, living in homes made with mud walls.  During that cold weekend, 46 people in Sucre died from hypothermia or carbon monoxide poisoning trying to keep warm.  I'm sure there are similar stories like this all around South America.  Please take a moment to pray for these families that have lost loved ones and that are still fighting to stay warm in this unusually cold season.    

Blessings

As I sit and reflect tonight, a familiar question runs through my mind.   Over the past 12 hours many people have asked Jennie and I about what sort of "blessing" the Hope Church team has been.  To answer such a question is very difficult.  How do you sum up 7 days of incredible memories into a few brief sentences?  The blessings over the past week have come in a variety of forms.  Ways in which you often don't anticipate, and forms in which you won't forget anytime soon.  Below is my attempt to share with you the ways our lives have been blessed over the past 7 days.

A Blessing is....

...friendships that connect at the heart level

...watching bridges being built between cultures that seem so incredibly different

...seeing joy on the faces of children that have been abused, abandoned and neglected

...observing gifts God has given being used to encourage and glorify His name

...enjoying the moments of special talent

...watching your daughter soak in the love of people she will really miss

...seeing friendships of a lifetime being created

...seeing passion at work

...hearing the sacrificial stories of students who loved without hesitation

(Seth giving his sock up for a bandage)

(Students in Ravelo serving Romulo with a blanket)

(Lindsey giving away her jacket at a moments notice)

...observing ministry happen in spite of communication obstacles.  

...experiencing the hope of salvation being given through a simple drama 

...watching God move in incredible ways

...being joyful for what God has given and realizing that experiences like this are a gift from God

Final Goodbyes

The time has come for us to let go and say good bye.  The past week has been wonderful and the team has blessed us and the people of Bolivia so much.  We have lots of great memories to hold onto!

On Tuesday the Alta Munyapata team spent the morning with some local kids at the Dinosaur museum.  Sucre has discovered over 5,000 dinosaur tracks in the near by mountains and a beautiful museum has been built to showcase them.  Following the museum the students returned to the hotel and reunited with the team from Ravelo.  It was a great time of sharing stories and laughing at memories.

The Ravelo team arrived back in Sucre around 1:00pm Tuesday, healthy, and full of life.  The stories and experiences they have shared are incredible.  The kids soaked in the experience and left quite impacted by the church, children, and community of Ravelo.

Both teams spent the afternoon together shopping in Sucre and seeing the local sights.  In the evening they celebrated a final dinner together with the FH staff.  Filled with laughs, touching stories, and tears the teams said there final good byes and celebrated an incredible week of ministry.

On Wednesday the teams arrived at the Sucre airport and prepared for there journey back to the states.  As to be expected the good byes were filled with mixed emotions.  Many of the children from Alta Munyapata were at the airport to wish them well and take advantage of a few final hugs.  If there was ever any doubt as to the impact the students had upon the children, the final minutes together on Wednesday spoke volumes.  The students of Hope Church came with open hearts to love and serve, and the fruit of there labor was celebrated today through the smiles, hugs, and tears of the children.

On behalf of the FH staff, hundreds of impacted children and our family, Thank you Hope Church for sharing your students with us for this past week.  You have lots to be proud of and a great deal to look forward to.  They will arrive home with great memories and lots of stories.  Let them share, laugh and shed tears, and know that God is smiling on them for their sacrificial heart to embrace the people of Bolivian and share the life changing love of God.  

 

  

Monday Update

Wow, our time has flown by.  It is hard to believe we spent our final day of ministry today in both Alta Munyapata and Ravelo.  Tomorrow the groups will once again converge and spend some time here in Sucre seeing the sights and doing some shopping for friends and family.

The Ravelo team will be returning home around midday day and will enjoying a nice meal at a restaurant that has a spectacular view of the city.  From what we have heard they have had a great time in the countryside and have experienced Bolivian life at its purest.  Today the team would have finished there time in Ravelo with some work on a project at the local school and some time to play and hang out with the children.

The Alta Munyapata team finished up their time in the city doing several projects.  Part of the group has been working on a mural of Noah's ark for the new education center.  The group worked hard on the mural and it will be a great addition to the new center.  In the afternoon Mindi Worth lead a CPR training class with the help of a few students, and Bruce Worth lead a cooking class.  Both classes were a huge hit and the Bolivian participants loved it!

It has been a blessing to minister with the team from Hope Church.  The kids have been healthy and happy from day one.  Their work has been very fruitful and they look forward to sharing stories tomorrow when the team once again join together.

  

Team Updates...with Pictures!

We have had another great day with the Hope Team.   The team continues to amaze us with their talents, and their hearts to serve and love on the people of Bolivia!  Here are some updates from today.

Ravelo:  We were able to make a call today.  They are reporting that everyone is feeling great and that the food has been awesome!  They were able to do some home visits which was very impactful on the team.   Another highlight they shared was from their first day.  The pastor of the churched told the team that she had been praying for 3 years that an evangelical team would come and visit their community.  The Hope Team was the answer to her prayers!  They are the very first Christian group that has ever come to Ravelo! I'm sure God is using them in amazing ways.

Sorry...no pics!  :(

Alta Munyapata:  It was a FULL day that is still going on for the team as I write this blog.  The team has spent most of their day at a new neighborhood call La Istanbul (I'm sure I didn't spell that right!)  Our Hope group was able to help lead a "lesson" at the church in the morning about being good stewards of creation.  Following the lesson, the team split up into groups with members of the congregation and spent several hours cleaning up trash in the community.  After lunch, the women's ministry of the church shared with the team about the different aspects of their ministry and the Hope Team in turn was able to give these women some words of encouragement.  Next we all loaded up into the bus and headed to another venue to take part in a special marriage seminar that FH was doing for the Alta Munyapata neighborhood.  Throughout the day couples had been invited to attend this marriage seminar, and the team was able to join them for the renewing of their vows!  It was a really neat ceremony and wonderful to see these Bolivian couples committing their lives to each other and to God.  After the ceremony, I (Jennie) parted ways with the team to put Ella to bed.  But the team headed back out to the church in La Istanbul, where they are participatig in a teen talent night with other teenagers from the church.

I've attached a slide show with pictures form the last few days.  Everyone is still healthy and I am still hearing comments about how much fun they are having.  (We are also having a blast sharing in this adventure with them!)


PS  If you click on the slideshow below, you can see the pictures a bit larger and with captions!

Trees!

Well, today was another great day.  This team is doing an incredible job.  Every time I look I see a student doing something that makes me smile.  We started the day by planting trees around an area in Alta Munyapata that is very barren and dry.  The dream is to make the space into a nice green area where kids can play and the community can gather and be proud.  Now the place is just a deserted plot of land with heaps of rocks and trash.  The team did an awesome day digging the holes and planting the trees.  With the help of the community members I believe we planted around 30 trees today.  In the afternoon the kids attended a sporting competition that involved kids from all 7 neighborhoods that FH works in.  It was an enjoyable time and the kids were a hit!

A few smiles for me today:
30 Bolivian kids hanging on Jamar as he raced around the gymnasium
Ashley making balloon giraffes (like hundreds)
Brandon being the "sick patient" in the Doctor office drama
Lindsey giving her coat away

I have not heard from the Ravelo team today.  I know they had a very busy schedule with Home visits and other training's.  I am positive they are having a good time.  No news is good news!

Your kids are great.  We are having a blast.


 

A Great Way to Start

Hi Families!

We just walked in the door and I wanted to give you a quick update about our days.  I have so many great photos of the kids, but am just too tired to post any tonight.  Hopefully tomorrow!

Alta Munyapata Team:

This morning the team split into 4 groups and helped work with FH coalitions.  Coalitions are basically programs for sponsored kids that help teach Biblical principles as well as education and health.  Today's lesson was on the creation, fall, resurrection and redemption.  The team participated by sharing a craft project with the kids.

Next each group went on a home visit where they were able to talk to families and gain a better understanding of Bolivian life.  Home visits are always very eye-opening powerful.  The really neat thing about the home visits today was that they were the homes of actual kids that people on the Hope team sponsor.  So, the team visited the homes of Ashley, Courtney, Linsday and Emily's sponsored children!

After lunch, the team visited Horeb Church.  This church does an after-school program for the kids in the Alta Munyapata neighborhood.    The Team did two skits and also lead a craft project with the kids.  The dramas were awesome and the kids loved them.  The team was very creative and nailed it.  You have a lot to be proud of!

After Horeb Church, the team went to a big gymnasium in the area for the "opening ceremonies" of a sports tournament.  There are about 7 different neighborhoods that FH works in and each one put together a soccer team.  The kids from Hope will be their coaches and they will all compete tomorrow.

Following the opening ceremonies, the team came back into town for a nice meal.  As you can see it was a packed day.  I know the Hope kids had an amazing experience as well as the kids from Alta Munyapata.

No health issues today.  Everyone is feeling great!

Ravelo:

We just had time for a 5 min call with the Ravelo team so I don't have a lot of details.  I can report that they arrived safely this morning around 8:30pm.  We know that they helped with some coalitions as well over topics of recycling and the importance of education.  They reported that they had a great day and everyone is healthy and feeling good!

The kids are doing great and really soaking in the experience.  It was a great start to the week and the trip!

Pictures!

We had a wonderful day welcoming the team from Hope Church.  The following 2 pictures are of the team being welcomed at the airport by the kids from the Alta Munyapata neighborhood.   

After getting settled in at the hotel, the team went out to Alta Munyapata neighborhood and participated in a formal welcoming ceremony.  There were dance presentations done by members of the community and each member of the team was presented with a flower necklace.  Afterwards the team hung out with the kids from the community for a while before heading back into Sucre.  

After the ceremony the kids came over to our place for supper and a team meeting.  We ate on the roof of our apartment building and then had the meeting inside because it was getting a little chilly!  

It was such a blessing to have the team here in our home.  They are all doing SO well and are so excited to be here and get started working tomorrow.  The Ravelo team will leave Sucre tomorrow at 6 am.  John will be able to call every evening to check in with the team and get an update on how and what they are doing.  So I may not have pictures of the Ravelo team but should have an update for you.  

I hope all the parents of these kids are able to sleep well tonight.  I can assure your kids will be sleeping well!  They've had a busy day!  

They're Here!!!!!

I just walked in the door from picking up the Hope Church team from the airport and getting them settled in at their hotel.  A bus of kids from Horno Chaska were bused up to the airport to greet the team as they got off the airplane.  It was a fun welcome with LOTS of picture taking.

The team had NO issues with any of their flights and went right through customs with no problems in La Paz.  After they got in they checked into a hotel and had a quick rest before doing a little sight seeing.  After getting into Sucre, we took the team to their hotel to settle in.  Zulema, the director of the FH office met the team there for a short welcome meeting.  Next the kids are off to Horno Chaska to get aquatinted with the neighborhood they will be working with.  Following that they will be headed to our house for supper tonight.

Everyone is feeling great.  A few kids had headaches in La Paz from the altitude.  Now that they are down in Sucre everyone is feeling much better.

Those are the details I have for you at the moment.  I have some great pictures and video of the teams arrival and I will post those later tonight.  Right now I have to go because I have 30 people coming for supper tonight!

Women's Bible Study

Wow, it's really been a while since we have blogged! It's definitely not because we haven't had anything going on. Quite the contrary, we have been really busy! One of the new things keeping me (Jennie) busy lately has been a new women's Bible Study. Claire and I were asked to start a study for the women of FH; both those that work for FH themselves and for the wives of FH workers.  

We meet every-other Friday night, and so far have had two meetings.  Since Claire's Spanish is much better than mine, she does most of the facilitating and I do most of the hosting.  Both meetings have gone really well.  Many women have never been to anything like this before.  Just leaving the house without their kids was a first for some of them.  Many of the women are believers, some the only one in their family.  There are also several women who are not believers and just wanted to have the chance to meet and fellowship with others. 

One woman I want to highlight is Betzy.  She has been to both Bible Studies so far and is very outgoing and willing to share.  She has shared that neither she nor her family are Christians.  At our most recent study she admitted that she didn't have a Bible.  We had purchased some Bibles before the study and were able to give her one.  She was really excited to receive it and said she wanted to talk to her family over the weekend about God.  We're so excited to see how God will use this Bible Study to affect Betzy, her family and many of the other women as well.  

Below are some pictures of our most recent Bible Study.  It was held on the roof of our apartment building.  Take a look at these women, and if you feel lead, pick one or two to pray for as they search to grow in their faith.    

Betzy is the woman on the far left.  

Happy 4th of July!

I must say that the 4th of July Holiday was harder for us to be away from family than we had expected.  Knowing that it's summertime back home and that we are missing out on all the fun activities that happen in the summer; cookouts, vacations and swimming has been hard!  

But we were thankful to be invited over to Derek and Claire's home for a little American celebration.  They had fun games for the kids planned, cheeseburgers, potato salad, and veggies and dip.  I also found A&W Root Beer at our grocery store this week so we were able to have root beer floats as well.  Although it wasn't exactly the same, it was nice to have a little "taste" of home on the 4th!  

Girls by the flag - getting ready to play a game!

Pin the Stars on the Flag Game!

Girls getting instructions on how to make blue stars with finger jello.

Girls working hard to make their stars.

Yeah!  Finally time to eat them!