FH Missionary Retreat 2010

Once a year FH holds a retreat for all it's missionaries serving in Bolivia.  This year only 3 families were able to attend but we had a wonderful time.  We spend the weekend at a house called Samay Hausi, a Spanish style hacienda several thousand feet down the mountain from Sucre.  It took just under 2 hours of going up, around, and back down a mountain (on a rocky, dirt road) but was well worth it once we got there.  

We spent the mornings in sessions lead by Phil and Jan Train, who have been serving as missionaries here in Bolivia for 30 years.  (And have also become dear friends of ours.)  The morning sessions were wonderful!  Topics included:

  Intimacy with God

  Intimacy with our calling

  Marriage strengthening

  Raising children

We had the afternoons to enjoy God's creation.  If felt as if we were literally dropped in the middle of the mountains.  There was a river bed just a 10 min hike from the home, with gorgous views and lots of soft sand.  Ella was so excited to be able to go to "the beach."  

Here are some pictures from the weekend.  

The Entrance

Dinning Room

View of the courtyard from the terrace.

Our closest neighbors!

Playing in the river

Ella had a blast in the sand

Couldn't help taking the "view from the feet" shot at the "beach"

Group photo!  We had a wonderful time and can't wait for next year.  

Santa Cruz!

After a crazy June and July, we decided to take a little mini family vacation to Santa Cruz, Bolivia.  Santa Cruz is in the low lands of Bolivia, normally it's tropical, hot, and humid.  Well...when we arrived, it was cool and windy!  Luckily, it warmed up nicely and we really enjoyed our time there, catching up with each other.

We spent our first two days in the city doing some shopping, as Santa Cruz has a lot more "stuff" than what we have access to in Sucre.  Some highlights included shopping at the "Hyper-Maxi", a supermarket very similar to what we are used to at home.  We were able to stock up on some food items that we don't normally have in Sucre.  Another highlight was eating at a Burger King!  (I never thought that eating at Burger King would EVER be a highlight for me, but the smell of fast food did remind me of home!)  

We found the city of Santa Cruz to be VERY busy, especially after living in our tranquil Sucre.  So we were more than ready for our next destination.  We headed just out of the city to the Biocentre Guembe, a 16 acre nature preserve.  We enjoyed the butterfly house, the bird sanctuary, horseback ridding, watching the ostriches, playing at the kids park, and of course swimming in the pools.  I should mention that because of the cold front that recently moved through South America the water was down right frigid!  However, that didn't stop Ella from spending all afternoon "just letting her feet swim!"

Mountain Christian Team from New Mexico

The end of July brought another team from Mountain Christian Church in New Mexico.  This church has become special to us as this was the third team this church has sent to Bolivia in just a year an a half! Many of the members of this team we had meet before so it was fun to see familiar faces again.  

The team was involved in a number of activities.  They helped work on building a new house for the family that takes care of the FH office in the Horno Ckasa neighborhood.  They also worked with the community to pick up trash in the streets (there was LOTS of it!)  They participated in teaching the kids about good dental hygiene as well as spent a lot of time with their sponsored kids, and many many more activities.  

MC has a special relationship with the neighborhood of Horno Ckasa.  They are involved in a program that FH calls C2C (Church to Community).  Through members of their church, they sponsor over 30 kids in this community.  They have also funded several projects including new bathrooms for the school and a new brick home for the caretakers of the office, who are currently living in a mud home.  Something that really stood out on their third visit was the impact of this church physically being in the neighborhood with these families.  Their financial impact has been multiplied 10 fold because of their commitment to literally walk alongside these families and the FH staff in relationship.  We, along with this community, can't wait for their next visit!