June

It's amazing that it's June already...and that June is well on it's way to being over!   Things continue to move right along and the weeks seem to fly by.  The beginning of June found our family busy preparing for travel.  John has been planning a trip to the Dominican Republic for a church strengthening conference for quite some time.  Then in late May, our Sucre office welcomed visitors from the Food for the Hungry Dominican Republic office.  John spoke at lengths with them about the church strengthening projects that he has been working on.  The DR office was very interested in learning more about the projects and invited him to schedule a few days of training while he was visiting the country.

John has also been busy creating a curriculum for teaching short term missions teams when they come to visit.  The curriculum is called "Ideas Have Consequences" and focuses on the biblical foundations of such principles as worldview, poverty, resources, and development.  The lessons are designed to help give perspective to the teams as they are experiencing poverty is a way they have never done before.  It also helps them to understand FH and the work we are doing a bit better.

FH also has an office in Guatemala which receives over 20 teams each year!  We have a special connection with FH Guatemala as our good friends, the Evans family, is serving there.  We have always had a special connection with their family and have enjoyed following their ministry.  Since John will be traveling, it worked out for him to also swing through Guatemala on his way to the DR and share this curriculum with them.    

When we were looking into all the logistics for this trip, we realized that John would be gone for almost 3 weeks!  This was a bit of a concern for our family, as it would mean that Jennie would be home alone with the girls for a long time.  We prayed that God would give us peace about whether or not John should even make this trip.  God provided in a HUGE way, as our sending church, Hope Church in Cincinnati, OH, generously offered to pay for Jennie and the girls to fly home to South Dakota to be with her family.  This will be a wonderful opportunity for Jennie's family to meet Lydia, as well as offer Jennie some extra hands with the girls.  We are all excited!

So, starting today we embark on our journey.  We will all eventually fly to Miami together and then party ways from there.  John will go on to Guatemala and Jennie on to Minneapolis for a few days with her brother and sister-in-law before heading down to South Dakota.

We look forward to updating you on our adventures as soon as we have some pictures and stories.      

May

May was another special month filled with fun activities.  We celebrated Ella's 4th birthday with a princess party.  Several of her friends from school joined us, and we had a wonderful time.  You can read more about her party on Ella's blog.  

John's parents visit coincided with Ella's party, making it even more special.  They were able to bring down lots of princess paraphernalia, and help us out on the big day.

This was John's parent's second visit to Sucre, so they had already seen many of the "Sucre highlights."  One new thing they experienced was going out to the countryside to visit a few remote villages that Food for the Hungry works in.  Many of the villages are located very high int he mountains (one is at 14,000ft) so that was a unique adventure.  They also did home visits with their sponsored kids, as well as a special afternoon of pizza and fun at the park.  Two of the children had never eaten in a restaurant, so it was special bless them with this new experience.     

Of course we spent a lot of family time together, and they got the chance to meet and bond with Lydia for the first time.  We had a great time talking, playing cards, and eating lots of good Bolivian food!

April

April was a bittersweet month for us.  We said goodbyes and hellos to good friends!

Good-Byes

The day we got home from Santa Cruz after seeing Jennie's parents off, we got the sad news that Derek and Claire were moving back to the US in just 10 days!  Their son Micah had been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and recent MRI's had shown hydrocephalus, a condition that involves a build-up of fluid on the brain.  This situation can cause a build-up of pressure, requiring a shunt to be placed in the brain to drain the excess fluid.  After looking at all their options, it became clear that Micah desperately needed a shunt placed and this operation could not be done here in Bolivia.   The type of shunt Micah needed would also require ongoing regulations and care, of which the doctors in Bolivia were unfamiliar.    So Derek and Claire had to make the difficult decision to leave for the US.  

It was an emotionally and physically draining 10 days for them, having to say good-byes and packing up a house in such a short amount of time.  We certainly miss our "partners in crime" as we are now the only FH missionaries in Sucre.  Ella is also very sad and missing Noelia, her little gringita friend.  

Micah has since had his operation and it went extremely well.   If you are interested in how they are currently doing you can check out their blog here.  

Hello's

One week after saying good-bye, we said hello to our close friends Matt and Francesca Jensen and their son Matteo.  It was a welcome distraction from our sad good-byes and it really lifted our spirits.

We had a great time showing them all around Sucre.  One of the special things about their visit, was introducing them to Ana, the child they sponsor through FH. They visited her home, met her family and spent an afternoon with her.  While they were here, they also got to see a "talent show" in which Ana was participating.  It was a really special time and it was a blessing to be apart of it. 

Heading into the compound where Ana lives.

Ana's house

Matt, Francesca, and Matteo with Ana

Praying with Ana's Family

Group Picture

Ana dressed up for her talent show.

It was wonderful to spend time with good friends.  We spent many nights talking late (well, late for parents with young children!) and playing our favorite card game, Rook.  It was sad to say good-bye, and we are looking forward to seeing them over our next furlough...and meeting their new little one who will be joining them in late August!  Thanks for making the long trek from Ohio to Bolivia...with a toddler and one on the way.  We appreciate your friendship and support!  

March

That's right.  We are back tracking all the way to the month of March!  Two big events took place for us, a team visit and a family visit.

Team Visit

This was our third time receiving a team from Mountain Christian Church!  We have really enjoyed getting to meet so many different people from this church, as well as deepening relationships by seeing some of the same faces each trip.  We are still amazed at the impact one small church from New Mexico can have on an entire community on the outskirts of Sucre, Bolivia.  

The theme of their visit this time was discovering your gifts and talents.  Each team that comes to Sucre through FH always raises money for a project that they are apart of while they are here.  Many times it is a building project of some kind, but this team was apart of something different.  Going along with the theme, the team's money went towards the start of three "discovering your talents schools."  A soccer school for 7 to 15 year olds,  a dance school, and a sewing school for mothers in the community.  Many of the kids in the Horna C'kasa neighborhood lack the opportunities to develop the gifts and talents that God has given them.  Now they have something productive to be apart of, giving them hope, and encouraging them that with hard work they can accomplish their dreams.  

Family Visit

A week after we said good-bye to Mountain Christian Church, we welcomed Jennie's parents, Steve and Carmen, to Bolivia.  This was their first visit to Sucre, as well as their first time meeting Lydia.  We had a wonderful time sharing our lives with them.  They were able to visit Pastor Pancho's "soup kitchen" as well as the learning center up in Alta Munyapata, a poor neighborhood outside of Sucre.  Calvary Baptist Church in Yankton South Dakota, Steve and Carmen's home church, has been a partner with this area, and a blessing to this neighborhood.   Later, we all traveled to Santa Cruz together for a few days of relaxing.  One morning, Steve and Carmen helped by watching Ella while we spent a few hours at the US Consulate getting Lydia's US citizenship papers all sorted out.  We had a great time and are so thankful they were able to make the long trip down to Bolivia.

Over a month....

since a blog update from the Warden's!  Oh the shame!  So sorry to leave you all hanging out there in cyber space.  It has been an incredibly full 3 months and we have MUCH to fill you in on.  Planning on getting to that this week!

In the meantime, our girls have been doing a better job blogging.  You can check out their blog if you are interested.

Will write soon!