Feliz Cumpleanos!

This weekend Ella was invited to her first Bolivian birthday party. It was quite the cultural event, so we thought we would share all about it.

The first birthday is a huge event here in Bolivia. The parents typically go all out, throwing a huge party for friends and family. Our landlords live in the apartment next to us and their granddaughter turned one last week. Thursday night they came over with an invitation for Ella to come to the party. Ella was SO excited, and we were too! We had heard about these birthday parties and were really interested to get to experience one.

Our landlords are a married couple, probably in their 40's. The husband, Marco, is Swiss and is married to a Bolivian woman (Ruth). We were thankful that Marco warned us about the time on the invitation. Bolivians are not known for their punctuality. Because of this, whenever Bolivians invite people for parties or set meetings etc., they always put a time much earlier than the actual start time. So, when we looked at the invitation, and confirmed that the party started at 9am, Marco quickly said, "Oh, but you are Americans so we can tell you that the party will actually start around 10:30 am." Good to know! So we showed up a bit after 10:30 am and were the 3rd family there. People continued to roll in as late as 11:45 pm!

The party was really great! The first two hours, a clown was the main source of entertainment. We think that he was pretty funny, but he spoke so fast we couldn't understand a word he said. We are getting very good at smiling and nodding our heads in agreement. Ella was also quite scared of him, but eventually participated from afar. Around hour 3 we all gathered around the cakes and the speeches began. Both parents spoke followed by all 4 grandparents. Next were the great grandparents and a few other aunts and uncles as well. Next came the breaking of the pinata, handing out gifts and then eating the cake. Despite the fact that we were the only foreigners there, we actually had a really nice time, Ella had a blast, and we learned a little more about the culture here in Bolivia. Below are some of the pictures from the day.

Ella went shopping with Mommy and was excited to give the birthday girl her present.

Dancing with the clown...Ella made sure she kept her distance from the clown!

Ella and the Birthday girl!

The family getting ready to start their speeches.

Pinata Time

Group Picture

Ella showing off her party prize

Ella's favorite part about the party...her new blue glasses.

Lima Vision Conference Part 2

Last week I (John) had the privilege of attending a Biblical Worldview conference in Lima Peru. The conference was sponsored by two separate organizations that have very close ties to Food for the Hungry. Disciple Nations Alliance led by Darrow Miller, and World Harvest lead by Bob Moffitt were the two host organizations. Both Darrow and Bob have previously worked for FH in some capacity and have developed a great deal of the content and ministry strategies for the organization. The conference tackled many important issues that Mission organizations and churches face today but the focus was on the transforming power of the gospel to not only break the spiritual bonds of sin and death but to free whole societies from deception and poverty. The three dominating worldviews today are animism, secularism, and biblical theism. Most people living today find themselves embracing one of those three perspectives on life. It is also to be noted that most people have no idea what they believe but their culture has morphed their thinking without them knowing it. Animism is the view that sees reality as essentially spiritual. The physical world is maya illusion. It is animated spirits. This would be the religions that hold to the belief, generally speaking, that everything is a god. The earth, rain, water, sky etc. (Very popular here in Bolivia as the Catholic church over the years has become very syncretistic with the native Inca religions.) Secularism sees reality as ultimately physical. By definition this model denies the existence of a spiritual or transcendent reality. This materialistic worldview is free from absolutes and man is now able to decide what is right and wrong, true and false. Many Americans unknowingly accept this very atheistic perspective. Finally, Biblical Theism holds that because God exists an objective reality exists that is known and has been established by God. Reality is ultimately personal because it has been established by the ultimate person. This worldview, based on the truth of scripture, allows communication between the physical and spiritual realms. Through means such as general revelation, the Bible, and the living word himself, Yeshua, man has personal communication with the living God. It is important to understand these basic elements because your worldview is the way in which you view how the world works. Thus, it ultimately drives the life decisions and perspectives you will take. Starting from this foundation the conference built upon the issue of poverty and how the worldview plays an integral part in how a person sees the issue of poverty. The Bible speaks a great deal toward the issue of poverty and throughout the weekend we looked at the different causes of poverty and the way in which God’s people and the church are called to deal with it. Building off the premise that the root of poverty is a lack of Biblical worldview the speakers truly challenged us to renew our minds and begin to crack the deception of our secularistic culture and begin seeing the world through the lenses of scripture. These men offered some powerful insights into the heart of God and the role in which the church plays in discipling the Nation. God is not only interested in individuals but also in nations. I encourage you to read the book “Discipling Nations” by Darrow Miller. The book will further your thinking and challenge you to see the issue of poverty from a new theistic perspective. It's a great read and truly a foundational element in the ministry of FH. I thoroughly enjoyed the conference and made some great connections for future ministry.

For those who wonder what Lima is like, it’s big, polluted, and busy. The transportation system is absolutely crazy and I felt like “frogger” every time I tried to cross the lanes of traffic. Thanks Jennie for watching Ella and letting me go, it was a great weekend but I am glad to be home!

Our group from Bolivia. Yes, they only speak Spanish

They hide some pretty weird things in soup

John Standing at Washington Park in Lima

Bob Moffitt, John, and Darrow Miller

Conference participants.

Lima Vision Conference Part 1

Last week I (John) had an opportunity to travel to Lima Peru for a Biblical World Vision conference with a group of 6 other Bolivians. It was a tremendous experience and I returned home with several good stories. Before I share about the conference itself let me first share about my experience at the airport. I was scheduled to leave the Sucre airport at 5:20pm on Tuesday evening. The flight was a direct flight from Sucre to Santa Cruz (Bolivia) where I would then spend the night and catch a very early morning 6:50am direct flight from Santa Cruz to Lima Peru. Jennie, Ella and I decided to relax for the morning before I left for the airport at 3:00pm by going to a local place to enjoy some fresh squeezed juice. While we were there I received an anxious phone call from FH saying that my flight had been rescheduled and would be leaving in 1 hour. I raced out of the restaurant (leaving my full glass of pineapple juice) ran 5 blocks up hill, grabbed my bags and hailed a taxi to the airport. When I got to the airport I soon found out that the flight had been totally canceled and that I would be rescheduled on a different flight 3 hours later, and going through La Paz. I decided to take a taxi back home and then return back to the airport 3 hours later. At the airport the second time I found out that the plane had been officially delayed for another hour and a half. However the hour and a half was soon 2 hours and a half. Once we did finally begin to load we entered a very small boarding area to wait for the plane to arrive and unload. The airline decided to expedite the process by having the passengers line up in order of their seats and isles. I can now speak from experience, but having 60 Bolivian people crammed in a small room line up by order of seats is not exactly an efficient process. Further more once we did get lined up the attendant then asked my row to begin walking in a line in the opposite direction in order to reverse our order. (Yes a diagram is needed to fully comprehend.) We then proceeded to wait another 20 minutes for the plane to arrive. By that time half the people were tired of standing and decided to sit down totally disintegrating our sense of order. After 20 minutes we left the boarding room and proceeded outside to the tarmac where we waited another ten minutes for the plane to totally unload. Finally we boarded the plane only to find a flight attendant standing at the door pointing to the seat where we would sit. Yes, taking into no account the actually seat that we were assigned or the strategic order that we had spent 30 minutes arranging. Finally we waited another 10 minutes on the plane. So basically all the effort to expedite the boarding process was futile as we ended up sitting in the plane waiting for the baggage to load. We did eventually end up leaving and I did get where I was supposed to go safely so I was thankful about that. You learn to not ask questions and just accept the fact that any attempt to understand the reasoning behind the strategy will always come back void. Of well, just a glimpse into travel in South America.

Double Take

A few weeks ago I was walking past several store fronts. Something caught my attention and I had to do a double take. Initially I was a bit startled and as I kept walking I slowly realized what I had just seen. I HAD to go back and take a picture because it was just to funny to pass up. This pharmacy type store had a mannequin that was displaying every possible contraption that it had to sell....jock strap and all!

Our first Visitors!

For the past 5 days we have had the pleasure of hosting FH missionaries Ed and Sarah Moulding and their 3 year old daughter Alana. They are from the UK and are currently serving in La Paz, Bolivia. Part of their job involves looking after all the FH missionaries in Bolivia. Besides helping us with our visas and keeping us informed on important info, they visit each city with FH missionaries every other month. During their visit they check on us to see how we are adjusting, watch our kids for us so we can have a date night, and help with other various tasks we have on our plate. They also showed us some other fun things in Sucre that we have not had time to discover yet. Below are some pictures of the weekend!

We found a new park! The girls had a blast.

Of course while we were at the park a group of donkeys walked by.

They also took us out to an outdoor restaurant that over looks the city.

John ordered a hamburger... this is what it looked like. It took a while to find the hamburger (bun not included), but it was wonderful nonetheless.

Career Day

Last Saturday our family had the privilege to see Food for the Hungry (FH) in action. Up to this point our days have been filled with mostly language learning, so our time with FH has been limited. This past week however we were invited to help with a special FH project in near by Orna Casa. Orna Casa is a very low income suburb of Sucre and one location of many that FH has an ongoing presence. The project was a "Career Day" that involved around 450 kids from the surrounding villages. Many kids in Bolivia, especially children from low income villages, grow up with little hope of ever living outside of the extreme poverty that is often passed from generation to generation . They are raised in an atmosphere where dreams are squelched by disease, abuse, and abandonment. With that said, one goal of FH is to begin providing opportunity for children to see hope beyond their current circumstances. We believe that all children have been created in the image of God and blessed with skills and abilities that make them unique, beautiful and talented. We desire for children to grasp that life has purpose and that each new day with God brings hope for a brighter future. Not only was this past weekend a kick start for the dreams of many kids, but it ignited a sense of value, meaning, and relevance into the life of many who feel forgotten.

As you can see from the pictures below a wide variety of careers were represented. Police and Fire Department, K-9 unit, EMS unit, doctors, nurses, finance, nutrition, agriculture, social work and many more. Each of these "careers" volunteered their time for the day and brought all kinds of interactive tools to help teach the kids about their job and how they too could some day have a career in their field. The teachers were great and the kids loved it!

K-9 unit showing their stuff.

This boy was proud to show off his flower he received from the agriculture booth.

Getting checked out by the Doc.

Fireman's display

Trying out some fireman's gear

CPR session

Ella enjoyed and was inspired by career day too!

This final picture was the highlight of the day. About 30 minutes prior to the end of the event a bus rolled up filled with the local professional soccer team. For these kids this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. This was like having the Bengals or Reds show up at to an event where you could talk to them and get their autograph. The kids swarmed the bus and every face had a grin from ear to ear.

What an incredible opportunity for these kids to see beyond their circumstances and see that God has created them with purpose and potential. We pray that the seeds of hope that were planted this week will blossom into lives of purpose and impact in the years to come.

Treasure Found!

Many of you out there know that I (Jennie) have a special place in my heart for a batch of really good brownies. Over the past 2 years I have come to perfect the art of making brownies...out of a box. While the process is much easier than making then from scratch, there is SOME skill involved in this. Most of my trial and error in working with boxed brownies came from the brand of brownies you use and the kind/size of pan you use. After many painstaking attempts and taste testing of various brands of brownies and pan sizes, I have found my favorite.

Coming to Sucre I have had to start all over in my aim to find the perfect boxed brownie. I have discovered, however, that my trial and error will be a much quicker journey. You see, in Sucre, the trial and error is in FINDING a brownie mix. Most of the time the stores have none. And if you are lucky to find a box mix in the store, before the other missionaries in town buy them ALL, you will find only one brand....from Argentina. So far in my quest for brownies I have not been able to get my hands on this Argentinean brand.

But last week, in Sucre's version of a western supermarket, this caught my eye...

Wow! Heavenly music filled the isles as I grabbed the box. It took me all of 2 seconds to decide if the $18 US dollars was worth buying this HUGE box of Betty Crocker, HERSHEY's Ultimate Chocolate Brownie Mix with mini Kisses Brand Chocolates and Hershey's Semi Sweet chocolate chunks. Four brownie mixes are included in this box.

Now the only problem is how to cook this at 9,000 feet! I learned the hard way with a batch of cookies that took over 30 mins to cook...and came out like hockey pucks. So I crossed my fingers and baked my first batch of brownies at 450 degrees for 50 minutes. And....they turned out great! Just like home! Now I just need to keep myself from making the final 3 batches all in one month!

As you can see, I am rejoicing in the little blessings that come our way!