Greetings once again from beautiful Santa Cruz!!! I have to admit the weather has been gorgeous the past several days!!! I love it!!! In the 80s every day, cooling down in the evening...sun, light breeze...wonderful!
As you may remember I wrote a quick up-date which my mom attached last week telling you a bit about the English Vacation Bible School that I was a part of as well as the conference for World Gospel Mission missionaries in Bolivia...in order to teach their kids while the parents were in meetings. You should be able to click on the link below...if not, just copy and paste it into your browser in order to see pictures of those two events. Once the shutterfly window opens, you can click "view pictures", and then "play slideshow".
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbNnDNm5btmQ0I am very thankful for the opportunity to participate in both of these activities! It was a joy to serve the Lord by teaching His children. We had a couple of small accidents at the WGM conference. One of the younger boys bumped his head during a game we were playing...it bled a LOT...but praise the Lord he didn't need stitches. We also had several who got sick with some sort of flu bug...they passed it from one to the other (nausea, vomiting, etc.)...ending with me on Friday night after I got back...but fortunately it was a quick "bug", came and went in about 24 hours! The most exciting thing for me to see was that the kids were actually learning...in both events!!! That of course is the goal and a joy to be able to witness.
Now, I'm back in the city...briefly! This week, I'm frantically trying to get all of my things moved into the apartment behind Virginia's house (as she is due to come back in a couple of weeks...Lord willing...she's still waiting for Him to provide a bit more of her support)...as well as fix things that broke during this year that the house/truck has been in my care...and get ready to go on my next big adventure (I leave early Monday morning)! As you can imagine, I'm certainly feeling the stress of trying to get all of these things done...my body feels the stress as well (headaches and backaches daily, not sleeping well, etc.) Please pray that God will give me the strength I need to get all of these things wrapped up...it will make my next adventure much more relaxing!
So...what is the NEXT ADVENTURE? Each year there is a group (of missionaries and nationals) who plan an evangelistic/medical/exploratory trip to the Bolivian department called the Beni. The Beni is basically jungle and rivers with small towns scattered throughout. This group (led by Enoel Suarez a Bolivian who is a Plymouth Brethren missionary and Toni/Placido Mercado doctors with SAM) takes trips up and down the river stopping at various towns to offer medical relief as well as to spread the gospel to adults and children alike. Each year, they try to plan a different route in order to explore unreached areas. Enoel's desire is that these trips will allow Bolivian Christians to become exposed to this unreached area and possibly sense God's calling to full-time ministry in these areas. This year there are 18 people going, adults and youth. I have been asked to go along and lead the children's ministry team, playing games, singing songs, sharing the gospel with the children in each town where we stop. We will be gone about 12 days total (including travel to the river where we get on the boat)...sleeping in hammocks on the boat...eating lots of fish and fruit (and maybe a little crocodile or other such river creatures). I expect this to be a stretching experience for me, but also a time of spiritual renewal. Others who have gone in past years say the best part of the trip is floating down the river on the boat knowing that nothing can be done about what you've left behind; so you might as well just read a bit and enjoy some quality time with your Savior! I'm looking forward to that!!! I'm also excited about getting know a new area of Bolivia to which I've never been exposed! WOW! Attached below you will see a map outlining the route that we'll be taking! I will be flying from Santa Cruz to Trinidad, then on to San Joaquin. From there I travel by road to the river. Follow the red line on the river to our final destination, Guayaramerin, before flying back. Please pray for safety, health...as well as the spiritual renewal for each of us as team members/our unity as a team. Pray also for those to whom we'll be ministering...that they will come to a saving understanding of Christ.
One other things I ALMOST forgot to mention...since Virginia is on her way back to Bolivia...I am not only looking for a new place to live (as I think I've mentioned before)...but I also will be without a vehicle! As this is a large city and there is public transportation...it isn't a necessity in life...however, in this culture, it certainly makes life easier! So, thankfully, God has provided the needed funding as well as basically placed a vehicle in my lap for me to buy! Another missionary family, who is leaving the field, was selling their Honda Crv...after getting permission from the mission and such...we finally have been able to get the business taken care of and I will be the proud new owner as of Friday when we sign the papers! I'm super excited! Since, I'll be in the Beni...they're going to keep driving it until they move back to the states on the 20th...but it will be here waiting for me when I return!!! Thank you for your generous support that has helped to make this possibility...myself and the many Bolivians for whom I act as a taxi service...thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!!
Thank you once again as well for your prayers!!! I'll be sure to send an email or an up-date when I get back to the city...as obviously, I will not have email/internet/phone service while I'm floating down the river! Blessings to you all!
