Happy Bolivian Independence Day!

Due to the fact that it is a holiday in Bolivia...I'm taking advantage of the time to allow myself to be a bit lazy without being too lazy! I still have studying to do after all! I started the day by letting myself sleep in until 9:00! That was exciting! Then I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast while watching a movie. After that I read for a bit and enjoyed a catnap! Now I'll be doing a bit more studying before spending the evening with some friends!

The last few days I have been busily working on trying to get my classroom ready for school to start next week. My classroom this year is actually an old locker room that has been transformed into a classroom. Thanks to the team of young people from Atlanta that came down about a month ago...it looks really good! That got most everything finished up to the paint job! Typically the workmen at school will do the painting, but since we were already working on so much, I decided I wanted to paint it myself! That way I got to choose a color, rather than use the standard white! I had a few friends help me do most of the painting last Friday morning...cheap labor...all I did was buy lunch (which was chicken dinners - two pieces of chicken, rice, french fries, and soda - for all 5 of us plus 4 to go so 9 total...only about $20!!!! Not bad at all!)! Then I handled the touch-ups on Monday morning. After the hard work and an allergic reaction to what we assume was the paint thinner, which caused me to break out in a rash and get itchy...I'm ready to hang up the paint brushes for awhile! Now if I can track down some furniture, we'll be all set to role! I'll be sure to post some pictures next week once things are in place!

On Sunday I went along for a day outing with a few other missionaries. They have been working on ministering to the professional or upper class in Bolivia. One of the main aspects of their ministry is an English group that they have on Monday nights to teach them or help them work on their English. They took a break for a few months, but will be starting up again at the end of this month. I have been asked to consider working with this ministry...so we've moved my CIET English class to Friday nights at the start of the next trimester in a few weeks and I will begin going to the English group on Monday nights. This will be particularly helpful to them since one of the teachers will be going on furlough in October. Anyway, the day outing was just a chance for me to get to know some of the students or families that attend the group. Many of them are not Christians so this is an excellent way for us to share the gospel and God's love with them! Please continue to pray for this ministry. I have a few pictures posted below and will continue to share more about this a little later on as we begin classes again.





I guess those are the highlights for this week! Thank you so much for your continued prayers! They are appreciated! Enjoy the day as we are enjoying ours here!!!!!

July 30, 2008

I'm so sorry for the delay in up-dating my blog! I didn't get to it last week and then again missed the opportunity this week. I decided I should go ahead and give you a brief up-date of what's going on and fill you in on a couple of up-coming things so that you could be praying specifically for those things.

Today, I finished working with other SAM missionaries in hosting a Vacation Bible School for the English speaking community. I was in charge of teaching 1st - 2nd grades, however, due to the lack of available teachers in order to offer a class for the Pre K and Kinder grades...I also had a few students from those grade-levels who really wanted to participate. By the end of the week I had about 20 students. In short we talked about the truths God has given us. The first day was spent talking about the truth of God's Word. We discussed basic facts about the Bible as well as how we can know it is true. The next two days we talked about the truth of God's Son, Jesus. We not only talked about who Jesus is and why we can believe in Him, but we also talked about what He did for us and provided an opportunity for all to accept Him into their lives. The fourth day was then used to talk about the Spirit of Truth. The fifth and final day was used to talk about the importance of sharing these truths with others. After that we had a closing ceremony as well as games and snacks for the families. It was a lot of fun and a real blessing, however, it has left me pretty tired.



Over the next week I need to finish getting my classroom painted and setup so that I'll be ready for the start of the new school year. There are meetings for the teachers on Aug. 7 and 8, then the first day of classes is Aug. 11. I will be teaching only part-time at the school...half days every day. Please pray for teachers and students alike as we work to get back into the swing of things!

I just got word that my friend Avelina has her day off tomorrow. I have been feeling God prompting me toward beginning a Bible study with her. Her days off are pretty sporadic so she isn't able to make it to church very often. I think it could be a great encouragement to her and a wonderful experience for both of us. I plan to go see her tomorrow so that I can talk about it with her. I have a Bible Study book entitled "Vive lo que Crees" (Live What you Believe) that I would like for us to do together. Please pray for our initial meeting tomorrow as well as diligence to follow through with subsequent meetings.

Thank you as always for your prayers...even when I get distracted and fail to keep you up-dated! Your prayers and encouragement mean so much to me!

July 14, 2008

Greetings from sunny Santa Cruz! I apologize for not up-dating my blog last week. On Monday I drove up to the mountains for the day. The trip didn't exactly go as planned, but I still enjoyed the day. It meant, however, that I was pretty busy on Monday...then I had a meeting and some other running around to do on Tuesday...by the time Wednesday rolled around I was completely exhausted...then the closer I got to the end of the week, the better it sounded to just wait and write an up-date today...so here I am!

I have a couple of ministry highlights from this week that I would like to share with you.

On Saturday afternoons from 4:00 to 5:00...my church has what they call an "hora feliz" (happy hour) for the children of the neighborhood. We play games or make a craft, present a Bible story and verse, sing songs, and have a snack...basically Vacation Bible School only on Saturday afternoons! The kids love it and we have anywhere from about 20 to 40 kids. All those who want to help with this are divided into groups so that each group is in charge about once per month. This past Saturday it was my groups turn. We have begun studying the Life of Jesus with them and the lesson presented by my group was called "Los Magos Adoren a Cristo" (The Wisemen Adore - or Worship - Christ). It was a lot of. I'm looking forward to the ways in which God can use me further in that ministry both with the children as well as with the other adults in my group.

Also, after the Sunday morning service I sat down to talk to one of the girls from the youth group, Eva. She hadn't made it to the youth activities on Saturday night so I told her that we missed her and made a couple of small talk type comments, which is usually all there is time for on Sunday morning. Within minutes she began to open up to me and share about some difficulties she is having at home. It takes her an hour to get to church since youth group doesn't end until between 9 and 9:30, she arrives pretty late at her house. That is a concern for her parents, understandably, but they also don't want her spending the night with some of the other girls in the youth group and then going home on Sunday afternoon. They are believers, but according to her, have lost a lot of the faith they once had as they aren't going to church or walking with the Lord on a regular basis. She is also studying in one of the universities and is often there taking classes...which I gathered was a topic of disagreement with her parents as well. I won't go into any more details, but she could certainly use your prayers...both she and her parents. Eva and I haven't had many opportunities to talk before so I was especially thankful that she felt comfortable to open up and talk to me, even amidst her tears. I also appreciated the opportunity to pray with her and look forward to the ways in which God will continue to use me in her life. The girls from the youth group will be coming to have a sleep-over at my house on Friday night and I am really praying that her parents will allow her to come. I think it would be a wonderful opportunity for us to reach out to her.

There is a team here this week from a church near Atlanta. A couple of the days they are working out at the Learning Center, mainly helping to get my classroom ready! It's been exciting and I'm really appreciating their ministry here! I spent Saturday with them at the school and will be there with them again this Thursday. The rest of their week is spent working in a place called Posa Verde, it is one of the camps where the Aeyore (an Indigenous group of people) live.

The rest of my week is spent doing quite a bit of visitation, which I love! Tomorrow afternoon, I'm going to visit a friend from church. Her son was born a week after my nephew, you may remember me talking about her. I plan to go hang out with her and her kids for a little while. I also have some English tutoring planned for the afternoon. On Wednesday, I have breakfast with one friend and lunch with another! Crazy I know! In between visitations I'll be working on my classes and helping to take care of a little girl from church. Her grandfather had surgery this morning on his back so her parents have been busy helping her grandparents at that hospital. She spent the better part of the day with me today and plans to go visiting with me tomorrow afternoon. Thank you so much for your continued prayers for my ministry here. It is exciting to see how God is working!

June 30, 2008

Greetings once again from Santa Cruz! I'm afraid I don't have very much to share and it is getting late so I will just give you a quick up-date for this week!

Highlights from this past week:
1. I spoke at my church on Sunday morning. It was our missions Sunday led/organized by Dalmiro Ortiz one of the pastors at our church. Dalmiro is a Bolivian pastor who feels God calling him to overseas ministry in India. He would like to complete the mission's internship program that my home church, Abingdon Bible Church, offers...starting after Christmas. After that he hopes to serve the Lord as a missionary in India. We are very excited for Him and are praying that God will provide for all of his needs both financially as well as through the paperwork he would need to go to the states and then to India. Please join us in praying for him!

2. On Sunday afternoon, the youth from my church went to the children's hospital to hand out teddy bears that had been handmade by a retirement village in the states and sent down to missionaries here. We visited around the hospital visiting with the patients, praying for them, and where God opened doors...shared the gospel! It was an exciting time and I enjoyed being a part of it! It is so exciting to see God working in the lives of our youth!

Those are the two main highlights from this week! On Friday I will join the SAM family as well as a team that is here for a 4th of July picnic! This particular team comes every year and brings bratwurst and I'm not sure what else...but things we can't find here! It's a great time of fellowship and the team helps to make it extra special! I'll conclude this up-date with a few pictures of my house that I recently took...Enjoy! Thank you for your continued support and prayers! I appreciate the comfort of knowing you are lifting me and my family here up in your prayers! (I'm not having any success with the pictures...I'll try again in a couple of days when I can get to a different computer to see if a faster connection will help! Sorry!)

June 23, 2008

Cultural Tidbits
As in the up-date from last week, I'll share a little with you about what life is like in the Bolivian culture...particularly Santa Cruz. The two themes I thought I'd share with you today are traffic and weddings (not because I have any big news to share...but because I went to a wedding this weekend and saw many differences).

Traffic
Driving in Santa Cruz is crazy, as you can imagine if you've ever been to a Latin American country. Here are a few tips that I have picked up:
1. Basically the bigger vehicle has the right of way and micros (buses) always win, they own the road.
2. Traffic lights don't always mean what they say...so if everyone else is going, just follow along.
3. Don't make eye contact with police officers on the side of the road or you're more likely to get pulled over.
4. Don't bother trying to look for painted lines to show the division of lanes on the road...no one pays any attention to them (therefore, 2 painted lanes becomes 4 as far as traffic is concerned, the lanes are crooked when they are painted, but most people drive straight so if you follow the crooked lane you'll get hit).
5. Watch out for speed bumps...they're everywhere, huge, and aren't always marked!

Weddings
Last Saturday night I went with my friend Lidia (the woman I lived with when I was here before) and her boys to a wedding. The groom is actually the boys' half brother, because they have the same father. This was definitely considered an upper class wedding, so I'm only going to speak about it from that standpoint. It was also a Catholic wedding, but I'm going to focus on the cultural differences as opposed to religious differences. There were two ceremonies, a religious ceremony and a civil ceremony. The religious ceremony was held at the church. It was supposed to start at 8:00pm...we got there at 8:15 and people were leaving...just to find out it was because the church had a couple of weddings back to back, so we waited until the first wedding party left then we went in, at about 8:30. Within 5 minutes the bride was walking down the isle...no attendants on either side. There were ring bearers and flower girls, but that was it. The bride and groom sat on stools or chairs in front of the priest. The civil ceremony was performed by a lawyer at the place where the reception was held. I am told that sometimes the civil ceremony is performed in the morning with only the family. Both ceremonies contained a part in which marriage certificate was signed by bride, groom, and witnesses. I am told it is a big honor to be chosen to sign as a witness; both bride and groom each get to choose one person. By the time both ceremonies were over it was about 10:30. There was some dancing and congratulating the bride and groom with a toast, then we were served dinner at 11:00pm or so. Dinner was steak, sliced chicken, some kind of crepe wrapped around a cream sauce, au gratin potatoes, one piece of broccoli , one carrot, and some sliced palm heart. After that there was more dancing and drinking (this part would have been left out of an evangelical wedding). The bride and groom went to each table so that they could have their picture made with each group of people and speak to them briefly. Around 12:30 cake and ice cream were served, but there wasn't an official cutting of the cake like is done in the states. Lidia and I left about 1:15am as the bride was throwing the bouquet. I spoke to another friend of mine the next day who was also there and he said he left at about 2:00am...I believe people were still dancing and drinking! There are two other parts that I didn't mention...one was the importance of dressing up for a wedding, particularly this one since it was upper class. Men wore a suit and tie, women wore prom style or bridesmaid style dresses. Most went and got their hair and nails done during the day...remember that this would be anyone attending the wedding...not just the wedding party! It was extremely cold on Saturday night so many people wore fur wraps and things...I kept my coat on all night. The other interesting part about this wedding was that because both the bride and the groom are well-known in this society...several different television stations were present for the whole thing. It was entertaining to watch people interacting with the camera crew.


Ministry News
I do want to touch briefly on a couple of things that happened this week as far as ministry is concerned. Each Monday night I have the privilege of teaching in English in CIET, the Bible Institute. So far I have 5 or 6 primary students who are coming regularly. They are eager to learn and I enjoy the time I have with them. I open each class by praying with them in English. Other than the material in their text books, they are also interested in learning songs in English so we are working on two, one for adults and one for children (Lord I Lift Your Name on High and Jesus Loves Me). Also, on Saturday afternoons my church has an activity for children from 4:00-5:00, "La Hora Feliz", "Happy Hour". All adults who can help are divided into teams so that there is a once a month rotation. I joined the team working this past Saturday and organized the games. Typically, we have anywhere from 40 to 50 kids from the neighborhood. Because of the cold this weekend, our numbers were smaller, but by halfway through we probably had close to 30, which is still a pretty good number. The kids have been learning the story of Esther, which we finished teaching them this past weekend. Finally, about once a month my church has an evangelistic activity in which all are encouraged to invite friends and neighbors. This month, yesterday, we served coffee, hot chocolate, and refreshments. Jeff HAuse shared the gospel and we also sang a couple of songs and handed out some tracts. Again, due to the colder weather, there were not as many there have been in the past...but it was still a pretty good turnout. I saw at least 10 people that I didn't recognize or that I haven't seen in awhile. Well, I guess I have made this entry long enough...maybe some of you had to read it in segments or something, sorry about that! I have also tried to attach a few pictures to this entry, but I'm not having much success today so I will try to send them out in an email instead. If you don't already receive my emails, but would like to, please write and let me know (boycelj@yahoo.com). Thank you so much for your faithfulness to our Lord and your love for me!

June 17, 2008

I received my first care package last night...that was exciting! Of course, most of what was in the box were things that I had hoped to bring with me, but couldn't fit them in my carry-on. Mom and Dad packed them up right after I left and sent them to the home office, so I was expecting them! However, it was still a nice feeling...even to get some of my own things in a care package. There were also a couple of surprises stuck inside. One of them was a letter from friends in Franklin. They requested that I add a few details to my blog about what the climate and life in Santa Cruz is like right now...therefore...for "Maggie and the girls", I'll try to do just that!

Climate: We're well into the winter season here. Upon my arrival, the temperature was in the 80s and very humid. Only a few days after that, it got very cold...miserably cold for me. The terminology here is that a "sur" blew in, which is a wind coming up from the South. The temperature stayed in the low 50s which is pretty cold for this area. Without any insulation in the house and with the rain/general dampness in the air...it felt cold! I went days feeling like I couldn't get warm...that's when it starts to feel miserable. After a couple of sleepless nights due to the cold, I started adding more layers. Soon I was wearing a mock turtle-neck, a long sleeve shirt, two sweatshirts with the hoodies pulled up over my head, two pairs of pants, and two pairs of socks. On the bed were two sheets, a down comforter, and another comforter doubled over on top of me because it was a size too large for the bed. You'll be glad to know that with all of that...I finally slept well! I didn't want to get up in the morning...but at least I was sleeping well! As it always does, after a few days, the sun started making an appearance again and we were back to sleeveless tops and sandals with temperatures in the 70s and 80s during the day, then maybe a light sweater at night as it would cool down. Another "sur" blew in last weekend, but fortunately, it is not as severe...so far I don't think it has gotten colder than 60 this time and there hasn't been any rain involved.

My House: I am getting more and more settled in my house. It has two bedrooms, one bathroom, family/dining room combination, and a very small kitchen. The size of the kitchen is the only downfall as far as I'm concerned. There is a back porch with a hammock as well as a hammock chair. On warmer days/evenings, I enjoy sitting back there and watching the stars or just enjoying the tropical atmosphere. I'm looking forward to more warmer days when I can do that more often. There is also the laundry room in the back with the spare room where I stayed for the few weeks before my friend left. I will try to take more pictures of the house this week and attach them to my next up-date. There is a wall around the yard with a double gate in the front so that I can get the truck out. I keep the gate locked most of the time, unless others are here with me and/or people are coming and going. I just feel a little more secure that way. There are two guards that patrol the street, one by day and the other by night. They are very friendly and helpful. Often if they are near the house when I drive up, they offer to open the gate for me so that I don't have to get out of the truck. It's a big help! I also am very comfortable asking them to accompany me to my door if there is anything that worries me. That's only happened once...I was out walking Chiquito who tends to attract the attention of a lot of other dogs and as we neared our house I realized the big dog that lives across the street was out and I didn't want any trouble...asking the guard to walk me to the door was just a precaution. Whereas many side streets in the neighborhoods are dirt...my street is not, which is wonderful! It really cuts down on the amount of dirt that gets tracked in or blown into the house!

Last week/weekend I had my first company here in the house. On Wednesday, 4 girls from my mission came over for lunch and to watch movies. Three of them are from the same family. There mom was out of town for a conference in the states so I was helping their dad out a bit. They are junior high/high school age. The fourth one is the same age and her mother was also out of town so it was convenient to have them all at the same time. Incidentally, her younger brother (who I think is in 3rd grade) came over on Friday night with Pablito HAuse (who is in the 5th grade). You may remember me talking about my friends the HAuses...Pablito's mother had surgery last week and his father is still recuperating from a surgery that he had a month ago. Anyway, Pablito and Benji spent the night and stayed until late in the afternoon on Saturday. Then, on Sunday the youth group from church (as well as the HAuses and Heather Mickelson...fellow missionaries serving in my church) came over for lunch. It was a tight squeeze to feed about 20 or so people...but it was a lot of fun!

Well, I'm sure there's more I could share, but this entry is getting rather long so I'll sign off for now! Thank you so much for your support of the work God is doing in Bolivia...it is through your support and God's grace that I'm able to minister to missionary kids and Bolivians alike!

Adjustments!

One year ago today I arrived in the states for my year long furlough! Isn't it amazing how time flies? Yesterday, a few of us went to a friend's house, Medardo's, in the afternoon. It was his birthday. A year ago, that was my last big outing before leaving the country. We went to Medardo's house and had cake with him and his family. They live right next to the church, Medardo's wife is my friend Avelina, you may remember me talking about her before. They live upstairs in a two-story house, downstairs lives another family from our church. I remember leaving after some tearful good-byes and then having the HAuses drive me to the airport. After that, the year was a whirlwind of activities.

At the time that I left Bolivia, life here seemed so normal to me. I had forgotten how different it really was from the environment in which I had been raised. Things in the states looked strange, I remember feeling a step behind everyone else! It didn't take me long to catch up though, and living in the states felt like home once again. Now, here I am back in Santa Cruz. So much of it still feels natural, seeing my friends again and being able to be a part of the ministry here is wonderful, yet there are adjustments of which I had forgotten how hard they could be...

1. Do you know how much concentration it takes to remember to throw your toilet paper in the trashcan instead of in the toilet?
2. There sure is a lot of dirt here...keeping clean is next to impossible...both on my body and in my house!
3. Are there traffic laws in Santa Cruz? It's a good thing there are enough cars that people can't move very fast...I'm sure there'd be a lot more accidents!
4. I played on the worship team last weekend...we practiced all of the songs on Saturday so that I would know what they were...on Sunday morning, the leader decided to add a couple more that we hadn't rehearsed...why not? Who needs to practice anyway?
5. Dogs are everywhere...and it isn't just the nice ones that are left to roam the streets!
6. Spanish, Espanol....on the brain a lot...definitely a good thing as it keeps one focused...but it's difficult when you're trying to speak in English with someone and the sentence is a perfectly good English sentence, when all of a sudden a Spanish word pops out in the middle of it! Pretty strange!

Well, it's getting late so I'll close with just a couple of other bits of news. My friend, Virginia, left last Thursday so I have now officially moved into the house. Many of my things are still in boxes and basically all of my stuff has to be cleaned as it gets unpacked as it is dusty and moldy, but I'm getting there. I'm looking forward to being completely settled in my new home. Chiquito has settled in quite nicely, he thinks this is a pretty great place! The neighborhood is nice and the guards on the street have been extremely helpful. I brought two seminary classes with me to do via distance learning. So far I haven't had much time to work on them. I'm hoping that will change this week! It is difficult to force my self to sit down and read, because quite frankly sometimes unpacking my boxes and getting settled just looks like more fun! However, I'm praying that God will give me the strength to be diligent this week in getting some studying done! I guess that's the short of it all! On a side note...this weekend is my parent's 40th Wedding Anniversary as well as my older sister and her husband's first anniversary! I'm sure they'd appreciate any well wishes you'd like to share. If you don't have their email addresses you can send it to mine and I'll pass it along! Thanks again for your prayers!