Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you're each enjoying time with family and friends on this special day, as you ponder on the many things for which you are grateful!

I apologize for waiting so long to up-date my blog...I guess I have a mixture of excuses...lack of time, still struggling with getting settled, working on my classes, etc. However, I imagine the real reason is that when one is still going through culture shock (as I have been) there are days when it's hard to know what to share. Part of culture shock for me is just a difficulty in the transition...missing family and friends from home, being uncertain of the plans God has for me here, and many times a general feeling of loneliness. The good side is that it isn't constant...it tends to come and go like a roller coaster! Frequently when I'm feeling low, God provides little glimmers of light that seem to make the world a brighter place and give me a great deal of encouragement! For those things I am extremely grateful!

One of those glimmers of light that God provided occurred last Sunday. One Sunday each month, my church has been doing some type of evangelistic event in order to reach out to the people in the surrounding neighborhood. The plan for November's evangelistic event, was to go door to door, passing out tracts and sharing the gospel as well as giving fliers with the times of the church's services. I debated whether or not I wanted to go...I'm never very comfortable going door to door plus my stomach had been a little upset and in general I was busy having a pity party. However, I sort of felt like I should go...so I went! We met at the church to pray and divide up into groups. There was a large number of people who came for a church our size...I think about 20-30 people came. Before I go much further let me explain that many of the churches that SAM works with minister to the lower-class people. Mine is not an exception to that, although, interestingly enough there are also several people that would fit into a middle-class category. They own their own car, rent/own nice houses, have enough food to eat, etc. Typically there wouldn't be much interaction between these two groups so I am always thankful that it isn't a source of division within our congregation. Anyway, for this particular event most of the regular attendees came and even a few children which was neat to see. Then, another woman came in late, while we were praying. She is one of the poorest members of our congregation. Often our church has aided in providing food and meeting medical needs for her and her children. She also is a real talker! The kind of person that you sometimes want to run from if you see coming, because you know that if you start talking to her, it'll be next to impossible to get away from! Many times it is very difficult to understand her which makes the conversation even more of a challenge. After the prayer had finished, I realized that she had come and I will admit I was quite surprised, yet pleased that she was there! Then I began to look around the room...she was sitting right next to me...and in a few minutes we were going to be dividing up into groups of two to go around the neighborhood. I didn't think this was how it was supposed to go, I didn't know if I wanted to do that...mostly because I was afraid of being left alone with her! However, God had other plans! There was a younger woman there so we decided to form a group of three. That seemed like a better option to me! Then we started out for our designated part of the neighborhood. It didn't take long for me to understand how God intended for us to work together and to use each of us for our individual gifts. I turned out to be good at the social skills (greeting people as they came to the door), because of her fluency in Spanish, the younger woman who joined us was great at sharing the gospel and the tracts that we took with us, and the older woman was a much needed part of our team due to her boldness. Both the younger woman and I are a bit more shy, introverts. Yet this woman was on fire for the Lord and wanted to make sure everyone in the neighborhood heard His Word. She banged on the door until they'd come talk to us (since some people needed a little encouragement to stop what they were doing and come). She also pulled us over to people walking by in the street regardless of whether or not another group may have already talked to them. It was exciting to see that even through our differences and our faults, God could use us to get His message out! I loved every minute of it! In all, there were probably 7-10 groups and we passed out 10-15 tracts! Praise the Lord! Continue to pray that through those seeds that were planted...more will come to know Him!


I have one other short blessing that God provided for me this week! A new addition to my family...a one year old Rottweiler puppy named Juan. His owners are friends of mine, but they needed to travel for awhile and asked me to take care of him. They aren't sure how long they will be gone, but I'm enjoying his presence at the house! So far, Chiquito isn't too sure that Juan should be here...but we're making progress. I have been able to take them both for a few walks without any fighting...that is progress as opposed to the first day he came to live with us! He stays outside and Chiquito stays inside so little by little, they're getting used to it. He is a sweet dog, a big baby really! I love having him here!


Well, I guess that's it for now! My pie is about to finish baking and then I'm going to have Thanksgiving dinner with friends! Only a year ago, I was watching Wesley (my nephew) try his first spoonful of sweet potato casserole and enjoying visiting with my Grandfather at my parent's house (before he fell, broke his hip, and moved to a nursing care facility in Ohio). A lot has happened this year...more than can be mentioned in this paragraph! Many things for which I am so very thankful! Blessings to you all!

On Our Way Home

Katie and I are leaving Peru on Saturday evening at 9:55 PM and arriving in Santa Cruz on Sunday morning around 1:30 AM. Jeff and Beth HAuse, SAM missionaries, will be picking us up from the airport. We are both looking forward to being back in our area of service and sharing what we have learned with folks in Santa Cruz.

Our experience in Peru has been terrific! It has been a privilege for us to see the various SAM ministries in Pucallpa and Puerto Supe...everything from SAM Academy (the MK school), to SAMAir Peru's work in the jungle, and the several Bible training institutes designed for different types of people (Indigenous tribes, Pucallpans, or Mestizos...mixed). We enjoyed hearing the encouraging stories of how God is working in those ministries as well as the specific needs that our fellow missionaries have and how we can be praying more specifically for them. Of course, we also built some wonderful friendships!

I have mentioned working with two students at SAM academy with special needs. It was a joy for me to be able to work with the teacher and staff to enable those students to attend the school. Please continue to pray for the teacher, high school helpers, parents, and students themselves as they progress through the year. In my next blog up-date I will attempt to compile various prayer requests so that you too can be praying more specifically for the work God is doing through SAM in Peru.

In some ways our visit in Peru was almost like a vacation. We were treated like queens at the home of Marilyn and Dave Simmons in Pucallpa, as well as watched as the red carpet was rolled out before us everywhere we went. There is no question about it, we were definitely well cared for! We were also able to travel and see the country while visiting with various missionaries. This past week we traveled to Machu Picchu, the Incan ruins that are a must see if you come to Peru. At first the weather was cloudy and we thought we weren't going to be able to see very much, but while we were there it cleared and we had a magnificent view. Near Machu Picchu, we also stayed a couple of nights in Cusco where there are several other things to see as well! Thanks to Jed and Jaime Benoit for opening their guesthouse to us, so that we didn't have to pay the expense of a hotel (which would have been a LOT given what a major tourist attraction that area is). Now we are back in Lima...enjoying a couple of days here before flying out tomorrow night.

This past week I learned that Dalmiro Ortiz from Bolivia is scheduled to have his visa application reviewed on Monday. I have requested prayer for him in the past because we are praying that he would be able to intern at Abingdon Bible Church. Obtaining a visa into the United States is difficult anytime, but with the current political climate, it is even moreso. We are thankful we serve a God who is in control and into whose hands we can place Dalmiro and his needs.

We have had a wonderful time here...but I think we are both ready to be back home, settling into our old routine! Thank you once again for your prayers!

October 6, 2008

Greetings from Pucallpa, Peru!

I apologize for my delay in up-dating my blog. I've entered the world of dial-up Internet service which makes spending much time on-line quite difficult. I do however, want to give you a quick up-date of how God is using me here in Peru. The main reason Katie and I were brought to this particular field is because there is an MK school here that SAM has started and the mission thought Katie and I could plug in easily for the time we're here. It is much smaller than SCCLC. I think there are about 10 students in the entire student body!

Upon my arrival, I quickly learned that in the elementary program, in which there are 3 students, there are two students with special needs. One of those was removed from the school setting about a year ago due to behavior, yet the parents and school administrator were interested in working him back into the school setting. Given that no one has training in teaching Special Education, they were all very excited to have my "expertise"!

The elementary teacher was in the states for a wedding so I filled in doing some substitute teaching last week. Now that she is back my role is changing just a bit. My main goal is to provide some instruction for the teacher in teaching students with disabilities, as well as to slowly work the one child back into the school environment (providing what assistance the teacher will need within the classroom and in pulling the child out). Of course, since I don't know exactly how long I will be here, the most immediate need is to provide some suggestions for the teacher and develop a schedule for the incoming student (a schedule which does not involve me teaching him so that I can be removed from the setting when needed). Please pray for wisdom and strength for all involved. The teacher is a little nervous about how this will change the make-up of her class and whether or not it will work. I'm a little nervous about determining how to get involved without students or teachers being dependent on my services.

Katie and I are enjoying being a service to the missionary community. It seems to be a closer community here than in Santa Cruz. Katie describes it as a small town atmosphere and I think she's right. The missionaries live and work closer together here than in Santa Cruz and therefore seem to enjoy each others company more frequently in social settings. Katie and I are enjoying spending time with the singles. They plan activities together at least a couple of times a week...that's fun! We also are filling in occasionally as "baby-sitters" when necessary, which has been a great support to a couple of the missionary families with small children. All in all, we're enjoying our time here immensely!

Our hearts and minds are frequently back in Santa Cruz thinking and wondering about what is happening there, but we're extremely thankful for the huge blessing that this trip has meant and continues to mean to us! The latest word I have gotten from SAM is that we will be here at least until October 20, after that we'll have to wait and see!

Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers! They're greatly appreciated! Blessings to you all!

September 20, 2008

Some of you are probably aware of the political situation in Bolivia. Five departments (equivalents of states) of the nine in Bolivia have expressed their desire to be autonomous: to elect their own governors and departmental authorities, to have more control over local schools, public services, etc., pretty much like in the U.S. The national, or central, government has expressed at various times that it is moving in that direction and is open to dialog, but their actions have consistently and without exception said the opposite. This has gone on for some time, and the five departments have become more and more agitated. Last week there was unrest here in Santa Cruz, mainly in the downtown area, and now there are problems in other areas as well. The differences go beyond political ideologies and include cultural and religious identities.

As a result of this continued unrest, South America Mission has decided to limit the number of missionaries in Bolivia by removing the single missionaries at this time. On Sunday morning, Katie Wells and I will be flying first to Lima and then to Pucallpa, Peru for a period of several weeks. We will be working with the SAM Academy there. Other single missionaries (Elliott Tait and Dana Wilson) were scheduled to go on Home Assignment later this year. They are now returning to the United States as soon as Monday and Tuesday. While this is difficult, we are grateful that the Mission staff have our best interest uppermost in their minds.

As you know, I have been living in the home of a missionary who is currently in the United States on Home Assignment. While I have felt very safe in Santa Cruz, and there has been no violence in the area where I have been living and working; I am concerned about leaving her home vacant. Fortunately there are Bolivians who will care for it in my absence.

Also, if you know me, you know I have a dog, Chiquito. The Lord has blessed me with another SAM family who love dogs and have agreed to keep Chiquito while I am in Peru. This is a clear blessing to me from the Lord. It puts flesh on the verse in Luke 12:6 where Jesus said the Lord cares for even sparrows that fall.

Please pray, especially for the country of Bolivia, the Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center, the missionaries still here and the believers who will be left. Ask for God's grace to be multiplied on them. Also, pray for Katie and me as we pack for an indefinite time, say our goodbyes and begin a new adventure. Help us to be confident in the words from Jer. 29:11, "'for I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"

September 1, 2008

Happy Labor Day to those of you living in the U.S.! In Bolivia, Labor Day (Dia del Trabajador) is in May so we have the joy of working today on a normal schedule!

Things have been a little busy for me here, but I just couldn't let another week go by without up-dating my blog! I apologize for being a bit sporadic on my up-dates!

Things you can be praying for:
1. Last week I took my midterm exam for one of my classes and this Wednesday, I hope to take the other one. Finding time to get enough studying in continues to be a challenge. Fortunately, last week and this week I have been able to cut back on a few activities in order to have some extra study time. However, that isn't always the case and I am now down to about two months left to complete these courses with quite a bit of work yet to finish!

2. You may remember me asking for you to pray for Dalmiro as he seeks the Lord's direction to one day serve Him in India. The first step on his missionary endeavors will hopefully be to Abingdon, VA, my home supporting church. They have a mission's internship which would be a wonderful experience for Dalmiro, not to mention it would warm my heart to connect Bolivia with my hometown even in a small way! The most difficult part right now, will be getting a visa! The U.S. government doesn't hand them out easily and Dalmiro's chances don't look very good as there are some requirements that he doesn't currently meet (i.e. he is supposed to own a house here and have so many thousands of dollars in the bank to show that he has a real reason to return). However, I have seen God provide for others...and have no doubt that if this is His plan for Dalmiro, then He can work it out. Please join me in lifting Dalmiro up in prayer over the next few months as he schedules an appointment and then travels to US Embassy in La Paz for his meeting. (There is a picture of Dalmiro in the second picture at the end of this up-date.)

3. I am thoroughly enjoying being back in Special Education and I love my schedule/balance between school ministries and "other" ministries. Praise the Lord for that! On a school note...I'm being reminded of how difficult Special Education can be as I have several students who are truly struggling. I feel like we are struggling to get methods into place to help these students be successful and their parents are discouraged. Please pray for wisdom in working with these students as well as patience as we deal with their parents (who seem to appear constantly, sometimes at the most inopportune moments). Thank you for praying for the shipment the school has had waiting in customs. We were finally able to get that delivered last week and I unpacked boxes and got things put away last Friday! I'm so glad to have that chore behind me!

I know I promised pictures last week, but forgot to attach them! Sorry about that! I've posted a few below for your enjoyment (They're pictures from an outing with a few of the leaders in my church to explore a new area being developed outside of the city where our church is praying about doing some outreach)! Blessings to you all and thank you so much for your faithful support and prayers!

August 18, 2008

I think this is one of those weeks when I have so many things to share with you, that I'm afraid I won't be able to get them all in. I thought I would try to break them down into sections so that it would help me to organize my thoughts a bit. I also have a few pictures that I'll plan to post in this entry, but it may be tomorrow before they're actually available (I need to get them off my camera and onto the computer first). Anyway, moving on to God's presence in Santa Cruz...

Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center
School is off to a running start, last week was the first week of classes. I have not started working with students yet, as I need to wait until their regular schedules have been set before I can develop my schedule. That has been fine with me, however. I have plenty of things to keep me busy. We have already been exploring a couple of students who will need to be tested for our Special Education program to determine if there is a learning disability...which is part of my job. I am also busy completing informal reading inventories and giving advice as to the appropriate placement for specific students. The school is also awaiting a shipment of supplies which is being sent down from the states. I was asked to help with organizing that and working on getting it out of customs. It is a long and rather complicated process. I spent most of the day last Friday going through the shipment there in the customs warehouse with a couple of other workers from the school. We have to compare everything with the invoices that we have and give an account for each item. The next step is getting the invoices in order and turning them in...after that we may have to go back down and go through the boxes onces again with the customs representative. I'm praying that doesn't happen and that they let us get the things without going through it all again! Anyway...it has been an eventful week!

Church: La Restauracion (The Restoration)
Things have been a little difficult at church lately...not because of anything a specific person has done...only because we have several key leaders right now who are very sick or hospitalized due to surgeries. My pastor has begun joking that we should change the name of our church to "La Restauracion de los Operados" (The Restoration of the Operated!). In the last two weeks there have been at least 3 people to have surgeries and be hospitalized for varying lengths of time. One of them was our pastor's father, Leopoldo, who also serves as one of the associate pastors in our church. Another was my friend Beth HAuse who you may remember me mentioning before. The third was my friend Avelina's husband, Medardo. I know three doesn't seem like many...but let me try to put it in perspective for you. Our church only has about 50 active adults...so three of the most active definitely leave some big holes for the rest of us to fill. Not to mention...they've all been in different hospitals or clinics and things just take longer to do here. Even when I drive to go visit Pastor Leopoldo...it takes me anywhere from 30-45 minutes to drive there, park, and walk up the street to the hospital (due to traffic, not distance). Then the unexpected always happens. Friday night, I went and picked up a couple of guys who wanted to go with me to see him. We drove over there...to find out that the staff had thought visiting hours was a good time to change the dressing on his incision and to do his physical therapy so we weren't allowed to go in. We waited about an hour until we could actually see him. Most people here wouldn't stay for a 5-10 minute visit, typically you should stay for at least a half hour...if not longer. Then it took us closer to an hour to get back because we ran into heavy traffic and there was a broken down car at one point that backed things up! Anyway...all that to say...a visit that in the states you could easily do in an hour if you didn't live too far from the clinic...here frequently takes me 3-4 hours.

I did say that there were several people who have been out of commission. I only mentioned three here, because they're the ones that have been in the clinic...we also have had several people who have been sick or injured and are recuperating at home.

We've decided that this is getting a little old! We're all tired of visiting people in hospitals and miss having them ministering alongside of us. The pastor feels like he's spending all of his time going back and forth to the hospital for his dad so he hasn't had time to do the visitation with other church members that he normally does, which is discouraging. All in all, we could really use your prayers! I can't help but think that as a church...we must be doing something right or else Satan wouldn't be working so hard...yet I just pray that through it all we would continue to look to God for our source of strength and comfort! You can pray particularly for a service that we have coming up this Sunday night at 6:00. The pastor is calling it basically a Spiritual Renewal service and they're encouraging all of the congregation to be present. We will spend a lot of time in prayer and worship. I think it could be a great time for us as a congregation to really sit back and listen for God's voice and to bask in His presence.

Other
You may remember that I asked you to pray with me that Avelina would be open to doing a Bible study with me. I talked to her a couple of weeks ago and she was very open to it. Her day off is now set for Saturdays whereas before it used to rotate. We have not actually started the Bible study due to the fact that her husband had hernia surgery and is still recuperating. We talked about it again when I saw her briefly yesterday, so maybe by next weekend, we can get started on that.

I also have mentioned the outing I went on with the Professional Class English group. Tonight will be their first class for this semester. Although I will not be teaching right away, I plan to go and see how the classes are done and get to know the members a little more. We will start at about 7:30.

CIET classes start again this week! Again...due to illnesses...we are short-staffed for teachers. The director himself had surgery a couple of weeks ago...Pastor Leopoldo usually teaches in CIET but will not be able to this trimester...Jeff HAuses has not been feeling well for at least the last week if not longer...that really cuts down a large percentage of the CIET teaching staff! We might be off to a rocky start. Due to the Professional Class English Group...my English classes at CIET have been moved to Friday night so that I can continue helping in both.

Well, I guess that's it for this week. I'm sure I could think of more things to tell you about...but this is enough to keep you busy for awhile! Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers! They are particularly needed right now! Blessings to you all!

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!!!!!