June 16, 2009

I sat down this morning to up-date my blog and realized that I'm not sure what to share with you this morning. I certainly feel like I've been staying busy...of course most of it has been through spending time with people. Occasionally people, mostly youth from church, come over for lunch. Yesterday, two of the girls from my Saturday Bible study came over for lunch. One of them was coming from her classes at the university so she brought a friend with her. What a great opportunity and joy it is to be able to use my home not only as a way to reach out, encourage, and disciple believers...but also as a means of sharing the gospel!

Thank you for praying for the short meditation that I was going to be giving to a group of ladies on Saturday afternoon...as it turned out, the leader called on Friday afternoon and asked to postpone it for this week...so please continue to pray for that!

There are also a couple of upcoming events that I'd like to share with you so that you can be praying for those things as well...

1. Next week, SAM's children's ministry team will be hosting a Vacation Bible School for the English speaking community at Trinity International Church (a church near my school). I will be teaching the 3rd-4th grade class and I am also in charge of organizing the Bible classroom (getting supplies together, answering questions for the Bible teachers, passing out materials, etc.). There is still much to be done before Monday, so we would appreciate your prayers...not only for us...but also for the students who will be attending, that God will speak to their hearts and make Himself real to them.

2. In two weeks, I will be accompanying World Gospel Mission to a local resort (Rio Selva) in order to teach their children while the parents are in meetings each morning and evening. It looks like I will have about 11 children...ages 4-10. I know many of the kids as they are students at my school so I'm looking forward to this time with them. Thanks to my parents' church, Westminster Reformed Presbyterian in Suffolk, VA for donating some materials that I could use for this event. We'll be doing a study on Joseph! I am excited about this conference...but I still have a great deal of planning to do!

3. Little by little, I'm starting to move my things to the apartment at the back of Virginia's house (the house where I'm living now). Virginia has told me that she doesn't mind if I stay there until I find another place to live...or the whole school year if I want! I am very appreciative of her hospitality! It is a pretty small apartment, with no stove...so I don't plan to be there all year, but we'll see. For the time being, I'm hoping to get it set up and get moved in there before she returns in the middle of July!

Well, that pretty much explains what I'm up to these days! Thank you so much for your continued prayers! I can definitely feel them right now! This is typically a difficult time for me with so many people coming and going, as I mentioned before, but I haven't felt the struggle like I typically do! So, thank you for praying!

Hello there once again! Sorry I'm a bit late in updating my blog this week, the last couple of days have been busier than I expected! The picture above was taken on Sunday afternoon. The girl in the middle is my friend Esther, from church, a college student who works in an orphanage. She lives there at the home and takes care of this group of active boys!!! On her days off, she frequently comes to study at my house, spend the night, hang out, etc. On Sunday afternoon, I invited her to bring the boys over for a couple of hours, which I have done a couple of times before. I had popcorn and soda for them and they sat (most of the time) and watched a movie, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, which my sister recently sent me for my birthday! Also in the picture on the far right, is my friend Raul from church...he just happened to be here because he needed help with something on the computer! Anyway, it was a lot of fun! I enjoy getting to know the boys better...and I love being able to support her in her work/ministry there at the home! On Saturday I'm going to go hang out over there for a bit to make cookies with them!!!!

One thing I failed to mention in my up-date last week was our Mother's Day event at church to honor the mothers in our congregation! The youth and men were in charge of the activity...fortunately, the cold didn't deter us too much!!! The theme was "Typical Santa Cruz" so all of the refreshments and decorations had to do with that motif. One of the things that was MOST exciting for me...was that quite a few visitors came. On Monday nights, some of the people in our church host a small group...it is held in their home which is in a neighborhood across the main road from the church. They have a great attendance in this small group, most of whom do not attend a church regularly and some who are not Christians. Yet, several of them have begun to come to special events held in our church and we have seen a great deal of Spiritual growth there. I met one lady on Sunday night who said that she would like to continue to come more regularly to our church...that it was through that small group that she felt the need/desire to deepen her relationship with the Lord. Praise Him for the work that is happening there. Many if not all of the mothers from that group came to this Mother's Day celebration! It was exciting to see!!! The pictures below are of the celebration...the first picture of the table where the mother's sat, was taken early on in the evening...soon after, these chairs were all filled! I'm not sure I've seen us have such a good turn out before! God is really moving and blessing this church! What an answer to prayer, as I was asking you to pray only a few months ago since people had really seemed to be dwindling away! Thank you so much for your prayers! Here is the fruit of your labor!!! Please continue to pray, as there is still much "work" to be done!



Before I wrap up this entry...I wanted to ask you to pray as well for me on Saturday afternoon as I have been asked to share a short devotional/meditation in a women's Bible study. One of the women in my church (again, more fruit...) has begun to hold a small group in her home for friends of hers from the place where she used to work as well as other neighbors. Many of the women who have begun to come are nonChristians or nonchurch-going members. I'm excited by her desire to share the gospel and by the opportunity to share in the work that God is doing among them! Last week there were 11 ladies total!!! Not bad for the first meeting! We would appreciate your prayers on this!! Well...I guess that's it for now! May God be praised for all that He continues to do here in Santa Cruz!!!

June 1, 2008

Well....I'm sitting here, in my fuzzy slippers, flannel pajama bottoms, two long-sleeve shirts, still feeling cold, and thinking of warmer days in Santa Cruz! For almost a week now we've had temperatures down around 50 and rain! In this city, it makes for a bad combination! The streets are nasty, the buses and taxis are full, and everyone just feels COLD...damp and cold is the worst! I know, you may be thinking, "it's only 50...and it is winter for you there"...but when there's no heat in the house (or in any building for that matter) and no insulation so that the cement walls just hold in the cold and moisture...it feels REALLY COLD! I'm still waiting for my body to thaw out a bit! Fortunately, I woke up this morning and looked outside at blue skies with the sun shining brightly, and knew it was going to be a good day!!! It's amazing what a little sunshine will do! The temperature is already a little more than 10 degrees warmer than it has been for several days...and it's not even 11:00!!!

I have been told that another "south wind" (which is what brings us the cold) will be blowing in again in a few more days...but hopefully it will give us a chance to thaw out and warm up my house a bit first!

I don't have a lot to report from last week...due to the weather and the fact that my truck hasn't been working...I spent the better part of the week either finishing up things in my classroom at school or working on stuff at the house. I have plenty to do at the house right now, since these are the things that tend to get put on the back burner until I make myself sit down and do them!!! One of the difficulties about being in "vacation mode" is that it makes it really hard to continue "working". Since, school is only part of my ministry here...I still have plenty of other responsibilities, not to mention, I should start working on packing up my things here in the house so that I'll be ready to move out when Virginia returns to Bolivia. Please pray that God will give me the strength and discipline that I need to get things accomplished!

Today, I'm having lunch with my friend Sandra and running a few errands, then I'll be back to take care of more paperwork this afternoon and to plan for my CIET English Class tonight! Praise the Lord that it's a sunny day, as it will make this running around a LOT easier!!! Hugs to all and thank you for your continued prayers! I'll be sending a paper version of a prayer letter out soon, so you can be watching the mail for that!

May 26, 2009

Well...I can now say that I have officially completed my tenth year of teaching!!! It sounds like a BIG deal to me!! Deserves a celebration! The last week of school went well...as with the closing programs and graduation! I realized that one of the families that I know fairly well (I have taught 2 of their four children...one in 5th grade and the other in a Reading group that I taught this year) is returning to Canada permanently. I knew they were going to be traveling, but it hadn't registered to me that they wouldn't be returning. As I watched them in the closing program and saw pictures of them in the slide show, it made me sad. I have LOVED teaching both of those kids...these are the sorts of good-byes that are always difficult! It's hard to see kids, with whom I have really bonded, leave the field! I will miss having them at school!

Last Saturday was the Ayore camp (overnight) that I mentioned in my last blog up-date. Thank you for your prayers for this event. All in all, things went really well I believe. The kids behaved better than I expected and really seemed to be learning, which was exciting to see! I didn't stay the whole time...I came home on Friday night in order to finish getting the crafts together for Saturday, then on Saturday I only stayed until about noon as I had several other responsibilities at church for the rest of the afternoon and graduation in the evening! It made for an extremely busy weekend for me! However, I'm thankful for several people who pitched in to help me with various things...my friend Isabel stayed up until 1:30 AM with me on Friday night finishing up craft stuff...there were others from my church who helped clean up the church after the children's club on Saturday (which was my responsibility, but as the other person in my group couldn't be there...I was left to handle it on my own). I was extremely thankful for their help! There are a few pictures below of the Ayore camp for you to see. (The first one is a picture of me with two of the Ayore boys after we had finished making flowers out of crepe paper, talking about God as Creator...the second is of an Ayore girl on the left with Emily Mercado whose mother and father are SAM missionaries who run a clinic for the Ayore and minister to their physical as well as Spiritual needs...the final picture is of several of the Ayore kids with some of our helpers, my friend Isabel is standing on the right in a purple shirt.)




This week I'm finishing up a few things in my classroom, getting my grades in, etc. I'm also trying to rest a bit after my busy weekend and to get caught up on a few things around the house which have been abandoned over the last few weeks. I do have a couple of specific prayer requests, partially for me and partially for others. I know several missionaries that have to return to the states right now primarily for financial reasons, not enough support, and others who are currently in the states trying to raise more support. It is often an eye-opener for me to hear other people's stories...knowing that thanks to all of you, I'm able to continue ministering here in Bolivia and am not being asked to return to the states in search of more support. I know I don't express it often enough...but I am TRULY grateful! Please pray for these friends of mine, that God will provide the financial support that they need as many of them have left behind large gaps...not to mention we will be missing several teachers in the next school year if their support doesn't come in. Also, we are still in need of a Kindergarten, third grade, and fourth grade teacher...if you know of anyone who may be interested in serving the Lord in this way for a year or more, please let me know and I will gladly pass along the information/process! Finally, as you know, I have been renting a fellow SAM missionary's home for this year...assuming that God provides the financial support that she is currently lacking, she will be returning to Bolivia in July...which means, I will need a new place to live. I'm specifically praying for a townhouse or an apartment in an area where I can: 1. feel safe living on my own or with one other person, 2. continue to have my girlfriends from church over to spend the night or visit me in my home, and 3. have a place that I can really decorate, make it my own, feel like I'm home! These are the things that I would really like at the moment. I'm praying that God will either provide such a place or change my heart and show me more of what He has in store for me!

Before I forget...this Wednesday is Mother's Day in Bolivia...unlike the states, Mother's Day here is always on May 27th. So...HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all of the mom's reading my blog up-date!!! Hugs to you all!

Last Week of School!!!

Hip, hip, hooray...hip, hip, hooray...hip, hip, hooray!!!! Sometimes I think the teachers are more excited by the end of the school year than the students are...which is hard to imagine, I know!!! Tomorrow will be the last full day of classes, the elementary students will finish the year with a closing program on Wednesday, the jr high/high school students will have exams through the end of the week and then will finish with their closing program on Friday afternoon! Saturday night is graduation!!!! In the past the school has typically had graduation on Friday night...so I'm a little disappointed that they decided to move it to Saturday night this year...since it means I have a conflict with my girls from the youth group. Fortunately the girls are flexible and if I offer lunch at my house on Sunday...instead of a meeting on Saturday night...they're usually willing to oblige! I appreciate their flexibility!

I continue to LOVE working with the girls from church. Over the weekend I had company as two of the girls spent the night on Friday night and then another girl spent the night on Saturday night. I'll admit after long days...and then staying up until late watching movies and hanging out with them...I'm paying for it today! However, I loved having the here! I also love that they continue to open up more and more, allowing me to share in their lives! It's been GREAT!

On Saturday, I agreed to help out at a mission's conference at another church (where several other SAM missionaries attend). They needed someone to dress up as if from India and share with the children. Due to typical Bolivian schedule...I think the program started about an hour and a half later than they said it would...so I spent a lot of time sitting and waiting...but all in all, it was lots of fun! Hopefully, the children learned something about serving the Lord in another country as well as a bit about the country of India! Afterwards, the mission's committee took the two guest speakers out for lunch...paid in pizza, it was WONDERFUL! There are a couple of pictures posted below for you to see...



As for this week...I will be finishing up the school year and try to get my room packed up a bit so that I won't have to go in very often next week! Tonight we also start the new trimester in CIET...I have been on vacation for the last couple of weeks, but now it's time to get started with a new group of students. I believe there are a couple interested in English 2 this trimester as well...so I should have two classes on Monday nights. Also, one of my Bolivian friends, Sandra Jaldin, who works with SAM's Ayore ministry (a ministry designed to meet the medical as well as the Spiritual needs of an Indigenous group of people, the Ayore) is having an overnight "camp" or Spiritual retreat for 12 Ayore kids at the home of Bill and Bev Smith (other SAM missionaries) and has asked me to help her with that. I will be helping with the crafts as well as other aspects of the retreat...the themes are: God as creator, God's holiness, God's omnipresence, and God's love. We would appreciate your prayers for this event...I think it starts Friday evening (not sure what time) and goes through most of the day on Saturday (although I will only be able to help until about 2 or 3 as I have a commitment with the children's ministry at my church on that day). Thank you so much for your interest in the ministry here in Santa Cruz and for your continued prayers as well as praises for all that God is currently doing!

May 11, 2009

Here we are...nearing the end of the school year! It's really quite amazing! I was just commenting to my parents that this time last year I was finishing up my last week of furlough before returning to the field...a lot has certainly happened in a year!

There are only two weeks of school left for us here at the Learning Center. This is the last full week of classes and then next week we will be busy with final exams, closing programs, and graduation! Due to the fact that my classroom is so small...I won't have a lot to do to pack up my room for the vacation...however, I do hope to sit down with Nikki Elliott (my co-worker in the resource department) and do a bit of planning/organizing the program for next year.


I have mentioned several times that you could be praying for the youth group at my church...our division of classes for guys and girls so that we could talk about a few topics which are more gender specific. After three weeks of being separated for classes...we came together last Saturday for our first "social"! Everyone got all dolled up...we decorated the church ( I even bought some real flowers for the occasion), played games, sang songs, had a short devotional together, shared refreshments, etc. It was LOTS of fun! The best part for me was that many of the girls came...even one of the girls who isn't a member of our church but has been coming with her friend! Another one of the girls also brought her boyfriend whose relationship/devotion to the Lord is questionable. She talked with me about him a week or so ago and we were praying that he would come on Saturday night...as he has tried several times to discourage her from going. Praise the Lord for the work He is doing in this young man's life!


One of the things that has been encouraging for me recently concerning the group of girls from church, is that they have begun to open up and share more openly with me about the things on their hearts and minds. Even some of their parents have begun to talk to me about concerns they have for their girls. What a blessing! Not to mention a couple of the girls have begun to bring their boyfriends (some of whom aren't Christians) around a bit, such as the girl who invited her boyfriend to come on Saturday night and then another brought her boyfriend with her on Sunday morning. I feel that God is really beginning to work in their lives, guiding them and teaching them to put into practice the things that we are studying!

I'm feeling very encouraged by the many ways God is using me both at school and through this ministry with the girls! May God continue to grant me the wisdom to guide them in a way that is pleasing to Him, and to advise them using His Biblical truths. Thank you so much for your continued prayers for me as well as for these young women. Thank you too for praying for the end of our school year...as the students/teachers need the strength to finish well!

In my up-date last week...I mentioned a conference that SAM's children's ministry team was presenting on Saturday. The title of the conference was "Mujercitas" (Young Women) and primarily addressed the issue of dressing modestly as well as other things including learning about the differences between men and women, choosing friendships wisely, and allowing each one to look at her own heart and evaluate her relationship with the Lord.


All in all the conference went really well! We did the conference with two different groups of girls, one group in the morning and one in the afternoon...about 60 or 70 came for the morning group and 40 or 50 in the afternoon. We got off to a bit of a rocky start in the morning...my mom referred to it as the dress rehearsal and that was what it felt like! However, the afternoon went much smoother. Thank you for praying specifically for my talk...I felt prepared and for the most part the words seemed to flow quite nicely. I even had one of the Bolivian women who is in our mission tell me that my Spanish has really improved! That was encouraging for me to hear. In the afternoon I was also asked to basically give an altar call. A couple of the teachers had presented the gospel in their talks, but we hadn't taken time yet for the girls to pray and accept Christ if they wished to do so. Several (I think about 10) indicated that they had never accepted Christ as the Lord of their lives so we took a few minutes to pray with them. The hard part in a conference like this is that we had so many groups from orphanages and churches...that truly doing follow-up with these girls is next to impossible. However, God knows exactly who they are and we can trust that He will meet them there and provide people in their lives to guide and direct them in their walk with Him. Please continue to pray for them. Please pray also for the girls overall...that this conference will have an impact on the way they present themselves as well as their interactions with others.



Fortunately, this week is a bit slower for me! I'm looking forward to getting caught up on some emails and other paperwork that I got behind in last week! We only have about 3 weeks of school left!!! That's incredible!!! Thank you so much for your continued prayers! Blessings to you all!