March 20, 2011

Well, after being away from the city for a week for SAM field conference, 2 weeks in Argentina for a course I was teaching, 4 days for church camp during Carnaval, and 5 days in Quito, Ecuador to attend a teacher workshop...I'm GLAD to be home!!! Since getting back from Quito, I've now spent more nights consecutively sleeping in my own bed in the last week than I did during the month of February and first part of March! Incredible! I guess at this point it all feels a bit surreal to me! In an effort to not ramble on in this blog post, I decided it would be easiest to just point out a few highlights and things God has been teaching me during all of this traveling! At the end, you'll also find the link to a shutterfly album where you can find pictures of these various events!

* Am I putting my total trust/faith in God...allowing Him to work and move in my life according to His plans?

* Am I willing to sign a blank piece of paper and turn it over to Him, thereby leaving it up to Him to write out His plan for my life?

* Life does not revolve around me!

* I love talking about Language Acquisition tools and helping others in learning a new language.

* It's amazing how God cares for His children...providing just what we need, when we need it...even if it's simply for our enjoyment. Returning from Cordoba, my friends and I decided to bus to Buenos Aires and then fly back to Santa Cruz. This meant we would be in Buenos Aires for about 4 or 5 hours before needing to head to the airport. We didn't know what we would do with our suitcases, but we REALLY wanted to see a bit of the city! As it turned out, there were a couple of people from Buenos Aires at the English Village. One of them rode with us on the bus, his wife picked us up at the terminal, they took us out for breakfast, and drove us to another lady's house...she then became our tour guide for the morning.

* Church Camp: Bolivian countryside is BEAUTIFUL!!! It was fun to get out of the city and spend time with friends! Teaching the children every morning was a challenge...next time I'll look for additional help so that I can enjoy a few of the adult services as well! I was encouraged by several children who have accepted Christ. Time will tell if the seed has fallen on good ground.

* Quito has everything...TGIFridays, Dunkin Doughnuts, Cinnabon, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, etc.

* What a great experience...workshops for educators and administrators combined with eating every chance we got!!! Couldn't have asked for more!

* This was a little bit too much traveling...hard to be away for so long and hard to get back into the swing of things (or get caught up) now that I'm back.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbNnDNm5btmTp

All in all, the trips were wonderful and I'm so thankful that God allowed me to be a part of such wonderful opportunities...learning and being stretched all along the way! However, I am glad to be back home...I love being back at school and getting to daily be a part of the lives God has placed there! Below you'll find just a couple more pictures taken just today as I dressed up like a Pirate in order to read the book "How I Became a Pirate" to the 1st and 2nd grade classes! Thank you so much for your prayers! Enjoy!

Greetings from Cordoba, Argentina!

I apologize for not writing an update for several weeks now!!! Last week I was busy with the SAM annual conference...which was wonderful...but also very intense!!! Then once conference ended about 2:00, I quickly packed my bags and headed to the bus terminal along with Chelsea and Dana to catch the bus. After two nights on the bus (about 36 hours total travel time...30 hours actually on the bus)...we arrived in Cordoba on Sunday morning.

As the director of the English Village, I jumped in the role of administrating the course...doing a fair amount of the teaching...as well as dividing up those responsibilities! Now, at the end of the week, I'm finally beginning to feel like I'm on top of things...understand what's going on, see things running smoothly, and not feeling as tired as I was initially!

Tomorrow we will take a tour of the city of Cordoba (in English of course) with the students and then enjoy a lunch together in the park! After that, the students are free until Sunday night...which means we (the tutors are as well)!!! We plan to do a few tourist things in this area...if the weather is nice on Sunday, we will take a train ride to a nearby town in the mountains. I've heard it's very beautiful...so I'm excited about that! We'll see what the weather is like...they're calling for bad weather this weekend and today has been cool and rainy!

Next week will be another full week of classes...teaching the students methods that the can use in learning a foreign language! It is exciting for me to be able to teach and train these men and women who are feeling called by God to serve Him in other parts of the world! The two women in my tutor group feel led to serve God in Africa. Lord willing, one will be going with her family in July and the other will go next January! What a joy it is to play a small part in the great plan that God has for the lives of these brothers and sisters in Christ!

Please continue to pray for our time here, that it will be fruitful...not only that the students will learn English, but also that they will learn the important tools which we are teaching for grasping a new language! Pray too for strength and endurance for all of us as tutors (the sessions and schedule are intense at times)!

Well, I need to get to the next session! Thank you so much for your prayers and support!

Happy New Year!

I know, it's a little pathetic that we're over halfway through the month of January and I am just now writing my first blog entry for 2011! I'll do my best to catch you up to speed!

After spending 3 weeks in the States with my family for the holidays, I returned to Bolivia on January 8th. My time at home was wonderful, as usual! It was extremely relaxing and I especially enjoyed LOTS of quality time with my nephews and my parents (of course my sisters as well...wouldn't want them to feel left out...but now that they're having babies, that's who I REALLY go to see!) : ) I was also able to visit with a few friends and get caught up on the things God is doing in their lives.


I hit the ground running as soon as I got back to Santa Cruz as I arrived on Saturday and two days later started back to school. It has taken me the better part of the last couple of weeks to begin to feel like I'm getting caught up in several areas, although I still have a ways to go!

There are a few things coming up in the month of February for which I would appreciate your prayers! The first full week of February will be our annual SAM conference. There will be several visitors coming down from the States as well as SAM missionaries from other fields in South America. Please pray for the mission and each of the missionaries as we prepare for this conference. We have begun praying and meditating on God's word, seeking wisdom and direction as we explore possibilities for the future of South America Mission. It will be a more intense conference than we have had in the past! Immediately after conference, I will be traveling to Cordoba, Argentina to help in directing the English Village (EV). Some of you may remember when I participated in the EV last year. It is basically a language acquisition course for those from South America who are training to be missionaries in other parts of the world. I love being a part of this course and am excited to see how God will use this year's group of students as well as tutors! Obviously, because I will be participating in these events, I will not be able to be at school for about three weeks in a row! Fortunately, the woman who has been the elementary principal in the past is willing to fill in for me, but it's still a long time for me to be gone. Please pray for the teachers and students as they adjust to my absence.

I guess this about does it for now! Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support! They mean so much to me!

December 14, 2010

It's hard to believe that we're already only a week and a half away from Christmas!!! The semester is finishing up at school this Friday!!! Then...this coming Saturday, I'll be heading home for the holidays!!! As soon as I can get over this cold I have and finish up all that I have to do this week...I imagine that I'll be super excited about being with my family! As it is, I woke up this morning and lay in bed thinking about playing with and holding my nephews...as well as thinking about being with my parents at the beach...and all the other joys of being home during this time of the year!

This up-date contains mostly pictures...as I want to make sure that I get it posted today! I wanted to catch you up to speed on a few things that have been happening over the past couple of weeks! Last Thursday, we added a fourth roommate to our household...Emilee Dickman (sitting in the middle of the picture below). She has come to work at SCCLC until the end of the school year and then stick around and help out with teams until mid-July. She is a wonderful addition to our team and we are excited to have her here! She is a friend of Ally and Danielle's from New York state so they are particularly excited to see her and teach her the things that they have been learning...which is a good thing, since I'll be leaving them in charge of the house when I head to the states! Please pray for all three of them during this Holiday season as it is their first one away from home...and that isn't easy! I'm thankful that they'll be having a few supporters/friends visiting them!


This past Sunday, my church celebrated its 23rd anniversary!!! It was a beautiful celebration and a great reminder of all that God has done/accomplished and all He continues to do in/through that church! We praise Him for His faithfulness to our small congregation!!!

There were also a couple of activities that happened a little over a week ago...but since I never got around to up-dating my blog last week, I decided I would mention them in this post! One of these was that my friend's son, Marcos, graduated from high school! This is a huge milestone here in Bolivia and especially since God has placed the desire on his heart for him to continue studying through the university! Congratulations Marcos!!! We are all so proud of the young man that God is growing him to be! Please continue to lift him up in your prayers!

Also, that same weekend, I worked alongside my friends on SAM's Children's Ministry Team as we planned a Knight's Conference. This was a conference for boys, ages 10-13...teaching them to be men of honor. The boys seemed to have a great time learning about the armor of God and how it is applicable to their lives. Their fathers came and had lunch with them, then there was a session for fathers in the afternoon while we had one last session with the boys. After that there was "swordfighting" and other games on the lawn! I believe God will continue to use this conference in the lives of these boys as He grows them into leaders who desire to serve Him!


Thank you once again for your continued prayers for the ministry to which God has called me here in Bolivia. Thank you too for your prayers as I travel to the states on Saturday...as well as for the three weeks that I will be spending with my family! I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas! Through this busy time of the year, may you be constantly reminded of the TRUE reason for the season!

November 23, 2010

So, yet once again, I only got part of my blog done last week and then never got around to finishing it! I at least got pictures uploaded...but then the week got busy and I never got a chance to write anything to go along with them. I think the moral of my little story here is that I should begin to update my blog on Sunday afternoons as Mondays just fly by too quickly and don't leave me enough time to get it done!

Therefore...let me briefly recap on the last couple of weeks to catch you up to speed. First of all, a week ago Saturday, one of my roommates (Danielle, the one in the middle of the picture posted here) celebrated her first birthday in Bolivia. In order to make it a special one, we planned a surprise birthday party for her at the bowling alley...as well as pizza and cake at our house afterwards and then a serenade that night by the youth group from her church here. All in all, I think she had a wonderful time! I know the rest of us did!


On that same day, in the afternoon, my church had a baptism for 7 people...among them were 5 young people from Talita Cumi (a local children's home from which a large group of kids faithfully attend our church), and also a girl with her mother! It was an exciting time to see these people making a public profession of faith! Please pray that God will direct their steps and that they will continue to rely on Him as the Lord of their lives!


This past week we celebrated Thanksgiving together as a mission family! It was a very special time of eating lots and sharing with one another! One of the things that past through my mind more than once over the Thanksgiving week was how grateful I am to each one of you for your love and support (both through prayer and financial giving). It is such a comfort to know that you're continually praying for me and the work God is doing in Santa Cruz! THANK YOU!!! The rest of the long weekend, which we had off from school was full of various activities! It's amazing how busy I felt doing things...yet don't feel like I got very much accomplished! I'm not sure how that happened! Regardless, it was a restful time as well...I watched plenty of movies and worked on my cross-stitch when I could(maybe that's why I didn't seem to get much done!) As I'm putting up my Christmas decorations now...I'm reminded that the holidays are only a few weeks away! I've been given the blessing of going home for Christmas and New Years to spend the time off from school in the States with my family!!! I'm SO very excited! Although I will miss my friends here...I'm looking forward to seeing my family! I will head north in about 3 weeks! I can't wait!!!

November 9, 2010

Just so that you can understand a bit more about the day and life of the elementary school principal at SCCLC...

Monday morning, I administered a spelling test to a 5th grade student who has some special needs and is extremely hyperactive...just the same, I love the one on one time with him and it helps out his teacher. Upon leaving my office, he stuck his head back in the doorway and said, "God bless you, Miss!" All I could do was smile and chuckle a bit!

Then, at lunchtime, my roommate who is the 2nd grade teacher brought one of her students into the office so that we could have lunch together in the conference room. You see, as a behavior reward that she had established for him...he could earn a reward for having a certain number of stickers on his card. When she asked him what he thought a good reward would be...he said he'd like to have lunch with her...and Ms. Boyce...and the director of the school!!! Do you think he's a bit hungry for attention? Once we all got together in the conference room, sat down, and began eating...the child said, "So, tell me about your lives!" It was all we could do from cracking up!!!

The rest of the day was filled with addressing discipline issues and teaching in a couple of classrooms (part of a BUILD campaign...teaching students necessary tools that they can use in life to help build one another up...it's an anti-bullying campaign that we've developed!) After school I went home and prepared my exams for my CIET students...took a quick nap...had dinner with my roomies...then went to CIET, administered the exam, went home, and hopped immediately into bed!!! It was a full day, but an enjoyable one!!!

Oh the joys of being an administrator...thank you for your continued prayers for wisdom and strength as I confront daily challenges!

October 19, 2010

After a three week long visit to Bolivia, my friend Lisa Birzer and her daughter Danielle returned to the States. We enjoyed many fun things while they were here, including a quick trip to Samaipata with my roommates and two of the pastors from my church (in the picture above, the one in the front on the right is Dalmiro with whom the Birzers came to visit as well.) They also had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time with Dalmiro's family, particularly his sisters. In addition, I appreciated their help at school being willing to fill in wherever necessary and do just about anything! We don't have enough people like that floating around this year! It was a huge blessing to me!


On Friday night, October 15, I attended my good friend America's wedding. It will be the first of a few for her as she married a young man from North America so although they had a religious ceremony here...they will legally be married in the States in a few weeks. I am very happy for her although, I will miss her terribly when she leaves this weekend to go to live in the U.S. They will be living in Washington state...I told her that I couldn't believe she'd be living about as far away from Virginia as she could get! Regardless, I hope to find a way to get over to see her the next time that I am home on furlough.

I continue to greatly appreciate your prayers on my behalf and on behalf of those here (both Bolivians and other missionaries). Personally, I am feeling very tired and that is adding to an already stressful time at school...leaving me more irritable than usual, with little patience. I haven't had much time at home in the last few weeks so there are several things that I need to take care of there (replacing the gas tanks so that we'll have hot showers tomorrow, paying the phone bill so that they'll turn it back on, cleaning my room so that I can find things, etc.) Of course, there's also the car...once again giving me fits. To add to all of this, my body is showing signs of stress as well, such as a rather constant back pain that I've had for about the last month. I find a bit of relief in realizing that I'm not the only one feeling this tension...I know of several teachers at school who could use more encouragement right now too, including my roommates. I am sure there are others in my church and in SAM as well, but where I'm noticing most of the strain is at school. Please pray for our school, students, and staff, we have become very proactive in fighting certain negative behaviors (i.e. bullying) recently and I believe that Satan doesn't want to lose that foothold...so his way of trying to stop it is by discouraging the staff and (it appears) by putting extra energy in all of the students. I think as a whole we could use an extra boost of His strength and constant reminders of His grace! Thank you for joining us in laying these concerns before the throne of Him who can do all things, whose plan cannot be thwarted (Job 42:2)!