29th of May, 2007
Allison Weaver = the writer
Dear Friends and Family,
Hello once again from Santa Cruz complete with wind and rain. Sorry the weather was so depressing! Besides the weather, we are certainly doing well besides the fact that Jess is sick again. I just put my kids to sleep so I can write to you all! As usual, we are not getting much sleep and working 9 hours every day. The reason is becuase we are always having fun with a bunch of people and participating in many events. Also, we still participate on the worship team at church. In fact, I think Monday and Thursday are the only times I get 8 hours of sleep...not to worry we still thrive thanks to coffee (except for me because I refuse to drink it)!
Now more about Jess. She seems to be getting better, but it is another stomach or intestinal bug. Just pray that she gets totally better. She is at work today, so I think it is something that will pass.
So, now I guess you want to hear more stories, so I shall relate to you one about my kids in Kindergarden. As you know, I work with 24 kids. We never did get 30 which is the grace of God as we are two teachers. Many of them have learning disabilities and most have loads of energy. Also, some have problems with rebellion or violence because of very bad family situations. The next story I will relate is how Jesus allowed me to be a light to one of my kids. As I am continually refined by God he gives me many opportunities to reach my kids. Basically, a little girl in my class poked one of my little boys in the eye today with a pencil. I thank God that it was not hard and he was not seriously hurt. Of course, I had to take him to the infermery where the nurse checked his eye to make sure it was ok. I explained to my little girl what could have happened to his eye if it would have been worse and did what I call the "mom discipline routine". She cried and wanted to be forgiven. It turned out that I was able to share Jesus with her and showed her that he could take away her pain and guilt. So, I guess in a way I was able to plant a seed of Jesus that I hope grows. From the bottom of my heart, I hope that she chooses Him and recieves his hope. Well that is enough about my kids. Of course as all of us go through the storms of life, he constantly helps us stand and fight.
Another thing that is constantly on our minds besides our kids and the many activities in our lives is transition. We are winding down here at the Guarderia Moises as we finish at the end of June. After that then the last vacation and goodbyes. We are not looking forward to leaving Bolivia. Bethany and Jess are still figuring out future plans, and Rachel and I are going to colleges...sigh..I don't like to think of that.
Well, I guess that is about it for the NEW NEWS. Here are the prayer requests/ praises for the team.
Praises:
-Team unity
- Friends here in Bolivia
- Our talented team
- God's faithfulness
-Protection of God
Prayer Requests:
-Jess's health
- Wisdom
-Grace for Transition
- Eyes to see our kids the way God sees them
- Grace for the storms
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Time keeps moving forward...
May 11, 2007
Written by: Rachel Albrecht
Blessings to everyone in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord! I must start with an apology for the lateness of my letter. You see, I seem to have gotten into the Bolivian habit of being late. I was realizing the other day just how Bolivian I´ve become. Actually our whole team has become more Bolivian. We´re almost never on time (in American standards) to any event planned or unplanned, but we usually do make it on time by Bolivian standards. We also have gotten quite accostumed to hot humid weather down here, so when the winds blew and the rain fell and brought colder temperatures we all nearly froze! We tend to get cold once it gets below 80 degrees Farenheit and this past week it´s been getting down to the 50s at night, and sometimes during the day too. And we´re not even into winter yet! We are currently in autumn and the winter weather is yet to come in June and July, though I´m told it should not get much colder than it was this unseasonably cold week in May. Thank the Lord!
On to more important things....Last week we had a prayer team from Pennsylvania come down to lead some sessions for the kids at the children´s home and also offer prayer to anyone who wanted it. We really enjoyed gettting to know the team and helping out with some of the festivities. I had the privilege of translating the Sunday School lesson for the kids on Sunday. It was my first time doing so for a group of people and I was amazed at how far my Spanish has come in the time we´ve been down here. Praise God for His providence!
Also last week, Jess and I were both struggling with stomach problems again. We found an American missionary doctor that has a free clinic here, and were very grateful for her services. We are now taking amoeba medication and hoping that will cure us (along with your prayers of course!) I also found out yesterday that I had some other ¨friends¨ living in my hair. I killed them with lice shampoo when I got home from work. Surprisingly though, having amoebas and lice didn´t really freak me out as much as it might have before. It´s pretty common for people to have them down here, and if loving on my kids in the daycare means I get their bugs, then so be it. They need all the love and care they can get. I had 4 kids move up to the next age-level class this week and I seriously almost cried. I think I understand now how moms feel when their babies go to kindergarten...
Thanks for your prayers, letters, emails, etc.! We really look forward to hearing from all of you and welcome it at any time! May the Lord make His face shine upon you this week!
In Christ,
Rachel Albrecht
Praises:
Rachel and Jess found a good, free doctor and treatment for their stomach problems
We are loving (in general) our work at the guaderia (daycare) and hogar(children´s home)
God has been providing for all of our needs we didn´t even know we had!
Prayer Requests:
Health and safety for the team
More opportunities to share our faith
For God to be preparing our hearts for our departure in July
That we would make wise decisions and maintain good communication
Written by: Rachel Albrecht
Blessings to everyone in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord! I must start with an apology for the lateness of my letter. You see, I seem to have gotten into the Bolivian habit of being late. I was realizing the other day just how Bolivian I´ve become. Actually our whole team has become more Bolivian. We´re almost never on time (in American standards) to any event planned or unplanned, but we usually do make it on time by Bolivian standards. We also have gotten quite accostumed to hot humid weather down here, so when the winds blew and the rain fell and brought colder temperatures we all nearly froze! We tend to get cold once it gets below 80 degrees Farenheit and this past week it´s been getting down to the 50s at night, and sometimes during the day too. And we´re not even into winter yet! We are currently in autumn and the winter weather is yet to come in June and July, though I´m told it should not get much colder than it was this unseasonably cold week in May. Thank the Lord!
On to more important things....Last week we had a prayer team from Pennsylvania come down to lead some sessions for the kids at the children´s home and also offer prayer to anyone who wanted it. We really enjoyed gettting to know the team and helping out with some of the festivities. I had the privilege of translating the Sunday School lesson for the kids on Sunday. It was my first time doing so for a group of people and I was amazed at how far my Spanish has come in the time we´ve been down here. Praise God for His providence!
Also last week, Jess and I were both struggling with stomach problems again. We found an American missionary doctor that has a free clinic here, and were very grateful for her services. We are now taking amoeba medication and hoping that will cure us (along with your prayers of course!) I also found out yesterday that I had some other ¨friends¨ living in my hair. I killed them with lice shampoo when I got home from work. Surprisingly though, having amoebas and lice didn´t really freak me out as much as it might have before. It´s pretty common for people to have them down here, and if loving on my kids in the daycare means I get their bugs, then so be it. They need all the love and care they can get. I had 4 kids move up to the next age-level class this week and I seriously almost cried. I think I understand now how moms feel when their babies go to kindergarten...
Thanks for your prayers, letters, emails, etc.! We really look forward to hearing from all of you and welcome it at any time! May the Lord make His face shine upon you this week!
In Christ,
Rachel Albrecht
Praises:
Rachel and Jess found a good, free doctor and treatment for their stomach problems
We are loving (in general) our work at the guaderia (daycare) and hogar(children´s home)
God has been providing for all of our needs we didn´t even know we had!
Prayer Requests:
Health and safety for the team
More opportunities to share our faith
For God to be preparing our hearts for our departure in July
That we would make wise decisions and maintain good communication
Stansberrry Anniversary
April 30, 2007
written by: Bethany Weiler
Greetings to all from the land of Bolivia that is beginning to turn cooler with the changing of seasons! We have had unusually cold temperatures this past week and are quite grateful that the sun has come out once again as we feel the heat of the sun on our faces! We were actually wearing hoodies and hats and shivering slightly in our jeans and sneakers...it was probably about 65 degrees or so...but it was cold!!! In reality though, I am convinced that the temperatures in the States are not the same as the feel of the temperatures down here, and another missionary lady agrees with me too. Something about the humidity and moisture in the air makes the cold just stick to you more and go down to your bones!
Anyways, the team and I continue to work at the guarderia or daycare everyday and are falling in love with our kids more and more with the passing of time. We honestly can't believe we are up to just 2 and 1/2 months...time has truly flown while down here! We have also really enjoyed getting more involved with the children at the hogar or children's home and spending time hanging out with them and getting to know them better. I'm actually giving piano lessons to one of the girls there, so it's been quite an interesting experience to give piano lessons in Spanish, but I'm making it!!
This past weekend we had a celebration for the 53rd anniversary of the hogar and also a dedication ceremony of the casitas that the children are now living in with their parents. Each family prepared something special to share in the little program that we had, and it was really neat to see the choreographies that the kids put together. We actually ended up helping with the worship time and setting up in the morning for the church service and supper to accommodate about 200 people! We had a great time and enjoyed getting to talk with different people connected with the hogar in some form or another.
Please continue to keep our health in your prayers as we have been struggling with some stomach problems and such these past two weeks...I won't go into any details, but just keep our overall health in your prayers! Also, continue to pray for our overall strength and state of mind as some days are pretty stressful for us at times as we work with the kids here at the guarderia!
We thank the Lord though that He is continuing to lead and guide us and has always remained faithful here to protect us and provide for our every need. He is our ultimate source of strength and always there at our side. Thanks for all your prayers, support and encouragement!! It means a lot to us to know that we have so many people from back home praying for us on a regular basis!! Also thanks for your letters and cards!! May the God of peace continue to strengthen each one of you as you continue to serve Him and glorify Him in all you do and say!!
Que Dios les bendiga
written by: Bethany Weiler
Greetings to all from the land of Bolivia that is beginning to turn cooler with the changing of seasons! We have had unusually cold temperatures this past week and are quite grateful that the sun has come out once again as we feel the heat of the sun on our faces! We were actually wearing hoodies and hats and shivering slightly in our jeans and sneakers...it was probably about 65 degrees or so...but it was cold!!! In reality though, I am convinced that the temperatures in the States are not the same as the feel of the temperatures down here, and another missionary lady agrees with me too. Something about the humidity and moisture in the air makes the cold just stick to you more and go down to your bones!
Anyways, the team and I continue to work at the guarderia or daycare everyday and are falling in love with our kids more and more with the passing of time. We honestly can't believe we are up to just 2 and 1/2 months...time has truly flown while down here! We have also really enjoyed getting more involved with the children at the hogar or children's home and spending time hanging out with them and getting to know them better. I'm actually giving piano lessons to one of the girls there, so it's been quite an interesting experience to give piano lessons in Spanish, but I'm making it!!
This past weekend we had a celebration for the 53rd anniversary of the hogar and also a dedication ceremony of the casitas that the children are now living in with their parents. Each family prepared something special to share in the little program that we had, and it was really neat to see the choreographies that the kids put together. We actually ended up helping with the worship time and setting up in the morning for the church service and supper to accommodate about 200 people! We had a great time and enjoyed getting to talk with different people connected with the hogar in some form or another.
Please continue to keep our health in your prayers as we have been struggling with some stomach problems and such these past two weeks...I won't go into any details, but just keep our overall health in your prayers! Also, continue to pray for our overall strength and state of mind as some days are pretty stressful for us at times as we work with the kids here at the guarderia!
We thank the Lord though that He is continuing to lead and guide us and has always remained faithful here to protect us and provide for our every need. He is our ultimate source of strength and always there at our side. Thanks for all your prayers, support and encouragement!! It means a lot to us to know that we have so many people from back home praying for us on a regular basis!! Also thanks for your letters and cards!! May the God of peace continue to strengthen each one of you as you continue to serve Him and glorify Him in all you do and say!!
Que Dios les bendiga
More on Samaipata vacation
April 23, 2007
by: Jessica Dening
Well it´s my turn once again to write of the adventures of Bolivia. This past week we finally took our overdue first vacation. We left Wednesday and traveled about 2 and half hours to the beautiful mountainous region of the Santa Cruz district to a small town by the name of Samaipata. Upon arriving we realized there would be plenty of time to rest considering that the town consisted of very little. So we had plenty of much needed rest that we didn´t realize we needed so badly. We began our time Wednesday with a silent retreat time until dinner, which was very good for all of us, then we continued that night with a time of worship and encouragement. The next day we set out to see the town, which like I said did not consist of much but we were able to use that time to relax and set up a hike for the next day. That night we had the opportunity to have a relaxing fire and enjoy the most beautiful sky of stars that we had seen in a long while. The next day we got up early to trek through a mountainous region and cloud forest, which is similar to a rain forest but recieves it´s moisture from the clouds due to its altitude. We enjoyed a beautiful view and recieved some much enjoyed excercise. Needless to say we were ready to sleep that night, but before we hit the sack Bethany requested that we check to her itchy head, and yup you guessed it, she became the first team member to recieve lice from our kids. So we spent some time removing the lice and then enjoyed a goodnight´s sleep before the group from Canada that has been helping out at the guaderia and hogar for the past two weeks arrived and we met them at a beautiful sight of waterfalls for some swimming in ice cold water and then attempting to go out for dinner. This is when things became interesting...as I asked for a table for 19 at La Vaca Loca (The Crazy Cow) the owner replied that he would need 10 minutes so we decided that we would wait in the plaza. Then the power in the entire town went out, and we discovered that they would not be able to cook for us without electricity which was a bit of surprise due to the fact that gas the most common form of cooking here in Bolivia. So this began the search of a restaurant that was capable of cooking for 19 without electricity. Bethany and I went to scoure the town with Natinho (our Bralisian friend) and Mark from the Canadian group and recieved information from another restaurant that couldn´t take us to go to a german owned restaurant that should be able to cook for us. Little did we know that this would just lead us to another restaurant that finally took us after wandering around town in the dark for far too long. Then we waited for about two hours to recieve the well appreciated food finally with electricity. That night we enjoyed a few games of mafia and hot coffee after freezing in the cold before heading to bed. The next day we ended our journey by going to visit incan ruins where we had our own church service and then headed home only to endure brake troubles and a flat tire. But we arrived safely and enjoyed another dinner with our new Canadian friends. We went back to work today, and though we are a bit tired from translating for the past two days, we were rested and ready to see our kids once again.
Prayer requests:
That are able to fully trust in God and surrender all to Him that will occur throughout our lives.
Our friend Rebecca will be healed, and the doctors can help her.
Team unity as we all have seperate stresses throughout the work day.
Safe travel as friends from the states that have been here since July are leaving Wednesday and the group from Canada is leaving Friday.
Praises:
We were able to rest and have time for ourselves.
We were able to make new friends with the group from Canada.
We are all healthy and touching lives at the guaderia and hogar.
by: Jessica Dening
Well it´s my turn once again to write of the adventures of Bolivia. This past week we finally took our overdue first vacation. We left Wednesday and traveled about 2 and half hours to the beautiful mountainous region of the Santa Cruz district to a small town by the name of Samaipata. Upon arriving we realized there would be plenty of time to rest considering that the town consisted of very little. So we had plenty of much needed rest that we didn´t realize we needed so badly. We began our time Wednesday with a silent retreat time until dinner, which was very good for all of us, then we continued that night with a time of worship and encouragement. The next day we set out to see the town, which like I said did not consist of much but we were able to use that time to relax and set up a hike for the next day. That night we had the opportunity to have a relaxing fire and enjoy the most beautiful sky of stars that we had seen in a long while. The next day we got up early to trek through a mountainous region and cloud forest, which is similar to a rain forest but recieves it´s moisture from the clouds due to its altitude. We enjoyed a beautiful view and recieved some much enjoyed excercise. Needless to say we were ready to sleep that night, but before we hit the sack Bethany requested that we check to her itchy head, and yup you guessed it, she became the first team member to recieve lice from our kids. So we spent some time removing the lice and then enjoyed a goodnight´s sleep before the group from Canada that has been helping out at the guaderia and hogar for the past two weeks arrived and we met them at a beautiful sight of waterfalls for some swimming in ice cold water and then attempting to go out for dinner. This is when things became interesting...as I asked for a table for 19 at La Vaca Loca (The Crazy Cow) the owner replied that he would need 10 minutes so we decided that we would wait in the plaza. Then the power in the entire town went out, and we discovered that they would not be able to cook for us without electricity which was a bit of surprise due to the fact that gas the most common form of cooking here in Bolivia. So this began the search of a restaurant that was capable of cooking for 19 without electricity. Bethany and I went to scoure the town with Natinho (our Bralisian friend) and Mark from the Canadian group and recieved information from another restaurant that couldn´t take us to go to a german owned restaurant that should be able to cook for us. Little did we know that this would just lead us to another restaurant that finally took us after wandering around town in the dark for far too long. Then we waited for about two hours to recieve the well appreciated food finally with electricity. That night we enjoyed a few games of mafia and hot coffee after freezing in the cold before heading to bed. The next day we ended our journey by going to visit incan ruins where we had our own church service and then headed home only to endure brake troubles and a flat tire. But we arrived safely and enjoyed another dinner with our new Canadian friends. We went back to work today, and though we are a bit tired from translating for the past two days, we were rested and ready to see our kids once again.
Prayer requests:
That are able to fully trust in God and surrender all to Him that will occur throughout our lives.
Our friend Rebecca will be healed, and the doctors can help her.
Team unity as we all have seperate stresses throughout the work day.
Safe travel as friends from the states that have been here since July are leaving Wednesday and the group from Canada is leaving Friday.
Praises:
We were able to rest and have time for ourselves.
We were able to make new friends with the group from Canada.
We are all healthy and touching lives at the guaderia and hogar.
Samaipata vacation
April 14,2007
Allison Weaver = the writer
Dear Friends and Family of the Bolivia YES team,
Greetings from a very windy Santa Cruz, where lizards and geckos enjoy the sun and birds sing melodies strange to the North American ear. As a team we are especially happy this weekend because we get to rest, and next week is our vacation to Samaipata, a very beautiful place just outside of Santa Cruz. It should be a good time to relax with our team, and grow closer to our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ!!!!
Our vacation will be a welcome break from a busy schedule and hard work load. Each person that we meet here challenges us to be a light for Christ, especially with work where we see and interact with children from poor, hurting families. One example of a situation making me more aware of the hurt in my students' lives is George Luis. George is a boy of about 5 or so years of age. Besides rotting teeth, and a skin disease called Caracha (I am not sure of the name in English), I noticed something more in his eyes. I saw a lot of hurt and pain. When I gave him a bath the other day, I saw a large cut that looked like it was healing on his cheast. I asked him what it was from. He said that someone beat him up. I don't know if it was a knife wound, but it definitely looked bad to my unprofessional eyes. Things like that make me realize the blessings I do have, and resolve to show them as much love as I can.
Besides working really hard, drinking coffee and tea , and chilling with friends we have gotten involved with our church, Centro Familiar Cristiana Las Missiones. Bethany, Rachel, and Jess are regular members of the worship team, we attend youth group, and both church services on Sunday. Through our church, we have gotten to know people and become part of their family. Also, we have become increasingly involved with Stansberry Children's home and have gotten to know many of the kids, volunteer staff, and teens there.
Easter was amazing especially because of the sunrise service at Tahuichi Aguilera, the local professional soccer stadium. All of the evangelical Christian churches met together to welcome in Easter with a prayer vigil, and service lasting from 11:30PM-6:00 AM! It was incredible to see the sheer volume of Christians present and worship God with such a multitude of people! There were arround 40,000 people crowded into the stadium! It may seem small to the North American ear, but to me it was huge!! Then I went to church for breakfast and a service. Afterword we slept, and woke up with enough time to go to another service!
I really don't know what else to tell you all about...well, I suppose I could tell you about my birthday. I must thank all of you who remembered it, because you made it very special! My team was really nice and took me out to eat with a bunch of friends. We had a very fun day!
Well, here are the praises and prayers!
Praises
-Good health
-increased friendships
-God's grace for us as a team as we work
- Worship music in Spanish
- Good team relationships
Prayer requests
-Strength, patience and love while working with our kids at the daycare
-Safety as we travel
-Bethany, Jess, and Rachel's backs
- The Country of Bolvia
- Reknewed passion to reach out to our kids even when we are tired
-A third teacher for Alli's class...( I work with one other teacher in a class of 25 kids. We will be getting 30 children soon.)
I guess that is about it! May God Bless you tons, and give you peace!!!
Thanks for your prayers!
-Allison for the team
Allison Weaver = the writer
Dear Friends and Family of the Bolivia YES team,
Greetings from a very windy Santa Cruz, where lizards and geckos enjoy the sun and birds sing melodies strange to the North American ear. As a team we are especially happy this weekend because we get to rest, and next week is our vacation to Samaipata, a very beautiful place just outside of Santa Cruz. It should be a good time to relax with our team, and grow closer to our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ!!!!
Our vacation will be a welcome break from a busy schedule and hard work load. Each person that we meet here challenges us to be a light for Christ, especially with work where we see and interact with children from poor, hurting families. One example of a situation making me more aware of the hurt in my students' lives is George Luis. George is a boy of about 5 or so years of age. Besides rotting teeth, and a skin disease called Caracha (I am not sure of the name in English), I noticed something more in his eyes. I saw a lot of hurt and pain. When I gave him a bath the other day, I saw a large cut that looked like it was healing on his cheast. I asked him what it was from. He said that someone beat him up. I don't know if it was a knife wound, but it definitely looked bad to my unprofessional eyes. Things like that make me realize the blessings I do have, and resolve to show them as much love as I can.
Besides working really hard, drinking coffee and tea , and chilling with friends we have gotten involved with our church, Centro Familiar Cristiana Las Missiones. Bethany, Rachel, and Jess are regular members of the worship team, we attend youth group, and both church services on Sunday. Through our church, we have gotten to know people and become part of their family. Also, we have become increasingly involved with Stansberry Children's home and have gotten to know many of the kids, volunteer staff, and teens there.
Easter was amazing especially because of the sunrise service at Tahuichi Aguilera, the local professional soccer stadium. All of the evangelical Christian churches met together to welcome in Easter with a prayer vigil, and service lasting from 11:30PM-6:00 AM! It was incredible to see the sheer volume of Christians present and worship God with such a multitude of people! There were arround 40,000 people crowded into the stadium! It may seem small to the North American ear, but to me it was huge!! Then I went to church for breakfast and a service. Afterword we slept, and woke up with enough time to go to another service!
I really don't know what else to tell you all about...well, I suppose I could tell you about my birthday. I must thank all of you who remembered it, because you made it very special! My team was really nice and took me out to eat with a bunch of friends. We had a very fun day!
Well, here are the praises and prayers!
Praises
-Good health
-increased friendships
-God's grace for us as a team as we work
- Worship music in Spanish
- Good team relationships
Prayer requests
-Strength, patience and love while working with our kids at the daycare
-Safety as we travel
-Bethany, Jess, and Rachel's backs
- The Country of Bolvia
- Reknewed passion to reach out to our kids even when we are tired
-A third teacher for Alli's class...( I work with one other teacher in a class of 25 kids. We will be getting 30 children soon.)
I guess that is about it! May God Bless you tons, and give you peace!!!
Thanks for your prayers!
-Allison for the team
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Visitors and New Happenings, By: Rachel
April 1, 2007
Yesterday when I was thinking about writing the team newsletter I thought, man, nothing has really happened lately. But, the more I thought about it, the more I found myself to be completely wrong. For instance, today for the second Sunday in a row, I attended some baptisms at a camp pool right outside of town. Today the whole team went and really enjoyed an afternoon "tranquilo" as they like to say here. It was also very refreshing to see people ready to show the world that they follow Christ by taking part in baptism, and also good to be reminded of the commitment I myself have made to the very same God who has brought me here. Particularly special was to see the daughter of our boss, Lucy, get baptized by both of her parents. Lucy's husband is the pastor of the Principae de Paz church which was having baptisms today.Yesterday was also a very important day for a lot of children in the Stansberry Children Home as they are now moved into 3 large houses, each one complete with a set of parents for the 9 kids living in each one. We are very excited to see this change taking place as we have become friends with the kids here and believe they can now have a life a little bit more normal than just living in an orphanage and sharing rooms with several people and not having very much parental attention. The change is large for the children and teens involved as well as the new parents, so please be in prayer for all of them during this transition.
Another exciting thing that happened last week was that on Monday we were visited by another YESer, Janene's, parents. Janene is one of my good friends from Hesston and is currently serving with the Guinea-Bissau team in Africa, however, her parents came to Bolivia to visit her older brother who is a missionary in La Paz and thought they'd make a much-appreciated trip down to see us as well. We were very blessed and encouraged by their visit. It was good to see some familiar faces once again!
Blessings,
Rachel Albrecht
Praises:
Our Spanish is getting pretty good
We are finding ways to get involved in the community outside of work in the daycare
Health in general has been pretty good
God has been providing for our needs, even those we didn't know we had
Prayer Requests:
Rachel and Beth's backs as working with little kids has been quite hard on them
Encouragement for the team
That we would keep our focus here till the end
That we will trust God with all the details of our future plans
That health will continue to stay good
That God will open doors for us to share the Gospel as it is sometimes hard to find opportunities to share as we are somewhat boxed into our work at the daycare and in the church
That we reflect Jesus to the children we work with daily
P.S. Sorry about the website not being updated much recently. The computer we usually use to do that at the daycare has been down for a while so we're not sure when we'll be able to post more pictures and whatnot. Please be patient! :)
Yesterday when I was thinking about writing the team newsletter I thought, man, nothing has really happened lately. But, the more I thought about it, the more I found myself to be completely wrong. For instance, today for the second Sunday in a row, I attended some baptisms at a camp pool right outside of town. Today the whole team went and really enjoyed an afternoon "tranquilo" as they like to say here. It was also very refreshing to see people ready to show the world that they follow Christ by taking part in baptism, and also good to be reminded of the commitment I myself have made to the very same God who has brought me here. Particularly special was to see the daughter of our boss, Lucy, get baptized by both of her parents. Lucy's husband is the pastor of the Principae de Paz church which was having baptisms today.Yesterday was also a very important day for a lot of children in the Stansberry Children Home as they are now moved into 3 large houses, each one complete with a set of parents for the 9 kids living in each one. We are very excited to see this change taking place as we have become friends with the kids here and believe they can now have a life a little bit more normal than just living in an orphanage and sharing rooms with several people and not having very much parental attention. The change is large for the children and teens involved as well as the new parents, so please be in prayer for all of them during this transition.
Another exciting thing that happened last week was that on Monday we were visited by another YESer, Janene's, parents. Janene is one of my good friends from Hesston and is currently serving with the Guinea-Bissau team in Africa, however, her parents came to Bolivia to visit her older brother who is a missionary in La Paz and thought they'd make a much-appreciated trip down to see us as well. We were very blessed and encouraged by their visit. It was good to see some familiar faces once again!
Blessings,
Rachel Albrecht
Praises:
Our Spanish is getting pretty good
We are finding ways to get involved in the community outside of work in the daycare
Health in general has been pretty good
God has been providing for our needs, even those we didn't know we had
Prayer Requests:
Rachel and Beth's backs as working with little kids has been quite hard on them
Encouragement for the team
That we would keep our focus here till the end
That we will trust God with all the details of our future plans
That health will continue to stay good
That God will open doors for us to share the Gospel as it is sometimes hard to find opportunities to share as we are somewhat boxed into our work at the daycare and in the church
That we reflect Jesus to the children we work with daily
P.S. Sorry about the website not being updated much recently. The computer we usually use to do that at the daycare has been down for a while so we're not sure when we'll be able to post more pictures and whatnot. Please be patient! :)
Finding Friends and Water, By: Bethany
March 20, 2007
Greetings to all from the sunny land of Bolivia! This past weekend, we had an amazing time attending a conference held right here in Santa Cruz called the Global Discipleship Training (GDT) Alliance, where representatives from all over the Americas (North, Central, and South) have come to attend this meeting to compare notes, encourage one another, and figure out new ways to evangelize and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. This has been a very encouraging time for our team, and we are excited to attend the closing program tomorrow to spend time together withour brothers and sisters from all over the world!
Our time here continues to grow more and more interesting...for example this past Saturday, Jess and I woke up to find that we had absolutely no water in our house, and we realized that in order to clean, make breakfast and shower, we were going to have to find water. So, we decided that the best thing to do was go ask one of our neighbors, which just so happened to be Jess´s aunt here in Bolivia, if they too were out of water. Well, when we realized that not just us, but in fact the whole neighborhood was out of water, we decided that some action must be taken, and seeing as we were the first ones up that morning, we would rescue the other girls on the team and find water to make breakfast! Being the great thinkers that we are, we realized that the hogar de niños has a separate well from the city, and would therefore have water, so we went over there to lug home a big 5 gallon bucket of water, only to discover that the other girls were up, had breakfast made, and in fact were using water out of the faucet that had just been spitting out air 15 minutes ago! So, we ended up not rescuing our team, but if ever we should be in a shortage of water in the future, Jess and I have a whole rescue plan made up, and will be right on the job in minutes!
Work at the daycare has been keeping us hopping and on our toes, and we are constantly asking the Lord for patience and strength daily, but He is always faithful to meet our needs and lift us up when we fall. I personally am beginning to really learn what it means to make the joy of the Lord my strength, and He continues to be our constant source of hope, strength and joy! I pray that the Lord would continue to pour out His blessing in your lives as you continue to serve Him with all your heart!
Things to keep in prayer:
-Strength and patience for each and every day as we work with the kids, that we would see them as Christ sees them and show them His love in everything we do and say
-All of our backs as we are constantly bending over the whole day and lifting kids around
-Our Spanish language as we learn more and more, that the Lord would continue to open our minds and allow us to communicate easily with all the people that we have come to love so much here
Praises:
-The overall health of the team has returned, and although some of us have a little bit of a cold, our stomachs are doing a lot better
-We have had an amazing time meeting brothers and sisters from all over the Americas, and it has been very encouraging for our spiritual lives
-We have discovered amazing Spanish worship music here, and have all fallen in love with this beautiful music which is such an encouragement after a long day of work
¡Dios les bendiga!
Greetings to all from the sunny land of Bolivia! This past weekend, we had an amazing time attending a conference held right here in Santa Cruz called the Global Discipleship Training (GDT) Alliance, where representatives from all over the Americas (North, Central, and South) have come to attend this meeting to compare notes, encourage one another, and figure out new ways to evangelize and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. This has been a very encouraging time for our team, and we are excited to attend the closing program tomorrow to spend time together withour brothers and sisters from all over the world!
Our time here continues to grow more and more interesting...for example this past Saturday, Jess and I woke up to find that we had absolutely no water in our house, and we realized that in order to clean, make breakfast and shower, we were going to have to find water. So, we decided that the best thing to do was go ask one of our neighbors, which just so happened to be Jess´s aunt here in Bolivia, if they too were out of water. Well, when we realized that not just us, but in fact the whole neighborhood was out of water, we decided that some action must be taken, and seeing as we were the first ones up that morning, we would rescue the other girls on the team and find water to make breakfast! Being the great thinkers that we are, we realized that the hogar de niños has a separate well from the city, and would therefore have water, so we went over there to lug home a big 5 gallon bucket of water, only to discover that the other girls were up, had breakfast made, and in fact were using water out of the faucet that had just been spitting out air 15 minutes ago! So, we ended up not rescuing our team, but if ever we should be in a shortage of water in the future, Jess and I have a whole rescue plan made up, and will be right on the job in minutes!
Work at the daycare has been keeping us hopping and on our toes, and we are constantly asking the Lord for patience and strength daily, but He is always faithful to meet our needs and lift us up when we fall. I personally am beginning to really learn what it means to make the joy of the Lord my strength, and He continues to be our constant source of hope, strength and joy! I pray that the Lord would continue to pour out His blessing in your lives as you continue to serve Him with all your heart!
Things to keep in prayer:
-Strength and patience for each and every day as we work with the kids, that we would see them as Christ sees them and show them His love in everything we do and say
-All of our backs as we are constantly bending over the whole day and lifting kids around
-Our Spanish language as we learn more and more, that the Lord would continue to open our minds and allow us to communicate easily with all the people that we have come to love so much here
Praises:
-The overall health of the team has returned, and although some of us have a little bit of a cold, our stomachs are doing a lot better
-We have had an amazing time meeting brothers and sisters from all over the Americas, and it has been very encouraging for our spiritual lives
-We have discovered amazing Spanish worship music here, and have all fallen in love with this beautiful music which is such an encouragement after a long day of work
¡Dios les bendiga!
Sunday, March 11, 2007
A Trip to the River By:Jessica
I awoke at six o´clock Saturday morning to my alarm clock and the gentle pitter patter of rain and realized that our plans for the day were no longer going to happen. Slightly disappointed but grateful to crawl back into my bed I went back to sleep only to be awoken and hour later to a honking horn and the familiar voice of our Brasilian friend Natinio yelling "Chicas!" outside of our gate. You see the night before we had decided that Saturday we would go to see waterfalls that were only a short distance outside of Santa Cruz with the tios who are the four male volunteers at the children´s home, but we also decided that if it were to rain, which happens nearly every day, we would not go. The guys decided differently and after enjoying pancakes Rachel, Bethany and myself piled into the truck with the guys to have quite the adventure. Alli unfortunately could not accompany us seeing as she had been battling a possible sinus infection since Wednesday so please keep her in your prayers. Now back to the adventure, the first half hour was easy as the road was paved, then we came upon the turn that would take us to the waterfalls. Because of the rain the roads were very muddy and after pushing the truck out of the mud once we came to our first river that we had to cross...with the truck mind you. This river wasn´t real deep but it was wide the and sand was soft and there was already a truck stuck in the middle that was being pulled out by a tractor while we were there, but after crossing by foot and studying where the sand was hard the male figures of the group decided that we would have no problem crossing. Us girls were not completely convinced but we stood on the other side silently praying that God would not let our truck get stuck in the sand also. Well wouldn´t you know we actually made it! So we piled back into the truck and continued on our way until we got to the next river. This one was tricky because on the opposite bank there was slippery clay and mud, but after waiting for a herd of goats and sheep to pass and with the advice of a Bolivian passerby we once again decided we could make it and we did again. The next river was much simpler and there we only a slight doubt that would couldn´t do it, but the next river was where we encountered the problem. We only had a quater tank of gas, and and hour and a half more of driving, and we could cross this river easily but we may not be able to get back. After conversing and wait for a herd of cows to pass this time we decided to head back to the sand of the first river for lunch and "beach volleyball" and we would tackle the waterfall adventure another day. So we spent the day on the sand next to the river eating, laughing, playing volleyball and having a mud fight before we finally ventured back to our houses to shower before youth group. Other than this adventure the week was pretty average, I was on a special diet to try to let my body recouperate and I am feeling much better to need to call the doctor only for a check up tomorrow, so thank you so much for all of your prayers, they were truely appreciated. Unfortunately Alli couldn´t work a few days due to the severity of her sinus problems so we may be getting her a prescription for that, so please keep her in your prayers, she is feeling better but is not 100 %. God bless you all, thank you for your support!
Praises:
Things are going really well at the guaderia (daycare) and we are all falling in love with our kids.
I´m finally feeling better.
We are developing amazing relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ here.
Prayer requests:
Alli´s sinus problems.
The Global Disciples convention that is being held here and is this Wednesday until the following Wednesday and we will be participating in a few seminars.
The health of our team as it seems to be being attacked.
Our work at the guaderia, especially when we feel we are short on patience.
Praises:
Things are going really well at the guaderia (daycare) and we are all falling in love with our kids.
I´m finally feeling better.
We are developing amazing relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ here.
Prayer requests:
Alli´s sinus problems.
The Global Disciples convention that is being held here and is this Wednesday until the following Wednesday and we will be participating in a few seminars.
The health of our team as it seems to be being attacked.
Our work at the guaderia, especially when we feel we are short on patience.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Carnaval and Everyday Life from Alli
27 February, 2007
Dear Friends and Family of the Bolivia Yes Team, Greetings from sunny, hot, windy Bolivia! The weather has changed a bit from earlier this week. We definitely experienced the rainy season..it rained a lot and there has been much flooding. As for ourselves, we have been busy rain or shine these past few weeks. I do not know how much Rachel put in our last letter about Carnaval, because I did not read it in detial. Sorry if there are any repeats! Some of you may be wondering...What is Carnaval anyway? Carnaval is a non-Christian celebration that lasts for 3 days. During these three days, according to tradition, God supposedly turns His back on the world, and people can do whatever they want, weather it be good or bad. Needless to say, the crime rate goes skyrocketing during these three days, making Santa Cruz very dangerous. One of the practices is to throw water baloons full of mud, paint, water and dye. It is a literal battle of the sexes. People also party very hard. "What do the Christians do?", you may wonder. Most Christians in Santa Cruz go to the country or to camps with their churches. Due to the rain, many people had to stay in Santa Cruz. My Youth Group decided to have a "campadentro" at our church instead of going to the country. I had a very good time of Spiritual growth, and really enjoyed the companionship of my Youth Group friends. The theme of the whole retreat was the Father Heart of God. Everyone was really blessed. Also, during this time, we played many games involvin waterbaloons (filled with water), and played fútbol (aka. soccer). Another thing that we did was make and eat a patasca. Now, some of you with a delicate stomach may have to skip this part. Patasca is pigs head soup, complete with the hair and everything else. I was very fortunate not to recieve an eyeball. Such is life here with new food. It wasn't too bad once I got past the hair. Overall it was a wonderful experience.
Our team also has had the opportunity to use our musical talents at my church, Iglesia las Missiones. We are helping the worship team. It is sometimes difficult because the sound equipment is not always the greatest and we all have to learn many songs in Spanish and play them by ear. But, in my opinion, it has been great for all of us! We are also going to various services at night. Monday and Fridays tend to be our "off" nights. Tuesday night is Bible Study at Stansberry Children's home, Wednesday is worship team practice, and Thursday is our team Bible Study. Saturday is Youth Group and Sunday includes 2 services. Saturdays are our days to catch up arround the house, do chores, and get whatever relaxing in we can. So, we are very busy.
Work at the Guarderia Moises continues to be a challenge for us as it is clearly growing us and testing us Spiritually. We are generally exhausted at the end of the day especially when the kids are roudy or not in good moods. Some of you asked me to give you a basic picture of how the day goes, so I will give you the kindergarden perspective. My head teacher arrives at 7:00AM, greets the kids, lets them play with legos until 8:00AM, and feeds them breakfast. Then the kids brush their teeth and wash their hands. I arrive at 9:00AM, just in time for group singing. Then we have a Bible story, and have them work on the lesson of the day. Right now we are teaching them colors. At 10:00AM they have snack, 10:30 is recess (those that misbehave have to clean the classroom during this time). At 11:45AM they return to class, wash their hands, and eat lunch at 12:00PM. 12:30PM is the time when they get done eating, and begin cleaning the room, stacking tables and chairs to get ready for nap time. We bring out mattresses for them to sleep on. They have nap time from arround 1:00PM. Nap time is until 3:00PM. After nap time on Tuesdays and Thursdays we bathe them. The other days of the week, Prekindergarden bathes their students in the same bathroom at the same time. Our students that have special health needs, such as skin diseases, get bathed on other days if the heath coordinator at the daycare decides it is the best thing for them. On the other days, they continue studying the lesson, many times through drawing. At 4PM they have snack. From 4-6PM they are generally occupied with legos, reading, group games, and a movie at the very end. As you can see, we are very busy. I guess that brings us to the present. We have been able to do fun things, so don't worry, it is not all work! In fact this weekend we are going to a SASS/Projuse reunion where we will get to see some old friends.
Praises: -Ability to use our musical gifts at Church
-Spiritual mountain tops
-The fact that Rachel, Bethany, and Alli got to use a REAL piano at Universidad Evangelica Boliviana last Saturday, and will keep getting to use it every Saturday! The only thing is we may have to give a concert for the university.
-A free Chiropractor for Bethany and Rachel!
-God's grace as we work at the Guarderia
-God's protection during Carnaval!
-That we are getting to meet new people here and gain new friends.
-Good internal team relationships!
- An amazing Church family here in Bolivia
- Skype...the cheapest way for us to call the US (thanks to wonderful missionaries who let us use it!)
- Soccer and other sports
-Bits and Cream..perfect team meeting spot...and so much more!
Prayer Requests:
- Jess is still having health problems
-Rachel is really stressed out, so pray for her. Pray that she can find a personal day of rest.
-Pray that we can have individual days to rest from the Guarderia. It is understaffed, so we work all of the time Monday- Friday with a busy weekend on top of it.
-Pray for Bethany and Rachel's backs.
-Pray that Jess, Rachel, Bethany can be überly blessed and learn more Spanish vocab!
-Pray that I have patience with the kids I work with. -Patience all arround! -Pray that my cold gets better.
-Pray for the political situation of this country.
-Pray for a big huge God bear hug for our team (aka. encouragement and comfort) and decreased stress!
-Pray that we would have energy to complete our biggest mission, which is shining the light of Jesus Christ here in Bolivia.
-Pray for victory in this Spiritual battle. The battle is fierce. Write to us if you want to know more details. Well, I think that about covers it for now. May Jesus Christ bless all of you. May He give you encouragement and strength to do His will! En Cristo, Allison (for the Bolivia Yes Team)
Dear Friends and Family of the Bolivia Yes Team, Greetings from sunny, hot, windy Bolivia! The weather has changed a bit from earlier this week. We definitely experienced the rainy season..it rained a lot and there has been much flooding. As for ourselves, we have been busy rain or shine these past few weeks. I do not know how much Rachel put in our last letter about Carnaval, because I did not read it in detial. Sorry if there are any repeats! Some of you may be wondering...What is Carnaval anyway? Carnaval is a non-Christian celebration that lasts for 3 days. During these three days, according to tradition, God supposedly turns His back on the world, and people can do whatever they want, weather it be good or bad. Needless to say, the crime rate goes skyrocketing during these three days, making Santa Cruz very dangerous. One of the practices is to throw water baloons full of mud, paint, water and dye. It is a literal battle of the sexes. People also party very hard. "What do the Christians do?", you may wonder. Most Christians in Santa Cruz go to the country or to camps with their churches. Due to the rain, many people had to stay in Santa Cruz. My Youth Group decided to have a "campadentro" at our church instead of going to the country. I had a very good time of Spiritual growth, and really enjoyed the companionship of my Youth Group friends. The theme of the whole retreat was the Father Heart of God. Everyone was really blessed. Also, during this time, we played many games involvin waterbaloons (filled with water), and played fútbol (aka. soccer). Another thing that we did was make and eat a patasca. Now, some of you with a delicate stomach may have to skip this part. Patasca is pigs head soup, complete with the hair and everything else. I was very fortunate not to recieve an eyeball. Such is life here with new food. It wasn't too bad once I got past the hair. Overall it was a wonderful experience.
Our team also has had the opportunity to use our musical talents at my church, Iglesia las Missiones. We are helping the worship team. It is sometimes difficult because the sound equipment is not always the greatest and we all have to learn many songs in Spanish and play them by ear. But, in my opinion, it has been great for all of us! We are also going to various services at night. Monday and Fridays tend to be our "off" nights. Tuesday night is Bible Study at Stansberry Children's home, Wednesday is worship team practice, and Thursday is our team Bible Study. Saturday is Youth Group and Sunday includes 2 services. Saturdays are our days to catch up arround the house, do chores, and get whatever relaxing in we can. So, we are very busy.
Work at the Guarderia Moises continues to be a challenge for us as it is clearly growing us and testing us Spiritually. We are generally exhausted at the end of the day especially when the kids are roudy or not in good moods. Some of you asked me to give you a basic picture of how the day goes, so I will give you the kindergarden perspective. My head teacher arrives at 7:00AM, greets the kids, lets them play with legos until 8:00AM, and feeds them breakfast. Then the kids brush their teeth and wash their hands. I arrive at 9:00AM, just in time for group singing. Then we have a Bible story, and have them work on the lesson of the day. Right now we are teaching them colors. At 10:00AM they have snack, 10:30 is recess (those that misbehave have to clean the classroom during this time). At 11:45AM they return to class, wash their hands, and eat lunch at 12:00PM. 12:30PM is the time when they get done eating, and begin cleaning the room, stacking tables and chairs to get ready for nap time. We bring out mattresses for them to sleep on. They have nap time from arround 1:00PM. Nap time is until 3:00PM. After nap time on Tuesdays and Thursdays we bathe them. The other days of the week, Prekindergarden bathes their students in the same bathroom at the same time. Our students that have special health needs, such as skin diseases, get bathed on other days if the heath coordinator at the daycare decides it is the best thing for them. On the other days, they continue studying the lesson, many times through drawing. At 4PM they have snack. From 4-6PM they are generally occupied with legos, reading, group games, and a movie at the very end. As you can see, we are very busy. I guess that brings us to the present. We have been able to do fun things, so don't worry, it is not all work! In fact this weekend we are going to a SASS/Projuse reunion where we will get to see some old friends.
Praises: -Ability to use our musical gifts at Church
-Spiritual mountain tops
-The fact that Rachel, Bethany, and Alli got to use a REAL piano at Universidad Evangelica Boliviana last Saturday, and will keep getting to use it every Saturday! The only thing is we may have to give a concert for the university.
-A free Chiropractor for Bethany and Rachel!
-God's grace as we work at the Guarderia
-God's protection during Carnaval!
-That we are getting to meet new people here and gain new friends.
-Good internal team relationships!
- An amazing Church family here in Bolivia
- Skype...the cheapest way for us to call the US (thanks to wonderful missionaries who let us use it!)
- Soccer and other sports
-Bits and Cream..perfect team meeting spot...and so much more!
Prayer Requests:
- Jess is still having health problems
-Rachel is really stressed out, so pray for her. Pray that she can find a personal day of rest.
-Pray that we can have individual days to rest from the Guarderia. It is understaffed, so we work all of the time Monday- Friday with a busy weekend on top of it.
-Pray for Bethany and Rachel's backs.
-Pray that Jess, Rachel, Bethany can be überly blessed and learn more Spanish vocab!
-Pray that I have patience with the kids I work with. -Patience all arround! -Pray that my cold gets better.
-Pray for the political situation of this country.
-Pray for a big huge God bear hug for our team (aka. encouragement and comfort) and decreased stress!
-Pray that we would have energy to complete our biggest mission, which is shining the light of Jesus Christ here in Bolivia.
-Pray for victory in this Spiritual battle. The battle is fierce. Write to us if you want to know more details. Well, I think that about covers it for now. May Jesus Christ bless all of you. May He give you encouragement and strength to do His will! En Cristo, Allison (for the Bolivia Yes Team)
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Lots of Screaming and Great Joy
There was much screaming and great joy in our house on Tuesday night last week. Was there a cockroach, you may ask? Was Brad Pitt at our door? Did we find another batch of ants attacking our kitchen? The answer to all the questions is no, tho 2 of them are fairly probable. What happened is this: I brought home something very special after a visit to our Canadian neighbors´ house. It was something we have not seen for many months, something that people of all ages, shapes, sizes and tastes generally enjoy: sweet corn! Bethany and I literally jumped for joy at the sight of it and we were all very thankful that the Kehler´s work with the German Mennonite colonies down here.
On Friday, my classroom expressed the same emotions as stated above: suprise, happiness, and excitement, but not due to the sight of sweet corn. This time it was due to some special visitors we had in our room at about lunch time. These visitors were Julie´s 2 monkeys. Since they arrived at about the same time as the food did, the other teacher and I really had our hands full trying to keep the monkeys out of the kids´ food, keep the kids sitting down, and get the monkeys out of the room. I think the last part was the hardest because the monkeys were really enjoying swinging around on the curtains and running across the room and into the little playhouse we have for the 2-year olds I work with. We finally got both of them out and shut the windows on one side of the room and took a deep breath in victory, only to turn around about 2 mintues later and see that they had come back in through the other windows. The scoundrels ran around the other side of the building! Not to worry, we got them out once again after numerous attempts and this time closed ALL the windows. Afterwards I felt like our little excapade would have made a great movie: The Day the Monkeys Came to Class!
-Rachel
P.S. If you are looking at our pictures don´t forget to look on the next page and the one after that as well cuz there´s a lot of new ones!!
Praises:
Jessica is feeling and looking much better
We all were safe in our camps during the Carnaval festivities in the city
We all love our classes at the Guaderia, though they are much work and make us very tired
The sun has been out for the past 3 days! I can´t remember the last time that has happened because we´ve been getting so much rain
Prayer Requests:
For my (Rachel´s) health as it appears I am coming down with a cold or allergies
For energy and health for all of us as we work at the daycare
For us to be able to wisely disciple one of our friends from SASS training
For our coordinators Chuck and Cindy, as they move this week from their house near ours to the Children´s Home
For our relationships with the children and people we encounter everyday inside and out of the daycare, that they would see Christ in us and be saved
On Friday, my classroom expressed the same emotions as stated above: suprise, happiness, and excitement, but not due to the sight of sweet corn. This time it was due to some special visitors we had in our room at about lunch time. These visitors were Julie´s 2 monkeys. Since they arrived at about the same time as the food did, the other teacher and I really had our hands full trying to keep the monkeys out of the kids´ food, keep the kids sitting down, and get the monkeys out of the room. I think the last part was the hardest because the monkeys were really enjoying swinging around on the curtains and running across the room and into the little playhouse we have for the 2-year olds I work with. We finally got both of them out and shut the windows on one side of the room and took a deep breath in victory, only to turn around about 2 mintues later and see that they had come back in through the other windows. The scoundrels ran around the other side of the building! Not to worry, we got them out once again after numerous attempts and this time closed ALL the windows. Afterwards I felt like our little excapade would have made a great movie: The Day the Monkeys Came to Class!
-Rachel
P.S. If you are looking at our pictures don´t forget to look on the next page and the one after that as well cuz there´s a lot of new ones!!
Praises:
Jessica is feeling and looking much better
We all were safe in our camps during the Carnaval festivities in the city
We all love our classes at the Guaderia, though they are much work and make us very tired
The sun has been out for the past 3 days! I can´t remember the last time that has happened because we´ve been getting so much rain
Prayer Requests:
For my (Rachel´s) health as it appears I am coming down with a cold or allergies
For energy and health for all of us as we work at the daycare
For us to be able to wisely disciple one of our friends from SASS training
For our coordinators Chuck and Cindy, as they move this week from their house near ours to the Children´s Home
For our relationships with the children and people we encounter everyday inside and out of the daycare, that they would see Christ in us and be saved
Friday, February 16, 2007
Unexpected flight
Rachel and Jess made an unexpected airplane trip back to Santa Cruz because of Jess's sudden illness. In Santa Cruz we found out it was an ameoba. She is taking a powerful medicine, but is a whole lot better now!
Girls Ministry afternoon!
Kenia ministers to Lluvia during our teenage girls ministry night in Sucre. God worked a lot, and many of the girls learned for thhe first time what their identity in Christ really is (we based it on scripture).
Kids Ministry in Sucre
We also led Vacation Bible School for the kids in Sucre. It was a beautiful time, and Jesus Christ touched a lot of their lives.
Youth Ministry!!
Here is a picture of some of the Youth in Sucre. We had to lead Youth group every Saturday we were there and also teach their Sunday School class.Well...we worked too!
Alli and Bethany help pait the canchita(soccer field) while Jess waits for a paintbrush!
2 Beautiful girls
So, some of us definitely HAD to go thru the replica of dinosaur teeth while we were at the park. Rachel and Bethany thought it was fun! :)
Alli gets scared...a little!
Here is Alli at the Dinosaur park getting "chased" by a random carnivorous dinosaur...it was pretty freaky!Thursday, February 15, 2007
The Dino Wall
This is an incredible sight to see in Sucre. It is a wall that was formed when two plate tectonics smashed together and it contains footprints of many different species of dinosaurs. It is the longest trail and the most types of dinosaur footprints in the world. You can kinda see a trail off to the left.
Happy birthday!
Pastor Alejandro and his wife Natalia and all the other church leaders gather round to blow out the candles.
Cakes galore!
Here´s all but one of the cakes we consumed for the church´s anniversary. We each had one piece after lunch, one for supper, and one after the evening service that Sunday. After the 2nd piece we all decided we didn´t want to eat cake again for a very long time. Jess and Bethany said they would wait till their weddings!New friends
These are some of the lovely ladies we met in Sucre. We had a special gathering just for them on our last Saturday in Sucre and told them all how beatiful they are and their identity in Christ. It was very special!The big feast
This is the feast we were fed our first Sunday in Sucre. Unfortuanely for us, the sauce was pretty spicy and we couldn´t finish it all. The feast was due to it being the church´s 9th anniversary. We think that all the churches in Bolivia celebrate their anniversary every year.Singin´ on the bed
Jess and Bethany take a little time to regale us with some special music in our room in Sucre. They thought their pens made pretty good microphones.The view from the roof
El Rio
No, this is not a river we´re driving thru, this is what the dirt roads look like after it rains a lot, which is has been doing quite frequently since we got here in November.
International dinner
Those of us from countries other than Bolivia in the PROJUSE/SASS training were asked to
prepare special meal our last night at camp. This is our friend from Switzerland, Carolina,
and our friend
Sylvia from El Salvador. They cooked up some really good pasta and an amazing
chef salad.
prepare special meal our last night at camp. This is our friend from Switzerland, Carolina,
and our friend
Sylvia from El Salvador. They cooked up some really good pasta and an amazingchef salad.
Apple pie/crisp thing
Ta da! This is what the finished product looked like. It tasted pretty darn good even considering that someone put too much sugar in and we had to use this ginormous pan for the oven.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
More Sucre Adventures by Jess
Bolivia Team newletter #7
Jessica Dening
February 1, 2007
The last time you all heard from us we had just arrived in Sucre and our time there hadn't become too eventful yet, but as the days wore on we were able to add more and more to our list of things to write about. After our day of rest, the Pastor of the church met us at the hotel around noon and we packed all of our stuff in a taxi to head to the church. The thing about Sucre though is that it is very hilly, and when I say hilly I mean steap hills, and finding a flat street may be impossible, now that we have established just how hilly Sucre is I will continue on to say that there were a few times when I wondered if the five person taxi would make it up some of the hills with the six of us and all of our luggage. Each time to my amazement it did, and then we reached the steep downhill leading to the church. As each of us looked down the hill and realized that the taxi driver was acctually going to try and attempt this we all began to silently pray and God answered our prayers and we did make it safely. As we drug our bags into the church and home of the pastor and his family we were unsure of where we would be sleeping or what we would be sleeping on. To our relief there was a small room with two single beds and a straw mattress on the floor. So Bethany and our SASS leader Kenia shared on bed, Rachel and I the other and Alli recieved the floor since she tends to kick and none of us wanted to wake up injured. Not very long after we decided that we needed to use the bathroom, but there was no door, there was one propped up against the wall but we were unaware that you needed to pull the door shut behind you until we observed how the family there did it. The next question was how to flush the toilet, we thought we had determined that you can't until like the door ordeal we saw one of the daughters take a watering can and fill it with water then dump it down the toilet. Then had lunch and decided to rest, it didn't take us long to realize that the beds were a bit like a slab of stone in terms of comfort but we were just thankful that we had beds instead of the concrete floor of the church. That night we recieved our first taste of Qechua, the language of the indigenous people of the region, the words are extremely large, it sounds nothing like spanish, and I'm still trying to figure out what sound a j and k make together and q and an h. We then realized we would not be singing the worship songs that we learned in the campamento during the church service.
After that first day we began to settle in and get used to our very busy schedule which involved leading youth group, giving testemonies, making home visits to church members, conducting bible school for local children and preaching, all of this in spanish, with some upset stomachs due to new food and climate. Things were going well and our first sunday it was an all day event at the church to celebrate the church's birthday. We then experienced just how spicy many in Sucre eat their food as we down glass upon glass of juice and even ask for more rice to prevent our mouths from burning off, but we knew that we had cake to look forward to later so as we waited for cake we chatted with some of the youth who were very welcoming and friendly. Then we had the second service of the day as we gazed at the ten cakes on the table in front of us. Then at the end of the service we finally recieved a piece of one of the beautiful cakes. Little did we know that we were also going to having cake for dinner and again at night, and these were big pieces of cake, Bethany and I have determined that we may never eat cake again until our weddings.
As the week wore on we were able to tour the beautiful and white city of Sucre and get to know the people of the church better and better since there was a service almost every night. This was truely a blessing since we had such a limited amount of time there. We did discover that there is a little trouble within the church since many of the older people don't speak spanish and have the sermon translated for them into qechua in about five minutes so they don't hear everything and the pastor is having some difficulty understanding all of those in the church so if we could keep them in our prayers that would be great. We felt very blessed though that God was using us to speak to the church and give the pastor a break. At times we felt the stress of having to write everything out in spanish before speaking to the congregation but it was all worth it seeing how grateful all the people in the church were. This past Monday was when we were supposed to leave but my stomach decided otherwise. I woke up in the night feeling terrible and as the other girls went downtown to use the internet I stayed in the room feeling terrible. They came back and decided that I needed to see a doctor but unfortunately that meant dragging me around the city to find out that I needed to have a blood test when I got back to Santa Cruz, even though we were pretty sure that it was ghiardia. This meant that I couldn't take the bus the 14 hours it took to go home and that Rachel and I would have to fly the next day. Luckly the medicine the doctor gave me calmed my stomach I was able to fly the next day feeling fairly well and the flight was only about 25 minutes. Chuck and Alex picked us up at the airport and took us to get our blood tested, Rachel found out she doesn't have the bacteria that causes gastritis, but unfornately I didn't find out anything, so I have to have a few more tests and if they can't find anything Elaine Kehler, who is our neighbor, knows of a pill that will take care of parisites and ameobas so hopefully that we will find out something very soon. Also, we are all moved into our new beautiful house and are beginning work at the guarderia tomorrow, so we are all pretty content now and just trying to get and stay healthy.
Pray requests:
1. The church Luz y Vida in Sucre
2. My health issues
3. Work at the guaderia (daycare)
Praises:
1. We made it back from Sucre safely
2. We in our new house with great missionary neighbors from Canada that look out for us (the Kehler family)
3. Rachel doesn't have the bacteria that causes gastritis, so she can each chocolate
Jessica Dening
February 1, 2007
The last time you all heard from us we had just arrived in Sucre and our time there hadn't become too eventful yet, but as the days wore on we were able to add more and more to our list of things to write about. After our day of rest, the Pastor of the church met us at the hotel around noon and we packed all of our stuff in a taxi to head to the church. The thing about Sucre though is that it is very hilly, and when I say hilly I mean steap hills, and finding a flat street may be impossible, now that we have established just how hilly Sucre is I will continue on to say that there were a few times when I wondered if the five person taxi would make it up some of the hills with the six of us and all of our luggage. Each time to my amazement it did, and then we reached the steep downhill leading to the church. As each of us looked down the hill and realized that the taxi driver was acctually going to try and attempt this we all began to silently pray and God answered our prayers and we did make it safely. As we drug our bags into the church and home of the pastor and his family we were unsure of where we would be sleeping or what we would be sleeping on. To our relief there was a small room with two single beds and a straw mattress on the floor. So Bethany and our SASS leader Kenia shared on bed, Rachel and I the other and Alli recieved the floor since she tends to kick and none of us wanted to wake up injured. Not very long after we decided that we needed to use the bathroom, but there was no door, there was one propped up against the wall but we were unaware that you needed to pull the door shut behind you until we observed how the family there did it. The next question was how to flush the toilet, we thought we had determined that you can't until like the door ordeal we saw one of the daughters take a watering can and fill it with water then dump it down the toilet. Then had lunch and decided to rest, it didn't take us long to realize that the beds were a bit like a slab of stone in terms of comfort but we were just thankful that we had beds instead of the concrete floor of the church. That night we recieved our first taste of Qechua, the language of the indigenous people of the region, the words are extremely large, it sounds nothing like spanish, and I'm still trying to figure out what sound a j and k make together and q and an h. We then realized we would not be singing the worship songs that we learned in the campamento during the church service.
After that first day we began to settle in and get used to our very busy schedule which involved leading youth group, giving testemonies, making home visits to church members, conducting bible school for local children and preaching, all of this in spanish, with some upset stomachs due to new food and climate. Things were going well and our first sunday it was an all day event at the church to celebrate the church's birthday. We then experienced just how spicy many in Sucre eat their food as we down glass upon glass of juice and even ask for more rice to prevent our mouths from burning off, but we knew that we had cake to look forward to later so as we waited for cake we chatted with some of the youth who were very welcoming and friendly. Then we had the second service of the day as we gazed at the ten cakes on the table in front of us. Then at the end of the service we finally recieved a piece of one of the beautiful cakes. Little did we know that we were also going to having cake for dinner and again at night, and these were big pieces of cake, Bethany and I have determined that we may never eat cake again until our weddings.
As the week wore on we were able to tour the beautiful and white city of Sucre and get to know the people of the church better and better since there was a service almost every night. This was truely a blessing since we had such a limited amount of time there. We did discover that there is a little trouble within the church since many of the older people don't speak spanish and have the sermon translated for them into qechua in about five minutes so they don't hear everything and the pastor is having some difficulty understanding all of those in the church so if we could keep them in our prayers that would be great. We felt very blessed though that God was using us to speak to the church and give the pastor a break. At times we felt the stress of having to write everything out in spanish before speaking to the congregation but it was all worth it seeing how grateful all the people in the church were. This past Monday was when we were supposed to leave but my stomach decided otherwise. I woke up in the night feeling terrible and as the other girls went downtown to use the internet I stayed in the room feeling terrible. They came back and decided that I needed to see a doctor but unfortunately that meant dragging me around the city to find out that I needed to have a blood test when I got back to Santa Cruz, even though we were pretty sure that it was ghiardia. This meant that I couldn't take the bus the 14 hours it took to go home and that Rachel and I would have to fly the next day. Luckly the medicine the doctor gave me calmed my stomach I was able to fly the next day feeling fairly well and the flight was only about 25 minutes. Chuck and Alex picked us up at the airport and took us to get our blood tested, Rachel found out she doesn't have the bacteria that causes gastritis, but unfornately I didn't find out anything, so I have to have a few more tests and if they can't find anything Elaine Kehler, who is our neighbor, knows of a pill that will take care of parisites and ameobas so hopefully that we will find out something very soon. Also, we are all moved into our new beautiful house and are beginning work at the guarderia tomorrow, so we are all pretty content now and just trying to get and stay healthy.
Pray requests:
1. The church Luz y Vida in Sucre
2. My health issues
3. Work at the guaderia (daycare)
Praises:
1. We made it back from Sucre safely
2. We in our new house with great missionary neighbors from Canada that look out for us (the Kehler family)
3. Rachel doesn't have the bacteria that causes gastritis, so she can each chocolate
Adventures in Sucre by Alli
Dear Friends and Family,
Well, here I am again writing from Bolivia, but this time in the cold city of Sucre. It isn't freezing, but it is like fall weather all of the time, which quite frankly is a lot differet from Santa Cruz's scorching heat and humidity. I am writing on a really cranky keyboard at an internet cafe, which is a lot different than my luxury of my host family's computer. So if I make some interesting mistakes, it is becasue the computer keys are sticking.
Well, we have said goodbye to our host familys, celebrated New Years (by staying up all night) and completed the training period of SASS/PROJUSE. Our training was rigorous in terms of the ammount of material crammed into one week, but it was worth it. All of us were encouraged and learned things from God. I, for one learned about my giftings in leadership and healing. Also, my spiritual walk got very encouraged by some of the leaders and speakers.
Another amazing thing my team got to do was help lead a friend from SASS/PROJUSE training deeper into her spiritual walk with God, listen to her, and help her see (thanks to God) that she is loved by God despite a really rough, abusive childhood. God really worked in her, and now she is on her way to an amazing relationship with HIM! It ceartainly wasn't us. It was all God. All we did was listen, ask forgiveness, and show her love! Please pray for her continued growth in the Lord.
Now, I am sure you want to hear about how we are doing as a team + how we got to Sucre etc. Well, after terminating our training period, we traveled by bus to Sucre from Santa Cruz. The bus station looked like a small airport and it also provided micro, and train services. So it was a 3 way terminal. I knew it would be a rough ride, but I sure had forgotten what my last experience on South American busses was like. We traveled arround 14 hours with about 3 breaks on windy dirt roads (with lots of pot holes) arround hairpin curves with a few thousand ft drop off the clif if the driver went of the road. Jess and Bethany noticed the drop offs more than me. So, needless to say it was not the most comfortable evening for us. The worst part was that the bus (even though it was a coach bus) did not have a bathroom. So, I once had to wait 3 hrs until I could go to the bathroom.
Well, anyway, thanks to God we got there in one piece the following morning. By the way, we are here in Sucre, with an amazing on fire Christian named Kenia Vasquez Nuñez. She is an amazing encouragemet and knows Sucre well. She was also one of the leaders of the SASS/PROJUSE training.Getting off the bus, we went with the pastor of the church here to a nice hotel to adjust to the altitude and sleep. We are about 13,000 meters above sea level, if I heard correctly. The hotel was nice, and we were able to go shopping in Sucre that day and the following one, before heading to the "Luz y Vida" church where we are working.
We are living with a pastor and his family at the church and are helping with youth and children's ministry. We will all have to share a message and our testimony at some point before the 29th which is our departure date for Santa Cruz. We are also presenting dramas, music, helping with the Youth group, visiting people, and doing a Vacation Bible School. So, needless to say we are really busy. Tonight we have to lead Youth Group. I have to share the message, and we are doing songs, games, and mimes. Kenia is helping us majorly as well. I think that brings us up to date.
Praises: -Safe arrival, opportunity to serve the community, team unity, Holy Spirit movement, safety, time to relax, and so much more!
Prayer Requests: Political Situation in Bolivia, Bethany's back and her cold, Healing for Rachel and Jess's stomach bugs, Healing for Rachel's gastritis/bacteria, open hearts of the Youth and others while we share about Jesus here, peace for us as we are doing lots of things these next few weeks, eloquency with the language while we speak (so we don't get frustrated), safety, and increased growth spiritually + team unity.
WEll, I should probably stop because my internet time is running out and this computer is bugging me because it has sticky keys. May God Bless you all and keep you in His everlasting arms.
Well, here I am again writing from Bolivia, but this time in the cold city of Sucre. It isn't freezing, but it is like fall weather all of the time, which quite frankly is a lot differet from Santa Cruz's scorching heat and humidity. I am writing on a really cranky keyboard at an internet cafe, which is a lot different than my luxury of my host family's computer. So if I make some interesting mistakes, it is becasue the computer keys are sticking.
Well, we have said goodbye to our host familys, celebrated New Years (by staying up all night) and completed the training period of SASS/PROJUSE. Our training was rigorous in terms of the ammount of material crammed into one week, but it was worth it. All of us were encouraged and learned things from God. I, for one learned about my giftings in leadership and healing. Also, my spiritual walk got very encouraged by some of the leaders and speakers.
Another amazing thing my team got to do was help lead a friend from SASS/PROJUSE training deeper into her spiritual walk with God, listen to her, and help her see (thanks to God) that she is loved by God despite a really rough, abusive childhood. God really worked in her, and now she is on her way to an amazing relationship with HIM! It ceartainly wasn't us. It was all God. All we did was listen, ask forgiveness, and show her love! Please pray for her continued growth in the Lord.
Now, I am sure you want to hear about how we are doing as a team + how we got to Sucre etc. Well, after terminating our training period, we traveled by bus to Sucre from Santa Cruz. The bus station looked like a small airport and it also provided micro, and train services. So it was a 3 way terminal. I knew it would be a rough ride, but I sure had forgotten what my last experience on South American busses was like. We traveled arround 14 hours with about 3 breaks on windy dirt roads (with lots of pot holes) arround hairpin curves with a few thousand ft drop off the clif if the driver went of the road. Jess and Bethany noticed the drop offs more than me. So, needless to say it was not the most comfortable evening for us. The worst part was that the bus (even though it was a coach bus) did not have a bathroom. So, I once had to wait 3 hrs until I could go to the bathroom.
Well, anyway, thanks to God we got there in one piece the following morning. By the way, we are here in Sucre, with an amazing on fire Christian named Kenia Vasquez Nuñez. She is an amazing encouragemet and knows Sucre well. She was also one of the leaders of the SASS/PROJUSE training.Getting off the bus, we went with the pastor of the church here to a nice hotel to adjust to the altitude and sleep. We are about 13,000 meters above sea level, if I heard correctly. The hotel was nice, and we were able to go shopping in Sucre that day and the following one, before heading to the "Luz y Vida" church where we are working.
We are living with a pastor and his family at the church and are helping with youth and children's ministry. We will all have to share a message and our testimony at some point before the 29th which is our departure date for Santa Cruz. We are also presenting dramas, music, helping with the Youth group, visiting people, and doing a Vacation Bible School. So, needless to say we are really busy. Tonight we have to lead Youth Group. I have to share the message, and we are doing songs, games, and mimes. Kenia is helping us majorly as well. I think that brings us up to date.
Praises: -Safe arrival, opportunity to serve the community, team unity, Holy Spirit movement, safety, time to relax, and so much more!
Prayer Requests: Political Situation in Bolivia, Bethany's back and her cold, Healing for Rachel and Jess's stomach bugs, Healing for Rachel's gastritis/bacteria, open hearts of the Youth and others while we share about Jesus here, peace for us as we are doing lots of things these next few weeks, eloquency with the language while we speak (so we don't get frustrated), safety, and increased growth spiritually + team unity.
WEll, I should probably stop because my internet time is running out and this computer is bugging me because it has sticky keys. May God Bless you all and keep you in His everlasting arms.
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Christmas in Bolivia with all the fixin´s
It is once again my pleasure to be able to update you all on what we´ve been doing around here lately. Since it´s my turn again, that means we´ve been in Bolivia for over 1 month already! The time has certainly flown by. With Christmas not to far behind and the New Year right around the corner, we´ve certainly been busy with various activities lately. We all spent Christmas Eve with our host families. Christmas Eve is when everyone celebrates and opens presents in Bolivia, and they don´t open presents until midnight, so they usually have a fairly late supper right before the present opening begins! I am living with an older couple that have one son who is 30 and still lives at home, and 3 older children, 2 of which are married with kids. This means that for the very first time in my life, I am no longer the oldest sibling in my family, but, in fact, the youngest. It also means I have 4 nieces and nephews for the first time. I very much enjoyed these changes for at least one Christmas season.
For Christmas Eve dinner, the whole family came (minus one son and family) to my house for dinner and presents. The festivites began about 11 or so at night with a full roasted pig lying on the table. For Carolina (a Swiss girl staying with one of my host brothers and family) and I, this was a very new and interesting experience. The only thing missing from the movies was the apple in the pig´s mouth, which my teacher/host sister Shirley said they actually do put in sometimes. In any case, we ate pretty well that night. There is also an MCC couple from Pennsylvania staying with my host family and Krista, the wife, made a lot of cookies a couple nights before. On the 23rd, our team got together for a huge cookie-baking, supper-making, movie-going event in the Guaderia (daycare where we will be working in Feb.) kitchen and all were able to take several plates of cookies home to our respective host families. Like I said, we ate pretty well.
Christmas day we all rested until going to Chuck and Cindy´s house for a huge Canadian/American in Bolivia Christmas dinner. (At least this is one holiday all 3 countries celebrate on the same day.) I believe there were about 23 of us there and it was a time enjoyed by all. I myself would have enjoyed it more if I wasn´t feeling so sick b/c I cheated on the diet my doctor had given me two days earlier. For those who don´t already know, last week I was diagnosed with the H. Pylori bacteria, the cause of my gastritis and potential cause of ulcers if not caught in time. This means that I must refrain from eating chocolate, coffee, pop (soda for you easterners), citric stuff, and tomatoes because of the acid they contain which will make my stomach mad as it was after Christmas Eve. I also have to be on 2 antacids and 2 antibiotics for 2 weeks and then get re-tested for the bacteria at the end of January. As you can see, this was a Christmas present that I didn´t really want or need.
Since Christmas, we´ve finished our classes and are now relaxing and preparing to go into SASS on January 7th, and as far as knowing anything about SASS that´s all we know. Seeing how everyone seems to go on at least a 2 week holiday break around here that may be all we find out. Last night I had my very first ever manicure and pedicure right in my own home for a grand total of 20 B´s (a little over $2). I thought it was a very nice way to relax and end the week. Today I am at MCC and wouldn´t you know it, I ran into 2 old Hesston friends, Marissa and Matt. I was very surprised and glad to see some familiar faces. You have no idea how nice. Marissa I hadn´t seen for 2 years and we sat down and talked for over an hour just catching up. Matt is in a mountain town called Moro Moro with the MCC SALT program.
Overall, it´s been a great week and we hope yours has been too. Happy New Year everyone! May you continue to find God in the little everyday things!
In Him,
Raquel (Rachel)
Prayer Requests:
1) That the antibiotics I´m on will kill the bacteria I have.
2) That we will be flexible and learn alot in SASS
3) That we would not get sick while in SASS for 3 weeks
4) That God would continue to mold us together as a team
5) For the political situation between La Paz and Santa Cruz (check out www.boliviatimes.com for more info)
Praises:
1) We made it through the holidays and God provided families and people who care about us to celebrate with.
2) My host mom who the doctors thought might have cancer went to the Dr. yesterday and they said they couldn´t find anything wrong!
For Christmas Eve dinner, the whole family came (minus one son and family) to my house for dinner and presents. The festivites began about 11 or so at night with a full roasted pig lying on the table. For Carolina (a Swiss girl staying with one of my host brothers and family) and I, this was a very new and interesting experience. The only thing missing from the movies was the apple in the pig´s mouth, which my teacher/host sister Shirley said they actually do put in sometimes. In any case, we ate pretty well that night. There is also an MCC couple from Pennsylvania staying with my host family and Krista, the wife, made a lot of cookies a couple nights before. On the 23rd, our team got together for a huge cookie-baking, supper-making, movie-going event in the Guaderia (daycare where we will be working in Feb.) kitchen and all were able to take several plates of cookies home to our respective host families. Like I said, we ate pretty well.
Christmas day we all rested until going to Chuck and Cindy´s house for a huge Canadian/American in Bolivia Christmas dinner. (At least this is one holiday all 3 countries celebrate on the same day.) I believe there were about 23 of us there and it was a time enjoyed by all. I myself would have enjoyed it more if I wasn´t feeling so sick b/c I cheated on the diet my doctor had given me two days earlier. For those who don´t already know, last week I was diagnosed with the H. Pylori bacteria, the cause of my gastritis and potential cause of ulcers if not caught in time. This means that I must refrain from eating chocolate, coffee, pop (soda for you easterners), citric stuff, and tomatoes because of the acid they contain which will make my stomach mad as it was after Christmas Eve. I also have to be on 2 antacids and 2 antibiotics for 2 weeks and then get re-tested for the bacteria at the end of January. As you can see, this was a Christmas present that I didn´t really want or need.
Since Christmas, we´ve finished our classes and are now relaxing and preparing to go into SASS on January 7th, and as far as knowing anything about SASS that´s all we know. Seeing how everyone seems to go on at least a 2 week holiday break around here that may be all we find out. Last night I had my very first ever manicure and pedicure right in my own home for a grand total of 20 B´s (a little over $2). I thought it was a very nice way to relax and end the week. Today I am at MCC and wouldn´t you know it, I ran into 2 old Hesston friends, Marissa and Matt. I was very surprised and glad to see some familiar faces. You have no idea how nice. Marissa I hadn´t seen for 2 years and we sat down and talked for over an hour just catching up. Matt is in a mountain town called Moro Moro with the MCC SALT program.
Overall, it´s been a great week and we hope yours has been too. Happy New Year everyone! May you continue to find God in the little everyday things!
In Him,
Raquel (Rachel)
Prayer Requests:
1) That the antibiotics I´m on will kill the bacteria I have.
2) That we will be flexible and learn alot in SASS
3) That we would not get sick while in SASS for 3 weeks
4) That God would continue to mold us together as a team
5) For the political situation between La Paz and Santa Cruz (check out www.boliviatimes.com for more info)
Praises:
1) We made it through the holidays and God provided families and people who care about us to celebrate with.
2) My host mom who the doctors thought might have cancer went to the Dr. yesterday and they said they couldn´t find anything wrong!
Christmas in Bolivia
Here is our team with our new friend, Stephanie. She is 
the sister of Alex who works at the Children´s Home where we will work in February.
the sister of Alex who works at the Children´s Home where we will work in February.
It´s a white elephant!
Alli shows off her ¨white elephant¨ water bottle which was her ¨white elephant¨ gift. Pretty spiffy no?
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