Answered Prayer

PRAISES!!!!! Most of you probably haven't even read the last post (I just posted it 2 minutes ago) but we have an answer to one of our prayer requests that I included- we have our passports now, well they're at the lawyers office here, not in La Paz, and we can pick them up Monday!!!! This does a lot to relieve my stress. If we have to leave the country now, at least we will be able to do so legally w/o any hassle. This probably won't make sense until you read the previous post. Praising God for His goodness!

Update

First I want to include a picture of us and our teammates, Paul and Laura Kienzle (don't the guys look cute in their matching shirts - not planned :). Our families will be working together, Lord willing and we get to remain in Bolivia, to plant a church amongst the professional class here in Santa Cruz. Paul and Laura and their 3 girls are great! We've really enjoyed getting to know them, and we get along really well. They already have a weekly English class in their home and are leading a chronological Bible Study with non Christians who are interested in learning more. We have hopes of continuing these things together, while adding a few more. Laura has said the women she knows have expressed an interest in learning how to bake (cakes, cookies, etc....) so we want to start an informal cooking class. There are more ideas floating around, but we'll have to see what happens in the next few weeks.

On that note, thank you to each one of you for your continued prayers for our family. We definitely feel a sense of God's peace around us in the midst of the chaos. South America Mission is remaining vigilant in keeping a watch on things, constantly updating us. They have decided that 7 missionaries will leave as soon as possible. They are all single, with all but one being female. Two were scheduled to leave in the upcoming months, so they are just leaving a little ahead of schedule and returning to the states. Two others are teachers at the school and will go to Peru to help with the SAM school there. The danger HAS NOT increased. This is just an effort to scale down those who are here. But this move makes us wonder if it is inevitable that we will leave too. There are several things we do know......we know God has called us here, that we want to stay if possible as long as we are not in danger, and we also know that our ways are not His ways. In some ways it doesn't make sense that we would go through so much to get here, only to have to turn around and leave after 2 months or so. But, we take comfort in knowing that it is the Lord's plans that will prevail. Thank you for your continued prayers for the country of Bolivia, the people of Bolivia, and the SAM missionaries. One more prayer request is for our passports. We do not have them now -they are in immigration in La Paz. Please pray that if we need to leave, we will be able to get this detail worked out. Our God is BIG!

Prayers for Bolivia

I'm sure many of you have read or seen in the news that the political tension in Bolivia is at an all time high. First let me say that we are not in any imminent danger. But we are on higher alert. School has been canceled now for 2 1/2 days for the kids, and we just avoid certain areas of town. But we realize it is not all about us. The Bolivian people are hurting as they watch their country fall apart around them. There are deep divisions and tensions that run along racial lines. Would you join us in praying for peace for Bolivia? Only the hope that comes from Jesus will bring lasting peace to this country.

We wanted to include a copy of the "official" response from the South America Mission home office. It is as follows:

Fact:
The political atmosphere in Bolivia is extremely tense at present as different factions battle for control of the government. President Evo Morales, attempting to take the country into a socialistic direction, and backed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, has met with resistance from the more democratic eastern Bolivian provinces.

The differences go beyond political ideologies and include cultural and religious identities. This is an internal struggle and does not threaten the safety of our missionaries at this time.



Response:
The SAM Crisis Management Team is continually monitoring the situation, consulting with other Mission Groups, advising our missionaries, and staying in touch with the Home Office in the US. Our objective is to be able to continue ministry with as little disruption as possible and to have the ministries organized in such a way that if evacuation were necessary, the work would continue with Bolivian leadership and oversight where practical and/or possible.

Our people are to be prepared to leave the country, were that to become necessary, having documents in order, funds in hand, and arrangements for possessions and responsibilities left behind.

We cannot know what will happen over the next weeks but we can guard our own hearts, pray for one another and especially our Bolivian brothers and sisters. This could be a time for the Church to impact Bolivia with the message of hope and salvation.

Home Sweet Home

After 6 1/2 weeks of living out of suitcases and large black duffle bags, we're finally moving into our house. We found a house about a week after we got here, but it needed lots of work (still does - it's an older house). The landlord has been great, as he's met all of our conditions. We made a list of about 10 things that we asked him to fix, all of which he has done. Bubba went yesterday to a lawyers office and a notary with the landlord to sign a contract, so we now have keys. We spent most of today cleaning, buying major appliances, and moving beds in. It still needs more cleaning, so our first night there will be Friday - Yipee! It was a beautiful picture of community today as 3 other SAM missionary women came over and scrubbed down our kitchen with "acido nitrico" (pretty sure you can't buy this stuff over the counter in the states) and 3 SAM men and 2 nationals, who work at the SAMAIR hangar, helped buy appliances, load and unload furniture, and powerwash the outside patios. It was truly a picture of servanthood as there was no glory in anything we were doing, especially on a 95 degree day with no AC. While it is tremendously hard to be so far away from friends and family, I am glad that the community of SAM missionaries here really seem to care for each other, spend time together, and help each other out. As soon as we're in our house and have it a little more set up, we will post pictures. Thanks again for your continued prayers for each one of us. We need them.

This is Santa Cruz