Building Relationships

Last Friday was Bolivia's Labor Day, so a holiday for all. We decided to take a bunch of Bolivian friends bowling. Yes, there is a traditional bowling alley here, but for most Bolivians it's not a common activity. We invited 5 families to go with us and the Kienzles. Two were able to come and it was a great afternoon! We bowled for about an hour then went across the street for ice cream. Sometimes this kind of thing doesn't feel like ministry, but in our eyes it is absolutely essential, these times of relationship building. Then today, our kids's school had a huge yard sale. One of my Bolivian friends wanted to go, so she and I went along with my children and her 2, ages 5 and 9 (just lacking a 7 year old and it would be a perfect match!) We spent 3 1/2 hours there, no kidding! (I was done after 30 minutes :) After that we went out to lunch with the kids. 6 months ago, I couldn't have done it. 6 hours of being with a Bolivian by myself would have made me so nervous (because of having to speak spanish for that long without having anyone else to rely on to "save" me). And granted, my spanish was far from perfect today, but I did it. We feel like we're beginning to make good friends, and we're praying that throught these friendships others will see Jesus.