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

The SAM guesthouse

Just wanted to briefly describe where we've been living for the past 2 1/2 weeks and share a few pictures. The SAM guesthouse is a really nice piece of property. There is a couple who lives here as the host and hostess and they have their own private rooms and kitchen. Then there is a communal kitchen and living area. All of that is one building. Two other buildings hold all of the guestrooms (eight I think?) and they all open up onto a courtyard. Our kids love that it has a nice size yard and a playset, plus an upstairs balcony with a hammock. Although we are anxious to have our own space, this has been a good place to be. Our house should be ready this weekend, but we still have lots of big items to buy (stove, fridge, bed, sofa....) Please keep praying for us and this transition - specifically for our house and for us to get settled soon, for the kids and their continued adjustment to school, for our Spanish, and for our understanding of how God is already at work here in Bolivia and how we can best use our gifts to serve Him. Thank you for loving us so well!





Oh and Bubba got his Driver's License :)

Traffic, Jugglers, Street Kids and Huelgas

The traffic here is insane. Cars play a game of chicken with one another at the intersections. There is no order, no reason to the streets. I have been frustrated that my license has been delayed in getting here, but it should prove to be a good thing as I am learning how to negotiate these streets from the passenger side before I get behind the wheel.

At stoplights throughout the city jugglers and flag twirlers showcase their talents to earn a peso or two at each red light. I saw a guy today bouncing a ball on his head; actually appeared quite difficult. One kid the other day was passing torches under his armpits like nunchucks.

Canals run throughout the city to funnel rainwater during the rainy season. Now, during the winter, these canals are home to the so-called "street kids". Some are as young as 10 years old. They pass their days with their noses embedded in small plastic containers of glue. This stuff is like oxygen to them. They are literally high all the time.

There was a Paro Civico on Tuesday. This is a strike (huelga) that shuts down all commerce and transportation in the city. Santa Cruz and four other departments opposed to President Morales' use of the natural gas revenues from these departments called for the strike. The Beni, another opposition department, has vowed to cease their exportation of cattle to La Paz—so no meat for sale in the capital city. On Wednesday after the Paro several of the main highway arteries leaving Santa Cruz going towards commerce centers like Cochabamba were blockaded. Again, the purpose is to impede commerce, to stifle the flow of tax revenue to the government. Who knows where this will lead, probably nowhere—to political deadlock that is and more years of political and economic stagnation for Bolivia.

Bolivian First

We went to church today with two other missionary families, and afterwards went out to lunch. One family has an 8 year old boy, who ordered chicken hearts for lunch! So.....guess who in our family ate some chicken hearts today....Sam, Ty, and no surprise, Bubba. ACK!!!!! Which they loved, all three of them!!

Mail

If anyone wants to send us letters (hint hint :), just mail them to the SAM home office. They send down a package once a month. Anything other than letters, you can mail to the home office and it will be sent down whenever anyone comes to Bolivia and has room. The only other option is DHL, but that is pretty expensive. The address is as follows:

South America Mission
The Massey Family
1021 Maxwell Mill Rd.
Fort Mill, SC 29708

Recent Pictures

Our kid's first day of school in Bolivia. The space around them is the SAM base where we are staying right now.


Sam, Georgia and Ty with their friends Clay, Hugh and Hudson Bright, in the States the day before we left to come to Bolivia.


Angela and some of the women of our core support team.


Bubba and the guys of our core support team. I don't know why Barclay is holding his breast.

The First Days in South America

In some ways "this world" as Ty calls it is not unlike our home in the States. We see the same stars at night, the same moon, feel the same heat of the day, slap mosquitoes off our legs just like we do in our backyard in Virginia in August. But we know we are in a world new to us when we see Quechua women in their traditional dress and braids sitting on street corners selling their wares, or when the wind kicks up sand from the earth and it blows across highways and through windows like smoke from a burning forest.

This new world is one we have been imagining for two years. It was two years ago exactly when we came to Bolivia for the first time, when we first sensed God leading us to come here. Two years is a long time to hope and pray for a place. Now that we are here, I do find myself saying, "I can't believe we are here, in the middle of South America."

Well, the first days have been busy. We are staying at the South America Mission guesthouse which is in the middle of a working class neighborhood right next to a Whiskería called Los Patos that on Monday and Tuesday nights has drunken karaoke sing-a-longs until 4am. We will be here until we move into a house, which we think we have found, it will just be a couple weeks until it is ready.

Sam and Georgia have started school. They attend a school called Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center that has students mostly of American, Bolivian, Korean and Japanese nationalities. Ty will stay at home for another year; he is excited for this as often he remarks that he is happy to be at home with his momma.

Yesterday Angela and I bounced around the city in a taxi with a Bolivian woman who escorted us to Interpol, a Clinic for blood tests and to a Notary. We are working on acquiring our visas and these errands are a part of this process.

On Sunday there was a national election, the "revocatorio", called by President Morales in response to the states of the Media Luna recently passing referendums expressing their desire to be autonomous of the Morales government. Morales called for the election to once again show he has a majority support, which he does, as he garnered 60% "si" on Sunday. The governors of the Bolivian states were also up for re-election—three were removed, seven were reinstated. Evo was hoping that governors of the opposition states would be removed, but they were not. So, despite Morales' victory on Sunday, this election may only serve to deepen the political crisis as the opposition forces remain largely in tact and emboldened by their wins. The political crisis is complex, but fundamentally it centers around a battle between Socialist and Capitalist ideologies.

We are anxious to get settled and begin our work here. We are looking to find a house in a strategic neighborhood where our neighbors will form the core of a church body. We will work primarily with the professional class of Santa Cruz. Pray for relationships to form and genuine contexts within which we can be about the work to which God has appointed us.