Fua, an Ayoré Village

I (Bubba) made a trip this weekend to a village called Fua, about 6 hours from Santa Cruz by car. The distance is only 240 km or so (120 miles), but the entire road is unpaved so it takes a while (understatement) to get there. We drove through the night Friday night, worked all day Saturday, spent Saturday night, then worked Sunday until lunch, then we drove home. The building we are constructing in the pictures will be used as a church.

This was a hard trip (another understatement). Driving through the night on a dirt, rubble road was not easy. The air conditioning in my car was not working so I had to keep the windows rolled down and enjoy the constant inundation of dust. I also had a spare container of diesel in the back of my truck, which spilled when I ran over a bolder and threw the car about 2 feet in the air at 40 miles per hour. We stopped three times in the night to rest; the last time we woke up to the sound of a tiger rustling in the bush.

We arrived in San Jose de Chiquitos about 6am. San Jose is the nearest pueblo to Fua. We waited in San Jose for the mercado to open to buy nails. About 8am we left San Jose, drove another 40 kilometers east, spent an hour in a small town going door to door asking for chainsaw oil (we fly by the seat of our pants on these trips), then went off-road about 5 miles into the jungle. We ascended a small mountain in the jungle to reach Fua, a village of about 50 Ayoré. The wind blows hard up the mountain there, providing a little relief from the eastern Bolivian heat. The typical daily scene in an Ayoré village involves children skipping around smiling and playing, the adults sitting around huts of wood, passing Maté (a herbal drink) back and forth, the women weaving jewelry and handbags, pots of rice and beans always boiling over open fires.

There is no water source in Fua. A few years ago Toni and Placido Mercado (SAM Missionaries) bought a water tank to keep in the village. Every 10 days a local town authority brings water to fill the tank, but it is dirty water, most likely from a river. The Ayoré don't drink the water unless they boil it first. They use it to wash their pans, use it to bathe, to cook. Mostly they cook rice and beans, an occasional piece of meat, turtle. Yes, they enjoy the taste of turtle; they find turtle in the jungle, bring them alive to the fire and throw them over the flame. Once cooked, they pull off the meat and eat.

The Ayoré speak their own language, also Spanish. I enjoyed hearing the women beckoning their children in their native language. They sing their words when they call, they are musical utterances with long, extended accents on certain words. The Ayoré are a kind people, circumspect of the outside world, tempered by the slowness of the earth. They move to the rhythm of the wind and the blowing trees, the celestial bodies that mark their days, the light of morning and noon and the total darkness of the jungle nights.

The Ayoré asked us to come specifically to help build this shelter that they will call their church building. It will not be fancy—felled trees from the jungle will support a roof of corrugated metal. But it will be there place of gathering to sing and pray and commune with the same God whose presence fills magnificent cathedrals.

What does "Professional Class Ministry" look like

For those of you who are familiar with Young Life, what we're doing here reminds me in so many ways of "contact work". In Young Life, contact work is going to kids' games, hanging out at their school, spending time with them, sharing life together, so that ultimately you "win the right to be heard" -that kids will want to listen to you share about the Lord because you trust each other, because they know you truly care for them. What we're doing here is similar. We've gone to kids birthday parties, an adult birthday party, held pizza dinners, helped make boxes for a friend's daughter's birthday party. All with the purpose of building relationships so that we can ultimately share the most important relationship of all with our new Bolivian friends. It looks different every week (with the exception of the Monday night English class, and the every other week Tuesday/Thursday Bible Studies) and is very often last minute (not very good for the planner in me, but I'm learning to adapt- as long as I don't need a babysitter :) And it probably looks very similar to what many of you do in the states with your non-Christian friends - loving people who need Jesus.

Barrio Bolivar Early Childhood Stimulation Center

Below is a slideshow of pictures I took today in Barrio Bolivar, an Ayoré Indian "neighborhood" in Santa Cruz. The construction you see is of an early childhood stimulation center that we (South America Mission) are building in the neighborhood. This is an important project. It will create an opportunity for nourishing the good health of those most vulnerable to disease and sickness. It will also provide the setting for loving the children well and nourishing their spiritual needs. Two government organizations are helping provide equipment and food to stock the facility. SAM is raising the money to build the facility. The total cost is $35,000. So far about $14,000 has been raised.

Culture Shock

When one speaks of culture shock, usually it's with a negative connotation. To be sure, we've had our negative experiences of culture shock. But we've also had some positive ones, some really good expierences of culture shock. One was last week when I (Angela) went out for coffee and dessert with our teammate Laura and one of her Bolivian friends. I was really full from a large lunch and dinner due to mission activities, so only wanted a coffee. But I was also really hot. So I ordered a "cafe frio", or cold coffee. Imagine my surprise when they brought me a coffee milkshake topped with a mountain of whipped cream! Any other time, I would have been delighted, but I was so stuffed that I was dissappointed. But it tasted much like a Starbucks frappuccino, and only for $1.50. So next time I go out for coffee, I'm going to be sure to save room and order a cafe frio! My other pleasant experience with culture shock came today. Some of you know about all the bad haircuts I got in Costa Rica, so needless to say I was a little nervous about getting my haircut here. But I was really in need of one. I sought out a really really nice salon, got a good haircut, and paid top dollar - ELEVEN DOLLARS!

Pressing On For Now

Things are calm here for the time being, but we never know what might happen when. SO, we're pressing on, making plans, living day to day, and trusting the Lord that all is in His hands. The English class that our teammates have been hosting has switched to our house now, and Bubba has begun teaching it. The girl who was teaching is now back in the states, so....Bubba has taught twice now, the first time getting a standing ovation! He is really enjoying it. And I'm glad to host it at our house, as I can easily be a part of the group without having to get a babysitter. I really enjoying opening our home, preparing snacks, and making our home a welcoming place. We meet every Monday night at 7:30, and it's a great, very informal, relaxed setting for getting to know Bolivians. Anywhere from 5 - 12 people show up and it's a basic conversational class. Bubba has also gotten together with one of the guys who comes, and they are each practicing the other language (Bubba -Spanish, friend - English). I (Angela) am continuing tutoring twice a week with a Bolivian woman who teaches Spanish at the kids' school. I enjoy my time with her, and am continuing to improve with my language abilities. On Fridays I meet her at the school, and then stay afterwards to help out in Sam and Georgia's classes for a few hours. I really have enjoyed this. Last week I helped 4 Bolivian boys in Georgia's class, who are a littel farther behind, catch up on some reading and social studies. English is a second language for all of them, and the school is an all English speaking school, so I could empathize with them! But I'd whole lot rather learn a new language at their age than at mine!! Thanks for being interested in our lives. We miss you all terribly, but are confident that this is where the Lord has us. Thank you for your continued prayers.

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