Georgia, Ty and I just got back from the bus station an hour ago where we dropped off Bubba and Sam along with a team from the States and Canada, Placido and Toni Mercado (our doctor friends and fellow SAM missionaries) and a few other missionaries. They are traveling all night by bus to Trinidad (not the island but a city in Bolivia) and from there will fly to a town on the Brazil border named Guayrámerin. There they will board a boat which they will live on for the next 10 days (sleeping in hammocks under mosquito nets, fishing and eating what they catch, washing their own clothes :). Following are a list of objectives for the trip:
*Make Christ famous along the Mamoré, Itenez and Blanco Rivers through friendly overtures to children, youth and adults,
service in any form needed, and preaching/teaching of the Word.
*Build bridges between the local churches in Santa Cruz, the US, Canada, etc. and the church in the Beni (the name of the
department where they will be), helping both to be
involved in meeting the felt and real needs in the remote river communities.
*Remind Benianos living in Santa Cruz and in Trinidad that they are also responsible for reaching out to the remote areas
of the Beni.
*Disciple people in missions and provide an opportunity for broadening their vision.
They will be holding medical clinics, VBS activities for kids, and will also be taking several Bolivians who will stay in some of the villages for a few weeks in order to teach the Bible for a more extended period of time.
You can imagine that as a mom, I am a little nervous for Sam. He's thrilled though. It's a "Wild at Heart" dream for any 10 year old boy and his dad. So I'm praying and trusting and trying to not be anxious. Oh, and they won't be able to communicate with me until they are almost home......pray for them if you think of it (and for me too). One specific prayer request is for protection from mosquito bites. The mosquitos can be quite bad and Sam usually gets lots of bad bites if there are any mosquitos around. If you want to find out more about this ministry, check out our Ayore website here http://ayorebolivia.wordpress.com/the-beni-river-ministry/
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Challenging Reads
I'm reading two books that are super challenging, "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan and "The New Friars" by Scott Bessenecker. "Crazy Love" starts out a little slow but hang in there if you're reading it, by Chapter 4 it's worth it. Two chapters that I especially like are chapter 4, "Profile of the Lukewarm" and Chapter 8, "Profile of the Obsessed". Here are 2 excerpts:
"Most of us have too much in our lives. A lot of things are good by themselves, but all of it together keeps us from living healthy, fruitful lives for God.....Has your relationship with God actually changed the way you live? Do you see evidence of God's kingdom in your life? Or are you choking it out slowly by spending too much time, energy, money and thought on things of this world?" p67
"To be brutally honest, it doesn't matter what place you find yourself in right now (easy/hard, good/bad). Your part is to bring Him glory - whether eating a sandwich, drinking coffee at 12:04 am so you can stay up and study, or watching your 4 month old take a nap. The point of your life is to point to Him. Whatever you are doing God wants to be glorified because this whole thing is His. It is His movie, His world, His gift." p44
The other book "The New Friars", addresses serving the world's poor in ways that are radical, where Christians have "voluntarily removed themselves from the status quo in order to seek justice and mercy with the poorest of the world's poor." It is convicting and challenging, and making me think a lot. Here is a quote, "Both (rich and poor) deserve the dignity of sufficiency. Neither should suffer the intoxication of extreme wealth or the destitution of extreme poverty. Their destinies were meant to be bound together." p43
"Most of us have too much in our lives. A lot of things are good by themselves, but all of it together keeps us from living healthy, fruitful lives for God.....Has your relationship with God actually changed the way you live? Do you see evidence of God's kingdom in your life? Or are you choking it out slowly by spending too much time, energy, money and thought on things of this world?" p67
"To be brutally honest, it doesn't matter what place you find yourself in right now (easy/hard, good/bad). Your part is to bring Him glory - whether eating a sandwich, drinking coffee at 12:04 am so you can stay up and study, or watching your 4 month old take a nap. The point of your life is to point to Him. Whatever you are doing God wants to be glorified because this whole thing is His. It is His movie, His world, His gift." p44
The other book "The New Friars", addresses serving the world's poor in ways that are radical, where Christians have "voluntarily removed themselves from the status quo in order to seek justice and mercy with the poorest of the world's poor." It is convicting and challenging, and making me think a lot. Here is a quote, "Both (rich and poor) deserve the dignity of sufficiency. Neither should suffer the intoxication of extreme wealth or the destitution of extreme poverty. Their destinies were meant to be bound together." p43
Monday, April 26, 2010
Brazil
Our family had the opportunity to travel to Brazil last week to visit another SAM ministry. We went with another missionary family, our good friends Placido and Toni Mercado and their two children, and our Brazilian friend Ivan Costas. Let me just say there is NO WAY we would have done this trip alone. From Santa Cruz to our destination city in Brazil, it was around 1000 km, one way. Not only is it a long way from here, but about 9 hours of the trip in Bolivia is on a dirt road. And not just any dirt road. Imagine driving along a dry creek bed at 60 km/hour. No wonder our windshield almost fell out and had to be duct taped back on for the journey home - no kidding! Travel in Bolivia is so different, and crossing borders is always interesting. I heard that 80% of the drugs in Brazil come from Bolivia. So you can imagine the check points we had to go through. Three times on the Bolivian side we all had to get out of the car and answer questions. And twice on the Brazilian side we had to get out, unpack the car, and have our suitcases gone through in order to be cleared to proceed. We also had to clear immigration on both sides of the border (and not at the border as we North Americans would expect b/c that would be too easy, but in border towns where we had to go hunt for the offices) and then register our cars in Brazil. Whew—it exhausts me just to type about it. BUT, it was totally worth all the effort, the 52 hours of travel, the bumpy, dusty roads.....It was an adventure for sure.
The reason for our trip was to visit a Bible training center that SAM has in Brazil to train people from indigenous communities. It was fascinating to see. The students come from all over Brazil to study the Bible in order to return to their people and share the hope of Jesus. Not only do they study the Bible, but they also learn practical skills. In the afternoons, teachers and students alike work together on projects such as maintaining the property, planting and cultivating a garden, and cooking in the dining hall among other things. It truly is a picture of community, with students, teachers and missionaries living, working, eating and learning together all on the same property together.
April 19 was The Day of the Indian in Brazil. To honor that day, the school had a big celebration. This was our main reason for going, to be a part of this. We arrived on Saturday, the celebration was Monday. You could sense the excitement in the air. The students were practicing their dances and starting to paint themselves with their traditional paintings from their particular community. All or our family decided to get painted as well, Bubba, Georgia and I with a kind of paint that lasts three weeks (although I seem to be the only one still with dark paint on :) and Sam and Ty with less permanent paint. During the celebration, the students performed different dances, all in traditional ways, but the words that were sung gave glory to the One true God. It truly was an experience that none of us will ever forget.
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| Dia del Indio |
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Sick Kiddos, part II and then some
So after our last post, Ty came down with dengue as well. His wasn't as severe a case as what Georgia had, but he did spike a fever of 103.5. Thankful for Tylenol!!! He missed 2 days of school and then it was Easter Break. Happy to report that he is doing fine now. OUr next adventure began last Wednesday when Sam fell and hurt his wrist. We were thinking it was just a sprain so iced it and gave him ibuprofen, but the next morning he woke up at 5:30 with it really hurting. So...off to the ER where we found out that he broke his wrist! So now he has a cast almost all the way up to his shoulder for 3 weeks, then they will change it to a smaller one. It doesn't hurt him anymore, it's just more of an annoyance. That and he has to miss playing in his violin concert tomorrow night. He was going to play a solo and play Vivaldi's 4 Seasons Winter in the orchestra. Oh well......Praying for no more accidents or sickness!
This past Sunday, Easter Sunday, was voting day here in Bolivia. Up for election were governor and mayor. Since we have resident visas, we were required by law to vote. On election day here, they have what is called a "paro". What that means is that no one can drive anywhere unless they have special permission. Also, public gatherings are not allowed, so no church for Easter Sunday. I have to say it was definitely a different Easter, but a memorable one. We voted in a third world country, marking our paper ballot with a pen, standing at a table with a piece of cardboard propped up around it, then deposited our ballot in a cardboard box. Oh, and they had me registered under "Freeman" instead of Massey b/c here women don't take the name of their husband when they marry. So.....after having to explain why my name was listed under Freeman instead of Massey as my ID card states, they let me vote.
We are continuing to be involved in both the professional class ministry and ministry to the Ayore. English Bible Study continues to meet in our home with new people coming every week. It is a blessing to have fellow missionary Chelsea Kautz teaching this class in our home. Also, the church service continues to meet once a month with between 25 and 30 Bolivians each time. And we are blessed to be able to meet with Bolivians one on one over coffee to fellowship and encourage them in their life and in their faith. Their issues are the same as ours, jobs, marriages, family, kids. We're praying that God will continue to use us here to point our friends to Him, the only one who can truly bring comfort and peace.
We ate lunch one Sunday at a place outside of town that also had pony rides :)
This past Sunday, Easter Sunday, was voting day here in Bolivia. Up for election were governor and mayor. Since we have resident visas, we were required by law to vote. On election day here, they have what is called a "paro". What that means is that no one can drive anywhere unless they have special permission. Also, public gatherings are not allowed, so no church for Easter Sunday. I have to say it was definitely a different Easter, but a memorable one. We voted in a third world country, marking our paper ballot with a pen, standing at a table with a piece of cardboard propped up around it, then deposited our ballot in a cardboard box. Oh, and they had me registered under "Freeman" instead of Massey b/c here women don't take the name of their husband when they marry. So.....after having to explain why my name was listed under Freeman instead of Massey as my ID card states, they let me vote.
We are continuing to be involved in both the professional class ministry and ministry to the Ayore. English Bible Study continues to meet in our home with new people coming every week. It is a blessing to have fellow missionary Chelsea Kautz teaching this class in our home. Also, the church service continues to meet once a month with between 25 and 30 Bolivians each time. And we are blessed to be able to meet with Bolivians one on one over coffee to fellowship and encourage them in their life and in their faith. Their issues are the same as ours, jobs, marriages, family, kids. We're praying that God will continue to use us here to point our friends to Him, the only one who can truly bring comfort and peace.
We ate lunch one Sunday at a place outside of town that also had pony rides :)
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Sick Kiddos
Last week, Sam was sick, home from school for 3 days. He had a fever on the first day, headache, a little dizzy, no appetite, and no energy. By the end, I was starting to wonder if it was dengue since it's that time of year. Then Georgia started with a fever on Sunday and is at home today for the second day with a fever and headache. Her teacher and one boy (whom she sits next to) both had confirmed cases of dengue. While dengue is not contagious, it is spread by a mosquito biting an infected person and then biting someone else. And there really is nothing that can be done other than rest and taking Tylenol. So that is what we are doing. And watching TV. And praying that no one else in the family gets it. And praying that Georgia, who is a little worse off than Sam was, heals quickly. Thanks for praying with us!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
New Years Greetings (a month and a half late)
Happy New Year, a little late. But better late than never, right? I trust that you are all cozy and warm as you endure snow, snow and more snow. It actually sounds really inviting to us. Hard to imagine, huh?
With the New Year comes new opportunities for ministry, for which we are very grateful. We continue to be part of various small groups with the professional class. The Kienzles are leading 2 small groups, one a chronological Bible study and the other called Spiritual Discipleship. We are excited about the friends who have committed to attending. We started back up the English class Bible Study and opened it up to both men and women. That meets Thursday nights in our home and will meet until the end of May. Our monthly church service at the Kienzle's house will start back up on the 28th and we will up that to twice a month in April. It's exciting to see our friends growing in their faith and hungry for more of God and His word!
We also have a couple here for two months, Joe and Julie Kidd. They are from our home church, Trinity Presbyterian, in Charlottesville. They are a great couple who are eager to step up and help wherever there are needs. They both have medical background/interest so will be working some with fellow missionaries and doctors, Placido and Toni Mercado. They are also helping us with our English class and various other activities. What a blessing it is to have new friends from "home" here to help serve the Lord.
Next weekend Joe and Julie along with our family, the Mercados, and 7 other missionaries will head back out to San Jose and Fua, the ayore village we went to last summer (remember the 6 hours down the dirt road?) We are going to help finish the church that we started last summer, hold a medical clinic, encourage the ayore believers, and make plans for another trip in June with a group from the states. We are looking forward to finishing the church for this group of believers and also for the time of fellowship with the other missionaries.
That's probably enough for you to read for now :) Our family is well. The kids continue to do great in school and in life in general down here. We are thankful for you, our dear friends and family.
With the New Year comes new opportunities for ministry, for which we are very grateful. We continue to be part of various small groups with the professional class. The Kienzles are leading 2 small groups, one a chronological Bible study and the other called Spiritual Discipleship. We are excited about the friends who have committed to attending. We started back up the English class Bible Study and opened it up to both men and women. That meets Thursday nights in our home and will meet until the end of May. Our monthly church service at the Kienzle's house will start back up on the 28th and we will up that to twice a month in April. It's exciting to see our friends growing in their faith and hungry for more of God and His word!
We also have a couple here for two months, Joe and Julie Kidd. They are from our home church, Trinity Presbyterian, in Charlottesville. They are a great couple who are eager to step up and help wherever there are needs. They both have medical background/interest so will be working some with fellow missionaries and doctors, Placido and Toni Mercado. They are also helping us with our English class and various other activities. What a blessing it is to have new friends from "home" here to help serve the Lord.
Next weekend Joe and Julie along with our family, the Mercados, and 7 other missionaries will head back out to San Jose and Fua, the ayore village we went to last summer (remember the 6 hours down the dirt road?) We are going to help finish the church that we started last summer, hold a medical clinic, encourage the ayore believers, and make plans for another trip in June with a group from the states. We are looking forward to finishing the church for this group of believers and also for the time of fellowship with the other missionaries.
That's probably enough for you to read for now :) Our family is well. The kids continue to do great in school and in life in general down here. We are thankful for you, our dear friends and family.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Outreach Event
Merry Christmas! I hope this blog message finds you warm and dry and ready to celebrate the birth of Christ. I have to admit we're a little jealous of all our Charlottesville friends that are snowed in. The pictures we've seen are gorgeous!
Yesterday we had our monthly church service with our professional class friends at the Kienzles' house. Our time began with singing traditional Christmas carols, then Doctor (and missionary) Placido Mercado delivered a Christmas message to about 20 adults while around 14 kids colored nativity coloring pages out on the patio. Afterwards, the majority of us went out to Garaí, an Ayore village about 40 minutes from our house. Many donated money, others purchased dry goods, and all were excited to go share with the Ayore. For many, it was the first time seeing such abject poverty. Yes, poverty is all around us here in Santa Cruz. But many of them had never seen up close the living conditions of the Ayore. It was exciting to see how everyone, kids included, jumped in to help. Once we got there, we packaged bags for each of the 64 "houses" that included a chicken (which Bubba killed last week in Poza Verde - another blog post :), a 1 kilo bag of rice, a 1 kilo bag of sugar, and a bag of cookies. Then we set off to deliver the bags to each house. It was a great time for us to bless others with the message of hope during this Christmas season, and it was exciting to have our friends be excited about this kind of outreach. We hope to do more of this in the future.
Yesterday we had our monthly church service with our professional class friends at the Kienzles' house. Our time began with singing traditional Christmas carols, then Doctor (and missionary) Placido Mercado delivered a Christmas message to about 20 adults while around 14 kids colored nativity coloring pages out on the patio. Afterwards, the majority of us went out to Garaí, an Ayore village about 40 minutes from our house. Many donated money, others purchased dry goods, and all were excited to go share with the Ayore. For many, it was the first time seeing such abject poverty. Yes, poverty is all around us here in Santa Cruz. But many of them had never seen up close the living conditions of the Ayore. It was exciting to see how everyone, kids included, jumped in to help. Once we got there, we packaged bags for each of the 64 "houses" that included a chicken (which Bubba killed last week in Poza Verde - another blog post :), a 1 kilo bag of rice, a 1 kilo bag of sugar, and a bag of cookies. Then we set off to deliver the bags to each house. It was a great time for us to bless others with the message of hope during this Christmas season, and it was exciting to have our friends be excited about this kind of outreach. We hope to do more of this in the future.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Tidings of Comfort and Joy
Before we start with our ministry and family update, we send you all good tidings during this Advent season as we patiently await the coming of the true King. While it is certainly different celebrating Christmas in shorts and tank tops, it forces us to remember and reflect on what or who we are truly celebrating.
On with a ministry update. We wrapped up our Alpha class at the end of November. We started out with 18 people, but in the end had 10 faithful attenders. On the last night, we had a time of sharing, which was really special. One of our dear friends who has attended several of our events and classes over the past year said that for the first time, through the Alpha course, she saw clearly that "God is Love." That He loves her and wants a relationship with her. Another couple wrote afterwards to tell us how much it meant to them. He had studied in a Catholic school for 8 or so years but said that he learned more in this course than he had in all those years in school. And that he and his wife are now reading their Bibles daily. It's exciting to see God drawing people unto himself.
In the month of December, we will finish up our English language Bible Study, which has been going well. Chelsea is a great teacher and the women have really responded to her. I'm thankful to be a part of this. December is such a busy month that we are trying to plan well our ministry events while still being there for our families. Sam's birthday is coming up, so is the Kienzle's youngest daughter, then throw in end of the year violin concert, school christmas play, school christmas parties, well you know what I mean b/c your lives look the same! So with this in mind, we decided to focus on a few events where we have folks over to our houses instead of starting up any new studies. Last Saturday, we had a churrasco (or cookout) at the Kienzle's house with about 25 friends (kids included). We wrapped up the night with homemade "chipwiches" and a showing of "The Nativity Story." We plan to have another get together with a different set of friends, again showing this movie and enjoying Christmas cookies together. We will have another cookout after Christmas with the friends who went through Alpha with us. Hopefully we will still be able to find time to be still and quiet our hearts in worship of the one we are here to serve.
We are really excited about one more event. On Sunday the 20th, we will again have a Sunday service at the Kienzle's house. But this time it will look a little different. Placido Mercado, another SAM missionary who works with the Ayore, will give a short message, including a history of who the Ayore are, what our involvement is with them, and what are the Biblical reasons for helping the poor. We will then take our professional class friends out to an Ayore village where we will sing some Christmas songs, have a short message and then deliver a chicken, a bag of rice, a bag of sugar, and a container of oil to all the families that live in a particular village. We are excited to see how God will use this time not only in the lives of the Ayore, but especially in the lives of the professional class.
Please pray for us as we continue to build relationships. Pray that we will continually show the love of Christ to those we are around. Pray for our family to continue to love each other well. And let us know how we can pray for you. Merry Christmas!
On with a ministry update. We wrapped up our Alpha class at the end of November. We started out with 18 people, but in the end had 10 faithful attenders. On the last night, we had a time of sharing, which was really special. One of our dear friends who has attended several of our events and classes over the past year said that for the first time, through the Alpha course, she saw clearly that "God is Love." That He loves her and wants a relationship with her. Another couple wrote afterwards to tell us how much it meant to them. He had studied in a Catholic school for 8 or so years but said that he learned more in this course than he had in all those years in school. And that he and his wife are now reading their Bibles daily. It's exciting to see God drawing people unto himself.
In the month of December, we will finish up our English language Bible Study, which has been going well. Chelsea is a great teacher and the women have really responded to her. I'm thankful to be a part of this. December is such a busy month that we are trying to plan well our ministry events while still being there for our families. Sam's birthday is coming up, so is the Kienzle's youngest daughter, then throw in end of the year violin concert, school christmas play, school christmas parties, well you know what I mean b/c your lives look the same! So with this in mind, we decided to focus on a few events where we have folks over to our houses instead of starting up any new studies. Last Saturday, we had a churrasco (or cookout) at the Kienzle's house with about 25 friends (kids included). We wrapped up the night with homemade "chipwiches" and a showing of "The Nativity Story." We plan to have another get together with a different set of friends, again showing this movie and enjoying Christmas cookies together. We will have another cookout after Christmas with the friends who went through Alpha with us. Hopefully we will still be able to find time to be still and quiet our hearts in worship of the one we are here to serve.
We are really excited about one more event. On Sunday the 20th, we will again have a Sunday service at the Kienzle's house. But this time it will look a little different. Placido Mercado, another SAM missionary who works with the Ayore, will give a short message, including a history of who the Ayore are, what our involvement is with them, and what are the Biblical reasons for helping the poor. We will then take our professional class friends out to an Ayore village where we will sing some Christmas songs, have a short message and then deliver a chicken, a bag of rice, a bag of sugar, and a container of oil to all the families that live in a particular village. We are excited to see how God will use this time not only in the lives of the Ayore, but especially in the lives of the professional class.
Please pray for us as we continue to build relationships. Pray that we will continually show the love of Christ to those we are around. Pray for our family to continue to love each other well. And let us know how we can pray for you. Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Ministry Update
It is so exciting to see how the Lord is working here in Santa Cruz. Our Alpha course is going really well. We have anywhere from 10 -18 people in attendance every week. Everyone who attends is really excited about the course, and it is so encouraging for us to be a part of telling people the good news about Jesus. This past week the theme was about reading the Bible, specifically why and how. In our small group time afterward it was refreshing to hear how honest people were - that they want to read the Bible regularly, but don't, and don't even know how to start. We were able to give out some guides and some advice on what it looks like to read the Bible for yourself. Laura and I have compiled a study guide for the women's devotional Bible and have had a few interested women. So thankful for the opportunity Alpha has provided for us to share deeper about the Christian faith and for the relationships we are building in the process.
We had another church service at the Kienzle's house this past Sunday, something we are doing once a month through December, with the plan to host one more often starting in January. It was great - we had 27 Bolivians in attendance, folks who don't normally attend a church. It was a great time of worship, with music, a testimony, and a message, even a kids' sunday school. Exciting to see how the Lord has brought this together.
Another ministry opportunity I wrote about last time was the ESL Bible study. I'm happy to say that we are starting that tomorrow night. Chelsea, another missionary, will teach the class here in our home. So far we've had 5 women say they will be here. We are praying that these women will come and that they will bring friends as well. It will be similar to the previous english class we hosted, but with a few key differences. This one is only for women and we will be using the Bible as our text. Praying that not only will women improve their English, a good skill to have, but that they will be impacted by the Bible Study as well.
On a personal note, our family is doing well. We enjoyed time with both sets of parents in the last month - such a blessing! Thankful to have the love and support of our parents even though we've taken the grandkids thousands of miles away :) Oops - my time is up - need to pick up Ty from school. As always - thanks for your prayers!
We had another church service at the Kienzle's house this past Sunday, something we are doing once a month through December, with the plan to host one more often starting in January. It was great - we had 27 Bolivians in attendance, folks who don't normally attend a church. It was a great time of worship, with music, a testimony, and a message, even a kids' sunday school. Exciting to see how the Lord has brought this together.
Another ministry opportunity I wrote about last time was the ESL Bible study. I'm happy to say that we are starting that tomorrow night. Chelsea, another missionary, will teach the class here in our home. So far we've had 5 women say they will be here. We are praying that these women will come and that they will bring friends as well. It will be similar to the previous english class we hosted, but with a few key differences. This one is only for women and we will be using the Bible as our text. Praying that not only will women improve their English, a good skill to have, but that they will be impacted by the Bible Study as well.
On a personal note, our family is doing well. We enjoyed time with both sets of parents in the last month - such a blessing! Thankful to have the love and support of our parents even though we've taken the grandkids thousands of miles away :) Oops - my time is up - need to pick up Ty from school. As always - thanks for your prayers!
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