November

News from Bolivia:

November 20, 2008

I am sitting by the heater at camp.  We use our heater year round here.  The altitude makes it chilly enough at night that you need just a little something to knock the chill out of the air.  But, it is summer time and the rainy season makes summer colder than winter?  It is one of those things you just have to live through to understand.  When we leave camp for the city, we have to dress in layers because we drop of the mountain and into the valley where the climate is more dry and hot.

Happy Thanks Giving and Merry Merry Christmas.  The kids get out of school for their summer break this Friday and I probably wont get out to the city very much the next month to wish you a Merry Christmas.  So, with a smile we wish you all a Happy New Year too. 

How are we doing?  Better, I think.  It has been a tough 6 months since the car was stolen but we haven’t had to sit still too much.  Our beater has gotten us around, most of the time, but Eric has had to spend quite a bit more time under the car than behind the wheel.  The new car we were able to purchase is still only half painted.  We go and check on it each week and hear another excuse.  I am glad I have been in Bolivia for some time and I expected this or else I would have blown my cool some time ago.  But, patience has “grown” on me and I can shrug off the wait a little better.  At least I know we have a new car and the hope of the day of getting it keeps us going. 

Keeping busy has also helped!  Where do I start?  Things we do seem normal to us and I have to remember that our life is nowhere near “normal” when we compare our lives to your lives.  Bolivia is not “normal” in any sense of the word but especially when you compare it to most of the world.  So, with a smile, I will hit some highlights of this past year. 

One of my favorite activities this year was definitely the Samaritan’s Shoe Box give away this past June.  We gave away almost 1,000 boxes to the kids around Candelaria (by camp) and in two other pueblos near camp.  It came with its sad side though.  Not every child received a gift due to the fact that they came late or they lived “between” villages or their mother came for them but the child had to be present to hear the gospel message therefore we couldn’t give out extras.  But, it was such fun.  We had prayed for Samaritan’s Boxes to come out our way the year before, we had even written them but heard nothing.  Then a fellow Camp team member heard about another church that had 7,000 boxes to give away.  God does work in mysterious ways!

This year we also had some extra duties as Jose Luis the camp director went to the states for 3 months.  Eric found himself as director and administrator.  We found that construction slowed down during this “season” because we just couldn’t keep up with both duties.  Now that Jose Luis is back we are back into full swing finishing up our two- year project of building a new mess hall, kitchen, apartment, and staff dorm.  We can see the end to this project but remember things move slow here.  Workers show up when they feel like it.  Weeding, planting and harvesting has some to do with it but we find we just- hang out- at a stand still until they show up again.  So goes life here. 

We worked with two neat interns from Montreat College.  They stayed with us for 3 months as they learned a bit about themselves and a lot about living in a 3rd world country.  They both left feeling like they still wanted to be missionaries some day so maybe we didn’t work them too hard after all.

We have been working with two churches, one near our house and one near camp.  Benji, 7 at the time, was a Sunday school teacher in the village.  He taught a few Bible stories and I made play dough.  This was such a neat experience for him.  He now believes in his heart that he can do it.  He can teach others about God.  Lydia won’t let him win for anything and talks constantly of growing up to become a Sunday School Teacher.  

If you are a Christian and the village churches find out, watch out!  You are now the preacher, Sunday School Teacher, offering collector and usher, you name it. They are so excited to have any new member.  They are excited to hear what God has given you to offer them, new news or special words from God.  Explaining this, you will understand that Eric is now a stand-in/stand by preacher with the title of “Pastor”.  He’s not too comfortable with his new title and laughs at it, but every Sunday that we are not at camp we attend church behind our house.  The walk is nice, chickens, dogs, goats, sheep, onion and corn fields line the path and road on our 15-minute walk to church.  We arrive to a normal worship service of singing and scripture reading.  When it is time for Sunday school they select a member to teach the children. After the children are dismissed, the member in charge then asks Eric to step forward to preach.  Guess we are called to be ready at all times. 

There has been a women’s group out at camp the past few years.  The village ladies used to meet at camp, but now they meet at the Baptist church in the village.  Once a large group, they have narrowed down to around 11 or 12 women, all weavers.  A lady from North Carolina has become involved with the group with the intentions of having the ladies use their weaving for more income- a micro enterprise of such.  I have become the translator and go between for the group.  The women speak mostly Quechua, so I work with another lady who helps me.  We go from Southern English, to my bad Spanish, to Quechua. 

Another favorite activity is still in its planning stages.  A missionary from International Teams has a goal – to build lots of orphanages.  We have worked since June to find land around camp to build 2 homes on.  After all options were looked over, we settled on a far corner of camp. The volunteers and workers will stay in the main house at camp during the months that the orphanages are under construction.  We are excited about this and hope to send pictures of the homes going up when we can.  We are waiting on the last OK from the SIM and we don’t expect that to take too much longer.  (Camp is owned by SIM)

Chores at camp are never ending. The weeds are growing, flowers blooming and we are gearing up for Christmas break.  Fresh fruits such as cherries, peaches, pineapples, and watermelon are flooding the market.  School is out and we are preparing for children’s camp, family camp, teen camp and of course the village Christmas party.  It will be 2009 before we know it.  Another year has gone by and we have missed you all.  We have purchased tickets to take a small break in April.  We plan to stay in the US until the end of June.  Our plans to visit Alaska are still up in the air but we sure would like to make it up that way.  We are watching Travel Velocity and Cheap Tickets.com with hopes of finding the best deal ever!

Pray with us for Marlene, the young girl who lives with us.  She has shown some interest in the Bible. We continue to sew seeds and teach God’s word directly.  We are praying now for someone who can spend some quality time with her when we come for a visit in our fall, your spring.  She will be in classes until July and then she will graduate. 

I am sure there has been more, of course there has, but  I have probably taken up your time with this long email and you are sure to have lots more things to do.  Blessing to you all.  Thanks for Blessing us too and reminding us that you support us and think of us and that you pray for us. 

A few blessings and other prayer requests:

·       We have had amoebas only once this year and that is not too serious.  I see it as a blessing from God because dengue fever, malaria, typhoid, and other parasites are still a real threat.  Thank God for giving us good health as I relax a bit and take less care than I did the first years.

·       There has been more peace these past few weeks but we do need a new president.  Keep praying for Bolivia and its future.

·       We are so excited about our new car.  Thank you. It seats more people than our old blue car and Eric has so many plans to go from village to village and start up a teen mission group again.  Thanks God!

Eric and Family