New office!!

Well, after many extra weeks of waiting for the construction to be completed on our office, we are finally in! One of the main reasons we wanted to get an office in the city was so that we could have high speed internet that is not available to us where we live. The day we moved into the office, the internet died. It took about a week to get it up and running, but at only about half the speed it should be at. Now, we are having cable difficulties, and we can't seem to get the net arriving to all our computers. But, it's in process and we are not too surprised that things continue to come up that prohibit us from functioning fully as we like. Patience is the key! I am enjoying being outside of the house and checking emails, blogs, etc...as well as using our Vonage phone to call home!! If anyone wants to call us, we are usually here in the mornings and after lunch and our number is 352-505-8801 (Florida #). We'd love to talk!!

As I've been trying to catch up on blogs, I found out the sad news that Pastor John just lost a grandchild that was still in the womb, but almost full term. Reading that news and the responses of many led me to think about our own loss about a month and a half ago. There have been many ups and downs in this journey of hoping and waiting. We seem to be continually learning of friends becoming pregnant, including 2 good friends here in La Paz. We rejoice with them in what we know is a huge blessing from the Lord and yet our minds wander to what we thought we were going to have and wonder when God will allow us to have our turn again. I know it is no coincidence that I am studying Romans in my ESI class and being confronted often with the truth that our Lord is soverign and in control of even the smallest details of our lives. Scotty and I daily lean on Him and ask for the faith to trust in His wisdom for the future of our family. It is not always an easy road but one in which I see the hand of the Lord transforming my heart and my desires.

Roger's Birthday

There is a couple that lives at the end of the street where the Friday night Mallasilla Bible study is held. The wife, Cecilla, is Bolivian and her husband, Roger, is an American. Ceci comes frequently to the Bible study and although she is very open to what is discussed there, she has remained a professing Catholic and has yet convinced her husband to come with her. We ran into Ceci a week ago and she told us she was having a family birthday party for Roger and she wanted us and the Hursts to come. Until talking to Faith, I didn't realize that this party was just for close family, but how great an honor it was that we were included in that tight circle. We put on our Sunday best, actually better than that, baked some yummy (almost sinful) chocolate peanut butter bars for a little present, and drove over to their house last night around 8. I have to admit that when I walked in and saw her large, ornately decorated home and nicely dressed Bolivian family members sitting around sipping coke and whiskey, I felt a little out of place. The family continued to trickle in over the course of a couple hours and we had the chance to start getting to know Roger and many of Ceci's close relatives and friends. At one point, I was seated next to one of Ceci's brothers and having heard that we were evangelical missionaries he asked me, "So, what is the difference between what you guys believe and what us Catholics believe?" Whoa!! I stared blankly at him for a few seconds, trying to think how in the world I was going to answer this question intelligently, in Spanish, without 1)offending him; 2)making him feel like it was "us" against "them"; and 3)bumbling over myself as I did my best to share the gospel. Thankfully, God was not surprised by this question and was leading me through as we chatted. He was so open and frank with the little he believed about religion, not really being a practicing anything, just considering himself Catholic because that is the family background he came from. I was continually amazed at the leading questions he asked, giving me the opportunity to share the gospel clearly, explain how the Bible definitively states we are not saved by works but what Christ did for us on the cross, talk about how Mary was a mortal just like us who did sin (the Catholic church believes otherwise), that the Bible is the final authority on all spiritual matters, and the direct route we have to approach God through Jesus Christ. Wow! I invited this new friend to come to our church when we open last month and before leaving, he assured me he would be there. After we left, I found out that Scotty also had the chance to naturally share the gospel with the other brother he was talking to! And to think, I almost skipped out on the party because I didn't want to miss my ESI class... We continue to pray that God will give us more opportunities to spend time with Ceci and Roger. There is a natural connection to Roger because we are Americans, but I think a long way to go before he would be willing to attend anything church-like. What a privilege to share my hope in Christ!

Waiting...

...and waiting and waiting. Sometimes, living in La Paz means a lot of waiting. Waiting to get a visa, waiting for the guy to turn left because there are no turn lanes in the whole country (so people are constantly stopping in your lane), waiting for the guy in the grocery store to come back so he can weigh and price your vegetables, waiting for the office to be ready to move into, waiting for that thing you asked to have made a month ago that was supposed to be ready in a few days. Today, we waited for the tire man to find the little leak in the inner tube and patch it up so we could be on our way. Scotty and I stood outside and watched the people next door wash cars, called to stray dogs, grimaced when the man decided the most efficient way to remove the tire from the rim was to use a pick ax. I commented that I was sure glad we were there together, because to wait like this alone could be a bit boring. Then I mentioned that I was pretty sure after living in Bolivia for 20 years, I'm going to be a very patient person. Now, I feel I could reach this good character attribute only because of God's grace. Honestly, I have a very long way to go on the path to being a patient woman, but I do see that God is slowly chipping away at my impatience, the dire importance I put on punctuality, and the ease with which I get upset at perfect strangers for slowing me down. God has found many ways to slow me down here, and Scotty too, and I feel that learning to take life slowly, when that is all you can do, is good. From the slow tire guy to losing our baby to waiting for the church plant to (finally) start, I am beginning to understand that life's events are not in my hands, but firmly in the Lords. Even today I experienced 2 significant let downs of expectations I had and had to remember that God has a perfect purpose for all of it, and it is best to rest in that and not frustrate myself with dwelling on how these things don't work out. It is a good lesson and one I'm sure I'll continue to learn the rest of my life.

Good things

There are times throughout the weeks that I'll think about home and in my mind, or sometimes to Scotty, I'll say, "If I could go home for just one day..." or "If I could go anywhere back home right now it would be... (Target, Al Mikes, Poindexter Dr., DGCC, my parents house, etc...)". There will always be things I miss about home (did I mention Target?) but I was thinking this morning about all the things I would miss if I wasn't in Bolivia:

worshipping the Lord in Spanish, international friends, perfect blue skies, rugged mountains springing up right outside my windows, cheap restaurants, adventure travelling, mountainous jungle 3 hours from home, our apartment, friendly people who say "hi" when you walk by, no speed limit, walking all over town, being different...

My heart will always be a part of two places and I'm learning to be content where I am and find the good here. I will enjoy the good when we are on home assignment, and often look forward to seeing all of you again, but there is much joy in living where God has us right now.

Dinnertime word problems

Lisa and Scotty sit down to eat dinner. They cut several pieces of hamburger cornbread pie for themselves and end up with 7/16 of the pie left. If Lisa ate 1/4 of the whole pie, how much did Scotty eat?

Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? If you can believe it, Scotty and I sat staring at our hamburger casserole tonight, trying to figure out mathematically how much we ate...

"We ate a lot of food."
"We finished off more than half the dish."
"Yeah, I'd say about 3/5."
"How much would I have eaten if you had a little bit more than me?"
"Well, if we ate 3/5 and I had more, then I had about, lets see, what's less than 3/5?"

Conversation went on like this for at least 5 or 6 minutes, trying to find common denominators, adding and multiplying fractions in our heads. Scotty told me that he used to teach his kids in class that "Fractions are our friends", inspired by his old math teacher Larry Winckles. How are fractions our friends? I ask. Because then you can answer important questions like these: how much casserole did we eat?

I'm not convinced.

My Wife

Lisa and I were married two years ago last Monday. Unfortunately, we couldn't celebrate that momentous anniversary because I was just being let out of the hospital with my arm in a sling. But hopefully we'll make up for it tomorow with an all-out celebration of the marriage God has given us. In the last two years, I have fallen more and more deeply in love with this amazing woman. She is beautiful, funny, creative, hospitable, intelligent, imaginative, a great cook, a great writer (as you know if you check this blog regularly), artistic, loving, and above all, goes hard after God. In the setbacks we have recently faced, she has responded with deep faith, strong love and selfless care for me. It is thrilling to be in partnership in ministry with Lisa and even better to be companions in the adventure of life that God is unfolding before us. Here's to my incredible wife!

Prayer walk

For quite a while we've been hoping to get the members of our church plant team together with the group of Christians that meet out in Mallasilla for a twice a month Bible study. We decided the best idea would be to hold a prayer walk around the community, asking God to continue preparing the hearts of those who live there and us as well to open His church in less than 2 months. By the time we all got to the designated spot, the sky had clouded over and the wind had picked up quite dramatically. After a few minutes of worship, the rains began to trickle down and the temps must have dropped about 15 degrees or so. We decided to take our "walk" inside. Carmen and Marcelo, the hosts of the Bible study, opened their home as they are so constantly willing to do, to about 30 of us who had gathered to seek God on behalf of Mallasilla. As the rain wasn't letting up, we decided to break into several groups to pray for various topics and enjoyed an hour or so of communion together. For the first time, it felt a little like what our church might feel like! Scotty and I were excited that the two groups had the chance to mingle and that some of the youth from our mother church who aren't planning on attending the Mallasilla church even came out for support. Our hope is to open 6 weeks from yesterday- rain or shine!