A funny thing happened...

...on the way to the hot springs yesterday. Scotty and I had planned an early anniversary trip with 3 other couples to camp out at a nearby (2 1/2 hours from town) hot spring. Upon arriving at the altiplano, the flat stretch of land about 1,000 ft. above where we live, we found that the major road running between La Paz and several other large cities had been closed off for a car race. We were somewhat surprised but mostly annoyed that they chose to close off this road, being the only one out of town in that direction. Well, like good 4x4 owners, we decided to search the backroads instead of accept a failed trip. The 8 of us, in our Landcruiser and a friends Patrol, excitedly took off into the fields to test out the ruggedness of our vehicles (and our bodies) on the rough dirt "roads". We wound our way through little villages and dry river beds until we found the correct road that led us to the springs. We stopped for a picnic and then took down the 3 bikes we had strapped on top to do the rest of the trip on bike, 3 at a time taking turns while the others drove. When it came to be my turn, I anxiously followed behind Scotty and Jason, not loving the fast, jarring feeling that came with very rocky, downhill paths. I had brakes on all the way, but still managed to enjoy the valleys below and mountains all around. Jason took off on a side trail and later met up with me, both of us still behind Scotty, whose dust trail I had seen quite a bit ahead of us. As we rounded one corner together, we saw Scotty standing still with his arms hanging at his sides, his head drooped (like Napoleon Dynamite), and his bike lying on the ground. My general sense was that something was not right, but it wasn't until we got closer that we noticed the bad cuts and scrapes and more blood that I was comfortable with seeing on my husband. I quickly removed his helmet to make sure there was nothing major on his head and we continued trying to ask him what had happened. After a minute he informed us that he thought he needed to sit down and we assisted him to the car where he sat in a daze. By this time, everyone was crowded around and trying to figure out what went wrong. Scotty was a complete mess and I wasn't totally OK with continuing on our journey, being so close to the end, but he encouraged us to press on, he'd be fine. As soon as I had him lying down in the back seat, ready to resume the trip, he casually mentioned that he couldn't remember anything that had happened that day. I called over my nurse friend, Sara, informed her that he had no memory, and she made a quick and good decision for us to immediately go back to La Paz. For the next couple of hours, Scotty continually asked "what happend?" "how long was I out?" and kept noticing with surprise, "my shoulder hurts". I patiently answered about 20 times that he had fallen off his bike, we didn't know how long he was out, and we would get him looked at soon. He endured a very bumpy, 2 hour long ride back into town without complaining. Slowly, as we continued to ask questions, he started to remember bits and pieces of the morning. By the time we got him to the hospital, he was ashen and in a considerable amount of pain and shock. He was x-rayed and found to have a very broken collarbone, almost a compound fracture, that needed surgery immediately. The poor guy didn't look so good and had to put up with a few more x-rays and a challenging shower before he was allowed his own bed and a few hours rest before the surgery. Friends came by and sat with me during the 3 hours he was being worked on, coming out just before 11pm that night, tired but taken care off. Today has consisted of many visitors, snoozing, eating, recapping the exciting events of yesterday, and prayers of thanks that things weren't any worse. The helmet he was wearing was cracked in 4 places, giving me a better picture of how hard he hit the ground and how fantastic it was that he had head protection. Tomorrow is our 2nd anniversary and we are celebrating our marriage and the grace God has given us that we are both well and alive together. It's kinda a bummer that he'll be in the hospital until Tuesday, but I've got a few ideas to make the day special. How grateful I am to the Lord for a godly husband who is patient and trusting when hard times come.

Team Retreat

About half of the team worshipping together.

Friday night we left our home with excitement for the upcoming weekend-long retreat with our church plant team. A house had been found in the country, about half an hour from town, with plenty of space to fit our team, play games, cook meals, and talk strategy. The first night was spent eating, talking, and figuring out where everyone was going to sleep, as well as how we were going to wash dishes and hands without any running water. The running water bit was unexpected, but we were assured it would be back on by the next afternoon. True to Bolivian timetables, we joyfully welcomed running water again by about 8 the next evening. The days were filled with reading and studying the Word together, talking and praying about the vision and core values of our church, and playing together. Everyone pitched in to prepare meals and clean up afterward- we feel like we are becoming more and more a family.

Scotty had the chance to speak on the importance of God's word and we both invested time in getting to know various members of the team more. Unfortunately, about a fourth of our members were not able to make it or had to leave early, but the time spent together in preparation was invaluable. Scotty and I led a group the last day that discussed particulars of how we would like to see small groups as part of our church ministry. We are planning on leading a cell group from our house as soon as the church opens, hopefully comprised of those who are new to the church and not already plugged in elsewhere. I love the idea of Scotty and I doing ministry together- a mix of hospitality and teaching- just what God has gifted us to do!

Pastor Edgar, Becky, Daniel and baby Samuel (have you ever seen a cuter baby??)

Scotty and I had the chance to talk to Edgar and Becky, our pastor and his wife, one evening and learn about their background and excitement for all that God has ahead. We remain grateful that God has brought them to us, impressed by the gifts they have and sure of the impact they will make in our team and in the community. Overall, it was a rich weekend and more great Spanish practice- what an exciting time in ministry!

I love dating my husband.

This is where I would love to go for date night, but I'm afraid no ocean access limits that option a bit. But, we did have a nice time last night participating in the only date night opportunities La Paz has to offer: dinner and a movie. For such a large, cosmopolitan city, there is a severe lack of interesting things to do. There are a few decent hikes, but those aren't appropriate for an evening date. There are sometimes dance or cultural shows at local theatres, but those are few and far between, and poorly advertised. So, Scotty and I are trying to sample every local restaurant in the city that fits our criteria: good food, moderate price, fun/interesting atmosphere. Last night we headed toward our old stomping grounds, the neighborhood of Sopocachi, because they boast a wide variety of yummy places to eat. We've heard about an Asian restaurant that serves food from China, Indonesia, and Thailand and thought that would be a nice change. And it well exceeded our demands for good food, price (it was a little more than we would usually pay, but still only $15 for a very nice meal), and fantastic atmosphere. I pretty much wanted to try everything on the menu, which is tough for an indecisive person like myself, but definitely good when you want to come back to experience more. We always get a kick out of how late everyone eats here, often being the first person in the restaurant (at 7pm!) with just a few more trickling in as we're leaving. The second part of our dates almost always includes renting a movie from our rental store where we're pretty sure we've seen everything that is worth watching. Last night we picked one up called "My Life Without Me". We usually will not rent movies that we haven't first researched to make sure they are both appropriate and highly rated (www.rottentomatoes.com), but this one sounded intriguing and had won many awards at various festivals, so we decided to go for it. It was a well done movie, focusing on developing one or two characters in particular, which Scotty and I enjoy in a flic. The premise was a 23- year old, mother of two, in a great marriage, living in a trailer, working as a janitor, finds out she's got 2 months to live. She chooses not to tell anyone and makes a list of all the things she wants to do before she dies. I must admit I was a bit depressed by the end of the movie, mostly because it exemplified what a life and death without the hope of Christ looks like. All her decisions were selfish and made with the thought that those last 2 months were all she had and so she should do all the "bad" things she's always wondered about, but never done. There were many thought-provoking moments and I really did enjoy the movie for what it was, as well as get a good look into the mind of a non-believer. I came away praising God for the hope I have in Him that this life is not all we have and, in fact, is not about us at all; thankful that my spouse is alive and healthy; and wondering how I might live if I knew these could be my last days. That is challenging!

International Dinner Party

We had the priviledge of eating dinner with Mirta and Gigi last night. The Ohnes' are a family in our church plant team with 3 adorable kids and another on the way. They are servants and are constantly opening their home to welcome anyone in. We were happy to receive the invitation to come and hang out and get to know them better. The Ohnes' are temporarily housing an Egyptian guy named Fadi as he prepares for his wedding in less than 2 weeks to a great Bolivian girl, Raimy. Fadi's friend, Fadi, came over during the meal, another Egyptian guy who is also dating a Bolivian (I think I see a trend here), but is only here for a short time. Gigi is half Bolivian, half German, and of course, Scotty and I completed the group, totaling 4 different nationalities respresented at this small dinner party. We had a blast sharing with each other in English, Spanish, and occasionally hearing a little Arabic. We were over until almost midnight, laughing and eating way more than necessary, but enjoying the classic Bolivian hospitality that we have come to love and desire to replicate in our own home.

The light at the end of the tunnel

Well, it has been a long, hard week, but we are finally starting to come out of the haze of sadness that has seemed to envelope us from time to time this week. Thankfully, Scotty had much preparation for the sermon he preached this morning to keep him focused on God's Word and we had a flood of visitors, flowers, food, and over 150 emails to remind us that we were not alone in the suffering. My homework for ESI was to read, study, and meditate on Romans 5, in which Paul expresses his views on suffering- which leads us through the path to perserverance, character, and hope...a hope that does not disappoint. We hold on to this hope, through Jesus, knowing that God is ultimately good and works that good in our lives through all types of circumstances. We've found opportunities, even in tears, to share the hope we have with many around us. We can't even begin to thank all of you enough for the numerous prayers and words of encouragement that were sent our way- we felt your love and were confirmed by the community God has established in our lives, providing relationships that we depend on to help us push through and walk out our faith as a body.

Scotty was assigned the second of the 10 commandments to preach on at La Comunidad this morning. We prayed all week and he worked hard to prepare a message that hopefully transmitted this law as well as God's great love for us in desiring us to honor him above all other gods or images, knowing that He alone is great. Scotty did a fantastic job and I continue to be amazed by the abilities God has given him to communicate, even in a language that is not his own. We're looking forward to a week filled with prep for a church plant retreat we'll have next week, and enjoying various friends in the home as well as visiting others in their homes. Little by little, we see God opening doors for more relationships.

Blessed be your name!

Blessed be your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's all as it should be
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be your name

Every blessing you pour out, I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say...
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say Lord,
Blessed be your name

We find ourselves blessing the name of the Lord these past two days as we wrestle with the sadness of losing our first little baby. We went in for a routine check-up yesterday to find the baby's heart had stopped beating. We spent the day in the hospital- Scotty and I crying, praying, and resting togeter- knowing that in all things God is good. We won't ever completely understand His reasons for taking our baby, but we continue to trust in Him and await His perfect timing for a family. We have been showered with love and prayers from our friends and family here, as well as the few at home that know. It's been one of God's gifts of mercy to us in this time to see the outpouring of love and know that we are being taken care of. We know that you all will be praying as well, and can't thank you enough. We enjoyed being parents for a few short months and look forward to doing it again.

Happy independence day!

Yesterday was Bolivia's independence day and we were hoping to celebrate by enjoying a beautiful day outside, grilling out with our friends. We were invited to a teachers BBQ- the crew from Highlands International Christian School, which is located in Mallasilla, was giving the new and old teachers this year an opportunity to get to know each other and have one more vacation day before work started today. Because we are somewhat involved with the teachers at the school and hope to be a resource and encouragement to them, we were invited along as well. Our good friends James and Julie opened their lovely home for an all day meat-frisbee-dessert-movie fest, and we enjoyed every second of it. It was neat to interact with the new teachers and hear how God called them to be a part of this school in La Paz, as well as catch up with the old teachers who were all on summer break and listen to how they spent their time back home. As usual, there was a pile of steak, chicken and sausage- much more than we could all finish, but Scotty was up for the challenge of doing his part and maybe a little more. When we were all so stuffed, we didn't think we could eat anything else, dessert came out and we proved to have a few more rounds of eating in all of us. Then, to work off all that meat and ice cream, we chose to run around like crazy people for an hour or so, playing ultimate frisbee. I was quite impressed with everyone who had just returned to La Paz, knowing that the altitude is a very serious hindrance to any type of intense physical activity. But, everyone played their hardest, and "team Miser" ended the playoffs with a win- that felt good! We all crashed inside and eventually got around to watching the first, extended version, Lord of the Rings, which was a perfect way to end a super fun day.

Change of pace

Well, all our visitors have come and gone and we are looking forward to getting back in the swing of "normal" life (whatever that is!). My best friend, Allysen, just left yesterday after a 2 week stay, and we were able to do some really fun excursions with her. The first was a day trip out to the country with a Bolivian family we are getting to know better that will join our church plant soon. They have 2 fun boys and love the outdoors and camping. They took us on a bumpy truck drive through mountains and mostly dry river beds toward the base of Mount Illimani. The villages around us were full of farms- veggies, fruits, and flowers. They took a bag of clothes for the residents and in exchange received what was in season (not much in the winter)- walnuts, lettuce, greens, lemons, and some fruit I can't remember the name of. I bought 2 pounds of walnuts for $2.50- score! Let me know if anyone has any good walnut recipes... We loved hiking around, playing frisbee, picnicking, and generally enjoying the warmer weather of a lower region and becoming better friends with this family. Later that week, Ally, Scotty, and I headed to the mountainous jungle region called Coroico. There's a small town there that caters to the backpacker-type tourist and is warm all year round. This was sheer bliss for me, who tends to shrivel up and become a bit cranky during long spells of cold. We hiked again, swam in the pool (I could only manage to stick my legs in, as the water was icy!), ate, and rested together. I didn't want to leave! Actually, Ally and I returned for another 2 nights before she left, instead of heading up to Lake Titicaca, which is also beautiful, but freezing. The idea of more pool time was a much bigger draw. Check out the view from our hostel balcony:

It was great having visitors, but we are excitedly looking ahead to the next couple of months, preparing to open the church doors. Scotty has some opportunities to teach at the neighborhood Bible study, preach at our mother church, lead some sessions at an upcoming church plant retreat, and help our new pastor specify some vision statement and doctrinal stuff. Where does that leave me? This is a question I've been asking myself and praying a lot about lately. My role as wife and woman often looks very different from Scotty's obvious leadership roles. We have both been challenged lately in the area of discipleship and being much more involved in intimate, intentional discipling relationships. I want to be more hospitable and get to know some of the women and young people in the neighborhood, as well as work hard on my ESI coursework, which starts up again tomorrow. A lot of these ideas are a bit vague or dependent on time to build relationships and so I often feel like I'm not doing what I should be. But God's grace is great and I know He will use me for His purposes and my role is obedience and faith. All of this along with a baby coming sometimes makes me a little anxious! But, as we are wisely instructed in the Word, my response should not be anxiety, but presenting all these things to our soverign Lord.

Retreat

It's been a while since our church plant team has gotten together. These seem to be the months when people are travelling, so we've postponed several meetings on Sundays and now have a request from the elders that we return to Sunday mornings at our mother church until we are sent out to open the doors of the plant in October. Yesterday was a holiday, meaning the best time to try to get the whole team together to go through a load of stuff we have been wanting to talk about for months. One of those things was the acceptance of the elders and the man we were praying for to give pastoral leadership to join the team. This was exciting news for all of us and he and his family joined us at lunch and stayed through the rest of the afternoon to start getting a feel for where we are as a group. We chatted about prospective opening dates- early October, and all the practical work that will need to be done to prepare us for that time- forming worship groups, Sunday school groups, financial groups, etc... There are so many details to starting a church! We also finished up the study Scotty has been leading on the attributes of God. It was a rich time, as it always is, to meditate and talk about God's amazing attributes that cause us to worship Him and understand His ways more and more. My best friend Ally has come for a visit and she was gracious enough to lead the kids time for the whole day, even though she doesn't speak much Spanish- kids have many ways of communicating! We finally feel like there is more of a camaraderie forming between the members of the team and we are excited for all that we have ahead of us in the next couple of months.

Winter Wonderland

We've had a few days of fluke weather this winter. Normally, there is very little or no precipitation during the dry winter months in Bolivia. The past 4 days or so, God has chosen to shake things up a bit. As our friends, the Hursts, were driving back from the conference in Cochabamba on Sunday, they crawled along in a 4 hour blizzard! Since arriving home from Cochabamba, the weather has remained overcast with showers, meaning snow for the higher altitudes. It almost never snows in the city, but as we passed through El Alto on our way to Lake Titicaca yesterday, we saw the left-overs of the snow that had fallen several days ago. I've never seen snow there before- it was beautiful! El Alto is typically a somewhat depressing city to drive through, the signs of poverty and hopelessness impossible to ignore. But, with a layer of shiny, if fairly dirty, white snow covering the rooftops and ground- it almost looked enchanting! We laughted at the funny snowmen/snowanimals/snowfamilies that we passed on our way out of town and marvelled at the snow-dusted Cordillera Real mountains that lined the horizon. As much as I yearn for warm weather these days, I must say that God is a master of creation and beauty and be thankful for His hand in creating this scene for us.

Enjoying a delicious dinner with our good friends

If you're wondering why I haven't written in a while- I will explain. Last Saturday night Scotty and I excitedly awaited the arrival of two very good friends from Charlotte, Laura and Andrew. Andrew took on the position of a fill-in preacher at the local international church for 3 weeks while they await a new pastor later in the year. We so enjoyed getting to know this couple during our year in Charlotte and have been enjoying their presence and encouragement with us in Bolivia. I was especially impressed when we showed up to the international church last week and instead of Andrew only preaching, as they prepared him in advance to do, they asked him if he was ready with a few songs and to give the Lord's supper...he had to run and create the entire service because none of the normal leadership was around! He rolled with it extremely gracefully and led us all in a beautiful time of worship as if he'd done it a hundred times before. The first week of their stay, we had planned on taking Laura and Andrew to Cochabamba for our annual SIM conference. Our La Paz SIM team, minus children The morning we were planning on driving to the conference, we received a call from one of our teammates who informed us there were blockades halfway through the journey that would not be passable...we would have to fly. But, there were also no flights that day, so we'd have to be a day late for the conference and go the next day. We managed to get out of the house by 5:15 in the morning to make it to the airport in time for our short flight to Coch and arrived at conference just in time for the first morning session. I so enjoyed meeting a bunch of SIM missionaries whose names I've heard, but I've never met in person. One of the most impactful times for me was hearing the stories of fellow missionaries who have been serving in Bolivia for 15, 25, or 35 years! They came young, had children, raised their children, and some are even grandparents of kids who are still in Bolivia. I was inspired to see the commitment and love that these families had for this country, for the Lord, and for taking part in God's raising up of Christian leadership in the church. It's good to be a part of a family that is deeply rooted in this culture because that is what Scotty and I also aspire to do. We left conference early, again because of a lack of flights back, and look forward to another week of touring and hanging out with our friends. The day they leave is Bolivian Independence Day and we have an all day church planting retreat that day to discuss and work through many issues that have been left hanging for the last month or so. We are getting excited about the possibility of opening the church doors in a matter of months and have much work to do in order to be prepared for that. Scotty and I invited Edgar, the man who will be our temporary pastor, and his family over for lunch a week or so ago and enjoyed getting to know them better and expressed our joy at the prospect of them joining on and helping lead us into outreach in this community. God has big plans!

Land

We are finally land-owners! After many weeks of bargaining and working with a lawyer to clear all the paperwork, we own a cute little piece of property about 2 blocks from where we live now...we can even see it out our family room window. One morning, as Scotty was heading to what he thought was going to be the meeting with the lawyer and the owner where we sign the dotted line and the land becomes our property, everything became a bit more complicated. He found out that the owner was expecting us to have the total amount we were to pay, in cash, ready to hand over. Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not real comfortable carrying thousands of dollars in my pocket, through downtown, where pocket theft is as common as McDonalds. We brainstormed for a while and immediately began the process of shifting money around from account to account so that we would be able to take out that much at once. Around here, because deception and dishonesty is such a problem on so many levels, you don't get what you're paying for until you produce the money in full. Unfortunately, our land-owning, lawyer friend apparently doesn't have a bank account, so we couldn't just transfer the money there. And, if he did, he doesn't want to have to pay fees on that large sum being transfered, so he'd rather have the cash. We finally agreed that we would sign the papers and then all walk together to the bank where Scotty would withdrawl the money and hand it over. This seemed to be an agreeable deal and according to our many prayers, the transaction went smoothly and safely. Scotty went out this morning to contract 2 neighborhood boys to move a large stack of rocks that sits in front of the garage into our lot so that we can soon have some temporary doors put up to keep out loiterers. The old owner warned us that people liked to use our property "for a bathroom"- as people have a tendency to do whenever and wherever the urge hits them- so we'd like to get some doors up pretty quick. Then we wait. Probably for a couple years. We've spent almost all our money just buying the land, so we've decided to raise some more money and wait until we've returned from our home assignment in 2009 to begin the building process. That gives us lots of time to dream!

Hooray for cinnamon rolls!

I've mentioned Alexander's Coffee Shop in my blogs before- our favorite coffee shop in town, Bolivia's version of Starbucks. Well, long ago I fell in love with their sweet, warm cinnamon rolls- a favorite of mine since childhood. I don't often treat myself to these indulgent treasures, but a while back, I made a pact with myself and Scotty that as soon as I became pregnant, my reward would be a cinnamon roll. Well, here's me with my long-awaited bun!

That's right folks, we have created Bud Miser...well, God did the hard part I'd have to say. We are happy to announce that we have been blessed with a baby, due February 11 and we are ecstatic! We've been talking, thinking, dreaming, and praying about this for some months, and now that it's reality, it's a little scary! But, I am enjoying the process of sharing the news with our friends here and receiving all kinds of interesting baby advice, which I might write a blog about in the future. I'm looking at maternity clothes online, since my options here are super limited, and we're looking forward to having a crib and other baby furniture made to our specifications to turn a guest room into the nursery. God is good in His perfect timing and it is an amazing and awe-inspiring thought that there is a real being inside of me that can live and form into a baby over the next 9 months. Join with us in praying for little Bud and the extra stresses on my body that I might experience living at a high altitude- we trust God is in control.

Graduation

Last night was the graduation ceremony for our Equipping Servants Internship class. There are 15 ESI classes around the country, teaching men (and now one group of women!) important theological truths through studying the scripture and other texts that inform and equip us to become more effective and loving, Christ-like leaders. Not only does the class require quite a bit of time in the Word (Romans mostly) and meditation on it, but we share a time of transparency during each class with a small group- sharing our struggles and sins, how much our hearts are on fire for God, and how our relationship with our spouse is going. Scotty and I have both finished the first of 5 modules- each a semester long- and last night we joined 194 other ESI members and their families to receive our certificates. At first I thought it was kind of a silly idea, this graduation ceremony, since the majority of us had not finished the whole course yet. Plus, it was Sunday night and I just wanted to sit at home and watch a movie. But as I watched so many men, and a hand full of women, walk up to the front of the church with big smiles on their faces, I realized what a privilege it is to be a part of such an incredible training process. And to understand better the way God is working in these Bolivian Christians lives, deepening and strengthening their knowledge and understanding of who God is, knowing that they will directly impact the lives of others around the country. This class is seriously transforming and God has the power through it to transform a multitude of people.

Scotty enjoyed his last ESI class last week out at the house of one of his classmates. They studied in the morning and then grilled out at lunchtime. It's neat to see the relationships he has made with these pastors that are in his class, sharing years of godly wisdom with each other.

Fidel Castro

We gave Fidel Castro a jump last night. That's right- Fidel Castro. We were coming down from a friend's apartment and saw a family standing around on the sidewalk. As we were getting into our car, the young father came around to ask if we could give his car a jump. We agreed readily and the process was quick and succesful. He asked what he owed us and we told him nothing. So he whipped out this flashy business card with a picture of a Hummer on it, and told us if we ever needed anything, he owns a car parts store, and would be of help. I'm not sure I trust a car guy who drives a car that needed to be jumped...or whose name is Fidel Castro.

Hostess with the mostest

Ok, so maybe I don't have the "mostest" (what kind of word is that anyway?)...but I am really enjoying playing hostess these days. Last week, our friends James and Julie moved in for 5 or 6 days while their parents took over their small apartment in town. I enjoyed waking up early and chatting with Julie before both of us took off to our respective activities of the day. They came home late after a full day of showing the in-laws around town, for Julie, and finishing the last week of teaching high school math and science, for James. We would drink tea on the couches and chat for a few minutes before the 4 of us crashed. The day we left for Cochabamba, Whitney came to stay. She's finishing out her last week with us, having just completed her teaching work as well, and excited to return back to States to plan her wedding which will be in December. J & J moved out on Sunday and so we're down to just the 3 of us- it's like being married and having a great, female roomate at the same time! Whit and I also enjoy hanging out in the mornings and over dinner- she's the type of person who will join in on the dish cleaning and other household chores without being asked. Usually we tell her not to, but she insists. I've prepared a yummy meal of taco casserole for dinner and invited over a handful of our friends to wish Whitney safe travels back home. We'll be driving her up to the airport at about 3:45am. Dang, that's early...

It's a joy to have people in our house. When we were first married, I had to work myself into having people over- it was something I always wanted to be a high value in our family, but I wasn't quite sure how to do it and make it fun. Little by little, my cooking skills increased and I continue to perfect the art of relaxing and not expecting everything to be perfect. Sometimes my herbed potatoes are a little too crunchy or my chicken casserole is a bit bland- but I know that everyone participating is being blessed by the time spent together in a home. Making the connections, laughing with people, doing dishes together afterward- it's all part of the call God has on us to show hospitality to each other. Young, old, single, married- I have been challenged to continually open my home and let people live life with us, even if it's messy. God is blessing us and others in that process, and I hope to continue growing in that way.

Root beer-worthy

From time to time I'll find Diet Root Beer in the supermarket here- one of my favorite sodas from home (I don't drink a lot of soda and prefer the dangers of fake sugar to that of real). I usually buy a couple and save them up until I've had a bad day and need a treat or I'm doing something exciting that warrants an imported beverage. Scotty and I left on Thursday morning for Cochabamba, the city where I worked for 2 years with youth before we got married. There was a graduation going on Friday night for a class that had many youth I very much enjoyed spending time with and we were hoping to see them walk and also visit with some other families we know in the city. Our drive started out eventful...We decided to take a backroad up to El Alto, where you leave the city on the main road heading toward Cochabamba. On the way up, our little station wagon lost steam on a hill (it wasn't even that steep) and Scotty had to get out into the dusty road and give her a push to get us going again. Once we got to the top, we noticed that all the vehicles were suddenly leaving the highway and either turning around or heading out toward the dirt roads and fields that parallel it. A group had gathered and was growing, starting to throw rocks into the street and look ready to throw them at any car that tried to pass the human/rock blockade. We quickly realized that a blockade is not somewhere we, or anyone else, should be, so we followed the public transport vans up and down the rocky backroads until we had driven far enough to get back onto the main road. This had both aspects of a root beer-worthy occasion: stress and excitement! The trip was quick after that and we found ourselves pulling into warm, breezy Cochabamba in no time. First stop- awesome American style movie theatre with food court. Why don't they have anything like this in La Paz?? We caught a matinee with friends, after taking a stroll around the area to find a donut shop (also not found in La Paz) to make me envious of those who live there. Next stop was the SIM guest house where we were hoping to find the parents of one of the youth who was graduating- a family we know and love and spent some time with when we were in NC last year. We enjoyed catching up with them for a few minutes and then Scotty and I had a date at my favorite restaurant in the city. I ordered Surubi in an herbs and nut sauce, which was delicious- Surubi is a large, jungle river fish that makes a nice steak. After dinner and a stroll around one of the more active strips in the downtown area, we headed to our old Spanish teachers house. What a blessing this family has been to us- making us one of their own and opening thier home for us whenever we are around. We feel very comfortable there and amoung friends. We crashed early, hoping the coca tea I drank right before bed wouldn't keep me up all night reliving the memories of Scotty and I falling in love in that place- although that wouldn't be so bad! The next day was full with more running into missionary friends, SIM official business, shopping, and lunch with the same couple that came to watch the movie with us. We began to realize what a wonderful vacation spot Coch will and has become for us as time goes on. Friday night was graduation, the first time I had been back to this Christian school in over 2 years. So many familiar faces! The night went better than I expected- seeing more youth than I thought I would and a few who already graduated that returned from the states for the summer, catching people up on our lives, remembering the joy and challenge it is to work with teenagers. Scotty and I both caught the vision of being more involved in the lives of the youth at the Christian school in our little community of Mallasilla and prayed that when we have high school aged kids, they will have adults in their lives to impact them for Christ. It was so fun to be back! Another good nights sleep and we were on the road this morning. The trip in bus takes about 8 hours, but we shaved off the time to about 4 1/2. We stopped along the way to hike up to some fun rock formations and stretch our legs a bit at a little over 13,000ft. Breathtaking in more ways than one.

Scotty and I enjoying the scenery.

Sometimes you have those little get-aways when you see that God really wanted to bless you, cause you to enjoy your spouse more, remind you of the great relationships He's structured around you. I am thankful for those times and know this was one of them.

Land update

For those of you who receive our newsletters (let me know if you don't and want to!), you know that we have been praying about a piece of property that we found nearby that is for sale. The cool thing is that the guy who owns it did not plan on selling it originally- but because we take lots of walks around the neighborhood and frequently ask about land for sale, Scotty was able to make a connection with Macario and give him our phone number, just in case he ever decided to sell it. Not too much time passed after that before he called and explained that he was in need of money to finish building an apartment complex and he would be willing to talk with us- God's hand obviously at work. We've chatted off and on about the piece, but we weren't quite prepared to offer what he wanted for it. We continued to pray and he asked us to think about raising our offer and getting back to him. We lost touch for a month or so because he was in the process of moving, and we were starting to wonder if that wasn't God's way of showing us that wasn't the land He had for us. But, a day after praying again, on-site, Macario rang us up and wondered what we had decided. We had him over that very afternoon and once again made an offer that we felt good about. He accepted, afer a bit of discussion about it, and so we are one step closer to owning property! Today, we went to see a lawyer and show all the papers to her to make sure everything is in order and legal. In Mallasilla, nothing is very official, and we have heard numerous stories of land being sold to several parties, and then legal feuds resulting to figure out who is the real owner...that is never pretty. So, the lawyer was generally encouraging, although there are a few things of concern that she is going to help us investigate a bit more. We are getting very excited to think we might own land soon. I admit I am a bit scared because the process is something so new and foreign to us, as well as possibly tricky and definitely expensive. But we trust the Lord to provide for us and to take care of us, and we already see how He has given us great contacts in the area to help us along.

Advancing

I'm not sure if we've ever shared what we call our church plant team at this time: La Avanzada. In Spanish, this means "the advance". I think we are all beginning to feel at this point like we are making some great advances. Saturday night we had a planning and strategy meeting- probably the first one we have been able to have in the 8 months we've been here. Getting the whole group together once a week is challenging enough when most work until 8 or 8:30 every night and also have small children to take care of when they get home. Weekends are sacred days for families around here, so it's tough to take time on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon to get together for an extra meeting. However, we've begun to realize that God is doing great things in Mallasilla and there is quite a need for a church to open. This means that our avanzada team needs to move along and speed up the process a little- the biggest concern being that of finding a pastor. So on Saturday, we had a full agenda and a long night ahead of us. Although we had decided to bypass the customary dinner that would be provided by the host of an evening meeting, our team member, Mirta, decided to bless us and the moms especially (as Sunday was Bolivian Mother's Day), with a massive meal of homemade pasta and sauces of all types. Typical to every meeting, we started about 1 1/2 late and were interrupted partway through by a hot dinner, which inevitably wrapped up our discussion session. Even though we barely touched the tip of the iceburg in our time there, we all had a chance to share our feelings on who God had laid on our hearts to invite as interim pastoral leadership. Edgar Mamani is an elder and pastoral assistant at our mother church, and a fantastic preacher. He is from El Alto, and the lower class, but studied to become a lawyer and has moved a bit in the social hierarchy. Because of these two caracteristics, he can reach a broad range of the people represented in Mallasilla. Besides that, he is solid in doctrine, practical in his application of the Word, and a teacher that captures peoples attention and leads them into a desire to know God more. The feeling of the group was unanimous in their desire to invite Edgar to be a part of the team and on this Friday, Greg and Scotty will spend a half day with the elders, presenting our timeline for the new church and expressing our hopes for Edgar. It's an exciting time and we are all feeling that things are finally moving along and that the next few months will be packed full of study and prayer as we seek to follow God in His leadership.

Mallasilla Chalet

For a while now, we've been talking about naming our home in Mallasilla- a good, strong name that eloquently expresses our dreams and feelings about this place. Today, Scotty found the perfect name: In Quechua (one of the 2 native languages) it is called Pachakaya Upki. This translates: Chalet Cat Hair Everywhere. We've found that no other name would quite do justice to the state of our house- and our clothes for that matter. In this chilly city, we live daily in black fleeces, which we have found to be one of the most powerful, man-made cat hair magnets ever created. I think we might need to raise our support levels just to keep ourselves stocked with those little tape roller brushes that take hair off clothes. Scotty has found a new hobby in forming small, life-like creatures out of loose cat hair found in the linens or clothes, and has taken to selling them in the streets downtown. It really is working itself into a wonderful ministry opportunity...

House of Hope

I spent all day on Friday at La Casa de Esperanza- the House of Hope. This ministry reaches out to the prostitutes living and working in El Alto- the extremely poor, fastest-growing Latin American city that lies about 1000ft. directly above La Paz. Right on the main avenue is a simple brick building with 3 spacious stories where prostitutes, or those who desire to leave that line of work, can come to receive lunch, a place for their kids to play, and love. Although I know a couple girls who work in this ministry, I haven't previously had the opportunity to see the home. Today is Bolivian Mother's Day and so the ministry decided to throw a party on Friday. We were invited to help out with kids program, entertaining and loving them while the moms were blessed with a time of music, food, and laughter. A praise team from our church, La Comunidad, came to sing praises and encourage those who know him to do the same. Unfortunately, the majority of the women are not that far along yet, and mostly ignored the music. We had about 30 kids of various ages upstairs and enjoyed singing, making crafts, eating, and watching a video with them. I couldn't help but wonder if most of these kids knew their father, or even if their mothers knew who the father was. I silently prayed for them, asking the Lord to be the perfect Father that they will never have on earth. 500 women were invited and there were probably around 200 that were able to come. My directer friend told me that getting them out of bed that early (12:00pm!) was a challenge and she was impressed with the group that arrived. The women seemed to enjoy themselves immensely and I enjoyed a peek into the work my friends do as I asked questions about the House of Hope. It's a tough ministry, something you can be involved in for years and see little fruit. Most women don't want to get out or try for a little while and return. One of the women that they've been working with for years was murdered in a brothel last week. It's good to know, however, that there is a place of hope, and I trust that in God's goodness and his time, many women will find peace there.

Tag- I'm it!

My good friend Kelly, in Charlotte, tagged me a few days ago. I actually found it difficult to think of 8 little known things about myself that I actually wanted other people to know!

Here are the rules: Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. My roomate in Cochabamba convinced me to try a cooked guinea pig leg that she had brought home from a rural town...claws still attached (and a couple strands of hair). Do not try this at home.

2. I was frequently mistaken for a little boy toward the end of my elementary years- that is not helpful for a little girls self-esteem.

3. I can pop my shoulder on command.

4. My favorite stuffed animal is a ratty, pitiful looking baby duck named "Chicky" that my brother bought for me at a garage sale when I was about six (I still have it).

5. It is physically impossible for me to turn away a piece (or 3) of birthday cake.

6. If I could choose to have a career in the arts and be endowed with a God-given skill for it, I would be a dancer.

7. I work sauteed onions into almost every meal I cook.

8. I have been spit on my a llama.

PS. Sorry if anyone is offended, sadened, or grossed out by the cooked guinea pig picture.

I tag:

Timara

Julie

Annette

Mara-Liisa

John/Michelle

Sara

9. I only have 6 other blogging friends that haven't already been tagged by someone else.

10. I don't know how to make my friends names be a link to thier blog...lame!

Lustrabotas

Llamas causing a traffic jam

A funny thing happened on the way downtown yesterday. We got on a busy highway that leads from our side of town up to the center. It was early morning and the cars were beginning to clump together a bit, leading us to believe it was only a result of work traffic. As we moved forward a little, we noticed a large herd of llamas trotting down the sidewalk with 3 herders doing their best to keep them out of the right-hand lane. Well, llamas obviously never learned the rules of the road because they kept wandering out in front of cars and generally causing chaos. It's a funny thing to see fuzzy llamas moving down the highway and even more perplexing trying to figure out where they came from and where they were heading- there aren't too many pastures or fields in the La Paz area...

So, our purpose for going into town was to meet up with a group of shoeshiners who are in the testing phase of a new tourism project. First, a little history on shoeshiners. Bolivia is littered with hundreds of these mostly young men (although there are some older men and some women) who spend anywhere from 6-12 hours on the streets a day to shine shoes for about $.06 per shine (whoa!). They tend to wear ski masks and hats- some say to block out the fumes from cars, but most admit it's because they are embarrassed of what they do for a living.

Me and Julie with our shoeshining friends.

There are a good number of kids who live on the streets that shine shoes, but most shiners are actually just trying to make a few bolivianos to help out their families or get themselves through school. They are looked down upon by the rest of society, often blamed for thefts on the streets, and according to Lonley Planet, are a general nusciance. We've had the opportunity to get to know a few guys through the ministry of our friend Randy, who spends time with these young men, teaching them about God and encouraging them to rise above the stigmas that are placed on them and make a way for themselves in the world. There is another NGO here that is also encouraging the shiners and supporting them in a new business venture that was birthed by Wilmer, a 25 year old shoeshiner who is determined to do something more than shine shoes all his life. His idea, and now the idea of many guys, is to invite tourist groups to come and learn about what they do. You are given a mask, gloves, old clothes, and a hat, as well as your own shoe shine box and materials. The guys demonstrate how to shine and then give you a chance to practice on them before you hit the streets, dressed anonymously as a Bolivian shoeshiner. As you walk, they explain the ins and outs of shining, joining specific associations that give you the right to shine in a certain area, and the average salary of a shiner (between $2-$5/day). Then, you split up, each person or small group of people having a shiner as their guide, and you shine shoes. Initially, I was intimidated by the people walking by, knowing that they were all usually in a rush, and lacking confidence in my new shining skills. But Ramiro, my guide, would send all his business my way and encourage me along as I shined. I gratefully received my first $.06 from the mother of the little boy whose shoes I had just shined, and my confidence and excitement grew. We sat on our tiny, wooden seats for a little while longer, chatting about the life of a shoe shiner, Ramiro's excitement for the new seminary class he just started, the home church that recently began meeting in his home, and his hopes for the future. He's 26 years old and has been shining for 13 years, always with the intent of helping contribute to his families needs, and now to help him finish college and continue with seminary classes. Most people look right through him when they walk by. I shined one more man's shoes before we got up and the official history tour began. Ramiro took me through the downtown area, showing me the well known plazas and sharing information on the government and different phases of Bolivia's history and culture.

Why is that big gringo shining shoes??

After a few hours of shining and walking, we met back up with Scotty (who makes one big, scary shoeshiner) and our friend Julie to head back to their office. We had a small wrap up session and put in our thoughts about how they can improve and then enjoyed a typical (huge) Bolivian lunch with the group and a bunch of other shoeshiners that come to shower and eat in the building. It was the first time I have ever been able to go out on the streets and blend in as a Bolivian..what a strange feeling!

Would you be able to recognize me?

I'm hopeful for this team that their project will be a success and a way of opening eyes to who shoeshiners really are. I'm grateful we had the chance to experience a few moments of life in their shoes.

Shining shoes in front of the plaza San Francisco

Mount Illimani

Illimani is the 2nd highest mountain in Bolivia, measuring 21,122 ft, and can be seen in all its glory on any clear day from La Paz. It is a mountain that commands awe from those who see it towering high into the heavens and holds legend in the minds of Bolivians and foreigner alike. May 1 is Bolivian Labor Day and apparently a very popular holiday around here (realized by us when we were serenaded by booming music a block or so away from dusk until dawn on Labor Day Eve). Since everyone has the day off, we hooked up with our adventurous friends James and Julie to take a drive out to Mount Illimani. I was praying for no clouds- they have a tendency to congregate right on top of the mountain, hence blocking our astounding view of the snow-capped peaks. We started from our end of town, weaving farther down into the valley, losing thousands of feet as we drove toward the mountain. The most exciting part of our trip was when we came to a river crossing and found a small Bolivian man running around in his underwear, attempting to free his car from the grip of the water and mud. Thankfully, our travel partners have braved many a river crossing much deeper than than one we were at and were able to encourage us in the ease with which we could take across our landcruiser. James first tested the depth by hiking up his shorts (at least he kept his pants on) and walking across to feel for large rocks. After we made it without a problem, we decided to test the winch on our car, which we've never used, in order to help our pants less friend (his wife sitting in the car looking less than pleased) make it out. We hooked on to his little Russian sedan and towed him to dry land. With a huge smile on his face, I asked him if he had crossed these rivers much..."All the time!" was his response with a laugh. "In that?" I asked, motioning toward his little, yellow vehicle. "Of course!" He then informed us that there was a deeper river just down the road and we could follow him so that we could pull him across that one too. Happy to oblige and enjoying the interesting stories that form along the way, we continued bouncing along the dry river bed to the second river. Here, a car had to enter a bit upstream, drive a few feet down the river, and exit on the other side. After successfully trying that once, we headed back into the river to hook ourselves on again. This time, we had to stop in the river, at which point our friend Julie noted that the car was starting to sink down bit by bit. This was slightly frightening to me, imaging nothing devastating happening, except the engine flooding and being stuck in this valley for a good long time until someone could help us out. Thankfully, we were able to attach ourselves in time and backed our way across the river with Pablo and his wife in tow. We exchanged handshakes and phone numbers at the end with Pablo's assurance that if we ever needed a mechanic (his profession), he was available to us. We continued on our way, climbing higher and higher to our destination. We finally ran across a small town where we decided to park the car, asked some young guys who were hanging out in the plaza if there was a hike to a good look-out for Illimani, and began our walk. It wasn't long before we came to a peak and found a great view of the mountain, although the majority of it was covered in clouds. We took the opportunity to snap a few pics of each other and then descended, all of us already tired from the 4 hour drive. The most memorable part of the trip for me was when we stopped to pick up a couple that was waiting on the side of the road for a bus. Country folk will take any mode of transportation available to get into the city. While we were loading their stuff onto the top of the truck, an elderly woman came up to my window to ask for a ride. I told her to jump in the back, but before that, she signaled to a group of others that none of us had seen, and they all came running down the road to hitch a ride with the gringos. Now there were about 7 trying to squeeze in the back seat of our car with their huge aguayo sacks, full and tied to their backs. We tried to tell them we only had room for 3, but they were already in and they weren't moving. Poor James, who was on top of the roof loading their stuff, was not left a space to sit. We asked them politely to get out, then we asked them a little more firmly to get out, than we told them we weren't going anywhere and started taking their stuff off the roof. "But there's only a few of us! We fit fine! We don't have that much stuff!" Oh boy! They only conceded to getting out of the vehicle when they saw their stuff sitting on the ground behind them. So, muttering prayers of thanks under our breaths, we continued on with the original couple and made it home with fun memories of a good day.

Catching up

Since returning from Spain, our time has been spent trying to catch up on life we missed while being away. For me, that took the form of doing homework everyday for my ESI class. For those of you who haven't heard about this class, it's called Equipping Servants Internship and is a rigorous 2 1/2 year study of the book of Romans and various other textbooks covering useful theological issues (we are reading through How to Interpret the Bible by RC Sproul right now- inm Spanish!). We only meet once a week, but the information that is covered and the homework assigned easily fills up the week preceeding the next class. My class is the first one offered for women, being something aimed at pastors and church leaders, the original idea was for men only. The cool thing is that it has had such an impact in the lives of Bolivian leaders that their wives are getting excited about studying the Word too. So, I have joined the first women's ESI group and am finding it an incredible challenge to study these concepts in Spanish, but such a rewarding and fascinating study of God's message to us. Tonight I have to lead class and I'm pretty much terrified. Let you know how it goes...

We also had the chance to see our new friends in Mallasilla that attend a Bible study nearby. They were wondering where we had gotten lost (the literal translation of how they ask where you've been after a long time) and welcomed us back with warm hugs and big smiles. Their news, which they had been sitting on, eager to share, was that they had spoken with the neighborhood group that owns a building in the center of town about our church plant team, and we were offered to use the buliding for free! The thing that makes this extremely exciting is that these people are most likely comitted to worshiping the earth goddess and have no impulse whatsoever to spread Christianity here. Our evangelistic friends from the Bible study also reminded us how ready and willing they are to help if we want to start meeting here on Sundays to do a kids club, at least until we have a pastor and are ready to open the church. More and more people in the neighborhood smile and say "hi" as we walk around, giving us the impression that God has been preparing the way and is bringing things to a point where we can really start diving into ministry here. It's so exciting!

Another new development in the last week is related to the on-going process of looking for land to buy with the future intent of building a house. We found a piece of property that we like very much and had the chance to meet with the owner last week to discuss a price. His offer is quite a bit higher than we were hoping, but we have reason to believe it is a very reasonable price and one that we are definitely praying about. We're dreaming about what kind of house we would build there, spending time in our upstairs prayer room that will look out over the rugged Andes, and imagining our little kids playing in the yard and with the neighborhood boys and girls that are always out on the streets.

So, that's the update. It seems that there is plenty to do in the next few months- so many changes still happening within our church plant group, the prospect of teams coming in the summer, looking for an office so that we can finally have highspeed internet and communicate better with all of you... God has richly blessed our lives, our marriage, and our ministry. We are content serving Him here in La Paz.

Spain

Some of our most devoted readers might be wondering where we have been for the past couple of weeks. The answer is: Spain! Scotty has a love for the country and has been wanting to introduce me to it ever since we've been togther, and we decided that there's no time like the present! So, a little over 2 weeks ago, we began the journey with a gruelling 13 hour plane ride, in which I didn't get up once. Whoa! We landed in cold, rainy Madrid and the party began. Our plans had us staying a few days in Madrid, 5 days in Sevilla, and 5 days in Barcelona. I was immediately impressed with the beautiful architecture, the metro system, the strange way Spainards speak Spanish (versus how Bolivians speak), and the sheer quantity of bars and cafes. We spent a good deal of our time in these cafes, sipping cafe con leche, reading, working Sudoku puzzles, and chatting. When we weren't sitting in cafes, we were exploring the cities on foot, stopping every once in a while to take in an art museum or cathedral, but mostly doing our own tours. We made up a game I call "If you had to..." which consists of questions like: "If you had to pick one of the 3 cities we visited to live in, which one would it be?" or "If you could bring one pet back from the dead, which one would you pick?" or "If you could take one piece of this art home, which one would you take and where would you put it?". We amused ourselves for hours with this game and learned a lot about each other too. Now for the highlights: in Madrid- the Prado art museum (I've only seen that stuff in books before!) and the awesome Sunday market that has everything you could ever want to buy at reasonable prices; Sevilla- the bullfight (I didn't think watching a bull being killed would be interesting, but they've made it an art form), Alcazar gardens, eating pastries; Barcelona- the beach!! renting bikes and touring around the town, great food, gorgeous old buildings and plazas. Barcelona was by far our best stop- mostly because it was the only city where it didn't rain and it was warm.

We're super happy to be home and this trip not only served as a rest time for Scotty and me, but a chance to miss La Paz and the community we have here, feeling all the more thankful for it when we came back. What a gift to be able to take a trip like this!

No, this is not a reference to my husband (although he is a bottom-of-the-toothpaste-tube-squeezer), but a fairly hilarious sign we saw outside of a store we were in the other day. The advertisement should say "Super Canal" which is cable TV programming. We had a good laugh.

Tuesday was Scotty's birthday and I had plans to celebrate all day. It all started with a waffle breakfast- definitely one of his favorite ways to start the day. I had a picnic planned, with one of my favorite dishes, quinoa and black beans, for a great overlook in Sopocachi near where we used to live. Unfortunately, it was raining when we got there. Not to be daunted, we decided to party in the car, busting out the Superman Returns plates and cups, and enjoying a yummy meal.

Afterwards, we snuggled into a cozy corner of Alexander's Coffee shop to read and eat a nice apple coffee cake I made, which I accompanied with quiet singing of "Happy Birthday", so the rest of the patrons didn't gawk. We took in a Bolivian flick, which we were thrilled to understand all of, although the rest of the movie wasn't much to comment on. A tour of a few art galleries and some walking around followed, ending with a great dinner at a small, local place we used to frequent when we lived nearby. It was a joy to celebrate the life of the man God has blessed me with as my husband.

Tonight, we took a walk around the neighborhood and ran into a little girl whose parents we just met a few days ago. She chatted away with me while we looked at a potential piece of property we could be interested in buying and then left her, only to run into the maid that works downstairs in our building. We love Margarita and her great sense of humor and were pleased the she decided to come with us on our walk. We had great conversation and I feel like there will be many more opportunities to spend more time together. I've shared an interest in learning how to cook Bolivian food and so she is ready and willing to have me come downstairs some day and watch her prepare lunch (the big meal of the day). We'll see what God does!