Congratulations Matt and Janille!

My brother is getting married... to a most beautiful and wonderful girl!!!! We are so excited and thankful for you guys, Matt and Janille!

Feliz Dia del Padre!

Bolivia celebrates Father's Day on the 19th of March. In honor of the occasion, Michaela and Eliana had a special presentation at school. They recited several poems and presented their daddy with hand painted boxes.

My girls are blessed with such a wonderful father! Happy Father's Day.

Everything you can

You know you are doing everything you can when you...
-boil and filter your drinking water
-filter the water to the whole house
-sterilize all your fruits and vegetables
-sterilize juice bags
-use antibacterial spray on your kitchen counters after washing the dishes
-bleach the rinse water for your dishes
-have antibiotic soap, wet wipes, and hand sanitizer all over the house (and in the car)
-air dry your sippy cups (all dishes for that matter!) until there is not a drop of water on them
-sterilize your toothbrushes once a week
-use boiled water for brushing teeth
-clean/disinfect your bathrooms 3x a week
-sweep and mop (with disinfectant) your floors 3x a week
-empty the trash and lysol the trashcans and bathrooms 3x a week
-continually rebuke and remind your children not to put hands or anything that might possibly be remotely dirty in their mouths!
-contiually rebuke and remind your children to wash their hands
-only order bottled beverages and/or cooked vegetables at restaurants or church functions
-only eat 'God-wrapped' fruit when out and about
-keep your pets outside at all times
-wash towels and linens once a week
-feed your family probiotic yogurt mixed with ground up papaya seeds every day

Despite all these precautions, Eliana still has parasites - we've only been treating them off and on for the last 9 months! This is so frustrating and discouraging. I hate the fact that she is almost always taking some sort of medication. I hate having to force my child to take foul-tasting medicine every day. I hate having to wash out poopy underwear all the time. I hate myself when I get frustrated with Eliana or with washing out poopy underwear; if something were to happen to one of us, I don't want her memories of me to be a frustrated mommy when she can't really help it! I hate taking in samples to the lab 2x a week. I hate seeing Eliana with circles under her eyes and not gaining weight like she should. I hate feeling like I have to force my child to eat to see her gain weight. I hate feeling that I'm sacrificing my child's health to be on the mission field. I hate feeling guilty, like I should be doing something more or better to help her get over these parasites. I cry and pray over this situation all the time.

And yet at a very low point this last week, as I was praying, God helped me put things in a better perspective.
-Eliana is active, intelligent and happy and is not loosing weight.
-What mother doesn't have to wash out poopy underwear?
-What mother doesn't have to force her child to eat or take foul-tasting meds?
-I am not having to care for my child through a life-threatening or debilitating illness.
-Eliana is alive.
-I have the money and means to provide her with good medical care and medicine.
-I have the money and means to buy the cleaning supplies I need to take every precaution to provide her with a clean and healthy home.
-I have the money and means to buy healthy food and provide clean water for my family.

I would appreciate your prayers for myself... my attitude, my patience, my love... it has been one of those emotional roller coaster kind of weeks. And for Eliana, for her complete healing and prevention of getting parasites again. God is good, all the time.

Happy Birthday, Jana!

We finally got around to celebrating Jana's 2nd birthday on Sunday... she turned 2 on February 4th. My baby... 2 years old. It's hard to believe. This time of year always reminds me of her birth. She's my Carnaval baby, born on the Monday of Carnaval 2 years ago. We drove to the clinic with windows rolled up to keep us from getting soaked by the water balloons. That night we didn't get much sleep due to the partying at the disco across the street from the clinic and we had to pay extra for her birth because it was a national holiday. Jana was my surprise baby... surprise pregnancy, surprise - 2 days late (my other 2 came nearly 2 weeks early), surprise red curly hair that gets redder every day, and every day she continues to surprise me with her personality... she is extremely affectionate (she loves giving kisses and hugs), adventerous, inquisitive (her favorite word right now is 'why?'), determined (her Papa says she walks like a farmer), active and flexible, serious but so much fun. As a mother I am continually amazed by the unique gifts, traits and talents of my children. I love you, Jana!







This year we celebrated Jana's and Grant's birthdays together with the team, complete with potato soup, cake, and presents. Jana wanted a butterfly cake; Grant chose a train. We sang and prayed with the kids and enjoyed some outside play time (with water guns of course!). It's wonderful to have team 'family' when other family is far away. Happy birthday, kiddos!

Funny quotes from the girls....

Eliana on going potty... (I found her the other day washing her hands...)
Me: Did you go potty?
Eliana: I went potty, wiped myself, cleaned out the little potty and washed my hands all by myself.
You have to imagine her sweet little distinct voice while she's telling me this!
Me: What a big girl you are!
Eliana: I don't need you any more. :)
Me: Well, I guess daddy and I will just move to a different house.
Eliana didn't think too much of that idea :)

Michaela on heaven....
Michaela: Where does God live?
Me: Well, God is everywhere and lives inside us, but God's home is in heaven.
Michaela: Where is heaven?
Me: Most people think of heaven as being somewhere up in the sky, but we don't really know. Heaven is where God lives.
Michaela: I'm going to live in heaven.
Me: Good! Because I want to live in heaven forever too, with you and God!

Carnaval

For those who live in Latin American cultures, it is Carnaval time! Tomorrow and Tuesday are national holidays. There is a huge parade in Oruro with national dances. Traditionally, Carnaval is the weekend before the start of Lent, the Catholic month of fasting leading up to Easter weekend. Here in Bolivia, it is generally celebrated with a lot of energy, good fun and water fights for the young at heart... as well as, sadly because of the world's influence, a lot of drinking, partying, and sycronistic religious practices (like burning incense to Mother Earth).

We have tried to highlight the good aspects of the holiday. This year the youth had a scavenger hunt in the center of town and then lunch and a water fight at our house.

Fellowship and food... my batch of brownies sure went quick!


Rolando and Bruno face off on the capture the flag field.


Water fun! Even Michaela got in on the action... although she really didn't understand the rules of the game... she just tried to get everyone wet :)


The Thursday before Carnaval is known as Dia de Commadres... for lack of a better translation "Girlfriend Day". Generally speaking, ladies have the night out. We decided to celebrate with the sisters of the church by having a fun get-to-gether on Saturday. We dressed up, played games, shared snacks... and finished up with a full blown water fight. It sure was a lot of fun :)

We had some icebreakers to get to know each other better.


We played games... this one consisted of a treasure hunt to find partial Bible verse phrases and then putting them together as a team.


Here are all the costumes... Can you pick out Trish Sandoval? She won the prize for best costume!

(If you haven't figured it out yet... she's the lamp/table!)

3rd Anniversary

January marked 4 years for our team in Cochabamba and 3 years since the official inauguration of the church. It's kind of bizzare looking back and realizing the craziness of that inauguration... political turmoil, the blessing of tons of Stateside visitors, the first visit my parents made, Eliana as a 2 month old baby. It all seems so long ago, and yesterday at the same time.

And what a blessing to look at these 2 pictures from our 3rd anniversary...


And see how much that the body of the Lord has grown here in Cochabamba. From our team and 1 family to this! God is good.

What a great feeling to be able to sit in a worship service directed by our Bolivian brothers!


We gave out 'servant towels' to honor those who have served the church in various capacities this last year... and the servant award went to Gaston and Miguel for spending so much time and money helping repair Augustina's house. What an emotional moment to see Miguel receive this plaque.


3 of our youth recieved a scholarship fund set aside for them by the Richland Hills Church of Christ. Rebeca and Bruno have shown special perseverence in continuing their studies while recuperating from their major injuries recieved in the bus accident.


The church leaders presented the missionary families with plaques to thank us for our service.


And of course we had to document the occasion with lots of pictures!





We praise God for the way He is working... the numbers are secondary to the way we have seen people's faith change their lives... in the way they have handled the tradegy and struggles of this last year... in our relationships together... in their families... in their growth in the Word and prayer. We are so thankful to have been a part of this work over the last 4 years, and pray that God will continue to use us to His glory for many more to come.

This is Josh. I don’t usually blog, but I thought I’d just share my heart with a few of you via this medium. Thank you in advance for being there.

This is the line that I started to get in to wait for gas yesterday. These people were standing out in the rain hoping that a truck might come and they could exchange their bottle of gas. I left when I saw men starting to fight and several talk about rushing the nearby highway to blockade. They wanted to make a spectacle to show their disapproval! What is sad is that Bolivia is rich in Natural Gas; they just don’t know how to distribute it.

Things like the above make life here a bit difficult. We have to have this gas for our stove, dryer, hot water heater, and heaters. It is even more difficult for people without a vehicle. Those in line had either to walk a good ways with their canister or pay a taxi with money that they really didn’t have for such an expense.

This month Julie and I have had a “Bolivian Month.”
• She had her purse stolen out of her cart while at the nicest grocery store in town. Unfortunately she had three weeks of grocery money with her ($300)
• Gas has been in short supply for the whole month. Even the Chessers visiting from Austin Ave got to help us chase down a gas truck.
• Eliana and I have gone through several antibiotic treatments to treat Giardia and Amoebas.
• Our house is now for sale by the owner. We could have months or years left, we don’t know. Meanwhile we’ll have to show the house and hope it doesn’t sell while we are on furlough.
• We received a negative and blaming letter from one of the families who lost their daughters. I know they are just hurting, but it’s depressing when they accuse and state that they will not be coming back to the church; we who have helped them so much.
• And to top it all off, thieves broke into our yard two nights ago while we were sleeping and clipped the chain link fence and took most everything out of my shed. All of my tools, power tools, lawnmower and weed eater. Over $1200 in tools lost…Just makes me sick

I’ve always made fun of people talk about “suffering on the foreign fields.” And I know we are not suffering but sometimes it starts to get to you. I do ask that you pray for us…for me, that we’d not be discouraged but “continue to run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

God is also doing amazing things at the same time:
• We are preparing for an Evangelism Training seminar this Saturday for the members. How awesome to equip new members to be conduits for the Lord!
• We celebrated our “official” three year anniversary two weeks ago with over 100 in attendance.
• We have more people wanting God’s word than we can even keep up with.
• We are alive, Julie and I love each other, we have three precious daughters and a rewarding mission to which God has entrusted us.

My desire is to allow these horizons dictate my level of joy. I want to count all things lost for the sake of knowing my Redeemer. I thank God for family in Christ in whom we can confide and share our struggles. Thank you for your prayers, support, and for loving us though we are far away. God bless you!

Top 10 pics of Christmas 2009

Decorating the Christmas tree


Opening stockings


Opening presents with the Reyes


Michaela and Daddy trying out her new Christmas present


Christmas dinner


Papa got his exercise pulling wagon loads of grandkids around the yard!


Tea parties with Nana


And lots of cousin time!!!

7 months later

This blog has been brewing in the back of my head for a long time. I meant to write it last month for the 6 month anniversary of the accident. Kept putting it off, finding excuses not to sit down and do it. Maybe I didn't want to think about it, although I know so many of you out there who have prayed over us during this time would love an update on how everyone is doing.

Then yesterday, we got a really discouraging email from the son of the family who has struggled the most through all of this. Blame, dissappointment with the church, cutting ties with us. It would have been easier to take if there had been an element of gratitude. I cried as I read the email. It was like an emotional aftershock for Josh and I. Opening up all the old questions, doubts and feelings. Of guilt. In hindsight, could we have done anything different to keep this from happening? Did we make the right decision not to actively pursue prosecution of the bus company with the family in question (although the government will prosecute the case in it's own time). Could we have done or said or been anything more to help this family? Of sadness. I wish this had never happened. As much as I would give to bring one of those girls back, I feel selfish in my thankfulness to have Josh by my side. How did God and Jesus so selflessly sacrifice everything for the horrible wrong choices of humanity?

So I just have to cling to the faithfulness of God, who never gives up on us. And to the answered prayers of the last 7 months. Surgeons removed the plate in JD's spine in December. He's making a full recovery. Kevin, Ariel and Bruno are walking without assitence. Rebeca and Bruno are back in university, taking classes again. Camilla had another surgery on her nose that went well. All the kids are back to having fun together. Many are still in physical therapy, but are gaining back the breadth of physical movement. All the families, minus the one mentioned above, remain faithful members of the church and are growing in their walk with God. Naturally, many are afraid to travel. Miguel continues to recover, gaining use of his hand, his right eye now open, now driving, now leading singing during worship service again. Yet especially when seeing Miguel, I'm plagued again by all the 'what if's' and the knowledge of how much was lost. He is having to sell his business and his home.

Your continued prayers are appreciated. We are thankful to have spiritual warriors lifting us up all over the world. Please continue to pray for emotional and physical healing for the youth and their families. Pray for wisdom and grace for our team and leaders. Pray, as we do, for God to be glorified through it all.

Family Pictures 2009