Catching Up

We've neglected to post anything so far about the youth camps we were involved with a couple of weeks ago, so I thought I'd rectify that. Aileen and I were asked to be the activities directors for junior high and high school summer camps (it's summer here) located about 2 hours north of Santa Cruz. We were definitely excited about the opportunity, but I'll admit, it was a lot more effort than what we anticipated. Planning games and activities for 3-4 hours each day (not counting their "free time") really sucked the ol' creative juices dry, even though we were given a couple of resource books to help things along. We now have a deep, deep respect for youth pastors around the world who do this for a living.

Moving on... I've gotta say, the thing that made this whole experience so amazing was the great attitudes the kids had. We ran into our share of obstacles in arriving at the camp. On the way to HS camp, the biggest of the 3 buses broke down just outside the city, resulting in 3 hours of "down time" along the side of a road in the Bolivian heat. Through all this there was very little complaining. When we finally arrived at the camp it started "raining pets" (as I've heard one Bolivian put it). So what do 75 teenagers do in pouring rain? They play Red Rover, of course.



I was so amazed by the flexibility of these kids. Amazing. The rest of the time at camp was pretty much sweet. A speaker named Dan Hardesty and his family flew down from the states to give talks at both camps twice a day. He was formerly a missionary in La Paz and currently runs a family and adventure camp called Triple-R Ranch as a ministry in Virginia. I learned much from him as did the kids. Plus I had the privelege of sharing a cabin with him and the senior boys.

I'll end with a small section of our supply list from our activities, and let you use your imagination to figure out the games.

40 kilograms of flour
18 dozen eggs
45 pairs of nylon panty hose
200 rubber "smiley balls"
Lots of Jell-O
2 water balloon launchers and a couple hundred balloons
12 sponges
4 toilet plungers
1 box of Fruit Loops

Oh yeah, check out Chad and Emily's link to the right to see some more pics and stories.

New Church in Sucre

The last month or so has been busier than most. Lots of new experiences, travels, and the like. About 4 weeks ago we went to the city of Sucre. Aileen and I were sent there to aid a work team in the construction of a Church. Originally, a team of 10 men were set to make the trip from the States to help out, but that team was cut down to 2. Pastors from surrounding areas were petitioned for help to compensate for the lack of man-power, and as a result we the opportunity to work side by side with some amazing people for a little more than a week. A number of the men who came spent 15 hours or more on a bus (one way) to come and work long days and give of themselves.

A new building is much-needed. The building they currently meet in is approximately 12ft wide by 20ft long, lit by a single 60-watt bulb. During services, the congregation would spill outside, and people would have to sit in the dirt. A dog would sometimes jump from the adjacent building onto the tin roof and walk around, making it difficult to hear. When it rained it was impossible to hear anything. This picture is taken as the church starts to fill in at the beginning of a Sunday night service. My back was flat against the back wall with a wide-angle lens.




Passing buckets to pour the cement columns.




Inside the church after the puntales (supports) were completed.


The work team in front of the new building, minus Aileen, who was working in the kitchen, and a few others.

Unfortunately, we had to leave before we could see the roof poured (they had to await the arrival of some materials). It was definitely a blessing to us to be a part of the experience. We learned a lot from the men and women working there. Everyone was humble, encouraging, hard-working, and joyful in all things. That's such a rare and unique thing to be a part of. Thank you to everyone who was praying for this project. This church now has room to continue its growth! Please pray that the new building is filled as well.

We've been gone

Sorry for the general lack of blogging lately... The last month or so has been pretty busy and filled with travel. We'll get a big fat blog posted in the next day or two. Promise.