Bolivia #6 – A Day of Surprises
Our formal ministry began early this morning, with Ed bringing the morning devotional on the 10 commandments. We learned last night that the morning messages are going to broadcast on the radio, which will reach all the way to the Peruvian border and south to Cochabamba! Ed’s a little nervous, but Semper Gumby is the battle cry! He did just fine, and will finish up tomorrow morning.
Today only three kids showed up for VBS, so we cancelled it for the day, and the group went to the market to hand our tracts. It was really easy, as people would come up to us and ask for them, crossing the street to get them. Even handed them to policemen standing around! In less than 30 minutes we handed out several hundred, and we’ll do this again another day with even more tracts. While the team was out, they saw several school band parades, as the city is gearing up for the 200th anniversary of La Paz on Wednesday. The team also had the chance to go through a typical meat market, where most of the meat was still alive – chickens, ducks, guinea pigs, turkeys, rabbits, etc. Rachel almost found herself being offered guinea pigs to eat, but managed to escape!
Music lessons came after lunch, and we have several students that are working on piano, violin, and music theory. Susan, Carol, and Rachel are heading up these classes, which are very popular. We had about ten kids or so in the classes, of all ages.
It was great to see an old friend of mine today, Brenda Calle, who came up from Cochabamba to visit her family and stop by to see me and Susan. We met Brenda on our first trip here in 2004. She is a doctor, working with Compassion International, and our 2004 team stayed in her parents’ hostel. She nursed all of us back to health that year at one time or another. We had a nice visit, and then Brenda asked me if I would go to the hospital with her and visit her cousin who is being treated for cancer. So during the music lessons we caught a minibus and headed to the other side of town. The hospital was operating with about 1950s facilities, and made me thankful for what we have and so often take for granted in the US. The gentleman was just finishing up his chemo treatments, and was scheduled to go home today. He was glad to see us, and we were able to talk a little, pray, and I sang a song for him. The whole ward stopped to listen. It was great to be able to testify of the power of Christ. He is a new Christian, and it was obvious that he is filled with new life even in his weakened condition. Brenda told me that he and his whole family are completely different now, with a new joy and faith that they never had before. It was an awesome trip over there.
I got back to the church just in time for our English classes. When I walked in the door, I was met with the sight of over 100 young people crammed into the sanctuary, all students (mostly high school juniors) from a local private school! I about fell over. Most of these kids are not Christians, and we have them for four days this week. It took a little doing, but we got them all divided up into classes by level, and got right to the work. I had the advanced class with Ed and Susan, and we had a great group. We started talking about politics and philosophy to get them talking, and the conversation found its way to how you know you can make a right decision about anything. Most of them did not believe that there is an absolute standard, and that you cannot really know if something is right or wrong. What an opportunity. So we started working through it. We got as far as thinking about some of the options there are for a basis for making a judgment about something, and will pick it up here tomorrow. The class lasted almost a half hour longer than scheduled, but everyone was eager to stay. Praise the Lord!
After dinner we headed to a home Bible study in El Alto at Hermana Dina’s home, and the trip took about four times as long as it should have because of a parade that blocked the route. This night parade was a commemoration of a Bolivia freedom fighter who was martyred during the fight for independence. Of course, it was accompanied by torches, bands, singing, and lots of noise. We crawled along up the steep streets, once having to get out and walk because the van couldn’t make it up the grade at the slow speed we had to go. We eventually were brought to a complete halt at the place where the street had been blocked for the rally itself, and just sat there watching it all (we were in the front of the line of cars and busses) for about 30 minutes. Eventually we got to our destination, and I brought a lesson introducing the seven churches of Asia to the small group. We had a good time of fellowship, refreshments, praise, and games until it was finally time to go home. We got back about 11:15, elated but exhausted.
Bolivia #5 – The Lord’s Day
Ashlynn did a great job in her SS class with the little children. Deacon Martin Irusta helped her translate. Ashlynn is proving to be a real blessing, adding a dimension we’ve never had on a team before – specifically, she is able to relate and minister to the kids who are close to her age in ways that we as adults can’t do as well. Even though she doesn’t speak very much Spanish, the kids just gravitate to her, and they have a great time together.
Carol worked hard on Saturday with Roldan to get her lessons translated, and she was able to present her lesson in Spanish by herself. Both Ashlynn and Carol were only asked to do their classes a couple of weeks ago – Semper Gumby!
The rest of our services today went really well. We did have to come up with some special music on the fly, and Rachel, Carol, and Liz did a wonderful job playing their instruments in a beautiful rendition of Pasion por Ti on the flute, violin, and piano. Carol played her violin in the evening (planned!), a very nice arrangement of Amazing Grace. Our trip to El Alto in the afternoon was an eye-opener for the first-time team members, as we wound our way up the narrow and twisting streets through La Paz up to El Alto to meet with the deaf congregation there, the only one in the whole area. The sights and sounds of a La Paz were both interesting and sobering. Sunday is mostly a day off, though there are still vendors and businesses that are trying to make every dime they can. Community bands are around every corner it seems, and people drink beer and dance in the streets in their finery. There is a lot of drunkenness as well, and it is heartbreaking to see many people sagging in a doorway or staggering down the streets.
When we arrived at the deaf church, we were enthusiastically greeted by the members there. Most of us don’t know any sign language, but Susan, Rachel, and Liz know a little. So, we were able to communicate. The pastor is a hearing person, and there is a very able translator there, too, so we got on well. These dear people were so happy to welcome us. They meet in a nice little upstairs chapel in the middle of a residential district. This work was started and is overseen by a Korean Presbyterian group, though there were not any Koreans there today. It was a typical service of greetings, Scripture readings, singing (quieter, of course!), special music, and a message from the Word. The girls signed/sang two songs, which the congregation loved, and the congregation signed/sang for us as well. They have so little, and yet have so much in the Lord. They gave us a large bag of tangerines as a gift, and we went our way back down the hill with hearts full of thankfulness for the providence of God.
Today I started a series of messages through the book of Revelation, particularly the messages to the Seven Churches of Asia in chapters 1-3, and will end with chapter 4 and the vision of the throne of God. The messages this morning and evening covered the vision of the Son of Man, our Lord Jesus Christ, and tried to establish the proper framework for understanding the book as pointing to the certain victory of the Second Person of the Godhead, Jesus Christ, the Messiah. God was good, and strengthened me for the work today. Thanks for your prayers for all of us! It has been an awesome day.
Bolivia #4 – Semper Gumby
The US Marines have a saying that sums up their approach to life and warfare: “Semper Fi!” (Always Faithful). After just a few days of working together and preparing for the labors of this week, our team has come up with a saying of our own: “Semper Gumby!” (Always Flexible). Gumby, you may remember, is a children’s toy made of green rubber that could be stretched in any direction. On any team like this, being rigid only makes the work harder. Everyone has to be ready to do something they didn’t expect to do, often at times that seem the least convenient, with resources that seem to be inadequate. So our team has been learning how to be flexible: last-minute teaching assignments, schedule changes, mid-message adjustments to accommodate for time requirements of radio broadcasts, adjusting to the needs of the rest of the team when it comes to such things as sharing one bathroom among 8 people, presenting special music when we didn’t know we were going to present special music, giving testimonies and greetings on the fly, postponing VBS a day because a children’s parade took all the kids for the day and going out to hand out tracts instead, learning to not be stressed when the scheduled time comes and goes without the scheduled event starting, diving into new foods and smells with joy (or at least, courage!), and even the challenges of unfamiliar beds, are all part of the experience. The team is doing really well with all of these things, taking all in stride with a great attitude. I think about Samson, who dispatched 1000 Philistines with on the jawbone of an ass. Just think of what the result would have been had Samson said, “I can’t do this, I don’t have a sword or spear, or even a knife!” As it was, he looked around and took advantage of the resources that he had at hand, and won a great victory. That’s what we’re praying for here, and expecting, too. Semper Gumby!
Bolivia #3 – Valle de la Luna, and La Paz – What a Day It Was
When I saw the man lay out his instruments and get ready, I thought it would be interesting to see what he would do if I started to sing in Aymara. When I kicked in with an Aymara hymn, his head snapped around and his face lit up and he literally ran back to me and started jabbering away at me in Aymara, and then Spanish. Turns out that he is a Christian, knows those hymns well, and we sang one or two together for a few minutes. The man, whose name is Valerio, talked with us for a little and then asked us to stop by where he would be on the path before we left, and we would sing more as a witness to anyone who might be around! Well, we continued on our walk through with that plan in mind then. It so happened that the young man who helped our driver had decided to come with us on our walk, which is kind of an unusual thing. Usually, people that you hire to drive you around just stay with the car. In this case, the driver did, but Ronald wanted to come with us. The singing we had done at the beginning of our 45 minute loop (if we hadn’t done the shorter one first, we would have missed Valerio) had made an impression upon him. He began to ask some questions, and Pastor David evangelized him all along the way. He was very thoughtful. There was a place along the path where someone had offered an offering to Pachamama, the ancient Incan goddess, and PQ and I stood there and prayed by the path for the Lord’s victory in that place. At the end of our walk, we found Valerio and sang some more songs with him as a bunch of tourists stood around and watched and listened. As we prepared to head back to the car, Ronald suddenly stopped us on the path, and with tears in his eyes said that he wanted to receive Jesus right then and there! David and I prayed with him there on the path, Valerio joining in, and Ronald prayed to receive Christ as his savior. It was awesome. Our prayer for the Lord’s victory in that place had been answered!
The rest of the day I think we were all pretty much walking about a foot off the ground. We were so in awe of what the Lord had brought about in the morning. We arrived back at the church in time for some lunch and some settling in. The people here have been very busy preparing the church to receive us, including doing some extensive remodeling of the living and ministry spaces that will serve them well in the growing ministry here. The new building is coming along very nicely, and a new kitchen and upstairs room has been added, as well as the old sanctuary being turned into two rooms (being used while we are here for sleeping quarters for the girls). We’re going to help do some painting and other work while we are here at some point.
In the afternoon, we were treated to a wonderful presentation by the children who participate in the OANSA (Spanish AWANA) program. They sang for us, recited verses, and showed the work that they had been doing all year. It was great to see them doing so well. Our Grand Island Bible Presbyterian Church sponsors their program, and they are doing their best to get the most out of the curriculum and resources to reach their neighborhood kids and families for Christ.
After the OANSA program, we had some down time before the evening Welcome service that was planned. The folks were very secretive about it all, they had something special up their sleeves for us. It really was a wonderful service, with maybe 100 people in attendance. The singing was a blessing, greetings were exchanged, brief testimonies from us given, and then the big surprise was unveiled, which was the presentation of floral garlands to each of us by pairs of children dressed in the traditional dress of each of the departments (states) of Bolivia. It was really beautiful, and very touching to see how much they poured out their love and welcome on us. What an unforgettable and blessed day. Thanks for your prayers!
Bolivia #2 – Boot Camp
Everybody is pretty blitzed from the trip, and so after finding our beds we all crashed for awhile. We discovered that we don’t have any food, nor any way to prepare any – so we’ve made plans to go out for lunch. We’re meeting up with some friends that I met before on my last couple of trips here, a missionary couple from the States named John and Starr Powell. Very nice people: they have become good friends. They are independents, and he is now pastoring an English-speaking congregation in La Paz. In fact, he has invited us to come over on Friday night to hold an informal service at their church, and we’re looking forward to it.
Lunch was great (in the restaurant of a 5-star hotel), and we went over to see the church, too, which is not far away. It’s been here a long time, and they have a really beautiful building and grounds. It’s located in the richer part of the city, where many government and business people live, here in the lower elevations of the city (it’s warmer down here!). Afterwards, we went shopping for some food for our next few meals, and everyone enjoyed going through the grocery store, which was different in many ways, but similar in others, with many of the same brands of things that we are used to here. We’ve made plans to come back over to the church early on Friday evening for dinner, which our team member Carol will prepare, which will really help, since we don’t even have a pan to cook in at the seminary.
The training times are going very well, and the team is really gelling in spirit and purpose. The Lord has put together a great group. Our team members are Ed, Carol, and Ashlynn Feeney, Rachel MacMillan, Susan Blizzard, Liz Wann, and myself. Everyone has a good sense of humor and servant’s heart, and it’s going to be a super time.
This evening a bus load of Bolivia young people rolled in and moved into some of the other accommodations here. Things got a lot livelier! Very friendly, though, and all is going great.
Well, it’s Friday morning, and many of us have by now learned how to be better prayer warriors after trying to get a hot shower. Some need more practice! It can be a challenge getting the showerhead-mounted water heaters to work, and then if anyone uses any water at all in the system, everything goes ice cold again. There have been many shouts, cries, whoops, and other horrible sounds coming out of the bathrooms as showers are attempted! I’m thankful though, that I got up early before anyone else in the place started using water, and I had a hot one all the way through. Praise God! I tried unsuccessfully not to gloat. OK, I didn’t try at all. Hehehe.
We had a great morning of orientation, and then caught taxis out for lunch to a great fast good place here called Pollo Copacabana. Think of it as a Bolivian KFC, only more upscale with the chicken prepared sort of half-roasted, half-fried sort of way. It’s really good. We returned to the seminary very eager to continue only to discover that the lock to our apartments wouldn’t work, and we couldn’t get in. This was wild. I had to go find our host, who speaks no English, and explain the problem. Well, we tried a lot of things, and they finally settled on going up on the roof, prying up some of the roofing, and lowering a young guy down through the hole so he could go through and open the door! It was great. An hour or so later, we were in, and finished up our prep before our service tonight at the Powell’s church (La Paz Community Church).
We had a great service tonight. The Lord blessed our work there, I believe, and also used the time to help the team work as a team for the first time in a very low-key environment. We returned about 10 pm to our place (the lock worked this time!), and we hit the sack (after a few more attempts at showers, with mixed results!).
Bolivia #1 – We’re Here!
After an uneventful flight, we landed in La Paz about 12:30 in the morning on Thursday (today). I had no problem getting my Bolivian visa, though was irritated to see that they raised the fee from the $100 we would have spent in the States to $135. No doubt because they know they can. We had sent all of our docs to the Bolivian Embassy in Washington, where all was in order and approved – only they had run out of the little stickers they put in your passport, and weren’t going to get anymore for three weeks! Incredible. You’d think they could have ordered a few extra thousand of them, since they’re planning on making this a permanent arrangement. Anyway, all was accomplished, bags retrieved, and good friends met. I was feeling pretty bad by that time, but still was delighted at being back in a country that has come to feel like a second home. We took a quick trip back to the church, caught a few hours of sleep, and then headed back up the hill to get the team, scheduled to arrive at 5:30 am.
Well, they were delayed in Miami for an hour or so, and their flight didn’t get in until almost 7. Then, it took a long time for them to get their visas, too, and they were pretty much the last ones out. It was sure good to see them, even if they were a little blurry-eyed. They had enough adrenaline going that they did pretty well with the altitude for awhile. The sight of La Paz spread out below you as you head down the hill into the city from El Alto is spectacular, and I never get tired of it. We stopped for a photo op on the way down, and the team was just blown away.
After a brief stop at the church, we headed on further down to our boot camp site, a Nazarene seminary which is down around only 8000 feet. It’s a great place, quiet and peaceful, with good accommodations for us. We’ll spend the next two days here before heading back up into the city to begin our ministry proper. I’m praying that the days at the lower elevation will help everyone get acclimated better and be ready to hit the ground running. The schedule is pretty huge, and it tough enough to work through without feeling dizzy and weak.
No internet here, so all of this will have to wait until we get back to the church on Saturday to be posted. Thanks for your prayers! Looking forward to being in more immediate contact for the rest of the trip.
Peru #5 – Between the Mountains and the Sea
In the providence of God, the Cuevas had another visitor last night as well, a police officer who is a friend of Daniel’s. This man is spiritually tender and searching for peace with God. It happened that he was here from an outlying area, staying with the Cueva’s, as he took part in the police efforts to control the strike situation! Roldan spoke at length with him about faith, the Word, the gospel, and he took it all in very thoughtfully. No accidents with God – if we had come to Lima this morning as originally planned, we would have missed this man.
We also talked with him about the strike, and we now understand that the leftists plan to target only certain areas with their activities, and that the general flow of life here will be uninterrupted (unlike in Iquitos, which is much smaller, of course). It was as if the Lord sent us this man to assure us that we need not fear what men can do, and that the Lord’s work will not be hindered by the rage of men however misdirected. We’re even going to take a bus over to Roldan’s house here later today, so that I can meet his wife and other family members, and see a bit more of the city.
I’ll also be talking at length with Daniel today about his ministry here, and together explore how the Lord will lead in any future work or relationship together. In the little time that I have known him, he strikes me as a fervent and warm-hearted man. He and his young family are a delight. If nothing else, my own life and ministry are blessed for their entrance into my circle of friends and co-laborers. I trust that I shall be the same to them.
It’s official – I have a cold. Not a great way to start off a Team Timothy ministry, but I trust the Lord’s timing to accomplish his purposes. I’d sure appreciate your prayers that it wouldn’t last long, or keep me down. So far it hasn’t wiped me out too badly – just the typical head and chest kind of cold. I really will be working hard not to lose my voice! I’ve got a lot of singing and preaching to do over the next two weeks!
I wasn’t much company at Roldan’s house – slept most of the time, and ate! Still, his wife and daughter and grandkids are terrific, and very understanding. A very pleasant, light and open house. They rent the upper story out to another family, and so the place is like a very homey and welcoming Grand Central Station. It was a long, long bus ride to the other side of the city to get there, and we took a taxi back to save time. The only evidence we saw of the strike, by the way, was one parade over on Roldan’s side of town, very peaceful and orderly, and not very long. Praise the Lord for his protection and ordering of all things.
Hoped to have a chance to get online at the airport tonight, but it didn’t happen. Just not enough time. We’re all squared away for our flight tonight, though, and all is ticking right along.
Peru #4 – Lots of Music
The internet was not functioning this morning at the house, so I’m still stuck offline. It gave me a chance this morning to rest and write, and to rehearse for the concerts on the radio stations today. One of the pastors here, Juan Luis Guerra, is a young man with an excellent baritone singing voice, and I roped him into coming over and preparing some songs to sing together on the radio. I didn’t have to work too hard to convince him! We ended up putting together about five duets, and a trio, too, with another brother, and we had a great time. The broadcast at noon was a blessing to do, and we’re doing another one tonight on another station from 9-10 pm. That’s after a home “thanksgiving” service that we’ll do about 7 pm in one of the homes of a member from the El Semblador church.
Big rainstorm today, drenched everything and left that wonderful after rain smell around and cooled everything off considerably. The humidity still gets to me, though, and I end up after every activity drenched with sweat. I’d love to say that I’m losing some pounds down here, but they are feeding me so well that I really doubt I’ve lost anything. Fried bananas (platas fritas), lots of chicken prepared different ways, rice and beans and yucca, great bread, fruit, and usually polished off with coffee. Nope, not starving here at all.
Will sign off for the present. Tomorrow is the strike I mentioned earlier, and we’re going to try to stay out of the way. May even try to catch an earlier flight if we can. We could end up stuck in Lima at the airport – I understand it’s not a good time to be out on the streets. Pray for the Lord’s protection and overriding of the purposes of men in getting us united with our team in Bolivia on time. Thanks!
Peru #3 – Days of Service
The next morning (today, Saturday), Charles gave us a ride to the river to catch a boat on his motorcycle. Pretty wild over the dirt roads through the jungle on a 125cc street bike. He had to make two trips, of course. Saved us about an hour and a half walk, and we were grateful. We caught another boat and headed back to Iquitos.
The day was pretty busy today – the concert this morning went well, but I was sweating all over the harp, it was so humid and warm. People really like the autoharp here, and the Lord helped me not to butcher the Spanish too badly. We had a great time of worship together, even though we had to compete with the traffic just outside in the noise department. We enjoyed the hospitality of one of the Herman Mera family from Roldan’s church, True Peace Church, and once again I found a hammock and crashed for awhile. I’m really getting into this siesta thing. The 3 pm meeting with many of the local leadership was a time when they just wanted me to share my heart on missions churches and growing the work. They are doing such a wonderful job that I don’t know why they really wanted me to say anything, and I was humbled by the honor of it. These folks are passionate about reaching this area for Christ, that’s for sure.
Roldan took over the controls of the moto again, and has been driving me all over. It’s pretty entertaining to see me with the autoharp on my back, a satchel in my hands, perched up on the back of this little motorcycle towering over Roldan in front. There are more motos here, and moto taxis, than cars – a very noisy swarm everywhere you go. It’s fun to be part of the noise.
The evening service at the Jordan church closing the day went very well, the building filled and voices raised in song with full hearts behind them. It was great to be awash in the sound of praise, and to join in with them. I’ve been playing and singing my ‘harp every service, and am now running out of songs that I know in Spanish! But people are requesting some repeats, so that’s good. The one that they particularly like is Vision Pastoral, which is about the shepherd that searches for the one lost sheep. It’s a great song, and I’m going to have to come up with an English version. After the service was over, we headed out for dinner (about 9:30 – remember that night owl thing?) to, of all things, a Chinese restaurant here in town. Sure didn’t expect that, but they tell me that there are restaurants like it all over town. It’s wild ordering Chinese in Spanish. Good stuff, though.
Today, the Lord’s Day, has been pretty busy, starting out at Roldan’s church for Sunday school, and then going to El Semblador church for worship and to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. This time, I sang an Aymara song in Spanish to do something different, and it went pretty well. I’ll have to do more of them that way, since I already have the translations in my Aymara hymnal. It was a blessing to partake of communion with the brethren here. Resting up this afternoon, and then another service tonight at El Semblador.
I just found out that my hosts have installed high speed internet here in the house as of yesterday! So I hope to spend some time online Monday morning. It will be good to get this blog uploaded and get everyone caught up.
Peru #2 – A Walk in the Park…
Well, when Roldan told me there were hills on the way to Picuro Yaco, he wasn’t kidding. I had no idea this region was so hilly. Lots of up and downs, with deep ravines that disappear into the darkness of the jungle. Then, you top out on a ridge and hit a clear cut where the land has been cleared for farming or logging. Still lots of jungle out there, though. We were joined in our trip on Saturday by two other pastors, and the four of us had a great time trekking through hills to Picuro Yaco. The village sits on top of a hill, and is famous for its fariña, reputed to be the best in the area. This fariña is made of yucca, which is soaked, pressed, screened, and roasted. It looks like grits or cream of wheat, maybe a little coarser. It is good, filling, and neutral enough in taste that it gets thrown in everything to add texture and body to the food. Good stuff. We arrived in time to take a nice rest in the morning, enjoying the hospitality of the pastor and his family. They offered us fresh coconut milk, freshly roasted farina, and some good conversation as we sat around and cooled off under the shade of a tree. I then passed out in a nearby hammock for awhile, just sinking into the sounds of a farming community with almost no motorized anything. It was absolutely relaxing.
After rest and a light lunch, Roldan and I went visiting. With no phones in the village, the only way to let people know there’s a meeting is go visit them. We stopped by several homes, were fed wonderful fruits native to the area like bananas, some grape-like (in appearance) fruit that had insides like the leche fruit we had in Thailand – really good and sticky to eat, fresh sugar cane, and some great new fruits that Roldan had bought earlier in the day, too. Walking around in the heat of the day up and down the ridges pretty much wore us out, and we got back in time for prepping some for the service that evening. We gathered at the front of the church, sat on the porch and visited and sang, and drew a crowd of children and others. That helped to spread the word about the service, too.
We had a great service that was attended by 50 or 60 people. This is the only church in town except for the Catholic church down the road. It’s been there about 26 years, and has a wonderful testimony for Christ here. I was welcomed like I belonged there, and I made some lasting friendships there. They were already talking about the next time I came, so I hope the Lord lets me go again. We also met an American ex-patriot who married a Peruvian lady and has lived there for about 30 years now. They have an incredible farm on the outskirts of the village. Charles invited us to stay there overnight. It’s a rustic but first-rate two-story place they built themselves. The best part — No mosquitoes! And a terrific time of getting to know Charles, who made it clear that he’d like to have us come again anytime. Roldan will plan on staying with him again the next time he goes, for sure. Oh, I should say that the night sky was amazing, with no city lights to deal with. The Milky Way was close enough to touch almost, and we’re far enough south to see the Southern Cross, which I can never see from New York, of course. It was breathtaking.
