Bolivia and birthday update
Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>
I'm typing fast so I don't forget what Julia just told me in her 2 minute
phone call from Entre Rios, where they safely arrived late last night.
The teams' luggage -- which they had seen on the Santa Cruz runway as
they were taking off -- caught up with them at the Cochabamba airport
during their layover! Yeah! That's a good thing since it was quite cold
last night! Julia said she saw it snowing up above them in the
mountains. (It's winter in Bolivia since it's in the southern
hemisphere, and Entre Rios is way south. If you look at a map of Bolivia,
and trace a line right from the city of Terija and up from the pointy tip
at the southern border with Argentina, it will intersect near Entre
Rios.)
The construction team, which has six or seven members, spent the day
painting a large room at the mission there. Julia said she already has
two little buddies, a pair of 10 year old girls who have followed her
around all day. She also said, "IT'S BEAUTIFUL HERE!" Last night, the
team members all slept in the mission building, but they brought tents
because they will likely be traveling out to some of the village churches
to do painting and light construction, as well as helping the medical
team (also about six or seven people) set up clinics. She probably won't
call again until they get back to Miami on July 2. There is only one pay
phone in Entre Rios, and it's VERY expensive to call.
Back here at home, we celebrated Mary's 18th birthday. I decided to
bypass our usual birthday celebration breakfast with waffles because I
knew she would want to sleep in (and so would I). Instead, we planned a
nice birthday lunch. I actually wasn't too involved in the preparation.
We almost forgot to put the pan of frozen lasagna in the oven -- and had
to nuke half of it in the microwave to have it ready in time! Joanna let
the boys help her make three pans of cheesecake (from a mix) and top one
with fresh sliced strawberries, another with chocolate pudding, and a
third with both. Yum! Lydia set the table with a linen tablecloth and
napkins, and vases of mini-carnations that Rachel arranged last night.
Most of the kids made cards for Mary this morning, too. And of course,
she opened her presents!
Mary's Mission:X team will leave from Metro Life Church at noon on
Sunday, drive to Miami, fly out late at night to Santa Cruz, and then on
to La Paz, where they will arrive around 8:15 AM on Monday. Her team has
about 20 members. They will spend much time doing evangelistic mime
presentations in the city streets, as well as visiting an orphanage and
fellowshiping with the young people of their host church, Iglesia en La
Paz, which has 700 members. Their accommodations -- nice hotel rooms --
are a little less rustic than the Entre Rios teams. Mary is the team
journalist, and she's well equipped with a digital camera and a small
digital voice recorder. I'm counting on her providing us with the July
issue of the Hope Chest!
OK, that's enough for now. Just keep praying for our family -- the
mission trips, my health and pregnancy, direction for the future, etc.
Blessings,
Virginia Knowles
http://www.TheHopeChest.net