I am sure many of you all have heard at least something about the current political situation in Bolivia, and, being your resident Bolivian missionary, I thought I would enlighten you about what exactly is going on and how that affects me.

For a great overview of the situation allow me to direct you to: http://www.economist.com/world/americas/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12260915

Now, how does this affect me?  For the last week I have been in the city of Santa Cruz and not been allowed to return to Robore.  That does not mean that I am in any danger in Robore - on the contrary, it is probably safer there than here at the logistical heart of the opposition.  However, it is protocol to keep the missionaries here in the city just in case things heat up and we have to leave, so here I am. 

But please do NOT worry about me.  Right now things are getting better.  Yesterday the opposition met with the president to begin taking steps toward a peaceful agreement, which hasn't happened for quite some time.  We may even start seeing the various blockades around the country dissipating over the next few days.

In all of this pray for the Bolivian church, that it may be a light in a dark time.  The church, as one missionary said, is "fat and lazy," and needs a little fire to awaken it into action.

I am trying to keep busy while in the city, though.  Thus far I have been involved with professional class ministry and have helped out at the missionary school, and am continuing to actively seek ways to invest in the people here.

I just got back from sending Nate off to the states and I think now would be an ideal time to reflect upon our time together in ministry over the past 2 months.  But first, let's get everyone caught up on what we have done since the last entry.

First, we finished the first of three phases in repairing an old classroom so that is can function as an actual classroom (and not a trash dump, as many people apparently thought).  The first phase involved cleaning out all of the junk that had accumulated over the years, and then sanding and painting the walls.

Here is a picture of the classroom in its current state:



Some "before" pictures:





Nate, Brayan, and Gerson sanding the walls....which was in no way enjoyable:



And the painting crew along with some "after" shots:


Phase two, for which we have already received funding via my "ministry account" which is funded by all of you, will be to completely re-roof the room with very durable roofing sheets called "Brasilit." (We have another 2 months of dry weather before the rainy season starts.)  Phase three with then be to put screens and glass in the windows and furnish the room as best as possible.

My boss, Paul, came out to visit us with his family for a few days, and we took a short trip to the neighboring town of Santiago to take in the breath-taking views.  Below are a few of my favorite pics from that trip.






After 5 weeks in Robore we headed back into the city of Santa Cruz to be a part of this year's Vacation Bible School at the city's English-speaking church, which is composed of a variety of people, from US Consulate and DEA employees to Missionaries to oil/gas people.  For the past few years the head of SAM's Children's Ministry Team, Janine, has been asked to run the church's VBS program, and the last two years I have been more than willing to minister to "take a break" from the campo and minister to kids in my own tongue.  This year I had the opportunity to not only act in the morning's opening skits, but WRITE them...which many of you know is a LOVE of mine.  This year's theme was "A Treasure Hunt for Truth: A VBS adventure to last a lifetime," and was very apologetic in nature.  Therefore I created two characters to be the stars of the week's skits.  First, the world-famous British explorer Professor Bernard Clive Aloicious III, played by yours truly.  As I began to write and then act out this character I soon realized an interesting thing about him: he was very much like Julie Andrews.  I don't know if that is because the most exposure I have had to British people is Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music...or because I think all British people - minus James Bond - are simply "fruity" by nature.  Nonetheless, I really enjoyed playing the Professor and developing his character and theology throughout the week.



The second character was none other than the Professor's trusty redneck sidekick, Jimbo, played by Nate.  Nate had very little trouble pulling off the ignorant redneck character because he himself is an ignorant redneck.  Seriously, he is.  No, not really, but he does go to a Baptist school in North Carolina...so you can judge for yourself. 



One of the highlights of our time together was writing, practicing, and performing the skits each day.  It was seriously so much fun.  Nate and I even got to the point where we were so comfortable with our characters and the material that we began to improv many hilarious things during the performances, causing the other to loose character and crack up. 



Anyway, I've spent too much time reminiscing about the skits.  In addition to the opening skits, Nate was in charge of games and I was the 6th-8th grade teacher.  Each day approached apologetically issues like the truth of the Bible, the truth of Jesus, the truth of the Gospel, the Spirit of truth, and telling others about the truth.  It was wonderful to be able to challenge my middle schoolers to think about what they believe and why they believe it, and then equip them with truth to defend those beliefs.  Of course everything had to be over-simplified, but I feel confident that the challenges brought upon the kids has at least begun the process of their taking ownership of their faith and not simply defaulting to "Mommy and Daddy's" faith.

Finally, we rounded out the summer with a four-day trip to two towns which are hardly accessible by land: Santo Corazon and San Fernando.  Some of you might remember that I visited the two towns in February as well.  My responsibilities on the trip were to lead the children's club and to lead worship for the evening service, each of which was done every day.  During the children's club we shared the gospel message via the wordless book, sang songs, played games, and, of course, gave out lots of candy.  But, all of you skeptical dental-hygiene fanatics, we came armed with free toothpaste and a short seminar on how to brush your teeth.  With the aid of my assistant, Nate, we demonstrated proper brushing technique and taught them a sweet song that says, "God gave me a mouth, a mouth full of teeth....AND I LIKE TO BRUSH MY TEETH, AND I LIKE TO BRUSH MY TEETH....!"  It was hilarious. 

Here I am trying to hold the kids' attention:


Nate with the beautiful and loving kids of Santo Corazon:



Me leading worship by candlelight, as there is no power:



After two days of camping out in Santo Corazon we flew 20 minutes to the town of San Fernando, a mere 45 miles from the Brazilian border.  Although they are both very small Bolivian towns in the middle of nowhere, the two towns are very different.  Santo Corazon has 100 families, a strong Catholic prescence, and kids who are outgoing and affectionate.  San Fernando has 50 families, almost no Catholic prescence, and kids who are incredibly shy, to the point of almost being cold.  So that basically means that ministering to the people in each town comes with its respective advantages and disadvantages.  (To go deeper than thought would take some explaining, which right now I am unwilling to do because I am just too stinking lazy :P.) 

But one overal advantage to simply living in San Fernando is the nearby river with its piranas and other flesh-eating fish.  In addition to making an exciting place to bathe every evening, the river makes for some fun fishing.  You will have to ask me to tell you the story about catching fish in the river at San Fernando...or more like NOT catching fish while 4 and 5 year olds pulled them out by the dozens...but we did end up catching some:








On the last night in San Fernando 3 youth gave their lives to the Lord: Mercedes, Edith, and the last name I don't remember.  It was a wonderful way to end a fun but exausting 4 day trip in the campo.