Easy as Pie (Wednesday in Santa Cruz)

3 Apple, 2 Pecan, 2 Buttermilk

We spent all day on Wednesday in Vanessa's kitchen baking, baking, and baking to get ready for Thursday night's dinner and Friday night's sale.  Not pictured above are 3 chocolate sheet cakes (sheet? sheath?  I never know the difference), and 2 bundt cakes (which inspired many "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" references).

It was a crazy, laughy, flour-covered day.

Incidentally, I totally just Wikipediad the phrase "easy as pie" and my suspicions were confirmed.  It refers to the eating of pie...not the making of it.

Back im the USA

So we all got back on the states auccesfully. Only a few of us got sick on the trip. Myself included. Nothing slowed us down though. It is good to be home but I miss Bolivia and our friends there already. The transition home sale was a big success.  The ministry of EFCCM reaches much farther into Bolivia than I ever knew and is present in many cities there. It was interesting to hear about all the powerful thjgs God is doing there. Hope to go back soon and I hope many more will come. We eveb went to South Beach tonight for dinner. Too bad we only had time to stick out toes in the sand

Well team returns!

We just got back from Yapiroa!  What an awesome time. 3 wells successfully completed and the Guarani people are fantastic. It is hard to tell you how hospitable they are and how welcome they make us feel. Every day a different well and a different family slaughtered a goat or sheep for our lunch. Definitely some hard work and good eating. I am very proud to be part of such a great team. Everyone pulled together to overcome all obstacles. From old to young it was amazing. Last night we had church service, sang, and gave testimony (Robert R. and Kent E.). It was fantastico!  Our host team was the best as well. Danny, Marcus, Andrew, and Stephen. I wish everyone could be here. It is hard for me to understand how the Guarani/Bolivian people can be so nice and accepting. I wonder if we would treat missionaries the way they treat us. They may not have a lot possession wise but they are generous and sharing with everything. When we had no plares, they gave us theirs. When we had no gas for cooking they gave us theirs. When we had no bread they made bread for us. Anything we needed they found a way to provide. God may use us to bring them clean water but He uses them to give us much more!  It us really they who minister to us. Showing us what it really means to be content in all circumstances.

Tuesday (in Santa Cruz)

We spent the entire morning on Tuesday shopping for supplies for cooking and baking!  We're having a "Texas Dinner" on Thursday night for all of the transition home staff and all of the girls who have stayed there over the past 2 years.  It's going to be a great time of experiencing each other's cultures while serving them and just having fun. And then on Friday we're having a bake sale.

We started out at the big-outdoor-people everywhere-loud-bustling-multicolored-market.  And it was a blast!  We not only bought a ton of ingredients for the dinner and the bake sale, but we also purchased some things to make table decorations.  We got 4 little chili pepper bushes, some cacti, and some succulents...along with some clay pots and containers...and some "chicken straw."  Then Debra and Vanessa arranged it all later back at the home...they turned out so cute! Debra was so in her element looking at plants and thinking through how to arrange them...I was having fun just from seeing her get so into it!  (Pictures later!) Also at the market, Debra and I used the public restroom which required a couple of coins.  These coins got you a little stack of toilet paper and access to the toilets.  Not too shabby.

Then we had lunch at the home.  One of the girls had prepared it for us.  It was seasoned rice with some different vegetables...kind of like fried rice.  Then you put some fried plantains and a fried egg on top...delicious!

We spent the rest of the afternoon making t-shirts with crosses and bleach...well really, we spent the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out the best way to make the t-shirts :) and sewing more headbands.  Oh, and we also brought stuff to make S'mores for the girls.  They LOVED them...like licked-the-plate LOVED them.  We kept working on t-shirts and headbands for the evening then we left to have dinner at the Irish pub again, where we had a Bolivian dish that is very "Santa Cruz" apparently.  It's called Pique Macho...or something to that effect.  It's beef, veggies, and sauce served on top of fries.  Then we strolled around the plaza again!

Monday (in Santa Cruz)

On Monday morning, we moved from the hotel to a guest house that is owned and operated by one of the missions in town.  Then we went and visited the orphanage, Talita Cumi.  It's a Christian home for children 5-18 years old. They come from backgrounds of abandonment, abuse, and other situations necessitating "rescue."  A few of the children are technically orphans, but most of them were rescued. 

Most of the kids were in school while we were there, but we got to meet the staff and see the home.  The kids are able to wash their own clothes (for the most part :)), prepare meals, and keep things tidy.  This is one of the only homes that is equipped to take both boys and girls and it's pretty impressive to see the way the staff is able to take care of all these kids.  They are so thorough and they love the kids.

We went downtown to purchase materials to make some headbands to sell with the girls in the transition home. They are super cute...we'll post some pictures later.  Then we had lunch at an Irish pub on the plaza where we enjoyed some great Bolivian food :)

That afternoon we finally got to go to the transition home and meet some of the girls and staff!!!!  They are so sweet and were so excited to have us there. We brought over all the things that we had purchased in the U.S. to make greeting cards with the girls (also to sell) and they jumped right in and started decorating them and playing with all the art supplies.  It was so great to see some of the things we've been talking about and planning for come to fruition!  But that wasn't even my favorite part of the day...

Carlette (who has been on the Bolivia trip before, but couldn't come this year) had sent some cards for the girls and staff...they LOVED seeing these and trying to read them in English...then getting someone to translate them.  She also sent some pictures from hers and Ben's wedding, which they LOVED.  They thought all the flowers were so beautiful.  She also made a little quilt to surprise Dorcas,one of the transition home staff members who is expecting a baby.  She was SO EXCITED!  It was such a great reminder that the most important thing here is to just show the girls and the staff how valuable they are...not only to us...but to Jesus.  Relationship is everything here...more than making headbands, more than making cards. Please be praying that all of these girls would come to know how much Jesus loves them and how valuable they are in His eyes. 

Michelle

Sunday

We all went to Trinity International Church on Sunday morning.  This is where a lot of the missionaries with various other organizations go.  The service was in English, but a headset was available to Spanish-speakers for listening to everything in Spanish.  I have no idea how that works, but I think it's pretty cool.  The timing was great because we got to experience the Lord's Supper AND a baptism service.  It's so cool to experience these two symbolic practices in another place.

The guys headed out to the well site immediately after the service was over.  Vanessa said that we probably won't be able to hear from them in this particular location.  I can't WAIT to hear their stories and takeaways from the experience.  They'll be in tomorrow, but we may not see them until pretty late or even Friday just because of not knowing when exactly they'll be in...and we'll be busy working at the transition home.  Danny was hoping that they would be able to dig THREE wells in this particular community!

The ladies spent the afternoon with Vanessa and Lucy (the Beams' daughter).  We went and saw more of Santa Cruz, including a really awesome view of the city and the jungle and the mountains from the very top of a bird sanctuary inside a park.  Very cool.

Please be praying...

- ...that the community where the wells are being drilled would see Jesus in the guys and through their work.
-...for the people of Trinity International Church as they are transitioning into having a new pastor.

More to come...
Michelle

At the Beams'

We spent Saturday kind of recuperating and planning the week at the Beams' house (our missionary partners/hosts).  They gave us an orientation so that we would know some of the important things about life in Bolivia...you know...liiike, how to greet people and...not to flush your toilet paper.  They spent some time telling us a little bit about the ministries we'd be working with (see links to your right -->).  Then the guys made a shopping list for their meals while out at the well-site.  I'm not sure what all they ended up with, but I definitely heard the makings of spaghetti, peanut butter sandwiches, and something Danny called his "hobo meal"--salami sausage, potatoes, carrots, bell pepper, and onion (sounds pretty good to me).  Then a few of the guys headed to the store with Danny while the rest of the guys stayed at the house and read, looked at Bolivian photo books, and rested.  The ladies met with Vanessa and planned our week working with the Ruth & Noemi Transition House.

When the grocery crew got back we loaded up all our stuff again to head to the hotel...where I personally took a shower and a nap.  It was glorious.  Then the Beams picked us up and took us to dinner in downtown Santa Cruz at a restaurant called Dossier...delicious!  It had started raining while we were inside, but we took a little stroll through the plaza anyway and it felt great and so refreshing.

Santa Cruz is a beautiful place with beautiful people.  It's crowded and busy, but also somehow peaceful.  You can tell that everybody works so hard, but last night (on a Tuesday), the plaza was full...I mean FULL...of young couples on dates, old men playing chess, and families enjoying some ice cream.  Okay, we were enjoying some ice cream, too.

More to come...
Michelle  

On the way here...

...we had an uneventful check-in and a kind of relaxing snack time before boarding the plane at IAH (Whew!).  Then we had a smooth trip to Miami where we had another relaxing snack time before a little bit of a delayed boarding on that plane...no big deal. 

Then we flew into La Paz where we dropped off some passengers and picked some more up.  That was kind of crazy!  Security rushed onto the plane and began systematically de-constructing every seat and then putting it back together again.  Every carry-on had to be identified by the owner...which doesn't sound like a big deal, but all the bags weren't necessarily on the same row as its passenger.  So at some point, I, from Row 30, heard a security guard yelling from Row 19, "Would the owner of this white box please identify yourself or it will be confiscated and evacuated from this aircraft!"  So I squeezed and weaved my way up there, said, "Yes, it's mine."  And then weaved and squeezed my way back.  It was kind of funny, really.

Then we took off again and soon landed in Santa Cruz!  ANNNDD all of our bags made it to Santa Cruz and through customs...and so did our people :)  We were greeted by Danny and a couple of his teammates who drove us to Danny's house where Vanessa had prepared a fantastic brunch for us. 

More to come...
Michelle

BPF Bolivia Team 2013

....and they are OFF and headed to the airport! (Well, now they are actually at the airport.)

(Left to Right kinda) John & Robert Rodriguez, Nathan Mitterling, Gideon James, Michelle Harrison, Bobby Weaver, Lynn Walker, John Weaver, Debra Evans, Kent Evans, & Steve Erskine.

Please keep them in your prayers as they travel this week.  

This is Nathan's 4th trip! I had to add this picture from today. :) We all miss our Daddy's and family members while they are away, but so thankful that they can go to Bolivia. What an incredible opportunity. We are excited to see what God does this week. Thankful!

Praying for our team, 

Mary Mitterling

Rodriguez Family T minus 1 day

My son Robert and I (John) are heading out soon.  T minus 1 day now.

This will be our 3rd trip as a father/son team.  This year there are 3.  The Weavers, as well as the Mitterling/Evans combination.

Serving in this way is not new, but very exciting.  We've learned to love the locals, as well as partner with the Agua Yaku families that serve full-time there in Santa Cruz area.

I cannot wait to see God's work unfold this week in all our lives.

Three Days! (Michelle)

We are tying up last-minute details, packing our bags, and preparing ourselves for a week in Bolivia!  We head out Friday afternoon and return the following Saturday, giving us a nice full week in country.

I have to confess that I'm feeling a little butterflyish.  But the good kind!  The kind that comes with knowing you're about to spend significant time on airplanes and in airports.  The kind that comes with hoping that all the details you've been working on for months are actually going to come together the way they're supposed to. :)  And definitely, definitely the kind that accompanies the knowledge that God is about to blow your mind in ways you probably didn't even see coming.

So please join us in praying...I thought the lyrics from one of the songs we sang on Sunday summed it up pretty nicely.

Take my hands, and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee

Take my voice, and let me sing
Always, only, for my King;
Take my lips, and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee