Last Few Days

Last time I was able to connect I did not have time to tell you too much about what we have been doing. We are staying in Cordoba, Argentina with a very nice family. They have three daughters, sixteen, thirteen, and eight years old, and a baby boy a hear and a half old. They are very active in church in a couples' fellowship. There are about fifty couples in the fellowship. We arrived here on Thursday after an all-night bus ride where I couldn't sleep at all, which is very unusual for me. Alberto and Claudia both work, but their schedules allow one of them to be home at different times during the day. The girls also have different schedules; therefore, there is always somebody available to babysit. We were so tired when we arrived Thursday morning, that after a light snack we went to sleep with all our clothes on. We just crashed on top of the bed. They had to wake us up for lunch, and we went to sleep again after that. Carlos and Rosario are staying with another family. Rosario was scheduled for the first presentation to women. They gave me the option to go or not, so I chose to stay.We slept all night and felt better the next day. 

Christ for the City here in Cordoba is made up of all volunteers. They are mostly students, but some are adults with jobs. They are doing a great job helping out in the community. One of the women is a manicurist. They go to the marginal communities and work with women. As she does their nails, she compares the transformation of broken nails to what Jesus does with our broken lives. They also have ministries with children and community clean up. 

Friday morning we left to see a beautiful place out of the city. It is a place where people go to spend summer vacation. There is a river. The small community has center and they are open to help with Christ for the City. One former missionary who lives in the community is working with community leaders on behalf of Christ for the City to see the needs and how they can get involved. That evening, back in town, we had a meeting with all the volunteers where we presented our work in Costa Rica and they presented what they are doing here. Evening meetings start at 10:00 pm here and can go until 1:00 am. They asked us is we wanted to go out for supper after the meeting, but we declined and went home.


Saturday we left early to try to get tickets to fly back to Buenos Aires on Monday. We were having a hard time getting a flight on line. It is a good thing that we went to the office of one of the local airlines because we were informed that the flight we were trying to get goes to a different airport. We are going to have to leave early here and then spend 15 hours waiting for our flight home. There is no way around it. If we ever comeback to South America, we are going to do the schedule very differently. After purchasing the tickets, we went to visit a friend of Carlos at another resort town near a lake. They have a beautiful home overlooking some hills. He is the founder of a post-graduate school of missions here in South America. It turns out that we know one of the professors. After breakfast we went downtown and walked around for a while. It is a very cute tourist town. We left to have lunch with German and his family. From there we went home to rest. We are old and need our nap if we are going to keep up with these Argentinians.

Saturday night was the event with couples. It started  promptly at 10:00 pm. After a few minutes of worship together, men and women were separated. Carlos and John had the men, and I had the women. I did my same workshop on the Secrets for a Happy Marriage. Now, these women really tracked with me. They were participating and laughing. This is the way that the workshop is supposed to work! We finished at about 1:00 am. It was past two by the time we went to bed.

Sunday morning we did not have any engagements, so we slept late, had a nice breakfast with our hosts. Then it was time to get ready for the BBQ. German, his family and the Corderos came over for lunch at about 3:00 pm. Argentinian BBQ is everything: sausages, including blood sausages, beef and pork. We had salad and bread also, but mainly, beef. We had to nap after such lunch.

Sunday evening John was schedule to preach at a large Pentacostal church on the other side of town. We arrived just in time for John to be introduced. They were so nice to us. They have a person in charge of welcoming the guests when they arrived. She got us bottles of cold water and took us to our seats. This church was in a wearhouse; therefore, the acoustics were poor. Besides, they were making and selling empanadas on the back throughout the whole service. John found it a little distracting, but he finally got on the groove for the second part of his message. This church's pastor is currently on a short-term trip in a very delicate area of the world trying to get more information for his church's future involevement. The assisstant pastor prayed for us at the end from the pulpit and gave John a big kiss! I don't think that John has ever been kissed by a pastor before.

We all came back home again and had some more beef, plus some empanadas they make here that they called "Arab empanadas." They are very good. We went to bed at 2:00 am again. Today we got up at 5:00 am to go to the airport. We caught our flight to the capital, and now we have a 15 hour layover until we can get on our plane to Miami.

That is all...pictures will follow, but I can't get my little computer to connect to the Internet here at the airport. This has been my problem all along. I think I need to have the wireless card checked. We will be home soon. Thank you so much for praying and tracking with us. Happy Thanksgiving... still in South America, but not for long!

Cordoba, Argentina

We spent two days in Buenos Aires, but our hotel had very bad Internet connection. Then we traveled by bus to Cordoba. It was a Christian company, so the attendant (bus service is like on the airplane with meals) read from the Bible and had a short devotional before we left and in the morning just before breakfast. The trip was 12 hours, and I couldn't sleep at all. I was a wreck when we arrived here. We are staying with a very nice family, with three daughters and a baby boy. They don't have Internet. I am at a meeting for Christ for the City. It is 11:30 pm, but we are having a social time, no dinner yet. People here just don't sleep!
I just wanted you to know that we are fine. Sorry that this is so short.

Until next time...from South America...

Back in Cochabamba

Friday was a busy day. We had the morning off because we had scheduled presentations in the afternoon and evening. It is the policy of Christ for the City to always give short-termers one-third of the day off. We again got up late, had breakfast and worked on what John was going to talk about in the evening in the couples' workshop. The hotel has computers and printers, so we were able to do some research and type an outline for him. Before lunch, we took a long walk to the Central Plaza. It is an interesting place because an important government building is across the street; therefore, it is a gathering place for protests and demonstrations. There are also speakers at the park. Yesterday there was an evangelist. He had a captive audience because people were looking for a shady spot to rest, and that is where he was. We walked back to the hotel for lunch. Then it was time for me to get ready for my afternoon presentation at a women's fellowship meeting. My ride came at 3:30, but John stayed behind at the hotel. We traveled by taxi quite a distance from downtown where we are staying. The picture below is where the tea took place, but behind the church there is a large area with buildings that house the denomination's seminary, dinning hall and other buildings. They were having their 37th annual meeting, so the place was full of pastors. I suppose about 300-400 men.

 When I arrived and saw the women there, I prayed to the Lord to give me grace on their eyes because they were very ethnic looking. I just did not know how I would be seen. I was actually dressed up because the evening couples' event was going to be dressy, and I was not going back to the hotel. I also had a "senior moment" and loaded the wrong power point. When I started to speak and clicked to the second slide, it just wasn't right. Then I realized that it was the wrong presentation altogether. I had to stop and load the right one. The women just sat there and listened without any facial expressions. We had tea and cakes after my talk, and they hurried out because they had to go to the seminary's graduation ceremony. It is the end of the school year here. Summer is just starting. There was a young mother with a baby wearing thoroughly modern clothing: sequined jeans, but when she got up to leave, she took out a native blanket, wrapped her baby and put him on her back, just like her mother would have done. This is a society steeped in tradition. They tried to give me a love offering, but I did not take it. How could I? Yet, when I mentioned this to Carlos, he told me that I should have taken it because it was their blessing. I am new at this missionary thing. We hurried out at about 6:30, grabbed another taxi and went to Christ for the City's office.

This is Mila, her husband Angel, and eight-year old son Samuel. She is the administrator assistant for Christ for the City. It was her church I went  for the tea. They are building this house on the weekends. It is not finished, but they are moving in anyway tomorrow. Both Mila and her husband are seminary graduates. He was pastoring a church, but now is working at an orphanage.

We arrived at the office on time, and soon John was there also, so John and I, Carlos and Rosario, Aldo, who is a worker here for Christ for the City, another worker, and the driver's little boy all climbed in a Toyota Highlander. The church again was located a long distance from the office, but we still made it before 8:00. They were showing the movie "Fireproof" to the early arrivals. Soon the church was packed and it was time to start. Carlos and Rosario had been there the previous night, so they were just doing the second half of their presentation. John and I shared at the end on Philippians 4:2-3. I have to tell you that John is called "Pastor" wherever we go. We have come to accept it. Carlos answered questions written the night before, then we went to the patio to have supper. It was 10:00 by then, and I was cold, but the pastor's wife lend me an  alpaca wool shawl, very light and very warm. There were about 90-100 couples. All were very dressed up for the event. The young people served and did the entertainment. Dinner was vegetable soup, beef with mushroom sauce, white rice with cilantro (they love cilantro here), corn, and very small potatoes. Dessert was some kind of cold chocolate torte, and we had a sesame seed drink that I have never tasted. All very good. By the way, there is no such thing as disposable plates and cups here, which means that somebody has to do the dishes in all these churches after the events. Dinner was over at eleven o'clock. While we were waiting for our ride, a man came over to say hello and gave John and offering. Since Carlos had told me that I should have taken the afternoon's offering, John humbly accepted it. We got back to the hotel at almost midnight. It was past midnight by the time we went to bed.




Today is Saturday, and again we got to sleep late and had a leisure breakfast. Our friend Luis, the worker in Tarija, came at eleven to take us to his house for lunch, but first we had to go to Mila's house because she  wanted all of us to have a time of prayer. Remember, her house is by the church where I had the tea yesterday afternoon. On our way back we saw this bus stuck in  the middle of traffic, so the men got out and pushed it out of the way. They pushed so hard that it bumped the car in front. We quickly left as both drivers started to argue. 

Lunch was delicious. Afterward, we went to the local market for some shopping. That was a lot of fun. We also went for ice cream. Rosario had a therapy appointment at five, so we dropped them first at the office and then went back to the hotel. 

Last Saturday, at the first tea, the women asked why there wasn't a similar event for men; therefore, it was decided that they would have a tea for men only to talk about relating to the wives. The girls in the office have had so much fun with this event that they called it "Te de machos." The name stuck. John just left for the tea, and I have had time to blog. I am now going to start packing. We are going to church tomorrow, but not preaching, and we have to check out because we are flying tomorrow night back to La Paz, and Monday to Argentina, via Lima, Peru. We are spending Monday night in La Paz. 


The wind is picking up and it is starting to rain. The weather has been very pleasant here in Cochabamba until tonight. 


You are now up to date. Until next time...from South America...

Tarija-Day2

Christ for the City staff meeting. Lots of yummie food!

Another parade!

Street scene

A very old Methodist church

All local buses are painted like this

Just in front of the hotel

Hi, I'm back! When I left yesterday I was talking about counseling sessions. First of all, the place where we were staying was huge. It was like a motel, but it was actually a private home. The counseling sessions took place in separate rooms of the house. Rosario had her own appointments. As I said yesterday, she does some kind of healing therapy for women only. Carlos, John and I had the couples. It was set up as a visit among friends. One couple was a widow with a son who married a man who had never been married. They had the usual problems of a blending family. The other couple was a pastor who had difficulties saying "no" to people, which did not leave much time for family. They have two pre-teen daughters and a baby with special needs. It is also his first pastoral assignment. Carlos is very wise and quick to go to the core of the problem. Rosario's last appointment went long, so we had lunch very late, but the airport is so close to the house that we got there with plenty of time for our flight.

When we arrived to Cochabamba, our luggage did not come out. There were only about five passengers getting off; therefore, the employees immediately realized that our luggage was still on the plane. They went and got it off before the plane took off again. They were all so nice and apologetic! I really like these people. 

John caught a cold and wanted to go to bed, but I went with the team to have Bolivian food. It is all so different! I am going to blog just about foods. Carlos and Rosario walked back to the place they are staying and I walked back to the hotel with the director of Christ for the City in Bolivia. She is a very nice single woman. I have to put her in touch with Francie O. I ordered chicken soup for John. After blogging, I went to bed also. 

Today was a relaxing day. We got to sleep late because we only had to be at Christ for the City's office at 4:00 pm for the weekly staff devotional. We really enjoyed those in Costa Rica, and this one was just as interesting. We started with a time of worship and prayer. Carlos talked about Ephesians 6, "our war is not against flesh and blood..." He said that the number one reason workers leave the field is because problems with other workers. He warned the staff about allowing the enemy take a foothold on their relationships. The discussion went on about their field experiences with the enemy. One of them works with the Yulki, and unreached native community up in the jungle. He has had a lot of hair raising experiences because it is such a dark place. He says he comes from a fundamental background (his dad is a pastor) and was totally unprepared for this. Other workers shared their experiences. Some just recognize opposition when they are about to do something big for the Lord.  Still, Carlos told them to be aware that the enemy can use relationships among the staff. It was a great meeting. 

We walked backed with another staff member. This girl speaks English and is in charge of short-term trips. Would you like to do some urban outreach in high risk communities? She's your gal! We did some shopping on the way. Since we are getting to know the city, she only had to walk with us part of the way until we got to the main street where our hotel is located. I forgot to tell you that there was another parade this morning. These were students protesting drugs. Oh, well!

Tomorrow I have another tea at 4:00 pm, and another marriage workshop with Carlos and Rosario.


Until next time...from South America

Tarija

Central Plaza in Tarija, Bolivia

This is the entrance to the guest house where we slept

Sharing a dream

Rosario is teaching about love language to a pack house of couples.




We are back after two very full days in Tarija, which is located in the southern part to the country, near Argentina. We flew from Cochabamaba on Tuesday morning. The weather in Cochabamba was pleasant when we left, but our friends warned us that down South they were expecting a "suraso," which is similar to Santa Ana winds, but they come from the South Pole. It is summer here; therefore, we did not pack warm clothes; furthermore, we just took one suitcase and left the largest one and a carry-on at the hotel here because we were coming back. The flight is only 50 minutes on a big 727. The moment we got off the plane we felt the cold wind! We knew we were in trouble. 

From left to right: Carlos, Rosario, I, John, Elizabeth and Luis

Our friend Luis was waiting for us. John met him in 2004 when he visited Bolivia, and they have kept in touch. Luis is a missionary who lives a very simple life. I truly expected very rough accommodations, but I was in for a big surprised. He drove us to a place about 5 minutes from the airport. In this country there are big tall walls surrounding the homes, so you can't really tell from the outside. We walked into a very large, beautiful European-style home. Our hosts were a Swedish couple. He is the son of former Swedish missionaries. This couple has lived in the country for 25 years, but they are not missionaries, but business people, although they are involved in a lot of local ministries. We were taken to one of their guesthouses: two large bedrooms connected by a small kitchen with all the necessities and a large European style bathroom. We dropped our suitcases and went downtown for lunch, which was at a beautiful restaurant. Luis and his wife Elizabeth took us on a tour of the town and some of his ministries. This town is about the size of Escondido, but with wide main avenues, which gives the appearance of being larger. 

Because most people work and churches have different activities, what was going to be a two night event was reduced to one night. We were taken back to the house to rest for two hours before the evening activities, but I had to work on my presentation to reduce it to 1 1/2 hours instead of three. Carlos and Rosario also had to change their five hour workshop to two hours. I had a hard time changing things, so I was barely ready when they came back. 


I had crafts and a length of rope to hand out to the attendees, but did not have enough. The church holds 80 people. I think there were more than 80. It was literally standing room only. We don't worry about fire code here. Since we were so pressed for time, we did not have time for questions; nevertheless, some women came to talk to me during the brake. Then it was time for couples' workshop with Carlos and Rosario. Some women who were there without their husbands left, but the couples filled the room again. Carlos and Rosario do a great presentation for couples. They cover all areas. Again the response was great.

Since the room had been so packed, we were not cold, but when we went outside, my teeth were chattering. This has not happened to me for many years because I always bundle up. We simply were not prepared for near freezing  weather. Our hostess attended the workshops, so Rosario and I went home with her. She served a delicious cold supper and lots of hot tea for everybody. Even John had some to warm up. She also gave us all extra comforters. We went to bed at midnight. I was actually too warm under all the comforters, but I rather be too warm than too cold. Speaking of colds, John woke up with a cold. After breakfast at nine, people started arriving for individual appointments. These appointments had been made ahead of time. All of us had counseling sessions. Rosario does therapy with women. I can't explain exactly what she does because I have never been present at one. They take at least two hours per person; therefore, we are always doing something else during her sessions. 

I am tired right now, so I will talk about the rest of the day tomorrow. 

Until then...From Down South... 

Visiting Churches

Saturday Afternoon Tea

Saturday Afternoon Tea

Sunday morning we went to a local church where John was to preach. He did a very good job preaching out of John 17. Since it was the first Sunday of the month, we also participated in the Lord's Supper. They had real wine.

Sunday morning

Sunday evening

 On Sunday evening we went to a church located on a hill high above the city. This church really impressed us as a truly New Testament church. We were a little late, so they had started worshiping already when we got there. The service probably started at about 7:30. There was a lot of singing,  Bible reading,  and then they introduced us visitors. We had to go to the front and each said a few words. They prayed for us and gave us the greeting of peace by waving their hands. John spoke on John 21, "Follow Me." We had couple of more songs, the offering, where each person went to the front to deposit it on a large basket. Then they announced that we were having the second part of the service which was the Lord's Supper (first Sunday of the month). They said that all who were baptized could participate, but those who weren't were free to leave. It was past nine o'clock in the evening by then. The pastor was away at a conference, so the president of the elders presided with the other elders and deacons. The head elder read from 1 Cor. 11 and explained about confessing our sins. We then had a time of prayer. Most people got on their knees and prayed in low voices. The head elder also gave an opportunity for anybody who was out of fellowship with a brother to make amends before taking the Lord's Supper. Then the head elder announced that a woman was very ill and that they were going to take an offering at the end for her. Then it was time to restore a member to fellowship after being disciplined. The man stood and the congregation agreed. There was also the dedication of a member to become co-pastor. After all that, we then had the Lord's Supper, love offering, more singing, they sent all of you greetings, they prayed for us,and were dismissed. It was ten o'clock. After the service they had a local corn-based drink and bunuelos, but without sugar. This was the church of one of the Christ for the City staff, so she invited us to walk to her home that was near by. The house was even higher than the church and had a beautiful view from a terrace. We arrived back at the hotel at eleven o'clock.

Sunday evening

Quechua worshipers

 

 

 

Today one of the local staff came to get us at the hotel at nine, and we walked to the Travel Agent to pay for our tickets to the town of Tarija, near the border with Argentina. We will leave tomorrow morning. We then went to the headquarters of Christ for the City to meet all the staff and missionaries. They all introduced themselves and talked about their ministries. We had a typical lunch of llama meat,  local corn, boiled potatoes and hard boiled eggs, very interesting. It was quite filling. We went back to the office to figure out what we were going to do. At the same time, Rosario had some private therapy sessions. I got to talk to one woman, who is a dentist and a believer, while she was waiting for her turn. She had attended my talk at the tea. As I said before, there are a lot of hurting families, even in the church.

Tonight we are going to see a local festival, and we will have supper with some of the staff. Tomorrow morning we fly to Tarija. We will spend the night there and fly back on Wednesday evening. Then we will have more ministry at other churches. That is all from now...until next time...

We Made It!

 View from the window

 Another view

 The parade while it was still fun

Well, we made it! It was quite a long trip! We arrived at LAX at 8:30 am on Friday. Our flight was at 12:15, but we also had to go to the GOES office to get the sticker on John's new passport (GOES is a system that lets you bypass the long  immigration lines when you arrive back at the US). When we checked in, the airlines agent told us that we needed to have pictures for our Bolivian visa  with us when we arrived, even though we were paying for the visa in country. She also said that we needed a copy of our hotel reservations. We had neither. She said that we could get them at the Post Office near the airport. We went to the GOES office first. The agent there remember John because of his box stories. I guess he made a big impression. We got the new sticker without any problems, and then we went outside to get a taxi to take us to the Post Office. The taxi driver did not want to wait for us, but we promised him a good tip, and he did, of course. There was hardly anybody at the Post Office, so we were first in line, but Postal workers were...well...not in a hurry. They even had to find new batteries for the camera; meanwhile, the taxi meter was running. Those were very expensive pictures!!


We made it back to the airport. Then we had to find a computer with a printer to print our hotel reservations. We did that, so we finally had all the required documents. The plane was delayed one hour; therefore, all the rushing was for not. We had a long time to wait anyway. The flights were uneventful. We arrived to La Paz, Bolivia, the highest airport in the world, at five in the morning.  Everything went smoothly: all the agents were so polite and helpful. We had all our stuff for the visas (did not need the reservations after all), and we both got multiple entry five year visas. I guess we will have to comeback to Bolivia. Flying through the Andean mountains is spectacular! I now really understand what a "high plateau" is. Then we had to wait for our connection to Cochabamba at another side of the airport. That was a rather long wait because our reservations were for 9:30. The office here handled those, and they wanted us to have plenty  of time in case we were delayed. Our friend from Christ for the City was waiting for us, and we took a taxi to our hotel. As we were approaching the hotel, I noticed booths being set up all along the long boulevard where the hotel is located. Our friend explained that there would be a folk dancing festival today. "That's nice," I said. That was around eleven in the morning. We were looking forward to a nice nap, since I had to speak at a women's tea at four in the afternoon. Our room has a beautiful view of the mountain where a statue of Christ is located similar to the one in Brazil. We also have a good view of the famous boulevard. Well, by noon the parades started. These are university students who do this every year before finals. Don't ask me why. I haven't figured it all out yet. Needless to say, we couldn't sleep at all. It is like we are right in the middle of it, and it is the same tune over and over, just different groups with different costumes. I gave up, got up, took a shower, got ready and review my presentation. (4 Secrets for a Happy Marriage). On my way to the tea, they told me that the celebration will go on until one in the morning. This is why I am blogging...who can sleep? Well, John can. He is snoring as I type this. They even have fireworks intermittently as the night wears on.

We had a good group for the tea. The room was packed. There were no empty chairs. It was also very hot, but at least I was by the only window. Remember that it is summer here in South America. Women all around the world have the same problems. The Enemy attacks our marriages the same way. There is nothing new. I answered questions at the end, but two women wanted to talk to me in private. The staff provided an office for some privacy, but I met with each woman individually. My heart broke when I heard their stories. We prayed and cried together. I got back at the hotel at 7:30. John was waiting for me to have dinner. We just went downstairs to the restaurant. It was a simple meal of steak and mashed potatoes. Now I am sitting here listening to the same music and more firecrackers!! Tomorrow morning and evening John preaches at two different churches. Pray that we get a good night sleep! 

Until next time...from South America..