Cell Phone Woes

A couple of weeks ago I was in Santa Cruz attending two ladies in the hospital. Jake and I communicate by cell phone at night. One night I dial and receive the message that the number is incorrect. What? I have dialled that number all the time and it works. But no more. We have had trouble with the phone in the country but this was something different. For awhile I could phone Jake but he could not place calls to anyone. Then, finally, I could not call him.

This week the same thing happened to his cell phone that he uses in town. I could call him but he couldn’t call me – and there was credit on the phone. So what is wrong? Today Jake goes to the main office in Santa Cruz. They tell us that our ‘country’ phone was not used and did not have credit so was cut off. And, they no longer provide ‘new’ service to phones that do not have chips. However, ‘chip’ phones do not have good enough reception to be used in the country. Therefore, no more phone in the country!

And what about the other one. Oh, it is not a ‘standard’ phone so it cannot be registered – although it was already registered once before. So, now we are without phones. If we buy a new one, will it be ‘standard’?

So, off to the other office of the same company. “Oh, sure, we can register that! You moved your chip from one phone to the other and the phone and the chip must match. No, it’s not a standard phone but it is a very good one.” And off Jakes goes with a cell phone that actually works!

Still no luck on the other ‘country’ phone but we will keep working on it.

A Day of Faith Part 1

The weather was hot, sunny and dry and all the plans were coming together. The meat, the rings, the dress, the suit were ordered. It just needed to be picked up. There was no hurry. It was Thursday and the wedding was on Saturday. It would be a momentous weekend in the lives of Carlos and Roberta. They would both be baptised in the morning and they would be married in the afternoon. Thursday afternoon Roberta headed into town with Marg to do the final preparations and pick everything up, except the meat. Rice was loaded into the truck, along with a cooler for ice and a container for diesel. Plans were to drop the rice so that it could be processed. It would be ready the next morning. For Marg, picking up and paying for the wedding rings was the main purpose for the trip. Being ‘padrinos’ of the rings meant that she and Jake paid for the wedding rings of their friends. The two hour trip went as smoothly as possible of the rough road to Yapacani. About fourteen kilometres from the town the truck started to lose power. Shifting into a lower gear seemed to help but the truck continued to lose power. The engine stopped but started easily again. Another half and kilometre and it lost power again. And again. And again. Soon the distance travelled was narrowly down to a few hundred feet. But each time the truck started again. Fourteen kilometres. Start, stop, start, stop, start, stop. Finally Yapacani was in site and the first stop was the garage. The young man took the truck for a drive and diagnosed an electrical problem. The wires were burnt, he said, but the electrician was not available. He would be back later. Would we damage the truck by driving it? No. So, by chugging across town the rice was brought to the plant. With that done, Marg thought she would go to her house and rest for an hour until the electrician came back. “But what about the rings? “ asked Roberta. With all the anxiety about the truck, Marg had forgotten the rings! Thankfully, they were at the jewellery store. They waited until the inscriptions were written and Roberta entrusted the most important rings to Marg to guard until Saturday. Things were still going smoothly and although Marg was anxious about the truck, she was already planning ways to get back to Patujusal if the truck was not working. Arrangements were made to meet the electrician at the shop but upon arrival it was evident that he was not there. His wife informed Marg that her husband was drunk and that there was no way that he would be back that day. Now what! Another phone call and off to another garage that would be able to diagnose the problem, but not at six o’clock in the evening. Come back at nine in the morning and if the problem was electrical, it would be finished. The problem was not electrical. A new diagnosis was the diesel pump. This diagnosis made more sense so off to another garage that did fuel pumps. Yes, it was a fuel pump problem. It wasn’t serious. But after replacing the fuel pump there still was no diesel coming to the engine. The time was passing and Marg was getting more anxious. She was supposed to take the wedding dress and the suit back and the truck was going to be used as the wedding vehicle. Pastor Juan was coming from Santa Cruz and he had room for one more person in his car. Marg could go with him and take along the dress and the suit. Then Pastor Freddy could pick up the truck in the afternoon and drive to Patujusal in the morning. It sounded like a good plan but she hoped it would not need to be implemented. If was becoming more and more obvious that the truck had more problems than the fuel pump. The two mechanics crawled under and hit the gas tank. They determined that there was no diesel. Impossible. It was full. They added five liters. Nothing. Ten liters. Nothing. Another couple of liters and the diesel spilled out on the ground. It was full. But there was no diesel going to the motor. Taking an air hose, they blew air from the tank to the engine but nothing happened. When they blew it the opposite way the diesel spewed out of the tank. There was no diagnosis but they determined that the tank would need to be removed, the diesel drained out, and hopefully they would find the problem. Come back at three in the afternoon. The backup plan needed to be implemented. Pastor Juan came into town with his car loaded with his family’s supplies for the weekend in the country. There was barely room for one more. The dress and the suit would be left behind to come the next day. Conversation was flowing and Marg was telling them about one of the men who had been baptised the previous weekend. “Oh, no,” wailed Rosie. “I forgot the tunics for the baptisms.” No problem. Freddy lived just around the corner and we would borrow some from him. They stopped in front of Freddy’s house but when they started the car again, there was a strong odor. And this time it was the odor of something burning. Pastor Juan, who is also a mechanic, soon realized that the fan was broken. There was no way that we would be taking his car to Patujusal. Plans were quickly disintegrating. It was no longer a problem of Marg getting to Patujusal on time. There was now five more people stranded and they had to be in Patujusal for the church anniversary that evening. The bus had already left. It was 3 o’clock. Maybe the truck was ready. The car was dropped off at the electrical garage. Marg and Juan, neither small people, hopped on a moto taxi and went to check out the truck. Juan was sure that he could work something out to get the truck to work using a bucket and a hose. Instead of the diesel being pumped into the engine it would gravity flow. It sounded Bolivian but it just might work. However, when they arrived at the garage the mechanics had just finished with the truck and it was ready to go. The copper tube that goes into the gas tank and through which the gas is siphoned had rattled apart on the rough road. Instead of looking like a tube, it resembled threads. If everything worked well now, they should still make it to Patujusal by 5:30. Everything was loaded into the truck and arrangements were made to pick up the dress and the suit. It was 3:30. Finally, at 4:10 the dress and the suit arrived. Now it would be after 6 before they arrived and the service was to start at 7. It would be close. Down the road Marg drove, probably faster than was good for the little truck. Within a few miles, Rosie was saying that God knew that their car would have never, never made it down the rough road. It would have fallen apart. She was right! That statement was made by all the members of the family numerous times during the drive. Ironically, the local bus was sitting on the side of the road also. It would not make it to Patujusal on time either. Everything went swimmingly until 15 de Agosto and the construction zone. Thankfully it was dry and there were no problems. The anniversary service took place in the evening and everything seemed to be back on schedule. Although the truck with all the supplies had not arrived, no one was worried. It would get there. Another family from Cochabamba, friends of Pastor Juan and Rosie. Because there was not enough room in the inn, they pitched their tents on the lawn.

Everyone made it to the church -- a bit late but then we go by Bolivian time. It was a great time of celebration and thanksgiving.

A Day of Faith Part 2 The Baptism

Saturday morning dawned. Carlos and Roberta’s farm was a hive of activity with the decorators putting up tables, chairs and decorating everything. Carlos’ sister and brother-in-law, along with some neighbours were cutting the meat. Roberta was helping them. Carlos was in the jungle cutting down motacu leaves to make a barrier around the ‘room’ that would be used for the reception. Only one problem. They were supposed to be at church for their baptism. It took some urging and some organization to get them to the church. Roberta, being shy, was also uncomfortable with all the attention of the day. The pressure was building and she needed help and encouragement. Although there was some help, more was needed to help with the cooking and the preparations. While Marg persuaded Carlos and Roberta that they had to come to the church, Jake and Dionicio went the school to get water. Pastor Juan was giving a message on baptism but the two who were to be baptised were not there! They finally arrived and it seemed like things were proceeding once again. Until the thunder started. Until it started to rain. There had been very little rain for the past four months and although everyone wanted rain, no one really wanted it on this day. But rain it did. Rain pelted down. Everything was soaked. The plan was to drive 11 kilometers to the river in La Pista for the baptism but it was raining. Instead the congregation settled for a visit in the church to wait it out. Ten minutes, and 10 centimeters of rain, later the sun was shining and everyone piled into the two remaining trucks and headed out. The school was less than ten minutes away but there was no rain there. Thankfully, Patricio and Marioly were there with their truck and the grossly overloaded trucks were relieved of some of their cargo. The drivers were assured that they could drive right down to the river but that was a Bolivian truth. Instead everyone parked about 100 meters away and the people walked down, only to quickly return to the vehicles as the rain poured from the skies. Only the very faithful stayed for the baptism ceremony. Roberta and Carlos were properly baptised – immersed and sprinkled at the same time.

A Day of Faith part 3 The Wedding

The baptism was over. The rain had come and gone. Only the wedding remained. But what to do. Everything was now and muddy. It would be possible to hold the reception at the Carlos and Roberta’s farm but it would be a messy business. The land around the church was equally wet and muddy. The alternative was to transfer everything to the large building on Jake and Marg Hoogland’s place. There was only an hour before the wedding to move all the tables and chairs, and re-decorate everything at a different location.

The bride and groom were busy scurrying around getting everything done but finally were persuaded to get ready for the ceremony. The dress and the suit were hanging in Marg’s house but the bride and groom headed off to the church – without their attire. More than half an hour passed before people realized that the bride and groom were in one location and the clothes were in another.

Hair-does, make-up, the works for the bride and her three little attendants. In Bolivia, as in most other countries, a wedding is a huge event. The two local teachers took on the task of applying the make-up and doing the hair. Each little girl looked like a little princess in her long white dress with its ruffles and beads. Roberta also had a white dress, veil and white flowers. Roberta’s handmade dress with all the beads and ruffles cost about $35.00. Carlos is very short, barely a meter and a half tall if stretched. He had a terrible time finding a suit because everything was too big. If he wanted a suit made it would have cost over $200 so he settled for a jacket ‘off the rack’. It had two things against it – it was way too big and it was black. But he was not willing to spend that much money on something he would never wear again. Estevan, Carlos and Roberta’s oldest son, wore black pants and a white shirt. Everything was finally ready.

There was even a Bible. Estevan would enter the church carrying an open Bible but, due to lack of communication and planning, the church had not bought them a Bible. Again, Jake and Marg to the rescue. They had purchased a Bible as a wedding present so it was unwrapped and used for the wedding ceremony. The people were gathered and it was time for the processional.

Another problem. How would Roberta make it to the church without getting her dress wet and dirty. Jake and James made a chair with their arms, Roberta hopped on, and off they went to the ceremony. No one mentioned that this was the very first wedding at which Pastor Juan would officiate. The first part moved along smoothly and a very nervous pastor made it through the service. In spite of the little problems, the stutters and the pauses, Carlos and Roberta were married. Photos were taken and Carlos and Roberta joined Jake and Marg for a short trip around the country while everyone else made their way to the reception.

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The reception was reminiscent of the wedding parties of the ‘olden days’. First, there was a meal of lots of rice, potatoes, yuca, a lots of meat. It was delicious! Following the meal there were skits and singing. But there still was one snag. Bolivians also have ‘padrinos’ of the wedding cake. These would be the second most important people, after the ‘padrino’ of the rings. But the wedding cake didn’t arrive. Some friends told us about a car that was stuck in the construction zone. The bus had finally made it at 10 p.m., three hours after its usual time. Scramble for cake. Now, Marg always has cake in the freezer but not enough for a whole wedding reception. She had about 70 pieces and they would need double that. What to do? Finally, at about 10:30 a car rolls in – with the wedding cake. So let them eat cake.

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When weddings take place in town, you can go down town and buy a present. But what do you do when the wedding occurs in the country? The store comes to you. Some enterprising person loads his truck up with gifts and parks outside the church. The guests can purchase their gift, have it gift wrapped, and bring it in the the couple. Often the couple ends up with mounds of the same thing –plates, cups, and glasses. But at this wedding there was no store. So then what would you do? You give money. In a manner similar to the receiving line at North American weddings, the couple accepts the congratulations of all that attend. The guests either give a present or pin money on to the clothing. The women give a gift or pin the money on the bride, the men give a gift or pin money on the groom. It is not unusual to give two gifts, one for the bride and one for the groom. For Carlos and Roberta, the money seemed to be a much better ‘deal’ that all the cups, plates and glasses. They could purchase something that they really needed or wanted. They had lived together for eight years so they really didn’t need all the table ware. They were thankful for the two double beds. Now they had a bed, and the boys had a bed. It was near midnight when the festivities were over – very early for a Bolivian wedding. Because there was no dance and no liquor, the party was shorter. It was a good day! In spite of all the mishaps, everything turned out well. Did Carlos and Roberta have any doubt about that? No, they were in God’s hands and he would work it all out. The faith of a child.

Wonder of Wonders! Miracles of Miracles!

Pictures are a huge part of a wedding, even in Bolivia. There are not many good cameras; most are camera phones. And I really blew it that day. My ‘good’ camera takes a long time to adjust in dark situations and it sucks up the battery. By the time the wedding was to start, the batteries were shot. I also have a point-and-shoot but it also takes a long time to focus. I felt terrible since Carlos and Roberta are good friends and I wanted good pictures for them. Thankfully, my friend, Marioly, had a camera that worked better in these conditions. I arranged all the people and she took the pictures. I had had many more creative shots in mind but with the rain and all the other little glitches, none of those happened. But we were happy with what we had. Marioly has a developing machine so she developed pictures that evening and sold them at the reception. Each picture was 10 bs. – I pay 1.5 bs. in Santa Cruz. People bought them and she made a good profit which she donated to the church in Yapacani. I arranged to come on Monday morning and transfer all the photos from her chip to my camera. But when I opened her camera there was no chip! She had no idea what had happened to it. It was not in the machine or she could not have closed it. They had developed a couple of pictures in the truck when they left our place. They stopped at the corner at the church and dropped off the photos. Then they proceeded back to Yapacani, stopping at all the places they had soy on the way back. There had been five or six stops in total. The chip could have fallen out of the truck anywhere!! I was sick! I had no photos of the Carlos and Roberta’s wedding. Yes, I had some but they were not the best quality. What would I do? Go back and tell them that there were no photos? How I dreaded that! We had things to do in Yapacani so we did not make it back to Patujusal until Thursday. All week I was fretting – and I was praying. “Please, Lord, let that chip be in Patujusal – and may it be usuable.” This was soy harvest season and the church corner is a busy place with all the tractors, wagons, trucks, and the bus coming and going every day. What chance would there be that a small camera chip would be on the road and still be usable. This chip was in a small case so that would offer some protection – but protection from a truck full of soy? We arrived at the corner in Patujusal at about noon on Thursday. Jake stepped out of the truck, took a couple of steps, bent over and picked up – the chip. A truck, maybe more than one, had driven over it and the case was well scratched so now the prayer only spoke about usability. I plugged the chip into the computer. YES! All the pictures were there. A miracle – and a prayer of thanksgiving.

A must read -- When Helping Hurts

There are times when the impact of a book is life changing. “When Helping Hurts ... Who to Alleviate poverty Without Hurting the Poor .... and Yourself “ is that kind of book. Anyone involved in short term – or long term --mission projects should read this book for reading and discussion.

Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert are involved with The Chalmers Center, a part of Covenant College, in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. An excerpt from their website states that

‘The Chalmers Center for Economic Development at Covenant College helps churches to help the poor to help themselves. The methods we use center on the person of Jesus Christ. We believe that He is the only One who can give poor people the dignity, hope, and power they need to restore them to being what God created them to be: workers who can sustain themselves and bring glory to God in the process.’

Another quote (they say it better than I can.)

“When Helping Hurts" combines sound theology, solid research, foundational principles, and proven strategies that prepare you for Christian transformational ministry among the poor, whether in the local community or abroad.

Good Intentions Are Not Enough. Churches and individual Christians often have faulty assumptions about the causes of poverty — assumptions that many times lead to ministry strategies that do considerable harm to poor people as well as to themselves. "When Helping Hurts" addresses these assumptions and offers several principles and strategies for poverty alleviation, including:
the distinction between relief, rehabilitation, and development
the difference between asset-based and needs-based strategies
the advantages of participatory over blueprint approaches

This book is available from Amazon both as a soft cover book and as a downloadable ebook.

The website http://www.chalmers.org/when-helping-hurts/index.php includes information about the book, video interviews, audio interviews and webinars.

Drainage at San Carlos

There is a small church in the neighbouring town of San Carlos,only 25 members, that operates a Compassion project in which they provide after-school care and instruction to 135 children each week. Members of our local church in Alberta, sponsor a girl who attends this program and I visited the San Carlos project with them last year. Since that time we have developed a good relationship with Carlos and Claudia. We bring bananas and rice.

A few months ago they requested some help. There building is built on a slope and during the wet season there is water in three of the rooms – two classrooms and the office. Compassion suggested that they find a solution to the problem. The Bolivian solution would be to build different buildings but that would cost much more than the church could afford. Compassion suggested that they look for help internationally but their church is a national church without international connections. The only ‘extrangeros’ (foreigners) that they know are ourselves, so they asked us for suggestions and assistance.

Ideas ranged from moving the church and the project to another location to building a second floor on the existing building. The first did not meet with much enthusiasm from the church and we were not enthused about building a second floor since it did not solve the drainage problem. It would only give them a new church and a larger recreation field.

Instead we put heads together and worked on the drainage problem. There were two factors that were clearly part of the problem -- no drainage tile and no eaves troughs. Eaves troughs are not a new concept so they could be easily installed but drainage tile was not to be found. So we built our own using the basic principles that we had used for the filters in the water wells. All we needed to purchase were four inch tubes and clean gravel.

The day was organized. Some volunteers would dig the trench; others would cut slits into the tubes. We arrived to find the trench already started and the volunteers were all female, except one. Our helpers were the director, the teachers, and the minister’s wife. The male volunteer was the minister. All went to work and later in the morning two more men arrived. The men did the digging; the women cut the tubes and carried the gravel.

The system worked smoothly. After the trench was dug, gravel was laid to make it level. The tube was placed in the trench and more gravel was added. Then rice bags, similar to feed sacks, were placed over the gravel so that sand would not clog the tube. Finally, the soil which was mostly sand, was replaced.

At five o’clock everything was completed. We were a tired but happy bunch. We hope and pray that this system, and the eaves troughs, will solve the water problems in the classrooms.

Thank you to Woody Nook Christian Reformed Church for providing the funding for this project.

Machine or manual labour

A weekend in August was a busy one for the members of Iglesia Dios de Amor as they worked on the church building. While they hauled fill into the sanctuary to raise the floor, we fixed the cement mixer. Freddy had borrowed the machine a couple of months earlier and we were under the impression that they had used the mixer for other parts of the building, but we were wrong. The machine had been sitting idle while the cement was mixed by hand because the mixer did not work. The problem was a small one --the spark plug was full of carbon.

It was 5 pm. and time to mix the cement. We were ready to use the machine but everything came to a halt. The man hired to supervise the building did not want to use the mixer; he wanted to mix the cement by hand. This would mean that all the dry materials would be mixed on the ground using shovels. Then water would be added and finally it would be lifted into the wheel barrows and carried to where it was needed. The helpers wanted to use the mixer – it was easier.

Finally, an agreement was made and we started mixing the cement. Although we were told that everything was ready, there was a mad scramble when the first load of cement was ready. And the mad scramble continued until the last load was poured. They were amazed at the speed at which the cement was being mixed.

We realized that the supervisor did not understand how to calculate how much sand, gravel and cement he should put in the cement mixer. He knew the ratios for mixing on the ground but was not able to convert those amounts into the smaller amounts used in the mixer. The men who handled the wheel barrows also could not understand how Jake was calculating the mix. “Sometimes he puts half sand and half gravel in it and other times he adds a bit more cement. We don’t know what he is doing.” They must have thought Jake was either a magician or was just guessing.

An hour later everything was finished. By 6:30 everyone headed home. Freddy told us that when we started mixing the supervisor said that it would take until the next day to mix with the machine. He could not believe that everything was done in one hour. I think that we will be ‘hired’ again when they want to cement the floor.

Acción de Gracias.

There is no Thanksgiving Day in Bolivia; however, this church was celebrating Thanksgiving Day. But not in the manner to which we are accustomed. The purpose of this celebration was not only to bring thanksgiving, but also to raise money for the church building.

Many churches depend on ‘outside’ money to build their churches. In some areas this has become the norm. ‘Dios es Amor’ is no exception. A couple of years ago they asked us to donate the tin for the roof of their building. Since we had no connection there, we declined.

The situation has changed since Freddy is the pastor of this church. The congregation wanted to build a larger church. They knew that Freddy has connections in England and expected that he would request the needed funding from there. But Freddy said no. If it was important to them, they would show that importance by raising the money themselves to build the ‘templo’.

On faith, they are building their church. Acción de Gracias was part of this initiative. The women prepared meals and sold them at the church. Some had their own carts that they used to serve meals in the street. Others had their food in large pans. There was fish, steak, and a number of chicken dishes. Each meal came complete with salad and rice. Some had yucca; some had chuño; some had corn. Prices were 8-10 bolivianos for a meal. Coconut juice and juice made from dried peaches (mocachino) were one boliviano. In addition to the meal, people donated other food stuffs that were sold – rice, manadarins, lettuce, bananas.

At the end of the day, the people raised 2200 bolivianos that will be used toward their new building. Will it buy a lot of materials? No. But these people are ‘putting their money where their mouth is’ and they have a great pride in what they are doing. They are doing it themselves.

Will they need help? Yes. Instead of expecting a donation from us, they have taken out a 7,000 boliviano loan which will pay the workers. They will need more money. Freddy will ask a church in England for some assistance.

We, also, want to help with this project, especially since the congregation has shown such initiative. The long term plan is that the church will not only be a ‘templo’ but will also serve as a community center. There are four existing neighbouring barrios and two more are being planned. These are all located in a poorer section of Yapacani. The church plans to operate a Compassion International project as well as women’s programs, programs for teenage mothers, programs for teens, and other programs that will benefit the community.

If any of you would like to donate to this project or if you would like to get a group together to come and help, please contact us and we will send you the information.

A Final Hurdle

Miracles happen. No, it not be the raising of the dead and the healing of people, but hearts change. We witnessed it.

Every month there is a meeting of the community or ‘sindicato’. This is the meeting at which all the business is discussed – and discussed. Since September these meetings have been a strain on Jake. Each month he would come home more frustrated with certain members of the community and their expectations. Each month he would ask for a letter stating that we are members of the community, that we own the land, and that we have all the privileges of being a member of this community. Every month the request would be ignored or someone would speak negatively. Although Jake kept his cool at the meetings, the tension was wearing on him.

June 30 – meeting day. Jake went, as usual. He came home within a few hours and asked if we had the possibility of photocopying a document. Daniel and Inez’s family had come with a proposal concerning the land. Their proposal was not acceptable to the community and Jake made a suggestion for a slight change that would make the agreement more just. One of the more negative members immediately said that it was a great idea and the new proposal was agreed upon and drawn up. We photocopied it and everyone was happy.

Later in the meeting some of the credit issues were discussed and again Jake requested the letter. This time there was no discussion. Permission was given for us to draw up the letter with a few minor changes. We then could bring the letter to the president and secretary to sign, get it properly notarized in Yapacani, and we would have our letter of security.

The attitude of the community has changed. Was it the death? Is it Mario and his support? We do not know but we sense the difference. We are thankful for the change and the opportunity to stay here and live with these people.

From this day forward

Teodoro is a good friend and a Christian brother. We always said that whomever he married would have a wonderful husband. One day we heard that Teodoro ‘had a woman’. In this culture that means that he ‘married’, or that the woman has now moved into his house.

From what I can understand, the man goes to the house of his girlfriend and asks the father if she can come and live with him. The father agrees and the woman goes with the man. So, a few months ago it became apparent that Celia was now living with Teodoro. Since very few of the couples in this community are legally married, this arrangement was not unusual.

Last month Teodoro and Celia were married in a civil ceremony. This is not a big event and only the couple and their witnesses attend. The family usually does not attend the ceremony. The couple is asked if they know each other to be of sound character. Then they go through the vows which are very similar to those we use in the weddings in North America, the papers are signed and the couple is married.

Last Saturday we celebrated the religious wedding of Teodoro and Celia. And quite the affair it was. Each wedding we have attended in Bolivia has been quite different. This one was done in style. Words cannot describe it – I should have had a video camera. First seven girls entered with their escorts. The only ones we knew were Gerardo and Valeria Diaz. The rest were strangers to us; not members of either family. Then a small boy holding a Bible entered, followed by a small girl holding a plate with the rings. Following them were another two girls spreading petals. Then the bride entered with her parents from the side door and stopped in the middle. The lights went out and a spot light then followed the groom who had been sitting on an elevated throne at the rear of the church. When he reached the floor, his parents joined them and they proceeded to the place to where the bride was standing. The bride’s father invited the groom into their family and the groom’s father invited the bride into their family. Then the couple went down the aisle, followed by the parents. The ceremony took place.

Following the ceremony everyone moved across down to the Diaz house where the reception took place. The back yard was transformed into a wedding hall complete with white tents for the band and the bride and groom. It was quite luxurious and everything would have fit in a North American wedding. The receiving line was formed and each person would present their gift and give their greetings to the couple. If the gift was large, the photographer would take a picture of the couple with the presenters of the gift. Teodoro and Celia received 2 china cabinets and 4 roperos (cabinets for clothes). All the walls in their room will be covered with these pieces of furniture. According to Dionicio it became a ‘one upmanship’ game in which each person had to buy something at least as good, if not better, than the last. Jake went down two times to the local market to pick up more furniture – at 11:30 at night. The purchaser would call the merchant and the merchant would open the store and the piece would be selected and brought to the reception.

Finally, at 2 in the morning we left.

The next day there was the gift opening but we did not know that we were expected to be there. We went to church instead but someone was sent to retrieve us so that we would be there for lunch. When we returned once again, just before we went home, Celia was placing all the gifts in the cabinets. She had already filled the two china cabinets and still has boxes and boxes of glasses, cups, and plates that still could be unpacked.

A typical Bolivian wedding? Who knows? It was more posh than the other weddings we attended but certainly was not as posh as the other one that took place the same night in Yapacani. That couple received a car as a wedding present. And we thought everyone was poor in Bolivia!

I Have A Plan for You

We have felt like boats floating aimlessly in the water for the past ten months. Directionless, listless, without direction. In our hearts we knew that we had been in the right place but .... what now? A dwindling community, a community that was ‘on its feet’ financially. To stay or to go? How often we would pray for direction. How often we wanted to know where our paths would lead. We had no plan. We were living day by day ‘con calma’, not wanting to do anything rash.

But God was working his plan and it opened in a way that blew us away.

The story started when we first came to Bolivia. We attended the English service at the Calama Baptist Church. Also attending was a young man, Freddy Gutierrez, whose family lived in Yapacani. He was attending university in Cochabamba. We moved to Patujusal and did not maintain contact, mainly because we did not have a telephone.

One day Jake hailed a mototaxi in Yapacani. The driver asked if he knew a gringo called Jake. Naturally, Jake was surprised since his name was Jake and he was the only gringo living in Yapacani. The driver was Freddy – from Calama in Cochabamba. Remember? We met a few times and we learned that he wanted to learn more English, that he wanted to attend Cambridge in England. Freddy moved to Santa Cruz and after some time we lost contact.

Freddy called when our email was compromised and someone sent an email saying that we were robbed in Nigeria. He was very concerned and wanted to help us. We were touched.

Last January our land lady in Yapacani called me because there was a young man who wanted to talk to me. It was Freddy. He had returned from England and was married the month before. He was planning to work at a small Baptist church plant in Barrio Florida. I was heading to Cochabamba for Quechua classes so we arranged to meet ‘later’. But with our schedules, nothing materialized.

Meanwhile, Freddy worked at the church in Barrio Florida, the barrio where many of the families from Patujusal and La Pista have purchased lots and are building houses. The church has had a positive influence on these people and some of them are now actively involved.

Freddy spent two years at Cambridge taking Integral Missions, an area in which I have been interested and in which I want to be involved. It is the vision we had for our work in Patujusal. Freddy and I only had a few minutes to discuss his plans but in that time he touched on every idea I have had for working in Yapacani. Although I have lots of ideas, I do not have the people that can implement them but Freddy has a network available.

Where this will lead we do not know. How things will be implemented we do not know. But we know that there is a reason that Freddy and ourselves keep connecting. We know God has a plan and we are eager to be part of it.