Walls completed :)

Hola,

Today was an exciting day! The church is close to completion, yet there are still many things to do. The scaffolding was taken down today and the holes where the log supports had been placed for the scaffolding, filled in and spooned smooth.

Irene and others worked on clearing all the excess lumber away from the site which was so nice because the area is beginning to look neat and finished.

The tin was put on the roof today as well. Pete and Ray sat on the top of the roof and a couple of the Yucra boys handed the tin up to them to be nailed in place.

The walls were all plastered today as well. This is also a neat process. The men mix some cement and then throw it at the wall and after a section is covered, they smooth it out. The walls were constantly being wetted. The water is thrown at the walls and may or may not have been purposefully thrown at Pete on the roof…but it was only in revenge! The men did not finish the walls until 9:30pm. They worked in the pitch dark with a light run by the generator. Lisa brought them a c.d. player so they could groove and be encouraged by music.

Marg had taken all the school children to La Pista last night to sleep there because there was a sports event today. She picked them all up later today after the event was over.

Marg, Irene, Carolyn and Francine worked on moving the extra bricks from the site to Jake and Marg’s yard. We have to carry a couple of bricks at a time from the pile to the truck and then unload them the same way. In total, today we moved about 1500 bricks. It was neat to see how the Bolivian’s move them though. One man, who helped transfer bricks, would sandwich 6-8 bricks between his hands and quickly move them around. He was a welcome help!

The Lord willing, we will be able to pour the concrete floor tomorrow and do some finishing touches with painting and put up the doors. It is amazing to look back and see all the work that has been completed. When we first looked at the site for the church and only saw hard dirt and garbage, we could not imagine the wonderful church that is now standing there!

Until tomorrow…

Rafters put up :)

Hello!

Today was a long day but productive. All the rafters were put up. We were wondering how they would get the very heavy rafters lifted up to the roof. The men carry a rafter to the area and lift it up to the men above. When it is high enough then they flip it into a V and it balances on the two walls. Then it is ready to flip upright and put in place. There was one time where the rafter fell but thankfully, no one was hurt. Ray and Pete helped put the rafters up (and can tell you in greater detail how it all works) and hammer them in place with the supports. A few layers of brick are placed above the rafters to hold them in place well. These had to be spooned as well.

Francine and Carolyn painted one side of all the doors to dry for tomorrow when the other side would be painted. They also, along with Lisa, painted the support beams for the roof of the church. Francine and Lisa went up to the roof to finish the last three rafters which had not been painted the previous day. They stood on some boards and the brick wall and while it was a difficult procedure, managed to paint them all.

Carolyn and Francine pumped bucket after bucket of water from the pump and Lisa, Marg and others threw the water on the inside walls of the church. The walls need to be wet because it helps the cement stick better to the walls.

Marg spent time with the Bolivian church leaders planning the service and dedication for the service on Saturday. The kids helped her pick out songs. Our service Saturday will begin with the dedication of the church at 3:00 and then the worship service to follow supper.

We all worked until dark and the family had prepared a meal for us there. We ate rice, yucca, veggies and wild pig (boar). It was delicious! They set up candles for us on the table to see.

We got home and took turns with showering. Then it was off to bed...

Arm wrestling...

Hola!

Today was warmer. The night was cold but refreshing for a change from the stifling heat. Breakfast was good and Ray made us some delicious coffee to wake and warm us up!

Most of the bricks are done being laid for the church walls. The gable ends are up now as well and look really good. Ray and Pete continued working on the inner walls of the church. Francine and Carolyn worked on painting the church pews, along with one of the younger boys from the community, and managed to finish them all. At lunch they set out the ones from yesterday because they appeared dry, but unfortunately, some of them were a little wet in areas and a few bums stuck to the paint.

Lisa and Irene spooned for the morning and Francine and Carolyn the afternoon. The scaffolding is very high now and although it does not appear very strong at a glance, was secure and worked well!

The rafters were all cut and pieced together and needed painting as well. Carolyn and Francine painted and then the teachers came to visit and really wanted to help paint as well. Lisa and the teachers ended up almost finishing them all but ran out of paint so two rafters need to be painted later because the rafters are all going up tomorrow. Then someone will have to climb to the roof and paint them up there.

At lunch, Pete took on the very strong Francine in an arm wrestle and I’m sure you are all curious as to who won… :) Then two of the men from the community wanted to test Pete’s strength as well. They were both beat so they decided that if they could go together against him they could win. It was fun to watch! Carolyn and Lisa had an arm wrestle as well and it was stalemate for them for a long time!

Supper was chicken and rice with a salad. Lisa’s nursing skills came in handy when she cleaned and bandaged Hose’s knee (one of the men helping us build the church), which he had hurt badly in a game of futbol on Sunday. It was a relaxing evening.

Goodnight :)

"My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken." Psalm 62:1-2

"En Dios solamente esta acallada mi alma; De el viene mi salvacion. El solamente es mi roca y mi salvacion; Es mi refugio, no resbalare mucho." Salmos 62:1-2

Visiting the school :)

Last night was a crazy night! The south wind blew in with full force and brought the temperature here way down! All night, the wind made the tin roof bang and the plastic covering on the window flap making as much noise as possible! Pete, who was sleeping in his tent under the loud tin roof, came into the house to camp out the night. Francine, unaware of this bit of information, came into the kitchen in the middle of the night and shone her flashlight right onto the face of Pete, shocking and partially scaring her.

There was some rain in the morning which was refreshing but did not really help with the dust control or filling the rain barrel. It was a good thing for work on the church though.

On the way to the church site, the truck encountered a large tree which had fallen across the road. The men worked to remove it. Pieces of trees were littered here and there, remnants of the previous night’s storm.

Jake put his back out really bad this morning as well and it is frustrating because he has so many things to do and he is in so much pain. There is a missionary woman who is also a chiropractor in Santa Cruz that he went to see. She was a welcome help to Jake! While in Santa Cruz Jake went to get new tires for his truck (because tires do not last long on these rough roads and flats are not uncommon). It is a 4 hour trip to Santa Cruz from here so it is better to do all the errands you can think of doing. Jake and Marg keep in contact by internet because Jake can check email in internet café’s. When there is something needed here, Marg writes an email and hopes Jake will read it in time so the 4 hour trip does not have to be made over and over again!

At the site, the men were bricklaying. Irene and Lisa did more of the spooning and then Lisa painted the window bars black.

Before lunch, we all piled in and on the truck and headed to the school. On the way we had to drive in 4 wheel drive because they are constructing the road. This construction involves a cat which pushes all the dirt into a pile on the road and makes for some difficult driving.

When we got to the school the children were waiting and VERY excited! They came running to us and shook our hands. Any picture we took, they would gather around the digital camera to look and all you would see is a dozen little heads in a circle around one of the cameras.

We got to see the classrooms which are two separate buildings. One of the classrooms is for grades 4-6 and there are 12 students who are taught by a man named Carlos. And the other room is for grades 1-3 and there are 26 students taught by a woman named Lydia. They are currently working on the teacher’s house and the bathroom.

Today was set up as the day for the children. Marg had baked chocolate cakes for the children. The teacher had the children line up and he split them into two teams to play futbol. They needed two more players so Pete and Francine played as well. Lisa joined in later as well. The kids love futbol and were having a blast! Pete had some great corner kicks. It was an awesome time and all of us were sad to say goodbye.

Back at the site, Francine, Carolyn and Lisa painted half of the church pews. It was cool outside and after awhile all three of the girls were shivering. It was hard to believe that one day we could be sweltering and the next so cold we wanted to wear long pants and sweatshirts! Their hands were covered in paint and stuck to anything they touched. Every time they had to move a bench, they had to rip their hands off the sticky bench! The men continued work on the bricklaying.

On the way home, Pete decided it would be nice to bring one of the men, Mario, home because he lived a ways down the road from our place. In the middle of the road was a large log from a fallen tree. No one has a large vehicle, just motorcycles, so the log had been there a long time! The men went to move the log and soon they were covered in ants, biting their arms. They quickly moved it and began to wipe off all the ants. It was not a fun experience, to say the least.

We ate fish for supper which was good! Then we all bundled up for a chilly sleep once again.

God bless

Monkeys and river swimming :)

Good morning!

We hope all is well with everyone! It was incredibly hot today! We went to church and when we arrived, it was neat because the family had taken the new church pews and placed them in the hut so we could sit on them instead of the old benches during the service. We started by singing. The Bolivians sang in Quechua and in Spanish. We shared the song books so we could try and sing along with them. Quechua is a very difficult language to learn and sing! Most of the words are very long and hard to pronounce! We sang our English praise songs as well and the boys with their guitar and mandolin would play some chords and try to accompany our singing. We must say that our singing is improving and we are beginning to sound more together! :)

One of the older men in the community, Fransicco, gave his testimony. He is 74. Then Irene and Pete talked about their lives and what God means to them as well. It is always a wonderful thing to hear other people’s stories and how they came to know God as their savior.

A couple of the little girls in the community are sick and so they took them to the front of the church and the older man and Irene laid their hands on them and prayed for them. The mother of one of the little girls was crying by the end of the prayer; it meant so much to her to have the support and prayers of the community for her little girl.

After a lunch of soup, we all piled into and on the truck and headed home. Some of the Bolivian men wanted to go fishing that afternoon so they headed to the river. We went home first and then walked to the river as well. On the way, in the jungle, we were able to see some monkeys swinging from the branches! It was so awesome! Francine and Lisa found some vines hanging down and Francine suggested Lisa swing on them like Tarzan would, so she did.

The sand was burning on the bottom of our feet! We got the river and thankfully, the bugs were not as bad as usual. The water was nice and warm, yet cooling. The bottom of the river is soft sand. The current pulls you along downstream. It was shallow most of the way until the bend where the current picked up and it was above-head deep.

When we got home, we sat outside for awhile and Jake peeled sugar cane for us and we munched on that. It is really delicious! Lisa and Francine went for a walk into the thicker jungle. They got to see some HUGE trees with large roots and lots of banana trees as well.

The wind changed to come from the south so therefore, we knew that cooler weather was going to come. We all sat outside to have supper because there was a nice, cool wind blowing. We had chicken, potatoes and salad with vanilla pudding, made by Lisa, for dessert. Everywhere we looked there were many fireflies so Lisa and Francine went to catch some but came home empty-handed. Irene, however, managed to catch one and it was neat to see it up close. Its eyes were glowing neon green.

Pete led devotions and we have a good discussion. Then it was off to bed once again…

Washing machines and natural landfills

Hi!

Today is Saturday. It was a hot day with a few clouds. We decided to work on the church in the morning and leave the afternoon to relax and catch up on things such as washing clothes (which get dirty very quickly from all the dust and mud!)

At the building site, the men were busy laying more bricks and the walls are close to being finished; past the window frames. Half a meter of bricks need to be laid around the church yet. They also worked with the chainsaw to cut the wood into the finished rafters. As well, they put the protector bars in the window frames. These bars are necessary to keep people from breaking into the church.

Irene was busy working on the spooning. She decided that she would also clean up a lot of the garbage around the building site. She piled it all together and found a deep hole to put it all into. The children saw what she was doing and she showed them that they could cover it all with dirt and they happily did so. They laughed about the whole thing but it was good to show them how to clean up garbage, instead of just throwing it everywhere.

Marg held her Bible study for church leaders of thefive churches in the area. They sat in the shade and the men had brought their instruments and sang many praise songs. They worked on the song book (which is going to be a book of songs in both Quechua and Spanish for all the churches around here). Songs are sung by memory here and therefore, there is not that many new songs, but rather only a few that are sung over and over again. This song book will help the church leaders introduce new songs to sing during services.

Carolyn, Lisa and Francine stayed at the house and cleaned up the dishes and floors. There was a rather large spider which Lisa gladly put to rest. Lisa also organized songs to print out for us to sing on Sunday to the Bolivians.

Carolyn, Francine and Lisa filled tubs with water and soap and did their washing. Pete decided to try a new method of washing by using his feet to tromp all over the clothes in the soapy water. He figured it sounded like a wash machine as well. His method worked very well!

The rest of the day was spent chatting, sleeping and reading. It was nice to have some relaxing time.

some pictures of random times :)

This is our team, and Jake and Marg and Marcos, at the Santa Cruz airport shortly after landing.

At a popular marketplace.

Trying to help with the flat tire :)

This is an example of what the bugs have a tendency to do to us :) (this is an earlier picture so imagine this times 2 now!)

Preparing the fish for supper.

Friday- Day 7

Hola once again!

(I should mention that the internet does not always work out here very well so it is sometimes difficult to get the blog updated on time. :) )

At the work site today, the scaffolding was put up around two of the walls. Window frames were put up and squared. The men stood on the scaffolding and had their large buckets of cement and the bricks on the boards by their feet. They began the bricklaying once again.

We also had to bring in dirt to build up the floor of the church and even it all out. Pete (which I should also mention is called Pedro by the people here) and Lisa dug dirt in the wooded area by the church. Francine, Irene and a member of the community took wheelbarrows and transported the dirt to the church where Ray used a rake to even it all out. One of the older men in the community used a pick axe to loosen the dirt and Pete and Lisa had quite the hole dug by the end of the day!! It took most of the day to transport all the dirt and lunch was a welcome break from the hot sun!

Lunch was more soup and a rice dish with chicken and salad and potatoes. The Bolivians here take the skin off the potatoes and tomatoes and laughed that we eat it all. The men played their instruments once again and then sang their traditional song…. And we sang some worship songs in English and then our anthem.

Carolyn sanded the rest of the pew benches and talked with some of the little girls. One of the little girls had a simple cloth doll and she wrapped it up in a blanket and then tied the doll up with another piece of cloth. It was cute because she was mimicking how her mother wraps the baby; all tightly wrapped in the blanket.

Irene and Carolyn also did a lot more of the spooning but because the scaffolding is in the way and the walls are getting pretty high now, had to wait until the men finished the walls up to above the window frames. Irene, Francine, Carolyn and Lisa then went up onto the scaffolding to spoon the walls up there.

It was neat again how some of the Bolivian men want to learn English. They point at things and ask us what it is in English and then repeat it over and over. One of the men was trying to tell Carolyn the Quechua word for tickle but it was becoming confusing and everyone had a different idea about what was going on. The word sounded like coochy coochy and everyone was laughing about this, even the next day. We all are trying to learn the Spanish for things as well so do likewise. Slowly we are learning from one another and communication is coming much easier!

Supper was chili and salad and many people from the community came over to eat with us. After supper, we set up a blanket as a movie screen and the projector to watch a movie. Marg picked the movie, ‘End of the Spear.’ We could not get the sound very loud so there were only Spanish subtitles to read. Everyone seemed to enjoy the movie and even though we could not hear anything and caught only a few Spanish words, we were able to make out the story line. Then it was tea time and off to bed once again :)

Thursday- Day 6

Buenos días (good morning)!

This morning while a couple of us cleaned the house and Carolyn made two loaves of delicious banana bread, Pete was trekking into the jungle to get rafters. He said that they went 1 km into the jungle but the road was so bad that they were barely crawling with the truck. The road consisted of old creek beds, large ruts and winded around trees. The Bolivian men had cut the logs already into the rafters so they loaded them onto the truck. However, each rafter was so heavy that they could only take about 7 on the truck at a time so, therefore, they had to make the 1 km journey over and over again. Lisa went on one of the trips into the jungle and took a picture of a very unique and beautiful flower.

The Bolivian men taught Ray and Pete how to lay bricks for the walls. They say that it is not near as easy as it looks but rather, it is quite difficult to do. They have a system with fishing wire tied to either post to make sure all the bricks are even across the wall. It is time-consuming but looks really good when finished! Ray and Pete can now be considered official brick-layers if their wives want any brick structures made. It is an art and good experience for sure!

Irene, Lisa and Francine sanded the pews that will be painted later on. They also, along with Carolyn, did some more of the spooning; filling in holes and smoothing it all out. The children took the wheelbarrows and were taking cement powder and sand to the men as well as giving one another rides in it.

Lunch was soup again. I should mention, that only our group and Marg and Jake get a piece of meat in their soup. The Bolivians don’t keep any for themselves. This is another way of them showing us that we are their honored guests. We got boiled bananas again for dessert and the men played their instruments and sang once again. Irene chose this time to have a quick siesta.

The door frames are up in the church now and bricks were laid up to the window frame level. We worked until dark again to get it all finished. The family fed supper to those at the site even though they told them that we had a supper waiting at home.

Supper here was tamales which the Bolivian women, Felicia and Roberta, spent about 5 hours making! They first gathered 100 ears of corn! They cut off the top and bottom of each one and husk it. Then they stand it on end and cut off all the kernels. There were enough kernels to fill a large laundry basket. They then grinded it all by hand which is a difficult procedure! They add salt, baking powder, yeast, cinnamon, cheese, shortening and sugar to the mush, tasting it to see if there is enough of everything. They then take the husks and make them square, filling each one with some of the tamale mix. They fold the husk into a triangle and put into the outdoor oven for 10 minutes. They were very good!

After dinner we had some tea and relaxed a bit before bed. There were many fireflies as well glittering all over! Well Buenos noche (good evening).

day 5

Hola!

Today is Wednesday and we spent the day working here on the multi-cultural building. Two of the men who work on the church with us had stayed up all night to spray their soya crops and needed to have a day to rest and sleep. The men who are helping us also have their own chaco’s (farms) and need time to work on them as well.

Pete and Ray went to the church site in the morning to get some supplies and Pete said that the pig which often walks around the yard was in the church. The pig had walked through the front door and decided to stick around inside the church for awhile. One of the little boys threw large rocks at it to chase it out.

Lisa mopped the house’s floors and they looked amazing! Every day the floors become muddy from all the dust and water and, therefore, it is difficult to keep them clean!

Pete and Ray worked on the tin roof again with Francine and Lisa passing the tin up to them. They got almost one whole side of the roof finished.

After a lunch of German Summer Soup, we all walked down the road and through the jungle to the river. Right now, the river is very low compared to how high it will be the rainy season. The sand is amazing; white and soft! The Bolivians have a big net and they spread it out and walk with it downstream, catching fish. Many of us went swimming alongside the net. Lisa had one fish shoot out of the water right beside her arm. It was refreshing but as soon as you were outside the water, the bugs would swarm around you and start biting. Ray is covered in bug bites!

Many fish were caught and prepared for supper. One of the fish caught was a piranha and Irene decided to keep its teeth. We all ate together outside again with the Yucra family and a few others from the community. One little girl, Daisy, fell asleep at the supper table which was really cute.

After we ate, the Yucra family talked about how they came to live here and when they became Christians and their life in general. It was neat to hear them open up about their personal lives and gave us a better understanding about who they are and what their lives are like. The Yucra family has been here for 15 years and Tomas and Cerile have 9 children. The older sons have their own farm land with crops of soya and rice.

It was nice to have a day where we could see more of the land while fishing in the river and walking through the jungle as well as hear more about the people in this community. We hope all is well with everyone back home as well!

Day 4

Hi :)

This morning we had breakfast with some of the Bolivian men who are working with us on the church. We sat outside and had hot porridge (Jake grinds amaranth every morning) and fruit. Jake had gone to Yapacani to get more supplies for the church so Marg had to be at the site as a translator.

Carolyn and Francine took the quad to the site and Carolyn’s back was covered in dirt! It hasn’t rained for a long time and the roads are sheer dusty dirt! A funny story about last nights dinner; one of the little boys who had been helping us out was sitting by Pete at dinner and he somehow grabbed Pete’s glasses unbeknownst to Pete, and was wearing them. We looked over and this little boy’s face was hiding behind Pete’s glasses! It was really cute.

At the site, bricks are beginning to go up. We worked on two of the walls today. The bricks have to be wetted so they do not suck the water from the cement as the cement is drying which is what a few of the other men in the community love to do. Laying the bricks is very difficult and the Bolivian men do that part of the process. Then a few of us come behind them and taking a spoon, smooth the cement in the cracks to make sure there are no gaps and it looks good, a process we call ‘spooning’.

Lunch was soup again but this time chicken and peanut soup and a salad with boiled bananas for dessert. During our devotion time, one of the mothers put her daughter in a wash basin near us for her bath. She is very cute and was having fun putting water everywhere.

Four of the Bolivian men wanted to play some of their music for us after we ate so they took out their guitars and mandolins and played a few songs. They are amazing and very talented! It was wonderful to listen to them play and sing, not only because they are very talented, but because they play completely from their hearts. One of the older men was clapping and dancing to the music and the women and children came to join in the singing as well.

A few of us came back to the house earlier to help put tin on the multi-purpose building which is used right now for when the community comes to have dinner or watch a movie. Ray, Pete and Jake sat on the roof and Lisa and Francine handed the large pieces of tin up to them. Ray and Pete joked about how they would need good sunglasses to shield their eyes with the sun reflecting off the tin.

Irene had stayed behind to help with the spooning and when dinner time came, they told her she must sit down and eat with them. She ate with all the men as their honored guest, as it is custom for the women to eat separate, but she was to sit with all the men.

One of the Bolivian women, Roberta, came over with her two small children to help Marg cook supper. They made a delicious roast. The oven broke down half-way through cooking it so they used the outdoor oven which is what the natives here use. The outdoor oven works so that you make the fire inside it and then move the coals to the side and stick the pan of whatever you are cooking inside. It works wonderfully!

Three of the Bolivian men came over for some supper and after supper we conversed with them in both Spanish and English, learning from one another. These men are excited to learn English and Lisa taught one of the men the days of the week in English. Irene and Lisa showed them pictures of their family and home as well. Irene was talking with one of the men about the word OK. In the Spanish book they were looking at, OK meant ‘de acuerdo’ but that was much too sophisticated for the meaning of OK so they decided that OK in English is the same as ‘bien’ in Spanish even though ‘bien’ means good or well in Spanish.

Some of these men sleep in a hut outside the house and as we were falling asleep, we could hear them playing their instruments and singing. It is a peaceful way to fall asleep; hearing music and singing as well as birds and other jungle noises.
Ciao :)

Day 3

Hola! :)
Work on the church began today!

The trenches were dug around the perimeter and large rocks placed in them. Cement was made constantly and poured over the rocks. It is nice that we don’t have to mix the cement by hand, as we have a small mixer.
The children loved to help out and one little boy would carry the cement bags in a wheelbarrow and wanted to dump them out for us. It was cute to watch, as the cemento bags weigh about 100lbs and the little boy weighed only about 50 pounds, but he was determined to help out. The next step was setting up the wooden frame around the perimeter for the cement foundation.

Carolyn was chased by a gander on her way to the washroom and we found out from a little boy there that ganders do indeed bite because his ankle had been attacked earlier. The Yucra family, on whose land we are building the church, built us Canadians a washroom in their horse pen. It is a hole in the ground with some boards for privacy. We are sure you can imagine the fun we have with such a small hole… The fact that this family went out of their way to build us such a nice washroom though is very thoughtful and sweet! They would do anything for us to make us feel more at home and that speaks so much to us!

For dinner, some of the Bolivian woman cooked us a large meal. We sat in the hut which they had also built just for us to have shade, and the first thing brought to us was soup made of vegetables and meat. We were all getting full from the large bowl of soup, when out came the next part of the meal which was a large bowl of rice, meat, lentils, tomatoes, etc. We had to tell them little (pequeno/ poco) because we cannot eat that much! They gave us oranges for dessert. That is one thing that is so amazing; all the fresh fruit that is grown right here. We have lots of bananas and oranges fresh from the trees. We had time to have devotions which Irene led and talk before we got back to building. We got two of the main walls filled with cement in preparation for bricklaying tomorrow, but the process took a long time and we didn’t get finished until past sundown, but it was only nearing 7:00.

A few of the Bolivian women and Marg prepared a huge meal for us! They had three different salads and pork and hamburger with rice. Marg figured that there would be much left over but we ate close to everything! All the families that could make it from the community came for this meal and we set up tables outside under the stars. The gringos sat in the midst of the Bolivians and using Marg and Jake as our translators carried out short conversations with one another. After the meal each one of us from the team told the Bolivians a little bit about ourselves; our families, things we like, where we live and so forth. Marg translated for us. A few of us had pictures and they loved to see all the babies from our families. Children are very important to the people here. After everyone left it was time to unwind and get ready for bed and get some rest for a new day. :)

Building the Church at Patujusal Days 1 and 2

Hola to everyone!

Our team, consisting of Irene Prins, Ray VanderKooi, Peter Kuipers, Lisa Breukelman, Carolyn Tiemstra and Francine Tiemstra, arrived saftely in Patujusal, Bolivia Saturday morning after 32 hours of travel. The flight from La Paz to Santa Cruz allowed us to view the Andes Mountains which are just magnificent and a reminder of the Rockies. The city of La Paz is high above sea level and therefore are breathing was much more difficult.

We were greeted at the Santa Cruz airport by Jake, Marg and Marcos, one of the men from a nearby community. We split up into their truck and a taxi and began our drive to Patujusal. The taxi holding Marg, Carolyn, Francine and Lisa had a good start. For the gringos, there was much to take in! We stopped at a roadside market for some juice. The driving in Bolivia is quite different from Canada as there are no rules whatsoever and honking is not a rude thing to do, but rather, a way of telling other drivers that you are coming up beside them or next in a traffic circle. There were many sugar cane trucks on the road as well.

The taxi got a flat tire soon after starting out on the gravel road. Thankfully, the driver had a spare and although it took some time to change the tire, we were soon on the road again. The road got a bit worse and once again we had a flat tire. This time there was no replacement tire and therefore we had to wait it out on the side of the road. There was a small store close by which was a blessing. We were not stranded in the middle of nowhere which was a good feeling. The people were in a meeting so as soon as they were done (which took a while) they opened the store so we could buy something to drink. It was here that the marriage proposal occurred between Lisa and one of the local men. This man figured that Lisa could be Bolivian and was very beautiful. He kissed all our arms. We had resigned to waiting for possibly 4 hours for the men and Irene to come by on their way from Santa Cruz. The taxi driver finally decided to work on fixing one of the tires with the men at the store and as usually and ironically happens, as soon as the tire was fixed, the truck drove up. To say the least, it was a relief!

We transferred our luggage from the taxi onto the already full truck and four of our team sat on top of the truck and the rest in the cab. The tires were sitting very low. Irene had three dozen eggs on her lap and it was difficult to keep them all intact and it was beginning to appear as though we would have scrambled eggs.

The truck with Jake, Pete, Ray, Irene and Marcos had gone from the airport to Santa Cruz and then on to Yapacani to pick up supplies which included melons, potatoes, chickens and more. They found it quite funny to see us gringos on the side of the road waiting for them to pick us up. We drove a ways and once again we experienced a flat tire but were able to get it fixed right away.

The rest of the drive allowed us a better view of the jungle and we got to see a large iguana crossing the road and running into the soya plants. We passed the school which the children attend as well. The road we were on was very dusty as it has not rained for a long time and rather bumpy because in areas the river had redirected itself and left large rocks and ruts.

We stopped at the Yucra family’s place which is also where we will build the church. The Yucra family donated their land for the church and they are amazing people! They were very welcoming to us. The wife, Sedila, had a baby a week ago and he was bundled up in blankets.

Just a couple miles down the road is Jake and Marg’s land and home. They have a wonderful and cozy home surrounded by the beautiful jungle! We pitched our tents outside and had a delicious meal of peanut soup and buns. We were all tired from our travels and therefore, retired early to bed.

Sunday morning we went to church at 8 and at first it appeared that due to a community meeting we would just go home and hold a small service there. But soon enough, people started showing up on their motos (motorcycles) and by walking or hitching rides on trucks. We sang some hymns in English and the natives sang hymns in Quechua, their native language and then in Spanish. We were greeted with a hand shake, touch on the arm and another hand shake, the traditional greeting. After more people arrived we moved our service into the thatched roof hut they built for us there. The children were very excited! Singing was accompanied by lots of clapping. Marcos read a passage in Spanish from Matthew 7:7-12 and Marg gave a talk on God’s wisdom. We brought greetings from WoodyNook and Pete made the analogy of how in Canada and in Bolivia we stare at the same sun and how we all serve the same God as well. We may be miles apart but we are united by the same God as we are by the same sun. It was truly a wonderful feeling to see the strong faith and love for God that the people here express! It is encouraging and inspiring.

Sunday afternoon was a relaxing time spent talking and learning from one another about the natives, the land, customs and our own reasons for coming and thoughts about everything. Marg, Irene and Lisa took one of the men from the community who was quite sick to the hospital in La Pista and the men went to the river to fish. The men came back with 10 fish which Marg prepared in the traditional way and fried them for supper. The little girls of the man who was taken to the hospital went fishing and caught two fish for us as a thank you for taking their father to the hospital. We had a wonderful supper of fried fish, rice and salad.

We begin work on the church early tomorrow morning so we are all heading to bed now. Ray, Irene and Pete have tents pitched in the front yard and the rest of us sleep in the house. All the best with everyone! Until next time…God bless