Day of Prayer and Fasting and the touring day!

Most of the group :)

The "car" I drove in Bolivia!

Spoon on forehead, drinking water without stopping - Costa Rican cure for hiccups (or Ippos as they call them here). It works!!!

Communion

The day of Prayer and Fasting was a great day full of prayer, teaching, personal growth, and growing together as a group. God did some wonderful things that day, breaking hearts and breaking down barriers that keep us from really being able to bless one another and work together. We needed to ask forgiveness for ways that we have not empowered each other from country to country because of our own prejudices and pride. The most impactful for me was asking forgiveness for the way our country has looked down on our neighbors to the south and thinking that we know best. It was a powerful time filled with tears. A man from Mexico asked forgiveness too for the way they feel about those of us from the North. It was incredible and freeing. I am more and more convinced that work like this needs to happen for people to be truly free. We shared communion together, which is always a great joy! We also celebrated and broke our fast with cakes celebrating father's day here in Bolivia. Yeah, cake. (after Communion), and then we ate dinner :)

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Ah, what a wonderful day we had yesterday! God met us in some fun ways as we toured a children's home and went to the training site of SASS. I'll try to give you a snapshot of the day, in hopes that you can join us, in theory at least...

We left the hotel at around 9:00am yesterday morning (we crammed 27 people into a 19 person bus)... That was interesting and hot. We encouraged people to hang out with new people, get to know new people. We stopped first at the Stansbury Children's Home to see a YES team in action. It's an orphanage and daycare center as well. Their vision is very interesting and the place is very well kept and beautiful. They have a heart to have houses (that are in the process of being built right now) so that the kids don't have to live in dorms, but can live with a family, 8-10 kids per two parents. They also run a daycare where they receive children whose parents need to work and would otherwise be locked in a house alone all day (true stories - very sad...) They receive kids from 6 months through kindergarten. And in the process, they work with the parents to help them retain jobs and build a better life for their families. A lot of the children in the orphanage have been abandoned by their family. They receive the kids from a government agency, they do not allow parents to drop kids off at the gate. They track kids nourishment and height/weight as well to report to the government monthly and have a psychologist and social worker who work with the orphaned/abandoned kids as well as the parents of the kids at the daycare. I was impressed at the way they work and the vision and heart of the people who work there. We spent about 30 minutes praying for the leaders, for the children, for the vision.

After we toured the home, we traveled about 45 minutes and went to a small town and walked around a market and did some souvenir/gift shopping. We then took another 45 minute bus ride to the SASS training site. If I could explain the drive, I would say it is among the worst roads I've been on, dirt, bumpy, clay on the edges, so if you got off the road pack, you would flip your car... It was also very hot in our cramped bus, but we enjoyed it anyway! We had lunch at the site, then rode a horse/buggy (they are in a conservative mennonite area - the Russian mennonites and the German Mennonites). We also spent time praying for the area, the leaders, etc. It was a wonderful day full of communion with God, heat, bugs and bug bites, fun, and communication/fellowship. On our way home, some rode in the back of Estevan's truck (that group did include me - I needed the wind and air!) It was a fun ride with lots of spanglish flying around as all of us have a limited understanding of one another's language... Some went to a market and some of us came back to swim. I learned how to dive (really dive) the other day! It was so fun! I am now a huge fan of how it feels to slice through the water. I can enter the water almost straight up and down, which is scary because you meet the bottom of the pool very quickly that way... We have also been having races in the water, so that is good and fun for us! I think I need a swimming pool :)

After the outing, we had a very good time of celebrating and worship and prayer along with a devotional about running the race God has for us. It was a wonderful evening.

Two people have been sick the whole time and two of us got sick yesterday - just a sore throat, congestion, etc. bummer. But I am excited in my heart/spirit in this time, glad to be doing the great work God has called me to. There is a lot of transition in Latin American programs, staff, etc. and it is good. God has big plans for these people.

Please pray for this final day - as we have discussions on mentoring, Christ-like relationships, Dying to Self/Living for Christ, the closing ceremony, welcoming new members. Pray that God would be glorified in all we do and say. We just had a wonderful time of thanking the staff and praying for them. Many were deeply touched and deeply moved. Pray that what God began in that time will continue. The owner cried and thanked us for the ways we have blessed them.

Thank you and God bless you!

Jenny