Happy 15th Birthday, Dayana

Among those events that are very important in the life of a young girl in Bolivia, her fifteenth birthday is one of the most important. Saturday evening we were invited, with very short notice, to the 15th birthday party of one of the young ladies in the church. The party was being hosted by her older sister who is a recent convert and, with Dayana, is a regular attender of the church.

The party began, as do all parties in Bolivia, with lots of loud music blaring away. Finally, Pastor Ruben who was acting as the emcee, began the program of the evening. First there were a couple of games to keep the crowd entertained.

A rousing game of balloon toss kept everyone laughing and awake.

Next was time to greet the birthday girl and give her lots of hugs, kisses and best wishes. Even I got into the act as I was asked to share a short meditation with the people at the party.

Fianlly the meal was served, a yummy plate of baked pork, rice, and baked banana and potatoes. (I didn't know that the pork was going to kick back in a couple of days and land me in bed. Oh well, it was good going down.)

Before the cake was served, a special moment occurred when Dayana's mother arrived at the party and announced that she had a special surprise for Dayana and her sister and son-in-law. She said that she was gong to begin to attend church with them.

Next was time to sing birthday wishes to Dayana while the candle on the cake flamed.

At last the cake was cut and served. A four layer cake, it had strawberry filling between layers one and two, a jello filling between two and three and a chocolate pudding filling between three and four.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable evening and we pray that Dayana will continue her spiritual walk and that her mother will indeed join her.

This pretty lady was among the invited guests.