Retreat, Revive, Roll

Last week was the annual World Gospel Mission Bolivian field retreat. (No, we have not switched missions. Yes, we are still with Evangelical Church Missions. No, we are not considering switching.) WGM has invited our mission to participate in their annual field retreat for years. In fact, since before we were on the field. This year the retreat was held at a place not too far out of town so there was no long drive to get there. (We did take a wrong turn coming home and, well, how shall we say it, we saw a little extra country side. Kind of like the old days when I used to say to the kids coming home from church, "Let's take a short cut" or "I wonder where this road goes . . . "). The weather was great for the first two days and the rain kindly held off until the next to the last day.  There was lots of food and fun to go around. One of the highlights was our own 4th of July fireworks show. (It somehow seems more important to celebrate when you are outside the country.) But best of all were the sessions. This year's speakers were a retired Salvation Army Officer couple. Both shared speaking duties and shared from the heart and from the Word. One of the focuses of the meetings was on the Word and its importance in our lives. It was good to be challenged again about guarding the basic things in life. I thank God for the good retreat this year. I felt like I retreated, was revived and went home ready to roll.

The morning following the retreat I left for a five day trip to La Paz. The immediate reason was the quarterly pastors' junta. Every three months the pastors of the church have a two day meeting to review what is happening in the church and to discuss any business that may be. Sometimes these meetings can  turn out to be a bit combative with lively debate but this one was quite calm. I was encouraged by the reports of new churches and new opportunities. The missions department is launching a new project to raise money for a missionary center where leaders can be trained, not only in Bible and theology, but also agriculture and other skills helpful in serving in the countryside in Bolivia. The pastors are committing themselves to purchase square meters of land at $20 a meter. That is a big step for them. The need is great and opportunities are there for expanded ministry. Please pray for this endeavor. Thanks.