Return to Riberalta (And what I learned there)

You might remember reading about my first trip to Riberalta, Beni, Bolivia and how a new church has been planted there. This past weekend I made a return trip to see how the hermanos were doing. I want to share with you what I learned.

1. Always check out your boots before you go on a trip o make sure they have not completely gone to pot while sitting in the closet. The first afternoon while walking to town, my left boot gave way, both the heel and the toe. The right boot soon followed.

2. A "gentle rain" still gets you wet while riding on a moto-taxi (motorcycle taxi).

3. A downpour cannot be outrun by a moto-taxi. I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to dry out after we got caught in the rain coming from the airport to our room.

4. A rubber-soled tennis shoe will melt when it comes in contact with the hot muffler of a moto-taxi. It had been raining and the driver was wearing a rather large poncho. I thought that I had both feet on the foot pegs, but I was noticing that it was difficult to shift my foot. I couldn't see my feet, because of the poncho, but I could feel that my foot was getting warm. It turns out I had it resting on the muffler instead of the peg. A second pair of shoes victim to the weather.

5. It helps to sing to yourself while riding on the back of a moto-taxi, especially if the driver thinks he must beat everything and everyone on the road. Arriving back at the room on Saturday evening, I was sure we had won the Kentucky Derby and the Indy 500 all at the same time.

6. Fifteen is very young to get married. Saturday evening there was a wedding at the church. The groom was fifteen (15). But that was ok. The bride was an older woman of 18 so I am sure they will be ok.

Ronny and Abigail at their wedding. Please pray for this young couple to be well established in their marriage and in faith. 

7. Wedding cake is best when eaten before the bugs have discovered it and embedded themselves in the frosting.

Fifteen layers of wedding cake.

8. Poverty of spirit can overcome the effects of material poverty. I was humbled as we visited the home of Enoc, a first time visitor to the church. His family lives in a one room house (we would call it a wooden shack). We went to pray for his mother who is suffering from a skin disease. One bed was in the corner for the adults. The children slept on blankets on the mud floor. The remains of a cooking fire were in the center of the room. But despite the poverty, Enoc did not seem the least bit dampened in his enthusiasm for the Lord. I pray that he and his family will become a part of the church.

9. The hermanos can accomplish a lot in a short time when they make up their minds to do so. During our previous visit to Riberalta there were only a few pillars where the church building would be. Now there is a  building complete with a cement floor.

Outside of the Christ Lives church.

There is still a need for chairs and furnishings.

10. Children are very loving, forgiving of poor Spanish, amazed by simple tricks and respond to love. I taught the children's Sunday School class. The group of about 20 kids responded to the songs, the story and my simple rope trick. Not once did anyone correct my grammar or poor word choice. Instead we laughed and sang together as we learned about God's willingness to help us. Oh yes, they also like to rub the hair on my arms. I simply tell them that I am half dog and then growl at them.

Hide and seek anyone?

Welcome to our church!

11. There are still opportunities for the gospel to be spread and for new places and people to be influenced and captured by the good news of Jesus. Riberalta is one such opportunity. May God bless the church there as it faithfully reaches out to its community and beyond.

Blessings in Bunches

Have you ever noticed how good things and bad things seem to come in bunches? I am sure that they really don’t, but that is how we perceive them.

I want to share some good things that have come our way in a bunch. First, in case you have not already heard, our grandchild was born on January 17. Sammy is a very much anticipated and loved addition to the family. While I haven’t had the chance to meet him yet, he has already made his own special place in my heart.

Not too many weeks after Sammy’s birth, I got a phone call from a young man named Jeremy. I had met Jeremy before and was expecting this call (but maybe not quite so soon). He was calling to ask permission to marry our daughter Heather, and now our family is looking forward to a wedding.  While Jeremy may not yet have the same spot in my heart as Sammy, I am very excited to have him join our family. He is a very nice young man who deeply loves the Lord and Heather.

Our co-worker Molly Canny gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on our son Mark’s 16^th birthday. 

We are extremely grateful to have Mark as a part of our family and are excited to welcome little Cecilia to our mission family and hearts. She should give me some opportunity to hone my grampa skills before meeting Sammy.

And then there are the more mundane issues of life. We have a car available for our use during our upcoming deputation ministries. That is a big praise to God. Mario (see earlier posts on him if you don’t know who he is) earned 50 bolivianos yesterday and is now  only short another 50 in order to cover his rent. He has a promise of a job and the possibility of getting his foot healed once and for all. The weather has been cooler. We are getting excited about the change of location from Bolivia to the States for a while.

In thinking about all the good that is coming our way, I am reminded again about what is so obvious: God is good and loving. I suspect that if we would look we would find evidence of that every day and not just when everything’s going our way.

PS: A quick followup on the last Post. Here is a picture of me giving the Bible Institute files over to the Santa Cruz district leaders. It was an important moment in the life of the district.