A Christmas Surprise

Holla everyone, This is Craig Dukelow and I am the newest intern down here! I am from New Hampshire and this is my second time visiting here. The first was just a short term trip though but have wanted to come back ever since and now I'm finally here. I arrived mid November to a house full of girls! It has been great though and they are all awsome and I love them! The bummer is that they are all gone now!
It is Christmas week and we have been buying, wrapping, and delivering Christmas presents! Villa Israel is doing really well and all the kids are super pumped for Christmas. On monday we had a really cool opportunity to take both villa Israel and the Fruitar kids for airplain rides. A family from CIC (Timmer's church) that has a airplain jungle ministry and they gave us three free rides in their Cesna plains as a Christmas present to the kidos! It was a ton of fun and they all LOVED it! There was a couple that were a little nervous, but once in the air, they were all good. The next day we had them write thank you cards to Mano a Mano... and they all came out super precious!
Something very special happened today. Little Franz has been in the malnutrition center for about three weeks. Today though on our way back from dropping off some presents at the orphanage, Mike got a call saying that little Franz had the doctors ok to go home. We were all super excited and went straight over to pick him up. As soon as he saw us, He ran over beaming to Mike's outstreached arms! He has improved immensly and he now has a little pot belly rather than a skinny ribcage showing which is very encouraging to us all!

We took him straight over back to his Villa Israel Family. They greeted him with hugs,chears, and chanted his name! It was so cool to see the love they all have for eachother and the beautiful family they have become! Although all the Christmas presents will be much appreciated, I think that Having Franz home will be the best present of all. Thank you all for you love and prayers and have a wonderful Chritmas as we celebrate the birth of our Savior!
Merry Christmas, Craig

Neydi... child #10!

About a month and a half ago, the newest edition to the Villa Israel orphanage arrived with a big, beautiful smile, and cute little braids. Neydi is 6 (or 8), depending on who you ask, but has a gentle little voice and an affectionate smile. She had been bouncing around from place to place before she came to us, but seemed to adapt easily to new situations.

Neydi with one of her new brothers, Elian

In her time with us so far, Neydi has won our hearts with her sweet spirit and her eagerness to try new things. We had a scare when she ran away for more than a week, but since returning to us, it seems like she has adjusted better into the Villa Israel family, taking on her role as a big sister to the younger kiddos, and learning from her older siblings.

Neydi loves to read, color, and discover. She´s working on the basics of spelling and numbers, but is rapidly progressing, and is a bright little girl. We´re also excited that Ana, the only other girl besides Charlie and Liseth´s little girl, has another girl to play with.

Please remember to keep these kiddos in your prayers. Life has thrown them so much already, and they need all the prayers they can get.

Thanks!

Katie Stewart

Timmer intern

The end is in sight.

Last Friday we went to Chapare (the jungle). We had a meeting with a camp and church that together want to give us land for FIVE new homes!! We also saw the work in progress at Remberto’s new project and went to the other home that Remberto recently finished where I’ve spent some time helping with construction. The finished home is now just waiting on Sedeges (The child services agency here in Cochabamba) to approve all the paperwork. Remberto, Vick, Mickey, and Judith are staying there until a family is ready to move in. We also played with the neighborhood kids down by the river. They did their best to make sure that we “bathed” and even though we didn’t strip down to our underwear like they did, they succeeded in drenching us. It was really great to go back to the jungle to see the homes, and people that I’ve grown to love there. It was really neat, too, that we got to see very different stages of the homes in one day. Obtaining the land, constructing the house, and finishing it!

Sharing the Ministry with Community Leaders

Pastor Nelson

Iglesia Bautista de Candelaria

This is the Church we are hoping to partner with. Its a vibrant Church with some exciting ministries.

Luke 21; The Widow's Offering

This is where Dave and Dana found a lovely widow caring for 15 orphaned children. Her roof was so bad that when it rained many of the children slept in mud.

"I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on." Luke 21:3-4

Maria's Giving Heart

Maria, who donated the lot, was cooking in her kitchen. I wanted to share a couple photos of just how sacrificial their gift was. She's squeezing juice for us, setting the organges on a car battery that she uses as her counter.

October 10, 2008

Remberto is making great progress. He's poured the footings deep and raised the foundation a bit higher because of the heavy rains here in the tropics.

Church Members at the Dedication

After the Bible study we emmediately went to the proposed site. Pastor Faustino Ciprian and others prayed over the property and the children who will one day call this place home.

Patricio and Maria's Sacrificial Gift

When the Church property was too difficult because of title issues, Patricio and Maria Real approached us with their own gift of a building site.

Iglesia Villa 14 de Septiembre Bible Study

Mission Trip!

Kristen here: just copying my blog over in case you were wondering what we interns are up to these days. Fyi: Bethany is our newest intern.

Two days after Katie and I returned from Chile we took off for Potosí, which is up by Oruro and La Paz (more north). We left Saturday morning and are currently on the drive back. Sooo much happened, I’m afraid to write all of it, because I think you might be a little bored…but I’m going to anyways. So grab a cup of tea (or rice milk!!) and settle down for a long one…!

We spent the night in Oruro (unexpected stop). We had a bit of car trouble so we had to have it fixed there. We were pleasantly surprised to have a bathroom and warm room to sleep in. However, this was only the beginning of the bolivian hospitality that we experienced during our short-term mission trip.

Our team consists of Dr. Jorge (Potosino, Dr. Jorge has a huge heart for his fellow potosinos, he consistently travels out to the campo to offer medical assistance as well. He directs Red Vida de Esperanza, the group that we went with). Javier, a missionary with Mission Unida Mundial. He lives in Vinto (right by Nate’s workshop where I go about twice a week), but works in a village in the mountains. He speaks Portugues, Spanish, and Quechua. Waldo, is a dentist and also part of the leadership of Red Vida de Esperanza. He’s a clown, literally, and enjoyed entertaining the kids and us. He’s also from Potosí. Hermana Vickie, is our cook, she’s a very sweet lady and make’s sure we’re all behaving! Rosi, is also a dentist and just finished her practicum in Chapare. This is her first mission trip and she was very excited to participate. Also my roommates Jen, Katie S, and Bethany came along.

We went to seven communities, very rural and poor communities. They were all very different, but most of them were cold. The first village we went to, we made a late arrival, but there were still townspeople up waiting for us. They then proceeded to bring us mattresses, blankets, tea, and bread. We realized pretty early after our arrival that this was probably the poorest community we had ever seen in Bolivia, or elsewhere for that matter. I felt guilty when I realized that because they had given us a bunch of blankets, it probably meant that someone had to go without. What sacrifice! We stayed in the school, both windows were broken but the boys taped them up with cardboard before we went to bed.

Almost all of the schools had a special ceremony welcoming us, complete with the bolivian national anthem (I have a few lines memorized and a cheat sheet that I can use to memorize the rest of it!), interpretive poetry, songs and traditional dance. In most of the villages the older generations spoke mostly, if not only quechua. I have a long ways to go to be fluent in quechua, but I have learned a few helpful phrases. (Ama wakaychu—don’t cry!)

For our program we did puppets (a skit about dental health, as most of the parents and grandparents have rotten or no teeth.), a clown drama, games, bible memory verse--Juan 3:16, coloring pictures, and distributing Samaritan’s Purse boxes. It was so neat to see the kids that receive the boxes, and get to tell them how and why they came here. (Helpful hint, to those of you who do boxes for samaritan’s purse or busses international I strongly suggest that you don’t include playing cards. In the rural communities that we have visited, cards are associated with gambling, casinos and other destructive addictions that the churches are fighting against. Soo….go with some cool sunglasses or gloves or something…)

We also participated in a few church services where I had to give my testimony twice—talk about being put on the spot…however it was really neat to hear it translated from Spanish into quechua!!

The biggest thing that God has been teaching me is to give my best every day…there’s a song by Jesus Adrian Romero (one of my most favorite artists), called Te Daré lo Mejor (I’ll put on a video of it, even though I don’t expect that many of you will understand it…), it basically talks about giving God our best every day, because that’s what he deserves. There were probably about 5 other verses, messages, or comments that convicted me even more. I just want to be able to stand before God with as few regrets as possible.

I have so much confidence in this organization that we have come with. Dr. Jorge, is the founder, and I feel like he has a really well balanced view of ministry. During our time in the campos, he was always meeting with the church and community leaders. We had tea with the teachers from one of the villages, and three of the teachers, openly mentioned that they were looking for a meaningful religion. Not worried about what others might thing, Dr. Jorge took the opportunity to share with them how meaningful his relationship with God is and how he offers that to all of us. He also encouraged and challenged them to keep on investing in the kids of the community. He preached at church a few times, did health exams in communities where there is no doctor, played games with the kids, and made sure all the needs of our team were met.

I give credit to all you short-term-teamers out there. I feel like this trip has been the most draining week in my eight months of missionary work here in Bolivia. ‘Though I wouldn’t trade it for the WORLD!! I’m so thankful for the opportunity to see more of Bolivia, hang out with kids, learn from my teammates, get out of my comfort zone.

Umm…there’s so much more I could write right now…but I imagine I’ll add some more by the time I post this. I’ll also try to post some PICTURES on my foto blog!!

Thanks for hanging in there!!

Kristen

Intern Update. August 2008.

Soo we said a bunch more goodbyes this week… Rachel (Kristen's sister was here for 2 weeks to help out) left Wednesday night, Adrian left Thursday night and Tiffany moved out on Thursday. The house is so empty it almost echoes… Why does everything have to happen at the same time?!!

Adrian is off to language school in Peru, then to Quito to work with a youth ministry there with IT, then off to explore a million other countries. He was a fantastic brother, we were all very grateful for his kindness, and super funny sense of humor. He was also a good baker, he enjoyed treating us girls to dinner and dessert often. In fact the day after he left Jen, Katie S. and I decided to go on a sweets fast since we have gotten so used to having sweets around all the time. I feel healthier already!!

On Saturday we did a “Hygiene Day” with the kids at Villa Israel. A bunch of the kids have not been there very long, and usually come from poorer neighborhoods or the Campo (countryside), therefore cleanliness is not something they’ve grown up with. Kim did a puppet show and Aldo the psychologist talked about the importance of being clean outside, but also inside—having a clean conscience, asking forgiveness for wrongs, etc. We also brought some liquid soap (Aldo told Roberto that when he got a bit older the girls would like that he had clean, good smelling hands!), stools for the littler ones to reach the sink and toothpaste and toothbrushes. I was shocked by how excited the kids were!! Brandon ran up behind Kim and gave her a really big hug and thanked her, sometimes it’s the littlest things that get kids excited! It’s really sweet to see the older kids there interact with the little ones. They’re so protective and gentle. It makes me really happy, and kinda proud too, not that I taught them that, but that I get to work with such sweethearts!!

The Timmers come back next week. From what I’ve heard they’ve had a good time visiting supporters, hanging out as a family, and reuniting with old friends. They did get to go see a bunch of people from Bedford (you may recall that we had an AMAZING team from Bedford a few months back, they’re also sending another team this fall…can’t wait!).

Well, that’s about it for now…have a fantastic day!

God bless!

Kristen

Hygiene Day

On Saturday we did a “Hygiene Day” with the kids at Villa Israel. A bunch of the kids have not been there very long, and usually come from poorer neighborhoods or the Campo (countryside), therefore cleanliness is not something they’ve grown up with. Kim did a puppet show and Aldo the psychologist talked about the importance of being clean outside, but also inside—having a clean conscience, asking forgiveness for wrongs, etc. We also brought some liquid soap (Aldo told Roberto that when he got a bit older the girls would like that he had clean, good smelling hands!), stools for the littler ones to reach the sink and toothpaste and toothbrushes. I was shocked by how excited the kids were!! Brandon ran up behind Kim and gave her a really big hug and thanked her, sometimes it’s the littlest things that get kids excited!

It was really sweet to see the older kids interact with the little ones too. They’re so protective and gentle. It makes me really happy, and kinda proud too, not that I taught them that, but that I get to work with such sweethearts!!

The new editions...

Meet Elian and Franz, two Quechua brothers who arrived at Villa Israel about three weeks ago. They came from a mountainous region near Cochabamba, speaking only Quechua. When they first arrived, they were shy, sick, and hurting, having just lost their mother a few days before. Now, they are beginning to come out of their shells, and the other kids at Villa Israel have begun to treat them like part of the family.

Elian is a delightful six-year-old with a sweet, shy smile. He´s constantly chattering away in Quechua, and has a deep thirst for learning. He takes pride in learning his letters, and is content to draw or read for hours. He´s also got a mischevious streak, and can climb a tree like a little monkey. When you hear him laugh, it sounds like God´s joy is actually bubbling out of him!

Franz is a long-lashes two-year-old who still carries the weight of his mother´s death on his face. He likes to sing, and will also chatter away in a mixture of Spanish and Quechua as you hold him. When he first arrived, he couldn´t bear to be put down, and would scream and scream to be held. He´s slowly adjusting, and has learned how to cope without constant human touch. He loves to draw, and often waddles around the orphanage, checking out what the other kids are up to.

We are so grateful to have these two new kiddos in our lives, and we´re excited to see how God will grow them in their new home. Pray that they will continue to heal in healthy ways from their mother´s death, and that they will sink their roots down deep in the peace and joy of God. Pray that Franz will stay healthy, and that Elian will learn quickly so he can enter into school soon.

Thanks for reading,

Katie Stewart

New intern: Katie Stewart

Imaynalla!

My name is Katie Stewart, and I have joined the rest of the interns here until the beginning of December. It´s silly, really, that I haven´t introduced myself yet because I´ve been here nearly a month. This is my second time in Cochabamba, as my heart grew roots here when I spent the summer in Coch 2 years ago. I developed deep and lasting relationships with the kiddos at the Muyurina orphanage, as well as rich friendships with some of the Bolivians here that we worked/work with. It has been a powerful experience to be back here and to pick up right where I left off.

As for a little more about me... I´m a born and raised Colorado girl, coming from a small mountain town called Carbondale (near Aspen, CO). I graduated a year ago from Whitworth College (in Spokane, WA) with a degree in education, and spent most of my year out of college, working as a teacher. I LOVE backpacking and being in the outdoors with a passion (good thing I was born in Colorado!), and my family and I spend a good deal of our summers (and winters and falls and springs...) in the outdoors when I´m home. Music is also a passion of mine, and I hope to share it here through my pennywhistle I brought:)


When I return from Bolivia in December, I´m unsure where my path will lead me, but my hope and heart´s tugging is that I return to Coch. I have found so much purpose working with Latin Americans, and particularly Bolivians. I´ve found a growing passion for Quechua, and I´ve also been able to use my gifts as a teacher in so many ways with the niños here.


Bueno, I think that´s all for now. I´m including a picture of me and sweet Ana (from Villa Israel) at the end of this.


Tinkuna cama,
Katie

Interns + Kiddos= FUN!

(minus the two newest little guys...)

Just so you know...

We´ve had so much transition over the last few months I (Kristen) thought it would be a good idea to give you an update of who´s still here...
Right now it´s me, Adrian, Katie T., Katie S. and Tiffany. There you have it... Stephanie and Andrea left last weekend. Katie S. arrived two weeks after her scheduled arrival date. They are not messing around when they say you have to have a yellow fever shot (it used to be optional).
Kim + Elaina left a few weeks back.
Jaclyn left the first of the month.
More later...!
(Katie T. and Stephanie are (were) both interns at the center. They live at the Hacienda with us, though).

Devon Park Orphanage

Dear friends,
It's with a joyful heart that we begin the Devon Park Orphanage blog. Bonnie and I with all our children had only just arrived in Michigan (almost a Canadian province ehh?) when we received an email from Randy and Beth Fox. Devon Park Christian School in Frederiction New Brunswick has been blessing Cochabamba with short term teams for the past five years. Each year their graduating class has given of their time and resources to bless the ministries of Bolivia. I had suggested to one of these teams that if they some how could fail their final exams they may be able to return to Bolivia with the next years class and they emmidiately coined the phrase "Failing for Jesus"

Despite my questionable advise to the senior class; Randy and Beth Fox, Drew and Kandi Ingraham along with other faithful staff and parents have had it on their hearts to partner with Bolivia in fundraising for the construction of an orphanage. It's a beautiful testimony to the very reason I.O.U. (International Orphanage Union) exists. Family sized homes, with Christian parents, raising the orphans to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. As you read this please join me in praying for God's clear leading on this project, the students, parents and faculty.

Partnering with Villa Candaleria

We were approached by the Cadwells, Dave and Dana, in early June of 2008. They've had an active relationship with Bolivia for the past five years. Working alongside the Baptist Church Villa Candaleria near Colomi, Bolivia. They were touched by the story of a local widow who cared for the young orphans from the area. This past year the child welfare department decided that her home was not sufficient for the children and they were relocated to orphanages in Cochabamba. Dave and Dana have had it on their hearts to help us build the next IOU orphanage in Colomi. Praise God!

Hey everyone,
My name is Andrea and I am currently an intern for IOU...obviously. This is my third time in the beautiful country of Bolivia. I have been to Cochabamba twice before to work on teams with the Timmers. I had always wanted to come for a longer period of time, so this summer was my chance! I will be here for a total of 6 weeks. So far I am having a great time, getting to know the kids, and learn my way around.
I am from Chicago, and am currently living on the North Side. I have one more year left at North Park University in Chicago. I love it! I am a double major in youth ministry and communications.
God is really taking my time in Bolivia to show me his faithfulness, and how much he loves me if I am willing to accept it. Please keep all of us interns in your prayers and keep reading all of these great blogs!


With Love from Bolivia
Andrea Huntzicker

Orphanage #6 IOU

Let me tell you about an amazing church about 10 km from the third orphanage in the jungle. Villa 14 de Septiembre has most likely the strongest church in the tropics. They have planted several churches themselves and continue to support them. The church has created a Christian radio station that reaches thousands of listeners in the remotest of areas. The congregation, made up of mostly farmers, tithe their crops each and every year and gift them to ministries through out Bolivia. The elder board had approached us awhile back and asked about partnering with us. As we finished the orphanage just up the road they attended the dedication and offered a piece of property behind the church. Because of a few legal issues we opted not to accept their offer and within a week one of the couples from the Church offered us 400 sq mtrs on the main road. Remberto and I decided to meet with the Church last week. When we stopped to speak with them we found that they were at their weekly Bible study and prayer time. We found the location in the jungle and as we approached them down an over grown path I knew immediately this was a Church that loved the Lord. There were nearly thirty members each with their well worn Bibles lying in their laps as they sat on blankets, tree stumps or just in the dirt as I would imagine Jesus and His disciples did. As we visited many of them shared stories of orphaned children that had to be sent to Cochabamba because there were no orphanages in the tropics. God has blessed us with some surplus ministry funds so we will be starting the construction in faith. However, if you would like to consider this project for your Church, youth group, family or business please let us know. We’ve been able to make some changes to the design of the house and keep the construction cost at $20,000 again this year.

The third orphanage is called "The Palace" by many villagers. It did turn out a little bigger than we expected.

We had a great opportunity to witness to the village officials and syndicato as they heard our testimonies and love for the orphaned children of their neighborhood. We were blessed with the evangelical president of the tropics and a half dozen local pastors who shared favorite Bible vs and shared their hearts for Jesus.

The dedication was an amazing time of celebration. We purchased a side of beef and the woman of the church spent all morning preparing a fabulous meal for the community officials and Church members.

Ground Breaking

We've learned a bit more about patience and to wait upon the Lord. Fleetwood provided the funding to build this home last year and we've been waiting and waiting for the lot lines to be drawn. In the land of "tomorrow" it really is tomorrow! Praise God.

We enjoyed the time of prayer this past month with NPU (North Park University) from Chicago. We were able to bring some of the children from the Villa Israel orphanage to join us. It's amazing to think that God has already identified the children and house parents who will call this place home.

Hola! My name is Tiffany Du Mez and I arrived in Bolivia about 3 weeks ago. I will be an intern here for the Timmer family through International Teams until December 20^th (My family wants me home for Christmas J ). The day before I left to come to Bolivia I graduated from North Park University, which is where my story begins….

North Park University is a small, liberal arts college on the north side of Chicago, Illinois. NPU prides itself on pushing into big issues including racism, poverty, and other social injustices. Through this, NPU focus’ on taking what we learn in the classroom and bringing it to the ‘real world’: from the classroom to the community. In May of my junior year I took one of the 8 (Appalachia, New Orleans, Alaska, Mexico, Thailand, Zambia are the others) global partnership trips through our University Ministries department. My eyes were opened, my heart was changed, and I had to go back.

After a lot of good byes and even more prayer, I have found myself living in the Hacenda (house on the hill) with the seven other interns. So far, I have seen things I have expected to see, while felt things I could never have imagined. Although each day is a struggle to be away from my family, friends, and mentors the smiles we create, the change we see, and the hope we bring makes each day worth it.

Joys and things I’ve learned:

1. Always carry toilet paper
2. Futbol games mean business in South America
3. Ketchup is International
4. God is faithful

Prayer requests

1. I am still very much learning the language (and still will be in December) so I pray that I will be given continued grace with my abilities. And continued growth with my skills.
2. Continued safety and health. I have been so blessed to not become sick as many around me have and I am very grateful for that.

I think that’s about it. More of my adventures can be found at my own blog (tdumez86.blogspot.com)

Love and blessings

Tiff

New Intern: Kim Bishop

Hello everybody! My name is Kim and I am from Weare, New Hampshire. I am 20 years old and going into my sophmore year of college at Liberty University in Virginia.
So where to begin writing my story is always the hardest part. Do I start with what first brought me to Bolivia or go even farther back to what brought me into missions? I guess the beginning is always best...
I was first introduced to ¨missions¨ and ¨missionaries¨ at a Christian summer camp when I was about 9. It sounds young, but that´s where the spark began. Since then I traveled a lot with my family which grew a love for traveling and I saw my parent´s relationship with Christ which encouraged me to grow deeper in love with my Savior. All of these things mixed together in highschool to make me want to do missions trips when the opportunities were provided. My first missions trip was 10 days in Ukraine during my freshman year of highschool. I absolutely loved it. I returned during my junior year and did another trip to Mississippi with my school during my senior year. These 3 trips confirmed my passion for missions, yet I was unsure how that would turn out when I went to college.
Bolivia came into the picture when my church decided to begin missions trips here and ironically my dad was the first person to come here and ¨scout it out¨ for my church. He fell in love with the place and I continued to hear more through the missions trips that followed. I just decided to plan a trip here with a friend and all the details came together!
So far my time here has been challenging and so amazing at the same time. I am only here for another 11 days, which will turn out to be almost a month in total, yet I can tell already that I will have to be back!

New Intern: Elaina DeStefano

Hi my name is Elaina DeStefano, I am 18 years old and from New Hampshire. This is my first time in South America , and working with Iteams, and God has been very good since my time here! I go to Liberty University in Virginia, and next year I will be a sophmore. In attending Liberty Univeristy I have already seen a growth in my faith, and I love how Liberty pushes you to continue to grow in your realtionship with christ. My first experience with missions in another country was when I was a junior in high school. I got the amazing opportuntiy to go, along with other juniors around New England to the Dominican Republic. I was there for 10 days, and that trip really opened my eyes to how many things could be done to help God´s people, there just needed to be poeple willing to do them. Since than I have been to Uganda as well, and each of these experiences have made me want to continue to do missions even more. I am here in Bolivia for about two more weeks (all together it will be a month). Interning has been really good so far, and it has also allowed me to experince true Bolivian culture! I have already developed a heart for the people here, and I am sure I speak for the rest of the interns when I say we all have. It is my prayer that God can use all of us in anyway he sees fit to bring glory to His name, and bring love to His people.

Interview with Michelle.

This week we are going to highlight Michelle!!! Michelle will be leaving us in a week. We’re super sorry to see her go, but we know this is how God wants it…for now at least.

I took a few minutes on the bus to ask Michelle some questions about her experiences here and how God brought her here.

Michelle is from California. She accepted Christ at age 6 after hearing about God´s power to change Saul´s life, she then realized that if God could change Saul´s life and use him so greatly that surely he could use her too.

She has a BA from Biola University in Intercultural Studies and a minor in Bible. She explained to me that all that she learned there gave her more of an insight into missions and God’s heart for the nations. She has a love for Mexico and explained how her involvement with Tijuana Ministries (Mexico) grew her love for Hispanics, their language and ministry with them. Tijuana Ministries was an every other weekend trip where they would go to a battered women’s shelter of sorts. They spent time building relationships with the women, doing VBS with the kids, and basically just helping them get back on their feet.

Michelle shared that her favorite thing here is tutoring the kids. She enjoys spending time with the kids, and feels that it’s very rewarding to watch the kids progress. (Side note: the kids she tutors got their evaluations back yesterday and did very well. Go Michelle!!) She also feels as though her eyes have been opened a lot to the poor and their needs.

She confesses that the first thing she’s going to eat when she gets back to California is some authentic Mexican food…mainly just the frijoles, though!!

One life change that Michelle has learned here and feels that she will maintain when she gets back to the states is patience!!

We LOVE this girl and know that God will use her no matter where she is in this great big world!

Person of the Week!

Martha Telleria ....

is a very important person in the Villa Israel home. She is Lizeth´s mother and she is also a huge help to the home. Martha lives next door to this orphanage and each day comes to cook and clean as a way to help out Lizeth and Charlie. Martha is also a help in teaching the children how to live the the way of the Lord.

How she got started being apart of this home:

Martha was building her home at the same time the Villa Israel was being built right next door. She met Mike and the International Teams staff this way. It was through Martha that Lizeth and Charlie heard about the opportunity to serve as house parents. Martha was also excited in the idea that she too might have the opportunity to work with orphans.

Martha has always had a heart for children. Her and her husband have 4 of their own. Lizeth is the oldest with two other sisters, and the youngest is a 3yr. old boy. Five years ago Martha also had the pleasure of looking after a young baby girl from Brazil and caring for her as she was her own. The mother was here in Cochabamba and gave her to Martha because she said she could not care for her. She looked after this little one from the time she was 5 mos to 3 years old. The child then developed a health problem and she had to give her up to those who could care for her more properly. This really grew her desire to work with needy children.

One of the pleasures she says of working with these children is to see them grow up. She also wants to see them grow in the fear of the Lord. This is a pleasure and it is also a challenge she says and a huge responsibilty she feels blessed to have.

Please pray for Martha as she works to make a difference for these children! Thank you!

Barnabas's from Bedford

Greetings!

Kristen here, just wanted to give you a little update on what’s going on for us interns.

Michelle and Jaclyn are winding down their stay here, but are not any less passionate or dedicated to their work. Finish strong! That’s what I always say. We’ll have four more girls joining us next week. Two from North Park University and two from New Hampshire (they’re associated with the church Bedford that was just here).

Matt and Elsa (the couple that arrived from Chicago about two months ago) just started a bible study and dinner night with us interns at their house. That’s been an amazing time of fellowship, learning and sharing struggles. What an answer to prayer!

Last week we had a team from Bedford Church (BCC) in New Hampshire. (Check out their blog if you want to read more about their experiences here).

We did a lot of things while they were here as far as visiting the orphanages, malnutrition center, going to a futbol game, up to the Cristo, doing a bread run to Sipe Sipe, visiting the Incan Ruins, visiting the center and doing some work projects there. It was a VERY busy week, but we loved it! I personally, and I think ALL of the interns, were incredibly encouraged by this team. They challenged us in our relationship with God, offered a new perspective to the ministry we are doing here which sometimes starts to feel…well, a little monotonous, and spoiled us. When they left they just encouraged us in what we were doing, challenged us to grow in our walks with God and even left some parting gifts (a new radio for the hacienda). We were floored!! This church that they come from has been a big supporter of the ministry here for years and plans to continue to be committed for the long haul. They're an inspiration to us all!

And while I know that the house parents, the kids, and the Timmers were all encouraged by this team, we interns were especially thankful for this team of Barnabas’s. ("Son of Encouragement". See Acts 4, 11-13).

New Intern-Adrian Nickols

Monday we received a new intern, Adrian Nickols from Tasmania, Austrailia. His home city is Hobart, Tasmania. Adrian is 26 years old. He will be with us here in Cochabamba for 4 months, and will then join another team in Ecuador through International Teams.

Before coming to Bolivia Adrian worked for three years as a Business Analyst through the Tasmanian government Dept. of Health and Human Services. Adrian came to Bolivia because he desired to take a break from work but also to give back to those in need in a different part of the world. He says he desires to learn about a different culture and to make a difference in these kids lives here, even though he is only here a short time. One of his good memories from this last week was when we watched the kids for the house parents of the Muyurina home for a couple hours while they spent time with Nathan and Kate Spies. We watched Toy Story and ate pansitos (really good bread) and Coca-Cola!

Here are some more fun facts about Adrian:
His favorite food is: Chicken Parmasen
Sport: Cricket
Fav. Team: Sydney Swans (football)


Thank you for your prayers for Adrian as he adjusts to life and work here. Also, please pray for Justin Barrett, as he went home to Texas this morning after being here 11 months. Please pray for his adjustment back home.

HOUSE PARENTS OF VILLA ISRAEL

(Charlie and Lizeth pictured with Miguel at his Birthday party two months ago)

Since we have been interviewing all the children from both homes, we figured it would be good for all of you to know who the house parents are. The house parents of the Villa Israel Home are:

Charlie and Lizeth Lamas Rivera

This young couple are the loving house parents to 7 children currenly living in this home. Charlie will be 24 years old on April 22nd, and Lizeth is 20 years old. Her Birthday is Sept. 16th. Charlie and Lizeth have been married a little over a year and half and have a baby of their own named Andrea. Charlie is currenly in school working on his Master´s Degree in Micro-Biology. He would like to work in a laboratory when he finishes. He enjoys doing medical research. Lizeth has been a Christian for 12 years and met the Lord through her Christian family. When she met Charlie, her and her family ended up leading him to the Lord!

Charlie and Lizeth have been house parents to this home for 8 months, since it´s beginning last August. They learned about the opening to be house parents through Lizeth´s mother who actually lives next door to the property. These house parents consider their job here as a blessing.They say it is a great opportunity to teach these children about the things of the Lord and to instill in them what a Christian family should look like.

One of the things Lizeth says was hard when they first started working with these children was that many of them came from hard family situations. They carried a lot of baggage with them and this affected how they would behave. For example, some of the children used to tell her that they wanted to leave. They would also give them a hard time about going to church and would just play in church as well when they did go. Now she says it is such a blesssing because their home is like a family. The children call her and Charlie Mom and Dad. She says as a whole they act like a family and also do things as a family like going places and eating meals together. Now she says the children do not want to leave, but consider this their home.

Thank you for your prayers for Charlie and Lizeth as they have a huge responsiblity to raise these beautiful children.

-Michelle Anthony

AIM World Racers go to the Chapare

We went out with the World Racers to Remberto´s site for about a week and a half. We worked sooo hard and I hope you can tell!! Here´s some pictures of what we accomplished and some other random pictures of us working and goofing around with the chickens and kids!! We held a kids service one night at the church. It was a great experience! One of the girls from the team also organized a love offering for Remberto. We ended up raising about $90 USD to show our appreciation for the way he took such great care of us and to show our support of he and his family. He truly modeled an attitude of Christ in how he put us before himself every single day. He´s an inspiration to us all!

House Update

Last week a couple of folks headed down to Puerto, and these are the latest photos of: Elsa and some kids in front of the church, a bunch of people staring at a poisonous snake on the ground, the progress of the home, and Josaiah, Alejandro´s son!

ERLAN our Child of the Week

Our last Child of the Week for Villa Israel is the precious and youngest child, Erlan de la Fuente.

Erlan is a quiet kid, but who is always ready to give a hug and a smile when you walk in the door. He is a blessing to have in this home. His sweet spirit is an encouragement everytime I come. Erlan has 3 brothers who live at the home with him who I wrote about earlier. Their names are (oldest to youngest) Jhoel, Brandon and Samuel. Erlan is 4 years old. We aren´t sure of his exact birthday date. He will be entering into school next year.

When I asked Erlan what was his favorite thing to do, he said it was to have classes with Justin and Jaclyn (who take turns tutoring him). He also enjoys helping Lizeth the house Mom around the house with chores. Since Erlan recieved a Bible for Christmas, he very often asked his house-parents or us interns to read him a story from the Bible. He already loves God´s word!

Her are some other fun facts about Erlan:

Favorite color: Orange

Favorite Food: Rice!

Sport: Soccer

Another fav. activity: Loves to hear stories from the Bible

Wants to be: a teacher

Thank you for your prayers and support for Erlan and the other children in this home :)

SAMUEL- Child of the Week

Samuel de La Fuente


Samuel is 6 years old and is a delight to be around. Samuel is brother to Jhoel, Brandon and Erlan in this home as well. He always has a smile on his face and very joyful.

Samuel has his birthday soon on April 2nd. He is in Kindergarden at this time. He is learning his numbers and colors. His favorite parts about school is eating breakfast there and playing. Kristen (the newest intern) has been tutoring Samuel lately. They are studying reading and addition. Kristen says she loves working with him because he is so easy going and easy to teach. Outside of school he likes to color.

When Samuel gets older he wants to be a painter.

Thank you for your prayers for Samuel and the other children at this home.

Newest Intern KP

Why hello there,

My name is Kristen. I’m the newest intern here. I’m from good ol’ OH-I-O. I love it there. I graduated from Cleveland State University in May of 07 with a Bachelor’s in Spanish. I’m from a big family, which kind of prepared me for this opportunity here in Bolivia with IOU (as did the Spanish degree!). My family now lives in Texas and they’re a bunch of fun, beautiful, godly people who had a profound influence on my life and my relationship with Jesus and others.

So far my favorite thing here is tutoring. Who knew?! For me it’s really rewarding to see the kids learning and I get to spend some quality one on one time… This picture is of me and Samuel at Villa Israel.

So…yeah. I guess that’s all for now.

Have a fantastic day!!

Kristen

BRANDON- ¨Child of the Week¨

BRANDON

(Brandon and I (Michelle) pictured )






Brandon de la Fuente is brother to Jhoel, Samuel and Herlan, who also live at the home in Villa Israel. Brandon is an easy going kid, who I (Michelle) have had the privilage of tutoring since my time here in Sept. 07. Brandon is about 8 years old. Some things he enjoys doing are coloring, drawing, reading the Bible (someone reading to him), and doing his homework from school. He also enjoys helping with chores around the house. His favorite sport is Soccer. Brandon just started the first grade about a month ago. He is learning to read and to add and subtract. When he grows up he wants to be a policeman.

Thank you for your support! Please pray for Brandon this week for his new school experience, that he would learn to read and write well, and for his future. Thank you so much.

Pictures!!

Kristen, here. Just wanted to put up some new pictures of our stay in the Chapare so you all can see the progress. This is the orphanage... (side view)

And this is what we worked on. Scrubbing bricks!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

GOOD WORK KIDS!!