Radio Interview

On December 11th we were invited by a friend and "The Well Radio" anchor Gina Johnson to come on and share with her listeners. If you were not able to tune into the interview, you can click below to listen.

If you or someone you know has an outlet to speak in the media where we can share our story and spread the word of what He is doing here, please let us know!

Sending back a piece of Bolivia for Christmas!

Christmas is just around the corner, and this year IOU was excited to try something new for the holidays: homemade Christmas tree ornaments! Christmas trees aren’t quite as popular in Bolivia as they are in the States, but that’s what made the whole experience even more meaningful and fun. Last week we took a herd of very excited children from the orphanage in Frutillar up to the IOU guesthouse for some serious silliness and crafts. They spent lots of time carefully painting and decorating the ornaments, and were happy to be making something special for the people who love and support them a world away. Decked out in their holiday finest (bed sheets tied around their necks to keep their clothes clean) and perched on little thrones (phone books stacked in their chairs), the IOU kids created beautiful memories to hang from your trees this Christmas.
Starting December 5, the first 50 coffee orders from BoliviasBestCoffee.com—no matter the size of the order—will receive one free ornament enclosed with their purchase. Thanks in advance for all the coffee you drink to support this ministry, and your hearts for these little children. This is their way of saying thanks and giving back to YOU!

Business Growth

A special thanks goes out to Carlisle & Company for allowing us to pick the brain of consultant Samuel Frank! Samuel joined us in Cochabamba for 3 weeks in November and provided pro-bono consulting for IOU’s supporting businesses, including Bolivia’s Best Coffee and hardwood flooring exportation. His hard work and insight were a great asset to IOU and helped to streamline our communications and give “backbones” to many of our ideas.
His passion, enthusiasm, and friendship will be missed, but we are confident he will be back! Thanks for using your gifts for IOU, Samuel!

We are also excited about the opportunity for exporting high-end wood flooring as another means of supporting IOU. Cochabamba is home to Jolyka, a company that sells exotic wood flooring. Jolyka has their FSC certification, a difficult “Green” certification to obtain and the only flooring company in Bolivia to boast this title. If you know someone in the flooring business or custom home-building business, we would love to connect with them and talk about an opportunity to sell high-quality wood flooring at a great price and help the children of Bolivia. Jolyka has graciously offered to allow us to export the wood at cost to benefit out mission.

We are blessed to have termendous support for Bolivia's Best Coffee, opportunities with Jolyka flooring, and childrens' lives that these businesses have the opportunity to touch. Our deepest appreciation to all those who donate their time, talents, and networks to help further the businesses that support His work in Bolivia!

Chapare Visits

The IOU team has made several visits to the Chapare region over the past couple of weeks. We've been checking on the construction and progress of different orphanage homes in the area. We've been fortunate to have to lots of visitors from the U.S. this month to encourage and assist us, and make the 4 hour trek to Chapare more fun! Here are pictures of Puerta Villaroel, being built right next to the supporting church.


And speaking of orhanage progress, this weekend we'll be helping the houseparents move into the Villa Israel orphanage...the first step in reopening and on our way to being able to accept children there. Prayers for a smooth process during this time would be wonderful!

Navidad En Bolivia

Looking for a way to give back this holiday season? Why not help make this Christmas special for IOU kids in Bolivia by contributing for individual Christmas gifts? Please visit www.NavidadenBolivia.info for details on how you can contribute not only to children in Frutillar, but also to other ministries across Bolivia as well! Please feel free to pass along the site to your friends, family, churches and neighbors:)

Updates on Frutillar and Villa Israel

Just a quick update on what's going on at Frutillar and Villa Israel lately. (By the way, this is Caroline Mosey! My family joined the IOU team in June:) All the kids at Frutillar are doing great! We've had a wonderful time getting to know each child and their personalities. We love to stop by the orphanage at least once or twice a week and take the kids to play soccer or bring over a movie to watch on a big projector (when Marcelino says they don't have too much homework, that is!)

Mike and Ted were able to meet with Santo and Rosi last week to discuss becoming the houseparents of Villa Israel again. I'm excited to report the meeting went well and, Lord willing, they will begin the process of moving back into the orphanage in late November!

Happy Anniversary

Did you know that Bonnie and I will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary on October 20th? I shared that news with a taxi driver earlier this week. He told me that he was on his 2nd marriage and they have a six month old baby and this relationship was doing so well either. He asked me for advice, that doesn’t happen too often. It was a short ride but I still managed to give him a two point sermon. First I told him, to recognize the fact that he married an imperfect spouse; he laughed immediately and agreed. I waved my finger at him as he looked for approval from me in the rearview mirror. I assured him that was only half of the first point and that she also needed to recognize that he wasn’t perfect either and they both need to be tolerant and forgiving. As I began point two he seemed a bit more somber and attentive. I told him he had to let her know he appreciates her constantly. We celebrated communion this last week along with many Churches that set aside the first Sunday of the month. We discussed the chances of a successful relationship where you only communicate or celebrate a loved one once a month or once a year? He asked if the flowers in my hand were for our anniversary and I told him yes but not our 25th year; it was to celebrate an anniversary of another day together. He charged me 10bs but I gave him 20bs if he promised to by his wife flowers with the change. Not everyone is blessed to have a wife like mine that would follow me to the ends of the earth; however, all marriages are a blessing. I pray for each one of you that’s been blessed with a partner to share your life with.

Another Brother

Another brother! Remberto’s younger brother, Juan Pablo (Juanpi), graduated from high school last year. He’s been training with a good friend of ours Nate Hitson who started a ministry to street boys through a carpentry shop. For the past four months Juanpi has been working side by side with Javier, a Bolivian pastor and carpenter. Just last week Juanpi gave his life to Jesus Christ. I can’t tell you how excited we were when we learned that another of Remberto’s family has joined His family. Victories like this allow all our struggles and grief to simply melt away. Praise God!

House Parent Interviews

Exciting things happening this month. We’ve been praying for house parents for three homes and we now have four candidates to interview. Praise God! It’s our hope and prayer to re-open Villa Israel with our previous house couple, Pastor Santo and Rosi. Their baby is now six months old and we’ll be speaking to them this Friday about returning. Our prayer is that this home can re-open immediately. We also have three couples to interview for the two homes in Chapare. God willing, we’ll be back in Chapare next week to conduct interviews and make a selection. It was heartbreaking to learn of yet another state-run orphanage that is closing down as financing jeopardized the care of 27 children.

Building Update

On the building front, Remberto hopes to finish Villa 14 de Septiembre in November and be accepting children before Christmas. He was also thinking of assigning his brothers to finish the home in Puerto Villarroel. In an effort to push through the final houses we’ve also hired a contractor to build the home in Villa Candelaria (Camp Kewiña). He believes that if we start this month we’ll beat the rains and be able to finish the interior during the rainy season. Go Team!

Evo Visits Our Chapare Neighborhood

Sindicatos – Imagine a community where there are no police, lawyers or judges. All you have is a group of property owners who elect officials, meet once a month and decide all legal issues including who can own property in their district. That’s a Sindicato. They’re a powerful influence, especially in the jungles of Chapare. Last week as we attempted to get an audience with the sindicato in Villa 14 de Septiembre we had just given up when the sindicato from Villa 21 came racing up behind us in a beat up old mini van. As they all jumped out and approached us many ideas ran through my mind but we were surprised to hear that they wanted to invite us to the grand opening of their new school. Constancio, the president, explained to the rest of his sindicato how the IOU ministry has had a heart for their district for the past three years, helping the Cuban clinic by installing a sink with running water, holding clothing drives for the children and allowing two grade school classes to use the orphanage as we waited for our orphanage license. The sindicato was offering us a unique opportunity to be present as Bolivia’s President Evo dedicated the new school financed by Venezuela and Cuba.






We arrived mid day on Friday so we could spend some time cleaning the orphanage; the thirty children really took their toll on the home. Our builder, Remerto, and his wife Vic and their daughter; played host to our family and our new partner Ted. Bonnie purchased a 10 pound Surubi river fish and she and Vic prepared a feast for us. We slept well that night in the orphanage and woke early, about 4am, to a chorus of roosters. The village has known for the past few months that President Evo would be visiting; however, we were amazed at the scurry of activity that morning and even minutes before his arrival. The school construction team was still painting the roof and front wall as Evo’s helicopter circled the village.






He landed directly in front of the orphanage on the football field. Remberto and Vic had met the president before when he visited the village one Christmas morning and asked Remberto about the orphanage construction project; he was very grateful on that day and must have been extremely pleased seeing it finished now. We were amazed at the casual atmosphere as he walked among the people he still considers his neighbors. Evo walked thru the crowd with very little security and we were allowed to be in the front row as the program began. After a traditional dedication of the school to Pachimama (mother earth) Evo was invited to a traditional folk dance with some of the teachers. He worked up quite a sweat as they passed him around like a party favor. After a few comments about the school and a lengthy commentary about party responsibilities the speeches were over. However, the festivities were just beginning. In a surprising turn of events; Evo disappeared into a room with some of his staff and emerged in Bolivian National Soccer uniforms. They then began a one hour futbal game with the local team. Although they lost 5-4 I was amazed at the casual atmosphere. We truly felt like we could have stayed and spoke with the president if we wanted, yet we chose to leave and allow him to spend the remaining time with some of his strongest supporters and closest friends.






As Bonnie was leaving the stadium she walked past Evo’s helicopter on the way to the orphanage and one of the pilots asked her if she’d like to sit in Evo’s seat. Bonnie kind of chuckled as he helped her up; when he looked at her curiously she said would you do me a favor? Tell Evo that a gringo sat in his seat this morning. He laughed hard and said “Yeah, I’ll be sure to tell him” and the other pilot said a bit more serious “No, we will not be telling him you sat in his seat.”


The relationship between IOU and the sindicatos are very important but also a delicate balance because we want to be blessing to them but not only be seen as a source of resources. The villa 21 group had asked us to help pay for the Evo party; however, that’s not our reason for being here. We did; however, have some extra office equipment we donated to the school. We have also committed to a life long partnership with the sindicato, school and neighborhood church as they help us raise the orphans God sends to the home we’ve built in their village. Please join us in praying for Villa 21 (San Francisco) and these vital relationships.