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!