Hola!  We had a full day today.  Our work project for this mission trip was constructing for the local church.  Specifically we poured a concrete floor in the new meeting room.  But first we had to lay a rock base, which entailed placing the rocks as close together as possible, filling the gaps with smaller rocks.  Our maestro, the Bolivian in charge of the project, was truly a master at doing this but he patiently showed us his art.  Of course in order to place the rocks in the floor space, we first had to move them to the floor area.  Once the base was placed, we mixed concrete and poured it over the rock. 

Our group has been blessed to work beside the people living and working in Ushpa Ushpa.  The Food for the Hungry staff are tireless in their dedicated service to the children and families and the community members step forward whenever the need arises.  Today was no different.  The church ladies were there in force to help with the rock moving and making sure the water buckets were full for the cement mixing.  They also stepped in to help carry buckets of sand to the mixing machine, frequently pairing up with the BF team member.  The men mixed and poured the cement with seemingly effortless ease, but I know for certain that it was very strenuous work.  Peter and Mitchell worked alongside the men and at the end of the afternoon the project was complete!  We do have interpreters but frequently we find we can communicate with gestures, laughter and love.

We ended the day by visiting more of the children sponsored by our BF families, delivering personal letters and gifts along with the Food for the Hungry present -- shoes, socks and a backpack.  These visits are both heartwarming as we see the interaction between the children and their FH coordinators and the reaction of the children to the gifts, and sobering as we hear the life stories of these families.  We are also convicted by how much letters from sponsors mean to these children.  They save each and every letter, card and picture sent and take them out frequently to reread and pray for their sponsors.  We have the privilege to see personally how important sponsors are in the lives of these children, bringing them hope and love in the knowledge that someone miles away cares about them and prays for them.  Each of us who sponsor children have been able to visit with our children and interact with them personally, truly a rewarding experience.

We will post pictures tomorrow.  We need to prepare for our presentations tomorrow at the local church.  Three of our group are feeling under the weather so we ask for your prayers that they recover quickly.

Thank you to all who are supporting our trip -- those who contributed and those who are praying for us.  We all feel so incredibly blessed to be here and representing our church body.  Our church commitment to Food for the Hungry strengthens the staff here and impacts the lives of the families with whom they work in ways we may never realize. 
Buenos noches, Barb Turecky

Home visits

Yesterday (Friday) was our first full day of Home Visits.  It was filled with laughter and tears as we shared life with the children and families our church family and the Food for the Hungry team are partnering with to create a place where life has possibilities.  As we walked the streets to the homes we saw indications of development, small store fronts, internet access businesses, churches and professional services.

In our debrief it was unanimous the high point of the day in each of our lives was spending time with children we support as a church.  It is hard to convey the importance or our sponsorship and the letters and pictures we send.  Each one is saved and treated like precious treasure.  An act of a few minutes is priceless in these childrens eyes.

Barb, Sergio, Escarlen presenting Abigail (Sponsored by Rodney and Stacey Ostlund) a picture of Abigail from our visit last year.

Mitchell and Ruth (Sponsored by Ron and Ruth Martin)

The hospitality of our sponsored children families was overflowing.  In the afternoon all three of the home visits I had the privilege of being a part of, there was a large plate of food overflowing with gratitude.  The presentation of the food beat any 5-Star dining establishment.

Thank you for your prayers, please pray specifically for our health, the days are full.  Especially pray for the Food for the Hungry Team.  They are an amazing group of individuals that have made a positive impact for Christ.

Ushpa Ushpa At Last

The team was back together in LaPaz.  It was a joy to see Rachel coming through the entrance into the airport we were whole again. Our next adventure was a 2 hour delay in LaPaz due "government activity" at the Cochabamba Airport.

At the airport we were greeted by a large banner welcoming us to Bolivia.  We were met by FH staff.  It was nice to reconnect with friends and catch up on activities of the past year.

The afternoon was filled with activities at the church.  We colored and played "Cat and Mouse".  The lesson of the day was the creation story and the goodness of God.

Our team and the FH Facilitator Team met for introductions and shared laughter and tears as we opened our hearts to each other and celebrated the work God is doing through our two communities coming together.  Bed felt so good.  :-)

"On The Road Again" Day 2

Yes, it is true.  The display says "LaPaz, Bolivia Flight 922 Departed".  We left Seattle yesterday with much excitement.  It was satisfying to settle in for the flight to Dallas and know that our adventure was just starting.  We made Dallas on time and boarded our Dallas to Miami leg with a reader board indicating we were on track to make Miami in time to catch our flight to LaPaz with time to spare, possibly catch a bite and work the legs. 

Then we sat and we sat on the plane on the tarmac for an hour and a half waiting for the weather to permit us to depart.  We pulled into Miami with 5 minutes to catch the tram and make our next flight.  That just wasn't going to happen.  Remember Philippians 4:6,7, I was trying to, but it just wasn't happening.  We got to the gate in time to watch our plane head out to the runway. 

Now what?  Make the calls to our Food for the Hungry contacts and find rooms for the night.  You should have seen Barb and Peter manning the phones, working through the list of local hotels.  BINGO, we had a winner, 5 rooms, all non-smoking at a reasonable cost and a shuttle to pick us up.

By 3:00AM Miami time our tummys were pleasantly full from the IHOP pancakes, burger and omlets and we were all nestled in our beds.

The next flight to LaPaz could only take 5 of our team and the flight after was also limited.  Our team has been split into two waves, 5 will leave for LaPaz this afternoon, 2:45PM  and 6 will leave this evening, 10:40PM. 

It has provided a break and allowed us to spend more time together and provided an opportunity to support each other when life doesn't go as planned.  What about Philippians 4:6,7?  We are fed, have place to stay and friendships that are developing through a common commitment to serving each other and our neighbors in Ushpa Ushpa.

Jim Ramsey

Our team leaves tomorrow for Bolivia at 7:15 am from Believers Fellowship church!  Once we are in Ushpa Ushpa, we will be visiting as many of the children sponsored by our church family as possible and will post pictures.  Those of us returning (Jim, Carrie, Yvonne and myself) are excited to see the FH staff and interact with all the kids and their families.  For those who this is their first trip to Ushpa Ushpa (Mary Anne, Stephanie, Rachel, Glenda, Mitchell, Peter and D'Art) there is some nervousness but also lots of excitement.  Please pray for us to have a safe trip, to make all our connections and to arrive fresh enough to hit the ground running!
Barb Turecky

Believers Fellowship Bolivia Mission trip 2013

I'm very excited to be co-leading the Believers Fellowship Mission trip to Ushpa Ushpa, Bolivia, this year with Jim Ramsey.  We will be leaving on July 16 and returning on July 23.  Joining us this year are:  Glenda Peterson, Mary Ann Davis, Rachel Davis, Stephanie Davis, Yvonne Simpson, Carrie Westover, Mitchell Smee, Peter Marthedal, and D'Art Benavidez.  Our project this year is to build storage space and a bathroom for the church that is partnering with Food for the Hungry in Ushpa Ushpa.  We will also be visiting children who are sponsored by Believers Fellowship members.  We invite you to follow our journey once we are in country.  We asked for your prayers as we prepare for our trip, as we travel and while we are there.

Barb Turecky

Home Visits and Construction

It has been an amazing couple of days in Bolivia. On Thursday, we divided up into four teams, and between the four groups we got to visit the homes of about 20 kids sponsored by Believers Fellowship. Today, we assisted with an FH children’s program, broke ground on the guardaria (childcare center), and had dinner with the head of FH Cochabamba. Both days were unbelievable.

We spent all of yesterday visiting the homes of kids sponsored byBelievers Fellowship. First, I was partnered with Yvonne Simpson. We visited the home of Andrea (sponsored by Yvonne’s mom). I actually visited Andrea’s home last year in order to interview her older sister Berta. We showed Andrea pictures of Mount Rainier and Seattle, and asked her about her schoolwork and life in Ushpa Ushpa. Next, we visited Sergio Elvis (sponsored by Paul and Lucy Spadoni). I had also visited Sergio Elvis last year with the Spadonis—Sergio Elvis’ dad grew up in Potosi, but migrated to Cochabamba because he didn’t want his son to be a miner. (Potosi is a mining community—the only jobs there are in the mines and it is terrible work.) It was great to see how much Sergio Elvis had grown in a year—he was a lot more confident and engaging. After lunch, I was partnered with Aimee to visit the home of Marianne, my own sponsor child. Marianne is kind of a “success story” of Ushpa Ushpa. Her mom and three older brothers are believers, her brothers have all graduated school and have gone on to successful careers and families, and her mom has high hopes for Marianne. Unlike a lot of kids in Ushpa Ushpa, Marianne thinks about the future, not just survival. Marianne told us that she likes school (except the sewing class) and that she wants to be a doctor.

Visiting the homes of the sponsor kids is always a humbling experience. Seeing the lives of the people in Ushpa Ushpa really puts the things we complain about in perspective. In some cases, the poverty is bad. In other cases, it is dire. Just when you think you have seen as bad as it can get, you cross a valley and walk up a winding hill to where it is worse. And yet every family shows warmth and hospitality, and every family wants you to pray for them. It was also encouraging to revisit some of the homes I had visited in the past to see how FH has affected the families. The first thing I noticed about the kids in 2010 was that they all had sadness in their eyes and none of them smiled. That has changed. There is joy in the community. There is laughter. There is hope.

Today was a chance for us to work with kids and then start the construction. In the morning we assisted the FH staff in teaching a lesson on Ephesians 6:1-2 (obey your parents). The FH staff did a puppet show, and afterward we shared testimonies of how we learned to obey our moms and dads. We also told them that we can trust and obey God because he loves us, and we taught them the song “Jesus loves me.” It was great.

After lunch, we did some manual labor. One of the things we learned in the pre-trip training was that the trip is not about the work project. In fact,it is very important that we don’t do all of the construction work. The community needs to do the work in order to take ownership in it. So today, we helped by clearing away a space for the first wall to go up, a task that involved hauling lots of heavy rocks. We worked side by side with the Bolivians and it was an important act of solidarity. They will finish the work by December.

This evening, we had dinner with Marina, the head of FH Cochabamba. We get a dinner like this every year and it is always a highlight of the trip. Someone inevitably breaks out a guitar and we sing praise songs together—some in English and some in Spanish. I love these instances in which two cultures collide to worship God together. It was a holy moment.

Tomorrow we are visiting a local church. I will preach for the adults. Jim and Aimee with speak to the youth. Cathy, Carrie, Yvonne, Barb, and Laura have a children’s program complete with a drama, a lesson, a craft, a game, and a song. After church, we are going to meet with some church and civic leaders (and I think a group from the US), and then say good-bye to the Ushpa Ushpa team. Monday is a half cultural day before we fly back to La Paz. We leave Bolivia early on Tuesday.

Thanks for praying for us. We have had no major sicknesses or injuries (a first!). We have had several opportunities to share our faith with the kids in Ushpa Ushpa, and we got to pray with about 20 families. Construction on the guardaria has begun, but it will be finished by the Bolivians. Please continue to pray for us as we have a big day tomorrow. Our church program is pretty intense, and then afterward we will have a chance to share with some unbelievers how our faith has led us to get involved in Ushpa Ushpa.