Feliz Navidad and Feliz Cumpleaños

At the end of each year we celebrate Jesus' birthday as well as the birthday of each Ayoré child in the three villages where we mostly work with the children. This past week we had our Feliz Navidad and Feliz Cumpleaños('Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday') party in each of the villages. The children rarely know the actual date of their birthday so celebrating them all at once is an ideal occasion. We pass out cake and koolaid while wishing each of them a Merry Christmas and a Happy Birthday. Some of them like to tell us how old they are now and others only know their approximate age. All the same we celebrate. The celebration comes after a Sunday School type lesson on Jesus' birth and why it is that we celebrate Christmas at all. In one of the villages I was telling the story of Mary, Joseph and Jesus when I pointed to the poster of the nativity scene and asked the children where was Mary. They brought smiles and laughs to us and the other adults around when more than one of them pointed at one of the Ayoré women named Mary that was sitting in on the lesson. In another village Charles and I were sad to hear when we asked why we celebrate Christmas not one of the 30-something children could come up with the answer. They were all unaware of the connection between Christmas and Jesus although so many of them had heard of both separately. We pray that God would do a mighty work in the lives of these children and use them to speak to their parents and entire communities about Jesus. Please pray with us for these children this Christmas season.

Ayoré Team Christmas Dinner

It is tradition to have an Ayoré Team dinner at the end of the year. The evening allows for a time to gather outside of work and ministry and enjoy each other. In addition, we invite those who help our team throughout the year with camps, medical attention and so on. Charles and I hosted the dinner at our house Friday, December 14 and I think it was a very merry time for all 40 of us. Normally the dinner consists of traditional Bolivian cuisine - steak, yuca, cheese rice and salad. This year we diverted a little from the norm and Charles made Texas-style brisket. Since we aren't huge fans of the boiled yuca we substituted baked beans and ended with the popular Latin dessert Tres Leches.

(This is Dra. Jenny Vidal - my doctor who will deliver Baby McCall - and me in the baby's room after the dinner.)

November Letter 07

Hannah and Baby

I finally talked Hannah into letting me take some snapshots of her with Baby McCall at 7.5 months into the pregnancy. I would like to take the best ones and frame them for the baby's room. I'm posting some of my favorites on the blog and ask that you would comment on which ones you think we should frame for her room! Also, I'm not sure if I'm going to have them printed black and white or color ... feel free to give your opinion on that as well.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support as well as the clothes that you sent for Hannah. We are looking forward to meeting Baby McCall - her due date is January 7, 2008.

Click on slideshow below to see pictures in full resolution.

Paro! Paro!

Yesterday we experienced yet another paro (strike) in Santa Cruz. This one was set off mostly due to the shortage in diesel fuel and the underpaid transportation government employees.

So what does a strike look like here?

See the pictures that we took a few blocks from our house. The micros (mee-cros), public buses that serve the majority of Santa Cruz' population, lined up together to block the major roads and the airports literally shutdown.

The grocery stores close along with everything else. It's quite a site. This is the fourth one to take place since we've been here. We take advantage of the the work we have to do at home as well as enjoy a nice walk without any traffic. Many people ride bikes, fly kites, etc. in the streets and then the paro usually ends around nightfall. Charles and I can't quite figure out why the strikes aren't any longer than they are. Often it's uneffective and just seen as a break for everyone but there is a lot of politics behind it - more than we understand.

We were talking yesterday about how that would go over in DC if all the metro shutdown and the public transportation stopped for a day. Chaos. Thankfully it doesn't seem to get too violent or chaotic here. Or maybe we just don't realize it if it does.

Passing Through

Oct. 28 our friends Drew and Laurabeth Harris came to visit for a week while doing some extended travel in South America. They were the first of our friends to arrive in Santa Cruz by bus - they came from Peru and were headed back that direction when they left a week later.

While here, they were able to see some of the ministry we do with the Ayore as well as take some down time to enjoy Bolivia. We ended the week with a chilly weekend in the mountains of Samaipata with them. The four of us mostly spent time in front of the fire and caught up on some much-needed sleep. It could be my last little trip before Baby McCall comes - I've got 8 weeks to go!

Ricki Chiqueno's Story

Ricki Chiqueno is an average 9 year old. He is often playing with other kids in the Ayore villages with a smile and dirty knees. This past spring doctors diagnosed Ricki with a serious heart defect that could be fatal if not corrected. Our team met with Mission of Hope to find a solution for Ricki's condition. After trying various treatments, it was evident surgery was going to be most effective.

Together with Mission of Hope, Ricki was able to have surgery last week in Cochabamba at the Belgian Hospital. Fabricio Braner of Mission of Hope went with Ricki and his parents to Cochabamba and got them settled in.

I went for the second week of their stay to be with Ricki and his parents, Bilma and Rueben during this hard time. Just last year, they lost another child to a high fever and several years before Ricki's mother lost two other children. They seemed very grateful for the opportunity that came about for Ricki from Dupade (God).



Unfortunately, the surgery was postponed from Tuesday to Friday, Oct. 22 in order to find more blood donors to replace what Ricki would lose in surgery. During the days leading up to the surgery I mainly spent time keeping Ricki busy and giving his parents a break from the hospital. We had a lot of fun coloring, playing with a remote-control car in the hospital's hallways, singing and much more.

Friday he was in surgery for more than 6 hours but came out of it successfully. The last few days of my time there, Ricki was on heavy medication and we interacted very little. The intensive care hours were minimal and the tubes in his mouth, nose and neck as well as the pain of the incision kept him from communicating very much.

Before I left on Monday night, Ricki was moved up to recuperation and out of ICU. He was in better spirits and he is expected to be released as soon as Oct. 26.

Please continue to keep Ricki in your prayers as the recovery will not be without pain and precaution. And please praise the Lord with us that he had the opportunity to receive the surgery and hopefully be healed from the heart defect.

Ricki and his parents plan on returning to Ayore community Jogasui here in Santa Cruz the first week of November.

Six Months and Counting

Last week our friend Dennis Wolff came from Louisville, KY, to visit for a week to check out some of the ministry and spend some time seeing Bolivia. It was also the 6-month mark in the pregnancy --- 3 months to go! Praise the Lord I'm feeling great and everyone's healthy.

The Lord has done great things for us,

and we are filled with joy. Ps. 126:3

The village kids are overjoyed I am pregnant

Dennis and Rocio making Bolivia's infamous cheese empanadas
We took some time off at the pool as well

Here's Charles in Cochabamba getting a bad shoe shine job. He's smiling because he doesn't know how bad his shoes were looking at that point.

I am not happy about having my picture taken while I climb the million stairs to the Christo statue in Cochabamba

Dennis and I inside the Christo statue

Charles and Dennis enjoyed running around the lagoon - A La Lay

Isn't this tree on the mountainside incredible - these trees are all over Bolivia right now and are in full bloom

All of us at lunch in Cochabamba with friends Earl, Rosie and Carla Adams

Paraguay - Brasil Trip

Tuesday night (Sept. 4) we embarked on yet another adventure, maybe our last as a young couple without children, to Asunciόn, Paraguay. We left at 9pm and arrived in Asunciόn at 6pm the following day. Crossing the border was no problem, but interesting nonetheless since they did the paperwork by candlelight at 4:30am Wednesday morning. Fortunately, some menonites swapped seats with us so we had a window seat and a good view of the TV. There was no air conditioning on the bus (and I am 24 weeks pregnant)!

We were greeted by our friends Sarah and Forest Schell at the bus terminal upon our arrival. Charles and I met Sarah and Forest in Costa Rica at language school and almost immediately became close friends.
Sarah and Forest have two children, Caleb, 3 and Josiah, 7 months. It was fun to see how much Caleb had grown since we left Costa Rica in April '06. Sarah and Forest were good resources for all of our baby questions as well.

We spent the first part of the week catching up and seeing different facets of their ministry. Charles was able to help Forest with a video of Paraguay and I met some of Sarah's English students.

Since we don't have some of America's fast food in Bolivia, we took advantage of McFlurry's from McDonalds and also dined at Pizza Hut - all locations with playgrounds to entertain Caleb.

We celebrated Charles and Forest' birthday Friday night at a nice restaurant and went to the movies while the kids were at home with a babysitter. Saturday we did the 3D ultrasound to find out we are expecting a GIRL! Later that evening, we went to a youth outreach event that Sarah and Forest planned at the (air conditioned) mall and looked around shops we don't have here. The youth did a scavenger hunt.

On Sunday we attended their church and met several nationals that will be helping them with a church plant in the coming months. All of us ended up spending the afternoon in their big backyard - we miss the green grass.

Monday morning we went to Brasil with the Schells. The trip is about 5 hours. It was hot and a little crowded with the 4 adults, car seats, luggage, etc. but we were overly grateful for going in the Schell's car and not on a bus. We had a lot of laughs on the way about similarities and differences between our countries, especially regarding the cops.

We stayed in a hotel on the Paraguay side and crossed the Brasil border to go to Iguazu Falls Tuesday morning. The falls were beautiful - the biggest in the world and definitely worth seeing!

Also in Brasil, we shopped at BIG, Brasil's version of WAL-MART. It was fun to see American items we can't buy in Bolivia. We also ate typical Brasilian food and overall enjoyed our stay.

Wednesday we visited Itaipu, a damn that has the potential to generate more electric power than any other damn in the world. Charles was very intrigued by the engineering and interworkings of such a sight.

Charles and I made it back to Asunciόn with a few hours to spare before getting on the bus back to Santa Cruz.

It was a great trip! Below are a few extra pictures we took throughout the week.