The idea was initially to get away for a few days and have a "Spiritual Retreat" or time away from ministry to be refreshed and renewed. Charles and I left late on Friday night only to be stopped in a traffic mess and arrive at Trans World Radio at 2am. Nonetheless, Saturday and Sunday we spent much of the day in the hammock or outside at TWR resting. We find as probably many of you full-time ministry people do that ministry doesn't stop. It's not 9-5. Charles and I are constantly visiting people, they are visiting us, we're preparing lesson plans, childrens' crafts, buying building materials, making phone calls, etc. In order to rest we found we needed to be away from home.
TWR is the location for Radio Station 100.3 run by some friends and co-missionaries Jake and Dorothy Fehr. The Fehr spend a good amount of time ministering to the Menonite population outside of Santa Cruz and to others via radio. They not only have a recording room and station equipment but have built apartments for staff and visitors to stay. It's out in the country and the scenery is beautiful. The apartments are very American with air conditioning and patios. They are a good refuge for us.
We spent the first two days relaxing, reading, sleeping in the hammock and so forth. Monday, however, was the beginning of our work week. We stayed out at TWR for the week since Charles and I have been trying to finish a house in Poza Verde, a nearby village, for us to stay in over the weekends. A team from Orange Hill Baptist Church in Georgia funded the house and built it. Unfortunately, it wasn't finished en
ough for it to be liveable. Monday - Thursday we put new tile in, installed a stair case, cleaned bathrooms, put bars on the windows and more. See our blog entry "Minor Improvements." It wasn't all work ... I spent some time playing volleyball with the women and children. It was quite interesting playing hours of volleyball with everyone else speaking a language I don't understand. I just went with what I knew of volleyball and went for it when it wa
s coming at me. There were several times I had both teams laughing at me ... gotta roll with the punches! The children were a bundle of fun as always.One observation I did make from being there everyday of the week is that the house built for Ayore team member Benial and his family 
has become a general gathering place for the community. I found that the neighborhood children naturally spent time there under a shady tree, the women often chatted on the front porch and the young people usually played soccer or volleyball there. It was nice to think of it as a gathering place that our team built for this community.
On Good Friday we went to San Javier to visit SAM missionary Elliott Tait. Elliott is our age, single and is here for a two-year term out in San Javi
er (4 hours from Santa Cruz). He is the only missionary from SAM there and is working with a local church as well as the youth. It was good to visit with him and see the Jesuit Mission Church on the plaza.
Another great blessing to us is a growing friendship we have with the family that takes care of TWR and lives on the property. Elva and Narciso are slightly older than us with three precious children. Elva told me a good deal of her past and how she came to know the Lord at age 18. Her story is remarkable and even more remarkable is how much her young children know about Jesus. During the week we spent a lot of time 
with them as the children would invite themselves in at night to tell us about what they painted at school or the snake they saw or the new childrens' book they read. It was precious. Yannette (Janet) is 9, Moises (Moses) is 7 and Anita is 5. Those children know way more about Jesus and are dedicated to living for him more than I did and was at those ages. They love Bible stories in any form they come -- movies, books, etc. Elva spent a lot of her time at night teaching me how to make traditional Bolivian foods including my favorite -- cunape.
But more, Elva and Narciso are just the type of people that you always want to be around ... the kind that serve endlessly and love people for who they are. Friday night they invited us to go with them to minister to the nearby community. They showed a film on the life of Jesus on the soccer field. There were probably 50-70 people there. They prayed and shared the good news of Christ with the group after the movie. The whole thing touched me. I'm not quite sure how to explain it. It was so practical ... Elva and Narciso are poor in respect to material things but so rich in the joy they have. It's just like our pastor was saying today, "People saw the conclusive evidence that Jesus rose and it totally changed them ... and it should be changing us just as it did them." It should change us so much so that we are going to our neighbors and telling them. That's what Elva and Narciso were doing and we were able to be a part of that. The week was one we won't forget. To read about our Easter morning, see Sunrise at the Stadium.
has become a general gathering place for the community. I found that the neighborhood children naturally spent time there under a shady tree, the women often chatted on the front porch and the young people usually played soccer or volleyball there. It was nice to think of it as a gathering place that our team built for this community.
On Good Friday we went to San Javier to visit SAM missionary Elliott Tait. Elliott is our age, single and is here for a two-year term out in San Javi
er (4 hours from Santa Cruz). He is the only missionary from SAM there and is working with a local church as well as the youth. It was good to visit with him and see the Jesuit Mission Church on the plaza.
Another great blessing to us is a growing friendship we have with the family that takes care of TWR and lives on the property. Elva and Narciso are slightly older than us with three precious children. Elva told me a good deal of her past and how she came to know the Lord at age 18. Her story is remarkable and even more remarkable is how much her young children know about Jesus. During the week we spent a lot of time 
with them as the children would invite themselves in at night to tell us about what they painted at school or the snake they saw or the new childrens' book they read. It was precious. Yannette (Janet) is 9, Moises (Moses) is 7 and Anita is 5. Those children know way more about Jesus and are dedicated to living for him more than I did and was at those ages. They love Bible stories in any form they come -- movies, books, etc. Elva spent a lot of her time at night teaching me how to make traditional Bolivian foods including my favorite -- cunape.But more, Elva and Narciso are just the type of people that you always want to be around ... the kind that serve endlessly and love people for who they are. Friday night they invited us to go with them to minister to the nearby community. They showed a film on the life of Jesus on the soccer field. There were probably 50-70 people there. They prayed and shared the good news of Christ with the group after the movie. The whole thing touched me. I'm not quite sure how to explain it. It was so practical ... Elva and Narciso are poor in respect to material things but so rich in the joy they have. It's just like our pastor was saying today, "People saw the conclusive evidence that Jesus rose and it totally changed them ... and it should be changing us just as it did them." It should change us so much so that we are going to our neighbors and telling them. That's what Elva and Narciso were doing and we were able to be a part of that. The week was one we won't forget. To read about our Easter morning, see Sunrise at the Stadium.
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