Filed under: Family, Friends, General, Highlands School, News of Bolivia, Prayers | Tags: Bolivia, pray, prayer
Hey all! Today, I wrote a little prayer-guide you can use as you pray for us, for Highlands and for the general situation in Bolivia.
Let us pray…
- For the Church in Bolivia, for her purity, for unity, for her mission in Bolivia, and for all the people of God in this land.
- For those in Bolivia who do not yet believe, and for those who have lost their faith, that they may receive – even in the midst of the current situation in Bolivia – the Light of the Gospel.
- For the peace of Bolivia, for an end to racism and hate.
- For those in leadership in Bolivia, that they would be freed from anger and fanaticism, and instead promote the dignity and freedom of every person.
- For those who live and work in this community, and call La Paz their home.
- For those who are poor, persecuted, sick and all who suffer; for all who are in danger in this tense time.
- For our enemies, and those who wish us harm, and for all we have injured or offended.For the forgiveness of our sins, and for the grace of the Holy Spirit to amend our lives.
- For those who have commended themselves to our prayers, our friends, families back home, and our neighbors here in La Paz.
- Rejoicing in the fellowship of all the saints, we commend ourselves, one another and all our life to Christ our God. Amen.
Thanks for prayin’!
(Inspired by Form V, Prayers of the People, from the Book of Common Prayer)Filed under: Friends, General, Tom, food | Tags: beef, food, Friends, Lebanese, raw meat
I am… well, a microphobe. Don’t care if that’s not a word; it’s true enough. When I cook eggs, I wash my hands… countless times. When I am forced kindly asked by my sweet dear Anne to buy any raw meat, I use several plastic bags to encase the already sealed package, and then I usually find some hand-sanitizer (Avery calls it “hanitizer”, and so do we); if I’m not carrying any, I will buy some just so I can use it right then and there.
Okay - you get the picture. I like a germ-free (or at least germ-challenged) environment.
That’s why tonight was a monumental display of bravery and cultural barrier-crossing.
You see, we were invited upstairs to our dear neighbors, the Goyarebs. They are the sweet Lebanese family that owns the building. Their daughter, Nur, is the most willing and patient babysitter in the universe. We love the Goyarebs. So, when we, and two other Highlands families were invited over, we were rather eager to go, and (in Nur’s words), experience “real Arab food”. Yum. (more…)
A new way to support the ministry…
Hey! Anne and I discovered something called Amazon.com Associates stores. Here’s a great way to support our ministry in Bolivia: if you are planning on buying something from Amazon, just go to Amazon by way of the search window here on our blog, and you can get the product you were looking for, at the price you would normally pay, plus we get a percentage (between 4-10%) of the price! So, if you buy something from Amazon, we totally appreciate you doing it through our blog! Thanks!
Filed under: Community Group, Family, General, The Church in La Paz, Tom | Tags: Bolivia, church, Community, Group, la paz, worship
I told the folks at our monthly Community Group, “May’s meeting will be ‘bring your own worship’.” They were given an explanation, that it meant they could bring anything that they thought would build up our little body of believers. “… for the strengthening of the church” (1 Cor. 14:26 - NET)
I was given many responses, usually along the lines of, “I don’t know… I’m stuck… I’m not sure I have anything… that’s not my, um, thing, ya know?”
But, when the time came, they… well, they brought it. They really, really, brought worship!
Just a sampling: Abby (age 4) led us in “Hallelu, Hallelu”; songs of various types were shared both live and on mp3; Avery (age 4) did liturgical dance with Abby; quotes from Henri Nouwen were read; a 4th century prayer was read and reflected on (that was mine); Tim sang while his wife Whitney did a chalk-drawing of the Father carrying His weary child (see photo); testimonies were given.
In short, worship was brought and it built up Christ’s bride as she met in our living room. Amen.
If you wish to see what our evening looked like, check out an extended version of this post at my worship blog. Chau for now!
A couple of things you might like to see:
Our visit to Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley) just five minutes from our school!
And our new family photo:
Our school done got tattled on.
Today is Bolivia’s version of Labor Day. We planned to have our third Team Day - a big, fun day of four teams made up of kids from Grades 1-12 working together; today was to be our Academic Team Day (spelling bees, scavenger hunts, giant crosswords and the like; not your typical school day). We picked today because, with most parents off work, they could come and participate. Sounds great, aye? (more…)
Filed under: General
Since Avery turned four, she’s been asking many more why and how questions and seems to be thinking all the time, trying to figure out how “things” work. Some of her funniest comments so far came this morning before preschool. She asked me how God could hold the whole world in His hands. I guess it’s not safe to sing children’s songs anymore, they will all be analyzed carefully!
We also had this interchange:
Avery: (with gusto) I’m a lion tamer! Mom, what’s a lion tamer?
Me: It’s someone who teaches tricks to lions. Like at a circus. So, do you do that?
Avery: (with complete sincerity) No, do you?
I guess she hadn’t realized that there is a dearth of lions around La Paz for either of us to tame. . .
(In my head, that’s supposed to rhyme!) Ah, yes! The uncertainties of life in La Paz. We’re in the middle of prayer at church and we hear folks praying for the supposed “paro” (strike) that is supposed to - might - may - could - happen tomorrow, Tuesday or Wednesday. These strikes can be anything from a stoppage of public transportation to a full closure of all stores, cafes, schools etc.
And here it is, the end of Easter break! (more…)
If you come to our apartment and go out to our courtyard patio, you’ll see a big rock on the ground. Now, that rock normally is for propping open the screen door. But it can also be used for other purposes!
If you turn that rock over, you will likely notice the large, black spot. (more…)
