La Quinceañera

In Latin America a young lady's 15th birthday is the big one.  It is when she is presented as a woman.  The tradition here is to have a really big party.  Dancing and drinking are a big part of it.  What about the believers.  What do they do?

Martha and her four children have been a part of the assembly in Portachuelo for years.  They are involved in many activities of the assembly .  Martha's daughter Rosa's 15th birthday was coming up.  What to do?  The father is not a believer and he wanted a big party with all the things that the world expects.  Martha asked if they could have the party at the church so she could avoid that.

Praise the Lord for providing a place for things like this.  Our basketball court gets used for many things.  This Saturday night it was the scene for Rosa's Quince (15).

Lots of room for special occasions.  

Teddy Campbell from Santa Cruz spoke to Rosa and the group about the things of the Lord and the decisions one makes for their future.

Rosa with her parents

Everyone wants their picture taken with the "Quinceañera".

Rosa and Oscar

THREE FAMILIES

These three young men are the responsible brothers who are sharing the leadership with me in the assembly in Portachuelo.  They have not be named elders yet, but they are doing the work of an elder.  They are also the leaders at the Christian school.  Pray for them and their wives.

Aldo, his wife Magdalena and their three boys.Joel, Jafet, and Jeffrey

Aldo teaches Christian Education, he is also the school "regente".  That means he keeps an eye on things, like discipline and attendance, and the buildings and grounds.  That frees the school director (principle) to attend to the academic side of things and keep the Department of Education happy.

Magdalena is the teachers aide in first grade and maybe will be the school secretary next year.

Bismar, Ruthy and their boysAbdiel and Paulo 

Bismar is the school director.  His job comes with a lot of pressure.  He is responsible for academics.  as well as representing the school to the legal authorities.  A big part of his job is handling people.

Ruthy is the second grade teacher.  She is always beside Marion to help when there is baking to be do

Osvaldo and Kathy with
Osvaldo, Samara, and Asiel

Some of you will remember Osvaldo and Kathy from their time in the States.

Osvaldo teaches English, computers and is involved in the administration of the school.

Kathy is a public school teacher.  She travels 50 miles everyday back and forth to her school in Mineros.

INTRODUCING

Carmen Rosa Vargas
When  school enrollment for the current year started in January there was no school secretary.  Via the grape vine Carmen heard that we needed someone to fill the position.  She came with experience as secretary in a Christian school in Sucre.  She is a big help in keeping things running smoothly.  Carmen is the friendly face that greets everyone visiting the school.  We praise the Lord for sending her to us.

Carmen and her husband have been married for five years and had no children.  They were in the process of adoption when she started to work.  Just a week ago they welcomed fourteen month old Fernanda into their family.  Fernanda comes to school each day with her mother and is cared for by the caretaker's wife.

Carmen and Fernanda

Bob Mc Elmurry
Bob has been with us for a number of years.  Bob is a retired chemist from Madison, Wisconsin.  He came to help teach English.   His job grew and he now is the one that keeps the computer lab up and running.  Thanks to Bob we have a computer lab that is the envy of many schools.   He is constantly looking for ways to improve the program.  He also writes programs to help the teachers.  We praise the Lord for Bob and his dedication to the school.

Bob is also the resident grandfather at the school.  The younger students seek him out, especially when he has balloons in his pocket.

Bob in the computer lab

Happy Birthday

Many of you will remember Enrique, who visited with us in the States several times.  He is now 18 years old.  He graduates from high school this year and plans to study civil and petroleum engineering.

Marion and Enrique

We went into the city to be with him and his family to celebrate his birthday.  Just like in most other places these celebrations are accompanied by lots of food.

This is cattle country so we eat meat.

and more meat

The young people from their assembly in Santa Cruz were there to help celebrate.  When Christians get together there is singing and food.

There is always a guitar and choruses 

KINDER WORKSHOP

Whew, I am home again.  Merlyn told me I had to write the blog about my trip to Cobija.

Rosa, the other kindergarten teacher and I went to Cobija at the invitation of one of our assemblies.   They have a school and wanted us to do a workshop on our kindergarten material. They invited the teachers from the government schools also.

Marion animating the teachers

I have spent about six years working on, correcting and revising a program for kindergarten.  We have been able to teach the children to read and to do basic addition and subtraction.  Nobody here believed that possible.  There was only one lady in the conference of about fifty that had heard of phonetics. We spent a lot of time teaching them the sounds of the letters.

Rosa receiving her certificate

The last time I presented the material at conference in Santa Cruz, the teachers didn’t believe me until on the second day when I took three of my kindergarteners to show them what they could do.  This time we taught the teachers just as we teach the kids; they could see the possibilities and responded with excitement.  One lady couldn't wait for the cds to be copied and she photocopied over 1000 pages so she could start on it right away.

The group that attended the workshop with their certificates

The authorities for the public schools counted this workshop for credit for the teachers and they issued the certificates.  The teachers from the state schools asked that we come back in December to have a workshop for all the kindergarten and 1st grade teachers.

Waiting in the airport and flying time cost us two and a half hours in the flight to Cobija but took six and a half hours coming home again.  It was so good to get home.

Teacher's Day

June 6 is Teacher's Day in Bolivia.  It is not an official holiday but it is celebrated like one.  In the past whenever there was a special day that required a special program, the staff had to organize it and do all the work.  It's nice having older students now who can take on some of these special projects.  This year the 10th grade class did the Teacher's Day program and even did a supper for the staff.  It was all very well done.

The teaching staff and administration

 Pray for the staff.  Most of them are believers but several are not.  May we be a solid testimony to them.

The 10th grade with Oswaldo, the class counselor

 This class is the first group that Marion had in her kindergarten.  They have been exposed to the Gospel for ten years.  Only two of them are believers.  Pray that they will open their hearts to the message of salvation.

A TIME TO BREAK DOWN AND A TIME TO BUILD UP

Praise the Lord!
We have the funds to start the second floor of the new classroom building.

The neighbors tell us that this is the oldest building in the neighborhood.  The construction method is what is called wattle and daub (look it up on wikipedia).  The property used to be a lecheria (dairy) and this house was where the vaquero (cowboy) lived.

This building has been the home of the school caretaker and his family.  Sadly it is in the way.  The stairway to the second floor needs to go where this house is.  We plan to start construction soon.  First the second story will be built, then during our summer vacation that start in November the old house will come down and the stairway will be built.

Praise the Lord for His provision.  Pray that there will be enough funds to finish the work. Since we got the estimate prices have gone up.

The mosquito Aedes aegypti feeding.

This little fellow is the carrier of dengue fever.  

We are still dealing with dengue fever in our house.  Marion was down for three weeks, she got up for a week and went down again last Monday and has been ailing since then.  There isn’t much one can do, acetaminophen for pain and fever, drink plenty of liquids, watch out for signs of the dengue hemorrhagic fever.

The doctors in Bolivia are still on strike. They are only attending in the emergency room.  (The emergency room in Portachuelo is staffed by interns right out of medical school.  It is often an frustrating and sometimes frightening experience.)

Today Marion and I went into Montero to find some medical help. I had to stop by the hospital where we have the staff of the school insured to make the monthly insurance payment.  I was talking to the secretary at the hospital and she said that Dr. Choque, the hospital director, would be glad to look at Marion.  Dr. Choque saw her in his office and prescribed an IV with lots of vitamins and some pain medicine.   We are back home waiting for someone to come and put in the IV.  Why didn't I learn to put in an IV when I had the chance?

Many at the school are battling with dengue, I still have times with fever and extreme fatigue.  

Start of School Year 2012

We are in the third week of School Year 2012. After all the dust had settled we have 185 students in the school this year.  We thank the Lord for each one.  Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that we prayed that the Lord would send the students He wants to be here.  Each student with his individual package of problems and strengths is a gift from the Lord.

Those who waited until the first day of school to enroll their kids.

We seem to have a good staff this year.  We have four new teachers.  Last year there were many problems with the high school math, physics and chemistry classes.  This year the students have only good things to say about their new teacher.  He is a no nonsense teacher and the students appreciate it.  He has done his evaluations and is filling in the holes in their understanding.  

First day kindergarten 2012
The young fellow on Marion's lap is a crier.

We have been in the process of trying to set up a foundation which will be the legal entity under which the school and other ministries will function here in Portachuelo.  The process has been ongoing for a number of years.  We hope to have things finished within a couple of months.  The government is requiring a lot more paper work for the function of the school.  The establishment of this foundation will facilitate the operation of the school on a number of levels.  Pray with  us for the quick conclusion to this process.  

	The city paved the street behind the school now we have to come up with $2300 to put in the sidewalk. The building fund for the second floor of the new classroom building is at $12929,    $7000 to go.  Praise the Lord

Introducing Lilo and Carlos

We'd like to introduce you to two of our young men from the Chapel who are planning to attend the Bible School in Camiri this year.  Pray for Lilo and Carlos.  They are the first from the Assembly here in Portachuelo who are taking this step.  This is a one year program.  It will help them to get grounded in the Word and involve them in lots of practical experience.  It will be a challenge for them as they move out from their comfort zone and learn to trust the Lord for their expenses.