BACK HOME IN PORTACHUELO

For those of you who asked "Are the stairs finished?" 

BEFORE

 I have photographic proof.  Maybe I shouldn't say "finished".  The ceramic tile is not in place yet.  It is ready and waiting to be installed.  Praise the Lord for Cerabol, a local tile factory that gives us a good price on their seconds.  All the floors in the school are finished with this natural red tile. 

AFTER

There are no lights yet and the doors are not hung but the second and fourth grades are having classes in the new classroom.

Use your imagination and picture another building, just like this new one, facing this one with the second floor accessed from the first landing of this stairway.  That is our next building project. 


EATING
I shared with the folks in the States about the about the local custom the believers here have of inviting reasons to get together and eat.  We haven't been able to break the habit, it continues to this day.  They had a welcome supper for us when we got back. 

Before and after pictures will not be included for the eating category. 

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.