Dear family and friends,

 

Last Sunday Bolivia held a nation-wide referendum vote.  The purpose of the vote was to give the people in all nine departments (states) the opportunity to decide if they wanted the current president, vice president, and governors of each department to remain in office.  There were no real surprises in the results, but it is clear that many people have differing desires for the future of Bolivia.  The president and vice president retained their positions, but three of the nine governors lost their positions.  One has said he will refuse to leave his office.  The nation-wide votes are interesting because no one is allowed to drive their vehicles for a 24 hour period.  Only emergency vehicles have authorization to drive.  Just about all stores and businesses are closed for the day.  Can you imagine that in the United States?  There were over 500 voting locations here in Santa Cruz, so everyone had a location close enough to walk to.  We are thankful that the day of the referendum was peaceful with no major violence.     

 

Well the kids went back to school this past Monday.  Summer (actually winter here) sure flew by.  I'm sure it didn't help that our son, Taylor was in the states for six weeks, and things just didn't seem quite right without him here.  We will just have to get used to it though, since he will be graduating this year and then heading off to college.  I can't even believe it!  Where did all the years go?  They have just flown by.  It's a good reminder of how precious each day is with our kids, and to make the most of our time with them.

 

Two days after Taylor arrived home, Dan left for the three day Pastors/Leaders Retreat outside of Santa Cruz.  Dan was ready to drive to the retreat when the youth music team from one of the churches asked if he could take the drum set in his vehicle.  By the time he left they had loaded two large speakers and sound equipment on top of the vehicle, and guitars and a full drum set inside the vehicle.  With two seats open, seven people packed in with Dan driving.  Now they were ready to head to the retreat.  This may sound a little crazy, but it is very normal here.  Since many people do not own their own vehicle, people don't mind being stuffed in a vehicle like sardines.  It's a ride and they are thankful for it.  Others rode in a bus which was arranged for transportation to the retreat. 

 

The retreat was special with men, women, and youth from Santa Cruz, Cochabamba, and La Paz.  The sessions focused on prayer, discipleship, project planning, worship, and Awana children's clubs.  The prayer emphasis and the times of prayer together were powerful.  At the end of the retreat Pastor Hevert from Cochabamba and two of the youth who drove down with him, asked if they could stay one night in the guesthouse on our property before heading back home the next day.  Before we knew it, a youth from one of our local churches had shown up to spend time with them, and before long another youth from another one of our churches showed up also.  For dinner we bought a huge pizza to share with them called the "Interminable", which means "Never ending".  We didn't finish it at dinner, but around 11:30 that night one of the youth called us to see if we could bring the rest of it over to the guesthouse.  The five of them finished it off late that night!  I think they really enjoyed the extra night here before heading back home.

 

Since living here in Santa Cruz, the Lord has brought some unique people from differing backgrounds into our lives.  What they have in common is their need for salvation in Jesus Christ.  We think of our dentist Carolina, who's husband who was part of the British Consulate, recently passed away at the age of 50.  Tito, our mechanic who lives half a block from our house.  Niel, the lead singer in a well known rock band.  Antonio, an African Bolivian who lives close to one of our churches.  Silvain, a restaurant owner from France.   

 

Thank you so much for your prayers and financial support.  You are such a vital part of our ministry here in Bolivia! 

 

Please pray:

1.  that we would continue to have opportunities for friendship evangelism with Carolina, Tito, Niel, Antonio, Silvain, and others.

2.  for the continued development and organization of our churches Awana clubs. 

3.  for our students studying theology through the evangelical university program.

4.  for our km 14 church as they plan to start building two small classrooms.

5.  for our family! 

 

Praise:

1.  for the encouraging time at our pastors/leaders retreat. 

2.  for Taylor's safe trip home to Bolivia.

3.  for the news we received that Dakoyta, one of Taylor's friends in the states accepted the Lord just recently. 

4.  for the commitment of our Bolivian pastors and their families.    

 

Serving through Christ,

Dan, Mary Sue, Taylor, Trevor, and Tasha Reed