2014 Day One of work

We arrived at Luz de Vida to see so much progress that has been made since we were last here. It was also a joy to see the garden we planted in 2012 in such full bloom. The growth is evident!

Here you can see fruit on this lemon tree we planted two years ago! What a metaphor for what is happening all around it! 

We got our marching orders from Pastor Daniel and went right to work. Some of us hung shelves for the new sewing workroom which required a lot of measuring!!

Lisa H. touched up their sign so that it will be bright and clean when it is hung. 

Lisa L. went to work putting lacquer on the Chancel hanging.

She was so good that they gave her the challenge of doing the ceiling, Michaelangelo style.

Lisa H. also had to get in creative positions to do the details!

Adan busily plastered the half wall on the walkway.

The shelves are really coming along!!!

We painted the upstairs hallway with glossy paint on the bottom that can be easily wiped off when sweet children's hands give it love!

And we did it all with a big smile! It was a great day and we were all really amazed that we finished the whole list of things he gave us that morning. Many hands makes light work!

We ended the day with a special treat from our awesome cook, Delia. She made Silpancho which is a traditional Cochabamban dish. It is layered in this order from bottom to top, rice, fried potatoes, tenderized beef, fried egg, tomato and onion salad! Delicioso! We look forward to it every year!!

And when we thought it couldn't get any better, we were visited by Pastor Daniel who shared a part of his story with us. This was a special time of fellowship and celebration of the birth of Luz de Vida and his call to serve as their leader. He is so gifted and clearly called and empowered by God. We are privileged to be in partnership with him in this mission. 

We are going to bed filled with love and appreciation for what God is doing!

2014 Arrival

After a long, but hitch-free journey, we arrived in Cochabamba at 8:30 am this Sunday morning. We were greeted by our friends from Cochabamba with a warm welcome, fresh flowers, hugs and prayers. The fresh flowers were picked from the garden at Luz de Vida that our team helped to plant along with folks from St. Paul UMC, Houston in 2012. What a thoughtful and meaningful gesture of hospitality!

We went directly to the home where we will be staying all week, which is the vacant parsonage of El Salvador Church. Delia and her daughters had breakfast waiting for us. There we gathered around what will be our table of fellowship for the whole week. What a blessing those mealtime talks will be as we dine on food cooked with love especially for us. 

After Breakfast we went to worship at Emmanual Methodist and received more warm welcomes as we celebrated Pentecost in fellowship with the church across the world! We were thinking and praying for our Trinity family back home, knowing they were gathered for worship too! Pastor Theresa reminded us  of the unity we have in the church as we are united for one mission by the power of the Holy Spirit. This could not be a more appropriate reminder as we gather with our brothers and sisters in Christ on another continent.

This is the praise team that led the music. You will see below, "How Great Thou Art" in Spanish.

We are so grateful to God for the community of faith at Trinity who sent us here and holds us in prayer. Please continue to pray for the team and we will pray for you! 

Sincerely,

Katy Ware, Lisa LaFosse, Diana Seamon, Lisa Hemmings, Marian Pekar, and Sylvia Ensley

Que Dios le Bendiga!

Friday night we headed back over to Luz de Vida, the church where we had been working all week, because the members had planned a farewell service for us. On the way over we practiced saying, "God bless you" and "We will miss you" in Spanish.

When we arrived the chairs were on both sides of the room and this was on the floor in the middle of the room. Here you see the two crosses made by Trinity members, a Bible, some tools representing our work together, and six small crosses that we later found out were gifts to us.

At the beginning of the service, Ruth, on the right, invited Maureen to share a word about her experience this week. Jerome translated for her. She did an amazing job, especially being that she was put on the spot. She shared that although we worked very hard this week, it didn't feel like hard work because of the love and support we experienced from the community of Luz de Vida.

Wilson, the youth director, invited Pastor Katy to share a sermon about lying. This gathering was being held during their usual youth gathering and therefore they wanted a message that was in line with the topic for youth group that night. Pastor Katy invited Pastor Daniel to read the Scripture in Spanish and Lisa to read it in English.

Here is Pastor Katy preaching and Jerome translating.

Then they invited the whole group up to the front to give us gifts. First they gave us small clay crosses that depicted children all around the cross holding it up. Children are their main focus at Luz de Vida so it was a fitting message. It also communicated our teamwork in carrying the gospel message to the world. Luz de Vida sewing ministry gave us small purses that you will see around our necks and Emmanuel's sewing ministry gave us vests. We were so overwhelmed with gratitude for their generosity.

This is the cross they gave us.

The youth came up and shared a song with us as a parting gift as well. 

This band is both professional and members of the church. They were so talented and passionate about their music. We called them "Book of Days Bolivia."

This is Veronica, she approached Elizabeth on Wednesday and gave her a beautiful gift of jewelry as you see on her right wrist and finger. On Friday night Veronica came over to say hello again.

Thomas will definitely be missed! 

Hugs.

Elizabeth with one of the children who is sporting some therawear shirts she brought as gifts. 

The final event was dancing. Ruth announced that they would now teach us to dance. And oh, did they ever!

As we returned from the farewell gathering that night we could hardly find words to describe our experience. We all had a sense of being full, full of love and full of God's grace. One team member described it as the happiest night of their life. How very grateful we are for the privilege to partner with the Methodist Church in Cochabamba. How very honored we are to be able to witness God's work.

Our Last two workdays

On Thursday we moved a lot of building material away from this wall and over to an adjacent wall. First bricks, then large wood, then small wood.

Many hands make light work.

Elizabeth hauling bricks like a boss!

We moved all of this so that Adan and Franscisco could make forms for the concrete that will be the base of a privacy wall.

And this meant we got to make more concrete! Here is Thomas running the cement mixer like a pro. Elizabeth with the photo bomb.

Of course we had helpers from the church! These are 3 of Pastor Daniel's kids. 

This is Marcello, Patricia's son. He is five and was such a good helper!

We also sanded the metal gates to prep them for painting them with rustoleum.

This the rust dust from sanding was plentiful. 

Here you can see the difference!

Friday afternoon a truckload of dirt was dropped off and we spread it out to level the yard. 

We prepared the sanctuary for worship on Friday night by washing the windows and mopping the floor. 

All in all we were amazed at the progress these 6 gringos made in just 5 days of work. More posts to come...

Workday número tres

Wednesday we continued to make concrete for the subfloor upstairs, but we had a nice surprise as a family from the church joined us. There were three generations there to lend a hand and it was great fun working together. 

Here's a picture of us with the family and Pastor Daniel!

We helped paint the chancel side doors. Here you see Maureen and Elizabeth cheerfully painting.

Meanwhile, Lisa worked on painting the bathroom door. The slats were tricky but, thankfully, Lisa is good with the details!

Later that day we visited a coop where over 300 women from all over Bolivia are able to make a living for their family by knitting garments and blankets of 100% Alpaca wool.

We then ventured over to Emmanuel Methodist Church where they have a school for children (infant to five years old). This school was created to serve the poorest of the poor in Cochabamba. They feed them four meals a day which, for most, are the only meals they get all week. They approach education holisticly as they have a resident Dr. and Dentist. They perform regular check ups with each child. Most have severe problems such as crumbling teeth and intestinal parasites when they arrive.

Each class had made us gifts and the children bursted with pride as they presented to us these homemade treasures. Here is Lisa getting one around her neck. Their genuine hugs were the best!

We went to the Emmanuel sewing ministry to hear about their work and purchase some goods to support their ministry. They tithe 10% to their church and give 30% to the children's school at Emmanuel. They live off of the other 60%. May we learn from their discipline. 

Nora and Wilson Boots took us to their home for dinner, spoiling us with Bolivian hospitality. This is a Bolivian fruit we were introduced to for the first time, called chirimoye. 

Here you see it on top of our dessert, which was a maracuya mousse. Amazing.

All in all it was a day full of God's blessing that surprised us at every turn. Each morning we study scripture together and each night we reflect as a group on what God is doing in our midst. We find it hard to fall asleep some nights because we are so filled with joy. Thank you for your continued prayers.