There is a season by Dana

A dear friend in Cochabamba gave me some good advice:  life comes in seasons. There's times when you give more, and later on, you are the one receiving.  There's a month when several people die, and you seem trapped in days of mourning; then a friend miraculous gives birth--two babies in fact.  And the doctors said she wasn't even able to conceive.

The sage advice to see one's present time as just a season of many, has helped me a lot.  When I just get stuck, it's not forever.  When things are going well, savor it.  Our family has seen several seasons lately: celebrations, saying goodbye, and pushing through.

Celebrations:  Ever the delightful day, Kellton and Astoria participated in their school's festivities for Cochabamba Day.  Kellton fell in love with the dance "Caporales" with its boot-stomping music and extravagant costumes.  Astoria learned the choreography of her classes' dance, and enjoyed Cochabamban food as well.  She also graduated from Kindergarten last week and her class performed a play my friend Paola (from Sparkle) wrote and directed to celebrate their accomplishments.

She loves the colorful costumes to celebrate Cochabamba.*

It's all about the boots, and their giant bells.*

Kellton's first grade classmates for the dance, Caporales

Saying goodbye:  Living as an expatriate has it's fair share of painful goodbyes.  Our family has enjoyed the Spies family from Australia.  Three of their four kids have been in the same classes as our kids, and we've shared play dates, meals, moms outings and baby showers.  All four of us will miss this dear family as they return to Australia for more schooling.

Astoria and Daisy Spies share a graduation moment,
plus the very same birthday this week

Pushing through:  Quinn currently has several project that take an extra measure of concentration and patience.  His upcoming workshops on business are pushing him to the next level of Spanish mastery--and the effort is uphill.

In the 1960's, The Byrds made the words of Ecclesiastes fresh again with their song "Turn, Turn, Turn".  Good advice today for any season you are facing**.

 Ecclesiastes 3:  A Time for Everything  

There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
4     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

*A special thank you to Angie Washington for her photos

**Book recommendation:  For more on this topic of seasons,  I highly recommend Naomi Reed's "My Seventh Monsoon".
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She gave me the finger

Kellton and Astoria preview a restaurant's menu
on our street that serves rabbit, rabbit and rabbit.

Every Tuesday is a day jam packed.  After getting the kids to school, I make a hearty snack for Sparkle.  So I prepare various things to go with cut up fruit:  banana bread, lemon bars, chocolate cookies, zucchini chocolate cake, or whatever else I can manage not to ruin due to the altitude and my finicky gas oven (which is about the size of a doll house oven).

After a few months of racing home after school for lunch with the kids, cramming homework, and then loading up food for 50 and kiddos in a taxi, I figured out that if I paid roughly $3 more, we could walk to a restaurant and have lunch close the kids' school, where Sparkle also happens. We save 16 Bolivianos in taxi fares and don't have to rush getting home, eating lunch only to go back again to school.

When I say lunch, I mean Bolivian almuerzo.  It's really closer to what North Americans think of as dinner.  This means fresh squeezed maracuyá  (passion fruit) juice, a salad bar, hearty soup, and main entree for three people, which comes to roughly $9US, and this included a generous tip.  I love our Tuesday routines at the restaurant Pan Y Mas.  The food is home cooked goodness and my kids are fanatical about the owner, Christie's, soup.

Every week we get to know Christie a bit better, and she gives a lot of attention to my kids especially as they are such big fans of her cooking.  But last week, she gave me the finger, a special treat pulled up by my spoon.  I took no offence, but couldn't help but clandestinely snap a quick photo. Just another moment when I remember we're not in Montana anymore.

Not your normal lunchtime chicken fingers   

Sexy Tea? by Dana

Sometimes when folks ask for more blog posts, I think, hmmm.  We are doing just the same things you are you doing:  shopping for groceries, taking kids to school, working out, serving as we know how, going to church.  What I realize is that our "adventurous life" has become routine for us in some ways. Granted shopping for groceries often means at an open air market in a throng, going to school is in a taxi or public transport, working out is playing fronton or a step aerobics class in a garage, making food for is often for 50+ people and trying to understand a sermon is in another language.  The "wow" every moment fades as we live and love our life here.

However, there has been some recent highlights.  Quinn has long enjoyed being younger than me.  I hit my 40's a few years ago, he still basks in the 30's (albeit close the the cliff of middle age).  His birthday was this week, and one of his fronton (similar to racquetball) partners aptly demonstrated Quinn's favorite form of communication:  jokes, put-downs and light-hearted harassment.  I am happy to know that Bolivian friends can introduce Quinn to new products for men of a certain age.  Who knew tea, prunes and elbow braces could be so sexy?!

Quinn's birthday gifts from a Bolivian friend:  tea "Solo Para Hombres" (tea only for men), prunes, and an arm brace for fronton

For Quinn's birthday, he made barbecued choripan (sausage) for his coworkers.  Just meat and bread...no salad, fruit or cake (you think I didn't want to bring a cake?  Cookies?  Salad? Any side dish?  Remember, it was Quinn's birthday, unsanctioned by my birthday protocols).  But the food was yummy none the less, and a good moment for me to think about my favorite things about Quinn.

First of all, Quinn has risen so well to many challenges:  preaching and teaching in Spanish (and yikes...to other pastors), waded through immigration time and again, given good advice and wisdom to complex business situation, and shepherded his family through major changes, with joy. He has gone deep into the theology of work with a new passion that grows.Our year and a half here has brought a greater depth of my love and respect for him (although I will not let him read this post before I put it up--it will embarrass him--take that, babe in youth-land, utterer of countless jokes about my 3+ years your senior).  In all seriousness, Quinn has my deep admiration because with a quiet humility, he keeps our family looking up.  Looking up to the future, knowing that Christ died for us and loves us, looking up in prayer when we get discouraged, and looking up to Jesus as our example of how to live, serve, and take hold of joy.

So there you have it, a little update on our week.  And this weekend, I am happy to announce I'll be climbing Turani, a peak of 17,000 feet.  At least I hope I make it with my altitude pills!  All God's blessings, Dana

Shining for one year by Dana

We had extra special treats for Sparkle's one year anniversary

It's hard for me to believe, but Sparkle has now been serving moms and young kids in Cochabamba for one year.  This weekly children's ministry is the brainchild of my friend Paola Llosa Rowden. Over a year ago, Paola told me she'd like to offer families of very young children, a music and movement class.  There's much to be gained in gross and fine motor skills, preliteracy and numeracy all from sung nursery rhymes, folkloric music and fun activities in Spanish and English.  Because of my background at Intermountain in Helena, I knew just what she meant from the many trainings I attended about child and brain development.

While a children's music class, such as "Mommy and Me" is a common occurrence in the States and other countries, here the idea is pretty novel.  We try to make the families feel comfortable to sing out loud, sit on the floor, and even dance a bit to some new songs.  I make the merienda (picnic like snack) each week, and cut up fruit, make coffee and tea, and try and make people feel welcomed and loved.  We have several dads attending as well, who stand off to the side, so I try and rope them in with a cookie and cup of coffee.  Astoria considers herself on the leadership team as well, and recently lobbied for an official name tag, like the other Sparkle leaders...and of course Paola made her one.  In reality, Astoria has been a big helper from the beginning, often preferring to have Paola (not mommy) to be her partner and helper to pass out needed supplies.  Plus she cheerfully models the moves and happily sings along.

Why is Sparkle more than music?  While the weekly 90 minute classes blesses many kids and families, it also serves a greater purpose.  Participants are invited to church that meets at the same location on Sundays and we have a new class as well.  Starting this month, Sparkle will begin a second meeting time for a Bible Study, called Christianity Explored, developed by All Souls Church, Langham Place, London.  One mom from Sparkle is bringing a girlfriend to the Bible study who doesn't attend Sparkle, as an opportunity to share God's love with a friend.  Please pray for this Friday morning moms meeting, that each will grow in faith and knowledge of God's love and wisdom.

 Santiago singing "Feliz Cumpleanos" to Sparkle 

Happy Birthday Sparkle:  Birthdays and anniversaries are an important reason to celebrate in Bolivia.  There's frequently a mention of a school or church's anniversary and it's always a cause for a bit more food and time to be together.  Sparkle leaders prepared special dishes for our anniversary, but what surprised me most was how many families also brought extra chocolates, balloons, breads and flowers. It was a neat way to see how much the weekly time together means to the participants.
Costumes: Always a hit here in Cochabamba...costumes. Paola and I set up a changing area for kids to try on wacky glasses, wigs, sparkly shoes and superhero capes. The two teen Sparkle volunteers took photos of each child and made sure they looked "just right" for the camera.

Sparkle Leaders (left to right):  Scarlen, Vesna, Paola, Jessica, Carolina and Dana

Getting just right for the camera

Super size me, please!  

Integral Mission workshops update

Wow...  Two months since we last updated our blog!  Sorry about that.

Let me just start by saying that Coca-Cola and computers don't mix well.  So between having lost most of my photos, not to mention my ability to upload anything, I've fallen a bit behind on a number of things.

Apparently Coke reacts and creates a nasty green substance when exposed to these electronics!

We have been teaching a series of workshops with small groups of pastors, and during the last day with one group (we meet for 10 weeks at a time) I was making copies of CDs with all of the information for these pastors to have, and Coke got spilled on my computer.  So unfortunately, I was left with an expensive paper-weight!  However, I am very thankful for some Helen friends who stepped forward and purchased a new computer for me to use here in Bolivia.  Thank you so much!

Presenting the Certificate and CD to one of the Pastors.

We also traveled to Santa Cruz to present to a larger group of pastors and community members, where I was privileged to have the opportunity to share about the importance and significance of work in the life of a Christian.  This has been fun sharing this information, as we see long-standing perceptions challenged, and also see members of the churches being empowered to serve God with the gifts he has given them.

Teaching in Santa Cruz.

These workshops are essentially "Step 1" as we work through this year.  I am now working with my co-worker Duane to teach this information in a local church out in Vinto every Thursday evening, as move beyond working with pastors, to working with leaders and members of the churches.  It is exciting to see the young people engage with this information.

However, we still plan to move toward "Step 3" where we will focus specifically on Businesspeople, as we talk through a Theology of Work, but also discuss business planning, marketing, innovation, and other such fundamentals, with a Biblical perspective and connection to the community.  It should be exciting to see where this goes!

Photo "Friday"

OK, somehow I keep missing Friday.  So I guess I'll just post this on Saturday, and call it Friday!

The big news right now is that Dana's dad arrived over a week ago, and our kids have been having a great time with their "Papa Mac."  Tom has jumped right in and has been teaching English in the school, as well as to some of the instructors at the Spanish school we attended last year.  He's a real trooper!

I also had an opportunity to visit the "Mana a Mano" airplane hanger, where WorldVenture donated goods and money for fuel to help in providing emergency relief to the tribal people in the North of Bolivia who have been completely flooded out this year.  It was interesting to see what 1 person is doing with very limited resources.

We are half-way through a series of workshops we are doing on Integral Mission, linking church, family, society, and work.  Last week was my first chance to take the lead and teach specific to the area of work.  I have enjoyed learning of a Theology of Work, and the importance of work in the Christian life.  This was a real challenge and success for me, teaching a new topic area, and teaching in Spanish too.

As a part of this process, we are also visiting each of the churches of these pastors, and encouraging them in their place of work.  Last weekend, I had a chance to see a new and different church as part of this process.

A little street graffiti poetry in Cochabamba.

This is one of the knife sharpeners with a portable grinding wheel.  They push this around and use a very specific whistle to let people know they are in the area.  Then the attach the large wheel to the grinder with a belt and use their foot to make it spin while they sharpen knives.

 Finally, here is a picture of a billboard reminding people they have to provide an official "factura" (government tax receipt) to make sure taxes are paid on every purchase.  To the side, is a reminder that if you are caught not doing so, your business will be shut down for 6 days.  The 2nd time, 12 days; 3rd 24 days, and the 4th time for 48 days.  There is still a lot of "unofficial" businesses here, and we have had some very interesting conversations with businesspeople on both sides of this issue regarding the challenges and frustrations.

Photo Friday

I have been playing "Fronton" with a group of guys here as a way to get some exercise, practice my Spanish, meet some new people and develop new relationships...  And oh yeah, generally be humiliated because I have never really played anything like this, and they seem to have a shortage of oxygen here.

Generally, it is a lot like racquetball, played in pairs, but with a much larger court, outdoors, with concrete walls and floor.  See that high fence above the wall to catch errant balls?  Yep, I've cleared that many a time!

The Dress Comes Back

Wearing blue velvet with Swiss style
 floral ribbon, with my brother,
Wade, who's looking quite dapper.

Like an Australian boomerang, a few things leave us, only to surprise us when they return.  At times we seem to live crestfallen, knowing that our words and secret hopes pinned on faulty situations will not return fulfilled.  And yet there is one promise-maker whose words never return empty.

Sentimental from the beginning, I loved my childhood clothes.  I had beautiful dresses from “Fee-fee-a-la-tee-tee,” or “Fee-fee” for short, boutiques.   What my aunt Corlette called fancy in her funny way, was to me, where all beautiful clothes were found.  Clothing stores where a girl automatically remembers to use her best manners.  Here the racks contained the kinds of creations made from real velvet and lace, gorgeously lined, or hand smocked summery frocks from tropical locals.  They were wonderful, these dresses, and I knew it even from a young age.

Like every Girl Scout in Central Indiana in the 1970’s, I knew that duty prevailed when clothing drives were held.  My heart ached to see my special dress treasures folded up into Joe O’Malia brown grocery sacks, to be given away through the good work of the Girl Scouts.  I had no justifiable plea to keep things that no longer fit.  With no little sister to dress, I had no logical plea comprehensible to regular grownups.

Except for our three little girl neighbors, whose mother was no regular grownup.  Heather, Kelly and Nicole could serve as a bargaining chip for me.  So with all my six year old wisdom and charity, I lent them one of my favorite dresses; a rich, green velvet dress with soft pleats, a Peter Pan collar, and white lace waist.  I was willing, begrudgingly, to lend the dress, but I was clear I wanted it back.





Our neighbors,
at a horse track in Kentucky 

Who takes sentimental six-year-olds seriously?  Our neighbor of the three girls was no ordinary lady.  With southern manners, I was taught to call her Miss Dawn, even though she was really Mrs. Smith.  She was so young that “Mrs.” certainly couldn’t apply to her.  She was hip in her bell bottoms and light cotton sleeveless blouses, and she had beer and volleyball parties in her front yard, and she took a special interest in me.

One of my fondest childhood memories was going on a short day trip with Miss Dawn, to pick strawberries fresh from the field.  I remember cradling the little cardboard carton in my hands.  I don’t remember if anyone else came along that day, but I have a strong memory of being thrilled to be invited on this little excursion.  I felt prized to be out and about with Miss Dawn, away from 909 Preston Drive to open fields in the warm summer morning.

Many years passed and we moved away.  Fortunately my family kept in touch with Miss Dawn and her family.  Sometimes when I look back at how God has grown my faith, I have an inkling that her prayers are somehow linked to God’s grace in my life.

Always a ham, Astoria poses with her pal, Kitty. 

Always in my mind and in our interactions, spanning some 40 years, she’s been “Miss Dawn.”  Faithful.  Unchanging to the things that matter most.  When I turned 30 and got married, she and her husband travelled long flights from Florida, to Montana for our wedding.  And what gift did she bring?  The dress I'd lent her girls, the green velvet dress, with the lace waist and Peter Pan collar.   I was overjoyed that she remembered, and kept her promise.  And now, some 11 years after our wedding, who wore the dress this Christmas?  My little five year old girl, who knew it was special indeed to wear the heavy velvet dress to Christmas Eve dinner with dear friends in Cochabamba. 

Sometimes, our life stories joyfully come full circle.  But oftentimes we are left waiting until a crushing conclusion.  And yet, God stands in sharp contrast to many of our experiences.  When our hopes and promises are pinned in the right place, His promises, we can have confidence that word, promise, or grocery sack of lent clothes, will not come back empty. 

Another childhood dress of mine on Astoria.  The
three pockets are with hand embroidery
 "Flopsy, Mopsey and Cottontail"

Isaiah 55:10-12 (NIV)

¹⁰ As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
    so that it yields seed for the sower

 and bread for the eater,
¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire

    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. 

    (Emphasis mine)



Photo Friday

I actually took this photo a couple of months ago as I was walking down one of the main streets here in Cochabamba.  Yep...  the rainy season had started.

But since then, Bolivia has received approximately three times its normal rainfall, and there have been some devastating effects in some areas of the country.  The latest statistics I saw indicated 60,000 families have lost homes, over 55 people have drowned, and over 50,000 head of livestock have died.

Our Field Leader, Dan Collins, recently blogged about what we are doing, and shared some articles and pictures as well.  In this post, he has also provided an opportunity for people to give financially to help people in crisis here in Bolivia.  Please click here to read his post.

Photo Friday

First off... Today is Kellton's birthday!  We couldn't be more proud of him and the skills and interests he is developing.

Happy Birthday Kellton.

I had the honor of facilitating a meeting with another missions agency operating here in Bolivia that has a school as part of its mission and has a number of difficult decisions to make around this ministry.

Once again, it's interesting to see where skills learned in previous jobs have come back to be very helpful.  Thanks MSU Extension!

Photo Friday

Today I spent all day at the Baptist Seminary for the 1st Bolivian Baptist Missions conference.

My friend Dan Collins led the opening Devotional.

And various classes were led by individuals from Bolivia, Brazil, and beyond.

"Surprise!" by Dana

When you live in a developing world, you learn to adjust your expectations that things will just be a bit more difficult. That’s healthy in many ways.  There are many more unpredictable things to manage, and being flexible with a few less expectations is a good way to keep a positive attitude.

One area of our new life I have been dreading, just knowing it would be beyond difficult, was medical appointments.  First it’s hard for me to make the appointment over the phone, asking the receptionists to repeat themselves a few times, so I understand their Spanish.  And hoping I am not botching my communication too much.  Then there’s the inevitable new location to find and so on.  Many of my worries stemmed from Kellton and Astoria’s fears of medical professionals and procedures.  Simply say “dentist” and Astoria would burst into tears.  A few months of shots and things to get ready for Bolivia took my kids off the doctor’s fan club roster.

But I knew I could not put off the dentist and eye doctor appointments any longer.  The dread and fear had sure set in, but we just had to take the plunge.  We were in for a real surprise.

First of all, the Dentista is a friend of a friend, so that began the appointment on a happy note.  Turns out, she spoke English quite well and has a heart for children’s ministry.  Kellton passed his cleaning with flying colors, and immediately asked for another appointment right away.  Astoria had the beginnings of a cavity and even happily sat through the drilling.  Are these my children?!  Plus the fee was less than I anticipated…who knew?  We were out the door with two delightful Christian children’s books the dentist had written herself, and I was completely in (happy) shock.

Next round was the eye doctor.  Elated from their dentist appointments, they were pretty relaxed.  Kellton had been wearing an eye patch to cover his stronger eye, for about 2 hours a day, every day (that his parents remembered to torture him with it).  Lo and behold, his eye sight had improved, and he no longer needs to wear a patch, and no longer needs to wear glasses all day.  And at Astoria’s last appointment in Montana, we were told she’d need glasses by this time in Bolivia.  Quite the contrary…the doctor said no glasses are needed and she doesn’t need to come back for 2 years.  Again…is this happening to us?!  And Kellton’s new, weaker prescription wasn’t too expensive and they were happy to use his old frames.

For the sake of guarding one’s heart against disappointment, at times it’s easy to slide into a mentality that “things just won’t work out.”  We all know this can be very true many times, and yet God calls us to take in His wonder, and to be ready for His surprises.  Even today we had another gift from God.  Kellton who is very careful with his money, had decided he wanted to pay for a motorcycle game at an arcade near the grocery store.  I told him I’d take him, as long as he was pleasant the whole grocery store outing (hard duty for a 6 year old boy, mind you).  He had a great attitude, but was quickly crushed with the arcade wasn’t open.

On the way home, we spotted (how could you not?) this crazy turtle vehicle.  For 5 Bolivianos, you can get a ride around the park.  I said we could go, but Kellton only brought 2 Bolivianos, the amount he needed for the arcade.  Astoria to the rescue, offered to pay for all of us.  I had even forgotten my money!  So off we were in the turtle.  Bummed I forgot my camera, another family on the ride had a camera and offered to take a photo and email it to us.  Perfect!

So while there will be unpredictable hardships of course, I am thankful for the way God weaves in surprises.  He has unexpected grace and joy for days begun with worry at the doctor or disappointment at the arcade.  He is Lord of the good surprise.

2 Thessalonians 2:15-17 (The Message)

So, friends, take a firm stand, feet on the ground and head high. Keep a tight grip on what you were taught, whether in personal conversation or by our letter. May Jesus himself and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, enliven your speech.