Photo Friday

This week saw Quinn travel to Santa Cruz for a pastor's conference.

The climate in Santa Cruz in generally hotter and more humid, which is not my favorite.  But then, how often do we get the chance to mix Christmas and fruit smoothies with umbrellas, while in Montana?

On the other hand, it does seem strange to see Nativity Scenes with palm trees and very hot sun.  And Duane also informed me that apparently I wasn't very respectful of this display, but come on...  Can you look closely at these larger than life heads and not laugh...  And that's before you even notice the animals!

 Another cool experience recently was having the opportunity to meet with a representative from Germany who was in Bolivia investigating opportunities for professionals to volunteer and share their expertise.  So in the picture below you see a Bolivian, an Oregonian, and a German all communicating in Spanish to work together for the development of Bolivia, and to advance the Kingdom of God here on earth.  Pretty cool!

Photo Friday

November is always a busy family month for us.  Thanksgiving is Dana's favorite holiday (I think it's because of the Pumpkin Pie!) and her birthday is November 23.  But Stori's birthday is November 22, so that week gets a bit crazy.  This year, Dana hosted a birthday party for Stori, on Dana's birthday, so her's kind of got missed.  But when some of the other Moms found out it was her birthday, they insisted on taking her out for dinner that night...  So, here is a brief run-down of November in photos.

We already posted photos of Kellton's kindergarten graduation, but lest you think he's all serious now, here is a photo of them as we tried to have them be presentable for attending the ballet presentation of some of their classmates.

Stori's birthday was quite the event.  Birthday parties are huge events here, and we tried to balance a need to keep it affordable, with a wish to bring others into our home and continue to develop relationships.  But I can't take any credit for this (not that those of you who know me might even begin to think I had anything to do with it!), as Dana pretty much single-handedly pulled this off.

But we can't forget Dana's birthday in all of this.  Thanks to some of her friends here, she actually got to have a little celebration.  In fact, I'd say it was more than she was bargaining for when they took her out.  It's not everyday you have live entertainment while eating at a Pakistani restaurant in South America...

Hopefully you saw our pictures last week, as we also spent some great time in planning and preparation for 2014.  If you haven't seen this yet, I encourage you to revisit that blog post as well.  But we also had a Board Meeting in advance of that retreat, which quietly introduced a very important stepping stone.  Dan Collins, a missionary from Oregon who started EM, resigned from the Board, to move the Board to being 100% Bolivian controlled.  I believe this is a very important step in achieving sustainability and making sure locals are in control.

And finally, Thanksgiving.  We were pretty sure we were going to have to forego to traditional Thanksgiving.  Between the general lack of availability of some foods, no set plans, etc. we were preparing to stay home and eat rice.  But no, not only did we celebrate Thanksgiving, we had Thanksgiving three days in a row!  We started on Thursday with a full turkey dinner at the house of some family friends, then Friday we were invited by our Bolivian neighbors to dinner, where they also cooked a turkey and served a huge meal.  Finally, Saturday, our team got together and celebrated yet again!  (We even let the Canadians participate, although their Thanksgiving was last month.)

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas from Bolivia!

Photo Friday

This week I spent three days out of town with three other great guys as we spent some dedicated time planning for 2014.  We really honed in on the three highest priorities, and the objectives and activities for getting there.  It was a great time of discussion and excitement for what is coming. 

Oh, and we may have had a little fun too....

This was our home for three days.  A quiet place...  right in the middle of a 9-hole golf course.

Dan Collins is our Team Leader here, but we all really pushed each other in a great way.

We used every method you can imagine to bring everything together.

Including good food...

And even a little physical activity!

Truth be told...  We may not be the best golfers!

I'm proud to be a part of this team, and hope you will join us in praying for Bolivia in 2014, as we work to partner with local churches in new and exciting efforts.

Theology of Work

I'm pretty sure you'll end up hearing more about this from me at some point.  One of the things I have really enjoyed while being here is gaining a better "Theology of Work."  All too often we remember that work was cursed, while we forget that work was pre-fall, and a part of God's perfect plan for our lives.

If you're interested in learning more about this topic, there is a great website with a very comprehensive look at the topic available here:

http://www.theologyofwork.org/

Photo Friday

These are from a couple weeks back, but I thought I should still share some photos of our trip to Oruro, where we worked as a team to teach and share with Bolivian youth from all across the country during a national youth conference.

We had to cross some heights in the Andes mountains to get there.  For those of us who are "metrically challenged," that is 14,750 feet in elevation.

And traveling Bolivian roads is not without its hazards!

 But apparently our Bolivian co-worker Jhonny thinks he has the solution.

 Duane Guthrie works for Canadian Baptist Ministries, but also works closely with Emprendimiento Mundial.  Duane has a real passion for sharing and teaching a sound "Theology of Work."

 With my limited Spanish I was able to lead some activities.

 We enjoyed some great conversations with young people from all across the country.

A great time was had by all, and we saw the future of Bolivia stepping out in faith.

Photo Friday

Based on the ceremony alone, Kellton should be ready to go out and get a job now!  Thursday night was Kindergarten graduation, and like any chance for a fiesta, the Bolivians went all out.  The first half consisted of dances from around the world, and the second half was a full-blown graduation ceremony.

Saudi Arabia

New Zealand

Traditional Bolivian with both Quechua and Aymara styles.

And this would be the U.S. entry!  Dana spent weeks working with the kids on the Cha-Cha slide, and she sewed the costumes herself.

Good lookin' pair there.  Too bad the cameraman was a little shaky.

Our kids usually go to bed at 7, and this ceremony finished up at 9 at night!

Congratulations Kellton.

Land locked pirates

With Halloween this week, it felt normal to get in some quick, homemade costumes.  We went to a pirate birthday party for one of Kellton and Astoria's classmates.  Arrrrr!