Picture of the... year!

Congratulations to my little brother Brett and his wife Micki on the birth of their new twin girls!

Another perspective on Missions in Bolivia

Daryl Collins is one member of the missionary couple we are planning to join in Bolivia.  This is a great video to see a little of her fun, crazy personality, as well as a great insight into their willingness to break out of the box and do missions in a way that reaches people right where they are.  Enjoy!

http://vimeo.com/50089703?action=share

Sorry I can't get the video to show here, you'll have to follow the link.

Bless Sports Ministry Video

This is Hans Finzel, president of WorldVenture, with Ariel, who helped start Bless ministry in Bolivia.  This project is really taking off in Cochabamba, and has a lot of potential to impact the community.

News article about Bolivia

From the category of "Random Bolivia information" here is an article that was on the front page of NBCnews.com today about one of the national parks there:

"Bolivian Park Declared One of the Most Diverse Places on the Planet"

Beginnings and Endings

The past few weeks have contained many beginnings and ends:

Last and 10^th annual Masterpiece Theater at Intermountain.

• End of 13 years as Chaplain at Intermountain.
• Beginning of my confusion as to how to introduce myself.  Stay at home mom?  Unemployed?  Carpool driver? Or the über-cool title, missionary?
• End of blissful no rush mornings.  Jammies for kiddos at 10 am…no problem, no more.
• Beginning of school clothes laid out, double checking that the kids have actually brushed their teeth for over 9 seconds.
• End of quarterly search for our next babysitter for the kids while I work.
• Beginning of my helping Quinn more on raising funds to ship off for Bolivia.  

• End of 13 years of chapel service on Monday nights. So Mondays is reserved for praying for Intermountain.

First day of school.

It can be a struggle to begin and end well.  Case in point:   Kellton was physically peeled off me in front of his class Friday.  Poor guy, on day 2 of Kindergarten, he was so nervous he ran out of the classroom thinking he was going to vomit (he didn’t, but beginnings can be rough).  Astoria on the other hand, ended time as “mommy’s shadow” very well.  Her first day of Preschool, she asked me to leave (however I couldn’t as I was the mandated teacher’s helper).

As emotional as leaving Intermountain will be more for me in the coming weeks, I felt a certain undeniable blessing from one of the residential girls with whom I was the closest.  She was my right hand gal during our Easter service last spring, and had a lead role in our Masterpiece Theater production of the life of Joseph.  

No one gave me more or tighter hugs than this girl, and yet she said, “It’s good for you to go so you can help poor people in Bolivia.”  What more could I ask for in a sendoff?

Astoria's model for our housing in Bolivia.  
Note the 4 beds and "people" in the beds.

Intermountain planned several surprise thank yous, send off, and gifts.  I was tongue tied as I know Intermountain had given me more than I could certainly have repaid, professionally and personally.

And yet, that’s just like God.  He sends us His grace, that unmerited favor that we can never repay.  And He sends us out to begin a new life of faith, and end our destructive flirting with sin.  We begin and end in Him, from our very conception to the end of our days.  He's our beautiful beginning and end.

Family Vacation

A view of the cottage from the boat.

After 6 years, it was beyond time for our family to return to Dana's home in Indianapolis, and travel to her family's vacation destination of choice: a wonderful cottage north of Toronto in Canada.  This cottage is a rustic site on an island in the French River, with no electricity, access only by boat, and little to do but relax with family, cook, eat, and generally recharge.

With a couple of days to connect with Dana's brother and his family, and uninterrupted time with her dad, this was a great opportunity for our kids to connect with Dana's roots.  It was great seeing our kids experience so many new things, and build new relationships that will matter long into the future.

From learning to fish and swim, to sleeping together in a bunk bed, enjoying pancakes almost every morning, squealing with glee at the frogs, snakes and minnows, and spinning around in the "Sky Chair" (a canvas chair hanging from the ceiling), our kids definitely made the most of the experience.  It was a joy just seeing them have so much fun.

By the time Dana & I also got in, this was a full boat!

Since Dana grew up traveling here almost every summer, this location has many emotional ties for her, not the least of which is the fact that so many of her extended family also travel to this same location, resulting in numerous generations living all across the country continuing to have a personal connection.

As I think about our commitment to serving God in Bolivia, this wonderful extended family reminds me of the importance of relationships.  For me, it can be far too easy to get wrapped up in the race for success, the rules of engagement, the practicalities of each situation, and the search for continued improvement; that relationships can easily be lost in the process.  Yet, relationships are absolutely integral to serving God's kingdom.  We are to be known by our love, and without relationships that go beyond basic interaction, it's impossible to really exhibit such love.  Additionally, it's impossible to build solid relationships without putting some time into it.  Two weeks of almost constant time with my family did wonders for my relationship with my own daughter.  Stori has always been Mommy's girl, and probably always will be, but getting to spend so much time together really seemed to help her bond with me in new ways.  In the same way, we can't expect to have a true relationship with God if we don't prioritize spending time with Him.

Picnic and music.

I look forward to building new relationships in Bolivia, but for right now, I'm reveling in the wonderful relationships we have right where we are.  I look forward to seeing our kids grow and develop in wonderful new ways, but I sure enjoyed seeing them have fun and develop their own relationships in the meantime.

Sometimes I feel a bit narcissistic writing about myself in this blog.  But with looming distance and time constraints, I hope this helps build and maintain existing relationships.  If you have the time or inclination, feel free to drop us a note letting us know what is going on in your lives, or even comment below.  But in the meantime, I hope you enjoy some more photos from our vacation!

Happy Girls!

Dana's cousin and her husband. Truly great people!

Silly cousins!

McCoy cousins teach our kids to fish.

With some success!

Yes, it did rain a couple times, but it doesn't seem to have dampened the enthusiasm!

Breakfast on the porch.

Thanks McCoy family!

Business Conferences in Bolivia

An invitation to participate...

The Bolivian business outreach is moving forward.  We are starting a business conference series and would like to add an international component through international BAM (Business as Mission) teams.  Pray about whether you might have skills to share with business people in another culture.

Conference Dates

Sept. 20-22nd, 2012 “The power of ideas and entrepreneurial courage”

Feb. 14th–23rd, 2013

March 25th–31st, 2013 “Top Ten Leadership Commandments” with Hans Finzel

May 16th–25th, 2013

Sept. 19th–28th, 2013

Possible Topics (open to other ideas)

➢            Basic principles for business start-ups

➢            Finance trends and international markets

➢            Character qualities of a high level executive

➢            True stories of success and failure in business

➢            Aggressive innovation

➢            Technology use – do’s and don’ts

➢            Designing production systems

➢            Customer service principles

➢            The power of a logo/brand

➢            Due diligence and solid business plans

➢            Marketing strategies and publicity

Want to be a part? Contact us and we’ll get you signed up!

Want more information? Click here