Care Package information...

Many of you have asked for information about sending us anything.  Hopefully this helps.

What are some things I can mail you? And how much can the package weigh?

Anything as long as it's not over 4 pounds (2 kilos).  Please don't send cards with money.

How do I package it?

To keep shipping prices down, we've learned a trick. You can order flat rate bubble wrap envelopes from the postal service (they are free and ship free to you). They are only available online, don't ask me why. But they hold up to 4 lbs. of stuff and the rate from The States to Bolivia is $16.90 (WAY cheaper than normal rates). They're not huge, but they're definitely a more economical choice. Click here to order them.

You can also go the more traditional route and ship in a box (still only 4 lbs). It will just cost a little more.

What do I put on the customs form?

Just in case, label your packages as used clothes, or used books on the customs form. Put the price that you would pay for the item in the box at a secondhand store. But even if you put the real items/prices, it will still most likely reach us.

How long does it take for you to get a package?

If you send it by UPS ground it could take about 3 months. If you use airmail (which is more expensive but somehow more secure) it takes 2-3 weeks. If you send a box it takes longer regardless of airmail or ground. Envelopes (the card and letter kind), even sent by ground, take less time, but are less secure.


Mailing Address

Quinn & Dana Holzer
Casilla 310

Cochabamba, Bolivia

Hearing Check, by Dana

A lemon tree cheerfully stands guard outside our children's classroom.

Perhaps you have had a season in your life that you would describe as “magical”.  Moving to Helena, Montana in 1996 was that kind of special time for me.  Being a former flatlander of Indiana made me notice all the charming differences of this wonderful town:  the gorgeous hills and mountains ringing the town, the unpretentiousness and unrushed pace of the people, a coffee shop that offers I.O.U slips so you can pay later on your honor.  While my love of Montana has never waned, the dust settles after 15+ years and my eyes and ears no longer noticed the new sights and sounds as they once did.

Like a fresh vacation morning after a night of rain, our senses are heightened in a way that makes us more alive when we are living in a new place.   Each day in Cochabamba has been that way for me.  Sounds alone here are so very different that my quiet home in Helena.  The first morning greetings are downright noisy.  There’s a cacophony of bird noises that assault my “I am still trying to sleep” groggy self.   I could not imagine the jungle to be any louder, and it’s not just because there’s screeching peacocks who live on our street.  Another sound this morning got my attention:  a high ting-ting-ting sound, signaling the arrival of the gas truck.  Apartments and homes here use gas cans to power their stoves, washing machines, and hot water heaters.  While I have no idea how to tell if we are running low on gas, nor any idea how to get the service men to stop, my ears are primed to notice new sounds.

I want my faith to be like this, regardless of where I live. Expectant.  Listening.  Wondering.  Eager.  Alive.  I am thankful for this time in Bolivia to learn about a new culture as I also reflect on my own.  I am hopeful that my faith will grow here as well, as I stretch to learn a new language, a new way to greet people (lean in for a kiss on your right cheek), a new way to cook/travel/shop/parent/wash/ and the list goes on.   An encouraging verse, reminding me to listen is Isaiah 40:28b-31 Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Outside Interpol, Astoria again tries to
entice birds to land on her.

Travel by the numbers 2, 5, 17, 1, 26, 2

With 2 small children, 5 flights, 17 pieces of luggage, 1 epic airport sprint, 26 travel hours and 2 weary parents, at long last we made it to Bolivia.

Thankfully, we made a “last call” flight in Houston.  This connection was very tight and it seemed to take forever to get off our previous flight so we could begin the race to our Panama City plane.  Poor Quinn, he was carrying 100+ pounds of luggage and a whining Astoria up on his shoulders.  I am not sure how he did it.  We were very thankful to make that plane.

Once we got to Panama City Airport Astoria was befriended by a Bolivian woman from Santa Cruz, and it was a nice introduction to the friendliness of Bolivians.  Her name is Blanca and eventually she asked if I’d pray for her and her two university-aged kids.  It was great to make a new friend, mainly struck up as Blanca loved getting Astoria to hug her and wave to her.

PHOTO of APT:  Our apartment for our first two weeks is clean and has two full bathrooms, three bedrooms, and a kitchen and sitting room.  The slick parquet flooring is much to Kellton’s liking as he slides down the hall in his socks.  We are careful not to brush our teeth in the tap water, nor flush toilet paper down the toilet (there’s small garbage cans next to the toilets). Kellton initially begged many times to go back to Montana.  However, he is delighted to see palm trees, cacti, double decker busses, and the whole open cityscape--the view he’s seen in our pictures of Cochabamba from last November.  His recognition of the panoramic view was a neat realization for him.  For years we’ve talked about moving here, and finally we are here.

Wednesday 2/27/13:

Kellton loved riding in the cramped Taxi Trufis and made a new friend, Ben, the Collins’ middle child.  He was taught to play the game Battleship with their eldest, Naomi, and enjoyed this game.  The Collins’ girls both greeted me wearing their “Cloud Nine Design” t shirts I’d brought them last year.  While our kids played with the Collins’ kids, we met other teammates and Dan’s close colleague, Duane Guthrie of Canada, who helped us set the mindset for what we’ll be learning culturally, including some of the frequent mistakes North Americans typically make in Bolivia.

A huge joy was coming back to the Collins’ condo, high up on a cobblestone street and finding that our kids were having a ball and didn’t want to leave their home.  (Astoria actually hid from me).  Poor Kellton hasn’t eaten much at all but has found that he loves drinkable yogurt.  Even our dependable eater Astoria hasn’t eaten much, but I am sure this will change soon. 

Thursday 2/28/13

Today we had a packed day ahead of us.  The night before, I laid out all clothes, breakfast, city travel supplies, anticipating that we’d have to wake up the kids in the am.  Kellton was wiped out still from Wednesday.  All three of us sat on his bed while his corpse-like self resisted any attempts to join the day.  After breakfast, we headed out with Dan and Daryl Collins to learn about three school options:  Carachipampa Christian School (CCS), Rise and Shine, and Despertad (which means Wake Up) Montessori School.  CCS is a lush oasis at 7K marker out of town, instantly transporting you away from the noise and graffiti of the city.  Green grass, sculpted bushes, gorgeous rose gardens give an air of peace and learning.  Dan and Darryl recently switched their three kids to this English-speaking missions school.  The pre-kinder and kinder classes do not meet simultaneously however and so this Serving In Mission (SIM) school isn’t a good fit for us.  Also, we want to send our kids to a Spanish-speaking school (much to Kellton’s dislike).  Rise and Shine preschool is dear to us as the owner/director is a recipient of a loan through the Emprendimiento Munial (the Business as Mission arm of the work here).  The final school we visited, Despertad, immediately won our hearts and minds (with our tired, cranky and hungry touring kids in tow).  It is a Spanish language Montessori environment that would be a particularly good fit for Kellton.  The Bilingual director, also a pastor with her husband, was impressive:  articulate, knowledgeable of child development and a great spokesperson for the value of a non-competitive self-paced environment.  Also, there are a few English speaking children at the school (including a girl Kellton’s age who also wears glasses).  Plus, Astoria would be close at hand as the classes are multi-grade environments.  Also a plus, the school is in the same area as our office and has nice grounds even in this busy city.

After the school tours, we made a grocery run to I.C. Norte, a pretty modern grocery.  I was thankful I’d compiled a list, and had it on hand.  After a quick bite to eat at home from our first round of groceries, we were off to Interpol at the town centre.  If only I had a picture of Astoria (wearing clothes no longer white in color) crouched on the side of a dirty building off the main Piazza.  Quinn and I were furiously filling out forms with our Bolivian staff person Jhonny and Tom, from Oregon, and Javier who arrived the same day as us.  One does not fill out these forms in the office, nor in the building.  So we were passing around and checking our most sensitive documents street side with scores of people walking by.  Thankfully Kellton and Astoria didn’t wander off while we were distracted.  With all pigeons around the Piazza, it’s a possibility.  It’s Astoria’s dream to get a bird to land on her arm, and we figured out that back at our apartment she’d been putting crackers crumbs on her window sill to entice them into “visiting”.  All four of us wrapped up our police station visit by having 10 fingers inked and fingerprinted.

Government buildings facing the Piazza

As we walk around the city, I keep asking myself, “How will we make a positive difference?  How can we learn enough, quickly enough, to be effective?  What will God have us do?”  As I knew I would, we’ve seen a child beggar and elderly people street begging reminding me of the real reason we are here.  Not being able to speak the language yet, makes it hard.  However, I am so thankful that Liz Flynn reminded me of Katie Davis’ poignant observation* that showing love needs no translation.  A simple smile’s meaning is clear.  So I keep smiling, shrugging ignorance, smiling again and saying “Gracias” and “Buenos Dias.”

I have one more reflection to share from our visit to Tom and Abbey’s apartment.  This young couple is from Oregon and have been serving with the Collins, and as I type this, are at the hospital having their first child.  Soon after we arrived at their place, it began to rain.  So since we were on foot, we stayed a bit longer and I enjoyed the weather’s excuse.  Just before the storm, Kellton, Quinn, Astoria and Tom went up the roof of the apartment building.  Astoria came down ecstatic.  “Mommy-I’ve never been up on a roof before! And from there you can see the whole world!”  Her little Helena, Montana world is opening up so much, and it makes me happy to hear her chatter, and her delight in saying all words she knows in Spanish, and Kellton’s keen observations of plants, different vehicles and appliances, his love of Taxi Trufis and their new ways of playing.  We are all seeing more of the “whole world.”

 * “Kisses from Katie” is a book I’ve been greatly inspired by and highly recommend.

Set to Jet, by Dana

We finally have our Bolivian work visas in hand and our airplane tickets rebooked.  We are scheduled to fly out of Helena, Montana on Monday, February 25^th, at 7 am.  While our first tickets read January 23^rd, the delay has brought many added blessings, bumps, and the occasional bright spot in the month of waiting.  Here’s a run down of our last month:

·         Host families:  We had rented our house out as of January 1.  So we’ve had two rounds of host families, the Connollys and the Garrisons, plus a quick trip to see the Bays of Kalispell and the grandparents on the ranch in central Montana.  We could not have asked for more cheerful families to show us kindness to us during this somewhat awkward time. (We often found ourselves answering  the same question many times a day... “What!  You’re still here?!?”)

·         School:  We had taken both the kids out of school, and were not able to reenroll Kellton in his former elementary school.  Not wanting our Kindergartener to miss too much school (read Mommy wants to uh, share his inexhaustible questions with the world) we put him in Montana City School.  Then surprise!    He was assigned the Kindergarten teacher he had reading lessons with this summer.  God had a good trick up His sleeve.

·         Home:  We have all learned new things during this season.  For me, the phrase, “heaven is my home” has often come to mind.  Moving out of “our house” (it’s God’s anyways, on loan to us), living in various other peoples’ homes, has made me really long for something a bit more permanent. I have been a broken record hounding the kids to be careful as we try and not glue, paint, sticker others’ homes.    However again and again, God has brought the truth to my mind that this world is not our forever home.

·         Health:  I think our family set a record for length of time with colds, and the number of people we could infect.  We got the Flynns, Connollys, grandma, great grandpa, all jokingly citing us as patient zero.  So slogging through illness has created an increased need in each of us to show a bit more grace and patience.  If only we were as potent to “infect” others with the spirit and love of Christ.

So we still need to pack/acquire/find a few more things, but for the most part, we are ready to leave for Cochabamba, Bolivia.  We hope you’ll follow our updates each step and pray for the upcoming new culture/language/ housing hurdles.  And let us know how we can cheer you on and pray for you as well.

Hurry Up and Wait

For months now Dana & I have occasionally run into people around town who have exclaimed with surprise, "I thought you were gone!  Aren't you leaving the country?," or maybe even, "Wow, are you back already?" So we've gotten somewhat used to assuring people that yes, we are still planning to leave, but there is a long process associated with this, and it takes time.

But then, in December, we actually bought tickets, and finally had an actual date for leaving.  January 23, 2013 took on real significance for us, as our plane was scheduled to depart at 7:00 am that day.  While it was still somewhat abstract at times, we knew it was finally all coming to fruition.  Except that it didn't!

Our kids get some time with the cousins.

Here I sit on January 24, still in Montana.  The kids are enjoying their extra time with Nana and Papa, and Dana & I are trying to be patient.  Our passports and visa application are still sitting in the Bolivian embassy, and we have no idea when to expect them back.  We have a travel agent working on options for re-issuing our tickets, while trying to minimize the change in fare.  There will be a $1000 change fee, in addition to whatever the change in fare is, so minimizing that is fairly important right now.  But at the same time, we can't really commit to a new itinerary until we know the status of our visas.  So yes, it's a bit of a vicious circle, and all we can do is wait until somebody has new information for us.

In the midst of this all, we've been reminded that the reality of working in foreign countries often includes red tape and rules that may not make sense to us.  Many people assume the holdup is a U.S. government issue, but if that were the case, there might actually be something we could do to push the process along.  But when it is up to a foreign government, well, let's just say we don't want to start off on the wrong foot.

One verse has come up through several different avenues in the midst of all of this, and has been going through my mind numerous times a day lately.  Psalms 46:10 says Be still and know that I am God.  "Being still" is not exactly a virtue in our society, and certainly not something I am comfortable with.  But here I am, trying to wait patiently and believe that all will come together in God's perfect timing.  I just wish He took my suggestions on what that timeline should be!

Straight From Our Kids

"What do your kids think about going to Bolivia?"  If I had a nickel for every time I'd been asked that...  Of course, if it was contingent upon having a good answer, I'd still be broke.  So I finally decided to interview the kids, and see what they had to say in response to a few basic questions.

Q:  What do you think about moving to Bolivia?

K: I would be kind of excited because our friends have a Wii.  Excited to learn to speak Spanish.  For 3 years I’m not as excited.

S: Good.  ‘Cuz a gato is in Bolivia.

Q: Do you know where Bolivia is?

K:  No.  Do you know where it is Dad?  (long pause) Somewhere around a city close to the Sun I think.

  

Q: Is there anything you’re afraid of?

K:  You wasting all your money getting a new house & furniture & especially the stove.

S:  Dan & Daryl are a "kinda-know" right now.

Q: What are you excited about?

K: Get to see Nana in Bolivia.  And Michelle.

S: Kitty.

Q: You met Dan & Daryl.  What do you think about meeting their kids?

K: I’m excited about that.

Q: What do you think I should ask?

K: Are you excited about moving into a new house?

        -I’m excited about that.  I hope it will be a bigger area around our house so we can blast off rockets.

 

Q: How long do you think it will take to get to Bolivia?

K: Like three days.

Q: If you could take just one thing with you, what would you take?

K: Puppy (his beany-baby dog)

S: Soft kitty, little kitty, & blue blankey.

K: Daddy, you should ask me if I’m excited about growing up.  When we come back, I’m excited to be 8, ‘cuz then I can do things on my own without my parents.

Mom: What do you want your new teacher in Bolivia to be like?

K: Kind of blond hair, like Mrs. S.

Q: Why are we going to Bolivia?

K: We’re going to be missionaries. Because you like helping others.

S: To speak Spanish.

Q: Is there anything else you want to tell me about Bolivia?

K: It's gonna be fun going on the plane.

S: I liked it when you guys were at Bolivia, and I was at Nana & Papa’s.

Q: Thanks for the interview.

K: Could you write down even more please?  How about I ask you questions about Bolivia.

Interviewing each other after we were done.

Unemployment... And Beyond!

I am unemployed.  And I have been reminded of this today by pretty much everyone I have run into!  In my case, this really is a good thing, as it is an indicator of our progress toward Bolivia.  However, I find myself struggling with a variety of insecurities, and trying to project a confidence and excitement about everything in our lives. 

The image I'm afraid others have in mind.

So yes, I’m excited about being able to focus on fundraising, packing our house up, getting it rented out, connecting with friends and family, and generally getting ready for our move to Bolivia.  But being the fiscally conservative person I am (read tight-wad), I can’t say that I am truly “excited” about living on savings for a couple of months.  At the same time, I am proud of the fact that we have been disciplined enough to set aside money that can be used during this time.  I’m excited about actually moving forward, but I’m also a little overwhelmed by the thought of packing up for three years, with a two suitcase per person limit.  And while you would think we would be used to it by now, and I am truly looking forward to seeing more of our friends and meeting new ones, I’m nervous about getting up in front of three more churches in the coming month, not to mention still scheduling 1-on-1 appointments, etc. 

One area that Dana & I have been 100% in agreement upon is our general excitement for our kids in getting to be a part of another culture, learn the language, and grow up knowing the world is large, but they still have an important part to play in that world.  But that doesn’t mean we don’t have some stresses around all of that too.  Kellton started Kindergarten this fall, and while he seems to be doing well, he struggles with change and adapting to new situations…  Not that he’ll have to deal with any of that in the coming year.  Stori is such a fun little girl, but she has a stubborn streak and a wild side that we know are going to challenge us at times.  But we love them both so much, and can’t help but be excited about this as a family.

Overall, I would describe our attitude as “tempered excitement” right now.  We are absolutely looking forward to this challenge.  Yet, I’m pretty sure there will be days we feel we made the worst decision ever.  The good news is, we are very confident that three years from now, we will be very glad we stepped out in faith.