On our way home

Last night we saw God move once again. This time it was at the airport in Cochabamba. Our airline AeroSur decided to push our flight from coch to Santa Cruz back a few hours and we would miss our flight from Santa Cruz to Miami. The Helping Hands missionary Jess was not satisfied with that and would not rest until we were placed on another airline. According to Jess what happened does not ever happen. God honored His daughter's determination by getting us to Santa Cruz.

Today has been interesting to say the least. If in fact is is today. We thought we were coming home around lunch time but God had different plans. Our plane experienced engine trouble during the push back in Santa Cruz and we sat on the plane for about 5 hours. After that we slept on the airport floor for about another 3 hours. The airline finally decided we could not leave until today at 5:30 pm. They gave us taxi, food, and hotel vouchers for the day. I have grown in my understanding of God's sovereignty. God's plan allowed part of our team to pray for and encourage our taxi driver to and from the hotel. God used us to encourage a brother but we realized we needed our brother to encourage us. Our team will be less rested for the difficulty in our travels but our souls will be more encouraged for the Divine appointment with Brother Luis Alberto, God's taxi driver.

We are now about to board our flight to Miami again. Man's plan is to get us to Miami at around midnight and Atlanta before lunch tomorrow. God may have something else in store and I would rather do that.
Matt Stacy

Brendita give a girl a tract in Kara Kara during door to door evangelism.

Thursday

Today started with some of the girls getting up early to make sandwiches for our morning ministry. We left early to minister to some youth that live in a tent community and are addicted to sniffing glue. Past experiences before have shown us that their behavior when they are high can be unpredictable, so there were many unknowns. We set up in a fenced in soccer court and Jessica and Steve took the bus to pick up the youth and bring them to us. They arrived wearing dirty clothes, some with no shoes, some with shoes falling apart, and glue bottles in hand. Our team showed no fear and began to introduce themselves. We had brought some shoes to give away but quickly realized there was not enough. One of our team members grabbed some duct tape and began mending their shoes. Transitions from one activity to another was very important because if these youth had to wait around long, they would lose interest and leave. Our team was Johnny on the spot, quickly transitioning from introductions to a soccer game. The sad thing was that they wouldn't even put down their bottles of glue to play soccer. One kid had his in his mouth, huffing it while dribbling the ball. After this we fed them the sandwiches and cokes and while they were eating Matt shared the gospel. We passed out tracts and gave them Bibles, shoes, blankets and more. Many of the youth spoke with our teammates and were really open to wanting to change their lifestyle and learn more about Christ. One pregnant youth that was there gave her life to Christ and said she needed help. We asked the ministry coordinator and she said there was a home that she could live at that would help her get off the drugs. The team decided they would pay for this and she will get the help she needs.
The youth really connected with our team and even asked us back to see where they live. We went and saw tents made of tarps, where they live outside among the cacti and thorns. We sat down and spoke with them. They shared with us that they really want to get off the drugs but don't know how. Our hearts broke but the existence of this ministry and the missionaries that work with these kids give us hope. When we were leaving one of the boys said "thanks for giving us a good day".

After we left those youth, we went shopping in South Americas largest open air market, ate lunch, then went to the Statue of Christ. We finished up the day with a prayer meeting at Kara Kara where half the team prayed and the other half ministered to the children. Rachel sang a beautiful song and Hannah shared her testimony. Tomorrow we will go back to Kara Kara to go door to door and share the Gospel.

A.

A glue sniffing pregnant woman gave her life to Christ. The team is paying to put her in a shelter.

Day ???

Our God is so great. This morning we spent time in prayer for God to open our hearts and make our hearts like His as we prepared to enter the prison. We reflected on the fact that the prisoners are God's beloved children and that His love is for them is greater than our greatest love. We of course had some apprehensions about being locked in a high security prison, but what God would do next knocked us to our knees.

Upon arrival we had to surrender our passports and be searched. Then we followed our leaders into a Church in the middle of the jail. We then noticed there was a soccer field, swimming pool, basketball goal, and a very open atmosphere. The Pastor Felix introduced us to all of the leaders of the church, who all were convicts, and they instantly became our brothers.

We had planned a lot of things for the kids visiting but it ended up that we did a massive service of about 125 men. We sang some songs and then Matt preached the Gospel and God met us there in the prison. 76 men came forward to receive Christ. Glory to God! We then had the privilege of praying with many men and worshiping among them. We are all in awe that God would use us.

Then we ate at an amazing place called Tuesday's and made our way to the Nursing Home. We had awesome fellowship with them. We sang songs, prayed for them, and made salvation bracelets for them. We had such an amazing time today. God moved in their hearts, but also changed ours.

Rachel

After praying with this lady at the retirement home, she began to cry and Ashley consoles her.

Today was "Move The Rocks From

Our devotion time this morning was wrapped up by Matt praying that if Jesus carried a cross for us, then there was no way that we were going to complain about having to carry a few rocks for Him!

And that set the tone for our day.

The work that we had to do was backbreaking. We literally picked up rocks - ranging in weight from a couple pounds to a couple hundred pounds - put them in containers, and then unloaded them a couple hundred feet away where the missionaries were building a fire pit for their annual youth camps.

It was such a blessing to watch the team tackle this task with grace and humor. We worked hard - really hard. But we laughed much harder. And after the emotional strain of yesterday, we appreciated having a task that gave our spirits a break.

We used our time moving rocks on the mountain to build new relationships and to strengthen old ones. The fellowship we shared was priceless. And the teenagers on our team - Ashleigh, Emily, and Hannah were nothing short of amazing. They attacked the job with smiles on their faces and NO complaining. We are all so very proud of them.

We were treated to a steak dinner tonight at Las Estancia. I have no idea where it was ... Somewhere in Bolivia, I suspect. But the meal was wonderful. But as good as the meal was, the ride in the van was better. There was theological discussion, teenage girl talk, a little laughter, a LOT if giggling, and many inside jokes that reminded us of the day's labor.

All in all, it was a great day! Now we are all looking forward to tomorrow's challenges - a maximum security prison and old folk's home. PLEASE continue to pray for us - I suspect we will need it.

God bless you,
Steve