Homeless

1.5 million Haitians are living like this.

THey lost their homes in the earthquake. Families, kids, moms, dads, can we not embrace these guys & show them God's love?

Spreading the news

Patty sharing @ a missions conf. in a local church here

Another thing that we felt was essential in this missions experience was a desire to expand the vision to reach the people of Haiti & the opportunity to go outside of just the circle of our church Aposento Alto, & into other local churches. Sure enough, God has responded & 5 different churches will be sending members on the trip! This is huge for us & for missions in Santa Cruz, & for Bolivia in general, & here's why:

There is strong mindset in most of the local church here that international missions is only for Christians from the rich nations of N. America & Europe. While this limitation is no where to be found in the bible, this notion rings true to most here, simply b/c they don't see many missionaries who aren't from an economically '1st world' nation; & the church here is used to receiving from these nations as opposed to giving. We believe strongly, however, that God has given Bolivia a lot to give & be able to bless other nations. There's a commonality that Bolivia shares w/ many other countries in its relational nature, hospitality, service to others, worship style, & commitment to following the Lord that's refreshing & profound.

May God continue to raise up & use Bolivians to help fulfill the Great Commission!

Fundraising for Haiti & HOW YOU can PARTNER W/ US!

Washing up w/ the men Peko & Nano

Shirley & Carla putting together a delicious salad

Lilian pulling out clothes to sell to raise funds

For months, the team has been using different strategies to fundraise for our trip to Haiti. Every Sunday, from here on out, the team will be offering fresh cooked food for sale after Sunday service for lunch. In addition to that, some of the girls are collecting & selling 2nd-hand clothes. The pastor's wife donated some name brand perfume, which some of the girls are selling as well. The team is also selling Haiti T-shirts to help support the cause. Everyone is pitching in & the effort is paying off. We do have a ways to go yet, & need your prayers & donations (those who can).

If you'd like to donate to the Bolivia missions trip to Haiti, you can get tax credit for your donation by sending it to Patty & my's church in the state. You can do it the old-fashioned way by making a check out to:

'Mt. Paran Church of God'

and send it to the following address:

BOLIVIA MISSIONS

c/o Mt. Paran Church of God

2055 Mt. Paran Rd NW

Atlanta, GA 30327

Or you can now give online by going to:

www.mountparan.com

1) Click on the 'GIVE' option at the top of the Home page of the church

2) Choose the 'Contribution method,' you wish to give by (either electronic check or credit card) 

3) Select the box #8 "Designated World Missions" & type in the amount

4) Write in "Bolivia Missions" in the space where it says, 'specify missionary name'

5) Fill in your personal info. as prompted

All Hands on Deck

Brick tossing @ it's finest

Ever Abdel unloading sand to mix concrete with

Yovana cleaning up some broken pieces

Lilian getting ready to send a bucket of sand to the top

So one of the things we thought would be interesting to get ready for Haiti, was to do some service projects (mainly in the area of construction) around the city here. The other Saturday, we pitched in to help out at the YWAM training base, who're desperately trying to finish off the 2nd floor of their new building. Lots of brick & mortar, hauling sand & gravel up a pulley system 1 bucket at a time, tossing bricks one at a time for the walls. It was a good bonding experience for the team & a nice rehearsal for some of what we'll be doing in Haiti!

Team Prep & Prayers for Haiti

Peko, Edwin & Larry praying together for Haiti

One thing that's been key for the team has been prayer times together as a team. Every Sunday evening, the whole team gets together to prepare, share what the Lord has been putting on their hearts about the trip & pray together as a team. These times together have really strengthened & confirmed our resolve that NOW is the time, that the Lord wants US to go. We try to pray in small groups & also listen to God's voice for direction in how to proceed ahead. We need your prayers too, so please join with us in prayer for the nation of Haiti! 

Fundraising for HAITI @ Missions Event

Yovana offering Haiti shirts for sale @ a missions conf.

Fundraising at times has seemed long and tedious for Haiti, but it HAS been fun to get out & promote the trip in different churches, encouraging people to get involved by praying for us or giving towards the trip to bless the Haitian people. The whole team has worked hard: selling everything from food at church after Sunday service, to wings Saturday night after the youth service to, T-shirts, used clothes, keychains, perfume as well as saving from their own salaries as most of the team members are working. In the photo above, Yovana is offering Haiti T-shirts to a young girl who'd asked about the trip. Will keep updates coming about how fundraising is going.

Creole Classes

The Haiti team learning new Creole phrases from Madame Rachel!

For our Bolivian missions team, Haiti presents a host of interesting challenges. One of which is obviously the language. For the 1st time, the team will be traveling to minister in a country where no one speaks any of the languages spoken there. Lo and behold, thought, we found a Haitian woman living & teaching in one of the Christian schools here in Santa Cruz. Her name is Rachel & she has offered to give us Creole classes every Thursday night. The classes have been fantastic, & Rachel really has a heart (obviously) for her people, particularly after the earthquake. Thanks to her, the team will have basic phrases, numbers, bible verses, & key vocabulary in the main language spoken throughout Haiti. Pray for us, that God would help in our understanding of the language & for communication in general.

2010 TEAM to HAITI!

Alright, so this is our 2010 team to HAITI!!!! We're going to be traveling to Haiti the 23rd of October until the 2nd of November. We'll be ministering w/ YWAM Por-au-prince there in churches, refugee/tent camps, schools & neighborhoods.

This year we're privileged to have members from 4 different local churches here in Santa Cruz, Bolivia that will be traveling together w/ members from our church, Aposento Alto.

We've all heard about the earthquake that devastated the entire nation a killed close to 200,000 people in a single day. The photos are almost too much to imagine & Haiti is currently right in the middle of hurricane season. God is good though, and sovereign; the global church has responded remarkably since the tragedy & we believe He wants to turn this tragedy into a new beginning for this nation that's suffered terribly since it's inception. Dictators, military coups, natural disasters, deforestation, corruption, high crime rates - Haiti has been through it all & is famous for being the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere.
We want to help them turn the page & hit the 'RESET' button as a nation. Christ has to be the center & while the enemy has 'robbed, killed & destroyed,' for far too long in Haiti, the Lord wants to give this nation of 9 million people LiFE & LiFE in ABuNDaNCe. Help pray for us that the Lord would lead & guide how to best use us for His glory.