RETREAT!

Short, but sweet - our Haiti team retreat only lasted a little over 24 hours but helped to really bring the team together one week before our departure to Haiti! Once again, we took the team to Patty's great aunt's rural home 2 hours outside the city to be able to experience a simpler way of life, seek the Lord about our trip, worship & pray together, & prepare for how it might be in Haiti w/ no electricity or running water. The team also greatly improved their drama presentation & Bolivian choreography after many rehearsals. We had some teaching on team work, how to be servant at all times, & in whatever setting we might find ourselves in, and how to go about integral missions - ministering to the needs of the whole person.

We got to cook beans & rice over an open fire &help out w/ some maintenance around Patty's aunt's home. The whole team spent the night on the floor outside on Patty's aunt's cement patio. After the retreat we hitched a ride back in large truck that brought us back for almost nothing! 

Overall it was a great experience to get to share life together in a community environment, rough it a little bit & seek the Lord in preparation for our trip. 

Sharing w/ our friends @ KAIROS church

Our last Sunday before we left was spent sharing at 2 churches, Kairos Church & the University Church at the Universidad Evangelica de Bolivia (UEB). Patty (pictured above sharing her testimony at Kairos), Larry, Edwin, Yuly & Issett went to Kairos to encourage the church to become more actively involved in missions & ask them for their prayers & support of our team from Kairos.  The rest of the team went w/ Pastor Dillmar to share at the University Church, where Jorge from our team attends. Both visits were a blessing. We were prayed over at both churches & many people gave T-shirts & offerings in support of the team. As we'd mentioned before, God had really put it on our hearts to visit as many local churches as possible, not just to drum up support for the trip, but to encourage other churches to 'Go!' & share our testimony that even smaller, Bolivian churches like Aposento can help fulfill the Great Commission by taking steps in faith, using what they have, being creative w/ fundraisers & trusting God to do what's beyond our capabilites/possibilities.