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Cross-Country and Up-River
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While the B3 Bible Worker team has been getting the Lifestyle Center set up, our family has been trapesing cross-country, setting up a forward base in Rurrenabaque, Bolivia. The medical team did their first trip up the Beni river in mid-May to a community that has a newly established Adventist church. To get into this area, a National Park Reserve, many meetings, approvals and an invitation letters are required. It was encouraging to watch God open the doors for this first trip.
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The B3 medical team was joined by a group of students & staff from the Ebenezer boarding academy in Ixiamas who put on a VBS program for the kids and passed out literature in their local dialect. Many apparent setbacks proceeded the trip: a boat motor exploded, pastor’s computer fried, road blocks turned our trip to Rurre into a 50+ hour ordeal and the power-hungry leader from the sister community forbade ‘his’ people to go and receive medical attention. The devil was certainly not happy to have bearers of Good News treading on “his” ground, but God brought much good out of the trip and many people were encouraged and helped.
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In the previous picture, a little child is drinking river water from an old soda bottle. The Drs. gave out de-worming medicine, but were very aware that, in drinking this brown water, the parasites would flock back. We are praying about how to help get this village a potable water solution.
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The heat and humidity of the small jungle town of Rurrenabaque is quite the contrast to the cool, arid climate in the large city of Cochabamba. Several trips back and forth have only accentuated the differences and left acclimatization for “later.” God led us to the perfect rental house and we’ve been camping out in it between the bright orange walls, trying not to get chigger bites (the mosquito’s got nothin’ on them), looking for land and being serenaded by the neighbors’ pigs, hens, dogs and 24-hr roosters. With the differing availability of foods and general goods and the small town instead of big city feel, it almost seems like a different country!
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My sister, Noelle, came to visit us and joined us on our first trip to Rurre.
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Some parts of jungle life are indeed friendly and familiar, lending to that crusty ‘ole missionary feel. Other things make me feel very green and wimpy. This week, something in me said ‘that’s probably not good,’ but I still shrugged off the cockroaches crawling around in the food suitcase (because they were “small”), ate weevils in our oats and beans (doesn’t every bag of oats have weevils in the jungle?) and have everything but given up on insisting that our youngest child wears shoes outside of the house (I console myself that no one dies of those boring insects who lay their eggs in your toes…). We really enjoyed the first night it was “really cold” here. So cold that we had to sleep under TWO thin blankets. Who knew it got cool in the jungle?? We will survive!
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We hiked up to a lookout over the town of Rurrenabaque. The large Beni River is in the background.
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I think we forgot to tell you! The airplane fuselage was released from the drug police after more than a month of waiting. No bribes, no special favors, nada. DJ took them all “evangelistic” books a few weeks later. Gotta share Jesus, just gotta do it! The airplane parts are being stored at our rented house in Cochabamba until we get the replacement parts shipped and imported (maybe end of the year?).
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Thanks Dan for being Johnny-on-the-spot and rescuing the fuselage when they finally let it go!
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I had not realized the emotional stress we were carrying over this until the fuselage was finally home. What a journey it's been!
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Our family will be back in the States this summer a little longer than usual in hopes of gathering all the needed pieces for the Super Cub and assembling them before shipping. It really stinks when you need just ONE bolt or pulley and can’t keep working on the plane because you have to wait until another missionary or visitor is coming down to bring it to you. So Georgia it will be, Lord willing. Any mechanics up for spending a week or two with DJ assembling the airplane? You are welcome!
Our tentative schedule is listed below. We’d be delighted to share mission stories if you’d like to hear them, but even more, we’d like to see YOU and hear how your year has gone. Until then, “Be strong, and of a good courage… for the Lord your God is with you” (Jos. 1:9).
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