Just a quickie!

Hi guys!
Just to let you know, Anna, Annie, James and I (Jonathan) got home safe and well yesterday, despite all the odds!
Prayer points:
- Thanks that we managed to get home fine, despite one of our flights being delayed by an hour and a half!
- That Jon, Claire and Aaron would have safe and enjoyable travels over the next few weeks, and get home safely.

Team holiday funsies!

Hi guys!
So, we´re on our holiday now, and I´m at an internet cafe in Rurrenabaque, so I thought I´d give you a little bit of an update as to what we´ve been up to in the last week!
Firstly, all of us are safe, there were no mishaps in La Paz (praise God!) and we got our flight to Rurre. We´ve just got back from the first of our two tours, in the pampas, and we´ve all had a great time! I think I can safely say we´ve all tried something new, from feeding monkeys to fishing for piranhas to eating termites. Tomorrow we head off on our second tour, to the jungle, which will be more tiring, but equally fun.
Prayer points:
- Thanking God for the awesome, mishap-free time so far, and praise for His wonderful creation we´ve been able to see
- For Pete and Linda back in Apolo, that they would be able to continue equally well with an increased workload.
- For our next weeks, that we would continue to have a safe and enjoyable time
- For the four of us (me, James, Annie and Anna) heading back to England in just over a week - that our flights would go well and that we would be safe
- For the others continuing on after we leave - that they would have great, safe fun in Brazil

See you in England!
Jonathan

Eighth big post!

The last day is now here - we leave Apolo this afternoon, heading to La Paz, then Rurrenabaque for our team holiday.

Our last week has been really great - the concrete pillars are now done, and the second layer of supports are just about ready to be poured. Unfortunately, we did not get onto bricklaying, but the amount we have done in five weeks is phenomenal!
We have also continued with most of the youth groups, one of which now has a possible leader for when we leave, so thanks for your prayers for that. Also this week, we led most of the services at the Lutheran church in the morning, and at the Baptist church in the evening. This included lots of songs, worship dance, a drama, testimonies, a presentation of photos of our work here, and the sermons (done by Aaron and Jon respectively).
Last night, we also held a buffet, with fairly-close-to-English food, for all the people we have got to know in Apolo. It was really well attended and a really fun evening.

So, we now have our team holiday, where we are heading into the rainforest to Rurrenabaque. We then have a few days in La Paz before Jonathan, James, Anna and Annie head home. Claire, Aaron and Jon are then going to Brazil for a few weeks.

Prayer points:-
- For our travelling - that we would be safe, and have an enjoyable and relaxing time before heading home
- For Pete and Linda - that they would be able to find people to take over the youth groups, and continue the good work they are doing here
- For the people here - that our presence will have benefited them, and that they would be keen to help finish the work we have started, especially finishing the Sunday school.

Thanks for all your support, and see you soon!

Seventh big post!

So, it´s been a funny old week, with illness, campo trips, more leavers (though not actually team members) and many other things.

Building work has continued to progress amazingly. There is now very little dirt left to clear, the foundation holes are nearly finished, and some of the concrete pillars are now well above head height! Unfortunately, Pete and Linda do not think we will get onto bricklaying before we leave next week, but we can always prove them wrong!

Youth groups are also still going well. The young children have been learning about Jonah, the older children´sclub went equally well and the older teens learnt about trust. Sunday school was also a success, with the children thinking about what gifts they have. Also on Sunday, the team participated in the evening service at the Baptist church, leading some songs, a worship dance, a drama, Jon´s testimony, and with Annie preaching on spiritual gifts. Teaching English and Music is also continuing to be a success, with less dictionary usage needed every time!

Unfortunately, yesterday lunchtime we realised that some of our stuff had been stolen from our back garden overnight. Fortunately, however, it was not hugely important or valuable stuff, mostly some clothes and a few pairs of boots.

Prayer points:
- That we would be able to sort stuff out from the ´robbery´ asap, and thanks that it was so minor!
- Illness - all of us have been ill to a certain extent over the last week, so thanks that we have mostly recovered, and prayers that we would continue to recover well would be much appreciated!
- That our last week would be productive and enjoyable, and that we would really touch people´s lives in the last week
- For Kate and Philip, who have now returned to America
- That leaders would be able to be found for the youth groups and Sunday schools we have been leading

Thanks again for your support!

Sixth big post!

The team has shrunk! Rob, Alison and Simon left Apolo yesterday, so the house now seems very empty without them.

Fortunately, the good weather has continued for us, meaning building work has been able to continue at full throttle. In addition to this, yesterday afternoon we returned from a short swimming trip to find a digger at work in the building site, which did about 5 days´ work in half a day. This means we now only have two holes left to dig, which can hopefully be done within a few days. More concrete pillars have also been added, and hopefully more will be added today, along with some of the horizontal concrete supports.

In other news, we have had more successful youth groups, with the Noah´s Ark puppets being a hit with younger children, and the old favourite of the ´toilet roll mummies´ proving popular with older children. Music and English classes have also continued to flourish, with young people from Apolo showing a lot of progress.

At church on Sunday, Rob was preaching, and was also asked to bless the church, on behalf of the three leavers, which was a bit of a shock for him. He managed to cope, however, and the service was enjoyed by all those there. Sunday school also went well, and Claire and Annie did a worship dance, with a workshop in the afternoon during the Sunday sports.

Also this week, there have been two campo trips - Anna had an evening in Munaypata, and Jonathan spent the weekend in Huaratumo. In Munaypata, Linda was leading a session on family planning, for a community where most families have at least 8 or 9 children. In Huaratumo, Pete and Philip were preaching, and on Sunday afternoon, Jonathan, Kate and Philip worked with the children, with colouring and endless games of ´pato, pato, ganzo´ (duck, duck, goose), followed by a short trip into some farming areas to see some of the different crops.

Prayer points:-
- For the journey back for Rob, Alison, Simon ad Linda´s parents - that they would be safe and not get delayed
- For Jon and Jonathan recovering from the latest bout of illness - that they would continue to recover quickly
- For Kate and Philip as they prepare to leave on Thursday
- For the remaining team members as we take on an increased workload

Bye!

Fifth big post!

So, the rain has stopped, and it´s now back to the glorious sunshine we had when we arrived in Apolo. This has made work on the building site much easier, and we have cleared a huge amount of earth since Sunday. We have also had Kate´s husband Philip helping, along with lots more local people, meaning work goes much quicker. There are now three concrete pillars part-made, and seven out of eight holes are well under way.
Away from the building site, it has also been a great few days. On Sunday evening, we had a ´special´ group devotional time, where we waited on the Holy Spirit to move among us. It was an amazing evening, and Anna´s shoulder was almost completely healed in that short time!
On Monday we were teaching again, and we had lots of pupils for both English and Music. We also had electricity, making the keyboard lesson much better than previously! Last night was one of our many youth groups, and the kids had great fun learning about the Holy Spirit. As I type, the younger children are learning about Noah´s Ark, and Anna´s and Alison´s preparations this morning made it look like the kids would have lots of fun activities to do!
Prayer points:-
- That the good weather would continue
- Another opportunity for a tractor has come up, which would speed work up considerably.
- For those leaving in the next week or so (Rob, Alison, Simon, Kate and Philip, and Linda´s parents) - that they would have a great last few days and a good journey back, and that those of us remaining would be able to take on an increased workload
- For the team members heading out into the campo later this week, and at the weekend

Thank you again for your prayers and support!

Fourth big post!

Has it really been two weeks since we arrived?! It feels like much less, but we have done so much.

The work on the building site has continued to progress, despite heavy rain. The first of the concrete pillars has now been started, and the other holes are continuing to deepen. Often this involves pailing out a load of water before digging can begin, and even then, the bottom of the hole is still soaked! We were looking at photos of the building site yesterday, and the change that has happened is almost unbelievable!

All the other activities have also been continuing. On Wednesday, the older youth group met, and some of us went to the Lutheran church in the evening, where Linda was teaching. She translated for us as well, meaning the three of us could contribute in the discussion of why the church has a problem of few youth. Also on Wednesday and Thursday were the kids clubs, where the children learnt about Daniel and the lions den, and great fun was had by all. On Thursday, some of us also had our first English and Music classes, which went very well, especially considering the electricity was out, so we had no keyboard (admittedly only a problem for Jonathan)! Friday was La Paz day, a regional holiday, so we had our day off and most of the team finally went to the waterfall, despite the pouring rain. The rest went to the Lugtigheids, and did some baking, then played with their four young children. Saturday was another rainy day, and there was a valiant half-day of work from those without too many aches and pains. Everyone was dragged out onto the building site, though, when a truckload of 1400 bricks arrived, which needed unloading. Thankfully this was during a break in the rain. We also had a talk from Linda about Bolivia in general. This morning was the church service, as usual, and Alison was preaching, with Jonathan, James and Aaron leading Sunday school. This all went to plan, and was well received.

Prayer requests:-
- Thanks that everyone has recovered from illness.
- Prayer for injuries, notably Rob´s wrist and Anna´s shoulder.
- Thanks that Philip (Kate´s husband) arrived safely this morning.
- For those leaving in just over a week, that their last week would be as productive as the previous two.
- That the rain would clear up quickly, so we can work better on the building site.

Thanks!

Third big post!

Firstly, I will apologise for any awful typos that may occur in this update - the keyboards in the local internet cafe are not as agreeable as I´m used to!

So, since Saturday, we have had our first service at the Lutheran church, and a campo trip for the whole team.
The church was an amazing experience - most of the service was (obviously) in Spanish, so we were relying on Pete´s mumbled translation (so the service was not interrupted) for quite a bit of it! I (Jonathan) was preaching and, despite being terrified, it seemed to go well, especially thanks to Linda´s translation! Some of the team also led the Sunday School, and afterwards presented what they had done, along with a quick song, to the rest of the church. We also went to the church in the evening, without as muc help, though James managed to translate enough for us to vaguely understand the sermon! Between the services, some of the team went and played sports wit some of the local children, after trying (and failing) to get a TV to show the World Cup final - though we did manage to find out who won.

Yesterday was our first campo trip as a whole team, and the first trip out for most of the team. We spent the morning helping with replacing a family´s house, and then spent most of the afternoon playing with the children from the small local school. It was wonderful to see the kids enjoy the activities we had brought for them, the favourites being colouring and playing with mine and Anna´s cameras!

Work is continuing to go well on the building site, with yet more earth being shifted today - we have now dug two very deep holes and the trenches are beginning to span the whole area.

Prayer points for this week:
- Illness - we have had our first illnesses over the past few days, with Annie, Alison and James having had days off. Please thank God for a speedy recover for Annie and Alison, and ask for a similarly quick bounce back for James, who only fell ill today.
- Leading groups - this week is our first week with all of the youth groups and teaching going on. We would appreciate prayers for confidence and a continued ability to break down the language barriers
- Campo trip - we have our first overnight campo trip this week, which myself, Claire, and Kate (a vet student from the USA) are going on, so if you could pray that we would be able to really make a difference in the community we go to
- Claire (our Strider from Sucre) has now returned to Sucre, so prayers that she would settle back quickly, and not miss us too much (!) would be welcome

Adios!

Second big post!

So, since Wednsday, we´ve done a load more work on the building site. Since we got here, we have knocked down one building, dug three and a half trenches, dug a massive hole (mostly Jon´s work) for concrete pillar to go in, and made three steel frames for the concrete pillars. Today is our day off, though our plan to go to a waterfall for swim was scuppered by heavy rain this morning!
The food has continued to be fantastic, with a vegetable stir-fry and pasta followed by pancakes on Thursday, and fried potato and egg with bread then chocolaty flapjack yesterday - the domestics teams are really stepping up to the challenge of improving the cooking each day!
Four people (Alison, Simon, Rob and Aaron) went out to the campo on Thursday. They really enjoyed playing football and tag with the kids, and also had a chance to share their testimony in Spanish. We are all heading out together on Monday, which should be really enjoyable and rewarding.
Other things comig up:
We start with the community work in Apolo tonight, with a kid´s club for 14+. Pete and Linda Lugtigheid are mostly leading, and introducing us to the members.
Tomorrow we have our first service at the Lutheran church. I (Jonathan) am preaching, which is slightly terrifying, and Aaron and Claire are leading the Sunday school.
We have a lot of youth work activities throughout the week, including kid´s clubs, Sunday sports, English and music teaching, and nursery work.
Prayer points:
- The tractor is looking increasingly unlikely, but your prayers for this would be much appreciated
- Everyone involved in leading activities in the community this week (so everyone!) as we prepare
- The team as we all head into the campo this Monday
- Claire (the Strider from Sucre) as she heads back to Sucre tomorrow, that she would be safe travelling, especially after this morning´s rain
- That we could continue to gel well with the Bolivians

See you next time!

First big post - from Wednesday-ish!

Bolivia is amazing! We all got to Apolo safely after a long but spectacular 14 hour bus journey. We currently have Kate (a vet in training) and Claire (a Latin Link strider) staying with us which has been great and we all fit together to make one big family!

Apolo is very different to the UK. It's all dirt roads and mud brick houses. Life is very simple here which has taken some getting use to but we're all coping and having lots of fun. We have a gas cannister with two rings to cook for 12 people and a fridge but that's about it. We eat bread and honey/jam for breakfast, lunch cooked by a lovely Bolivian lady from the local Church and whatever people on domestic duty can think of for dinner (so far we've had chicken pasta and omelettes). We have two buckets with sponges in between them as a system to purify our tap water and one inside toilet between 12 of us (which is currently blocked!) although there is an outside one too if you don't mind manually pouring water down to flush!

The family out here looking after us - the Lugtigheids - are amazing! They do so much for the local community and Church and have been so welcoming to us. Linda's parents are also out here and have been keeping an eye on us, it's nice to have a few other English speakers to talk to too! We've just about been coping buying food and water etc with basic Spanish and much gesturing!

We've been taken swimming by one of the youth of the Church - Yorka - in a local river. It's a nice break from the building work which is hot, dusty, tiring work! we're digging huge trenches at the moment to set concrete pillars in but it's hard graft. We dump all the rubble in the road to fill in pot holes - it's amazing how economic everything is here. We reuse as much as possible becasue they barely have anything in Apolo. Even when knocking down the mudbrick Sunday School building, we took the bricks (dobes) out one by one to stack and reuse! We've also pulled up the concrete floor and pulled down a tree and built a wall in only two full days of building so we're making some good progress.

The youth programmes don't start properly till next week so at the moment the building site is the priority. But we're all looking forward to the chance to get involved with youth of different ages; run Sunday school; teach English and music and run sports afternoons etc.

There are loads of cockroaches here, they're massive - about as long as our fingers! But we're already used to them. We also had to remove some snakes from the building site and kill them, they were only little though. we also saw a massive toad and a poisonous centipede.

Food here is quite cheap but there is limited choice. We're learning to cope with only powdered milk and not much veg. But so far we have been able to find carrot, cabbage, beans and peppers. Apparently there's cauliflower occasionally too. The fruit is delicious though and we have papaya tress in our garden which we pick the fruit off and eat. We're staring to get a few mosquito bites so it would be great if we could pray that these wouldn't bother us too much or get infected.

Prayer requests: So far no one is ill but please could you pray that this would continue. Also, we're starting to ache a bit from building so if we could pray for renewed strength and energy that would be wonderful. We're trying to get a tractor down to help but it's very difficult. There are only a few drivers, one is in Brazil and the other is trying to decide if it's worth bringing his JCB to Apolo rather than straight back to La Paz so please pray that he'll have compassion and allow us to use it! Can we also pray for everyone who has been so welcoming to us so far and that we may in turn welcome then and spread God's love throughout Apolo.

God bless from team Bolivia (aka the Oxford chicken chasers!)

We´re here!

Hi everyone!
Just to let you all know we got to Apolo safely and have now been here for a couple of nights, so thank you for all of your prayers regarding travel! The house is really good, esecially now we have given it an intensive clean!
A few prayer points:
- That we would continue to settle in well, with our first full day working on the building site today
- For Alison, Simon and Jonathan, who are heading into the Campo (countryside communities) later this week
- That we would pick up Spanish quickly, so w can communicate well with the locals
Thank you again for all yor support - it´s great to finally be here!

Leaving tomorrow!!!

As you may know, we leave for Bolivia tomorrow (though some of us are going most of the way to Heathrow today). We should get in to La Paz tomorrow night, then we spend a night there and get the bus to Apolo the following morning.
We would love you to keep updated with us whilst we are out there, and to do this you can either come here, or go to the Latin Link update page at www.stepteams.org/teams.php
Thanks for all your support so far - we couldn't have done this without you guys,
Jonathan and the rest of the team

Prayer requests

With less than two weeks to go, there are plenty of things on our hearts that we would really appreciate prayer for:
- getting through the language barrier and culture shock
- safe and smooth travel both to and within Bolivia
- any anxieties we may have for travelling so far away
- the team's health
- that any final preparations go smoothly including acquiring the right kit and preparing material to share with the Lutheran church and youth
- for Linda and Pete Lugtigheid (the long-term Latin Link workers in Apolo) and their family as they prepare to host us
- pray for Apolo and the work of the Lutheran church there. Thank God that He has gone ahead of us and sown seeds to be developed whilst we are there. That we would be attentive to how God wants to use us

Thank you so much for supporting us!

Orientation this weekend

So the trip is scarily close now, and this weekend we are all heading down south for our orientation weekend, so we can really gel as a team and sort out all the final details. Prayer for safe travelling and a good, productive weekend would be much appreciated.

Meet the team - Aaron

The next of the team profiles, our male team leader, Aaron:
Hello! I'm Aaron and I'm a first year engineer at Jesus College, and I'm also supposed to be one of the leaders of our team! I can't wait for our mission trip, as I'm really looking forward to sharing God's love with others in a different culture, and I'm really excited by what awesome things God is going to do out there. (Fortunately God is quickly replacing the fear in my heart with excitement for this trip!) I did GCSE spanish which is now turning out to be a blessing, and I'm most looking forward to the practical building project and the work with children. Thank you for your continuing support through prayer!

Fundraising and prayer

So, it's less than two months until we leave now, and fundraising is well under way. Money has thankfully been coming in from all directions, including grants, and our own unique fundraising ideas. Events that have already happened include a sponsored day-long cycle ride, and selling cakes after OICCU meetings. The really mad things, however, are still to come. My own favourites have to be the joint 10-mile 3-legged race, Rob's carrying of half his weight for a week, and my own idea of climbing to the height of La Paz and back down (26,500 feet)... on stairs.
So, prayer for these events (and soothing of the pain resulting from them!) would be much appreciated, as would (as much as I hate to beg) any donations or sponsorships. Another prayer point at the moment would be planning, inoculations and all of the details.
Thanks!

Meet the team - Annie

Here's the next team profile - Annie:
Hey I'm Annie and I'm in my first year reading Engineering at Oriel College. I'm really into rowing and dancing and love playing my guitar and piano to chill out. I'm looking forward to an awesome summer in Bolivia and can't wait to meet loads of new people! Thanks for all your support :)

Meet the team - James

Another team profile - this time, James:
Hi i'm James and i'm a first year physicist at Jesus college. I'm very excited about going to Bolivia this summer to help with the work of the church and God's ministry abroad. I can speak spanish and i'm interested in the hispanic culture so i'm hoping that God will use me this summer to do something that will help to share the love of christ to the people of Bolivia. Thank you for your support and prayers.

Meet the team - Anna

Next up is a relatively new addition to the team, Anna:
Hi I'm Anna, a first year Geography student at Mansfield College!
I've wanted to go to South America for some time now, and can't wait to actually get out there at last! I'm bit of a last-minute addition to the team, having missed the original deadline but I'm so glad I can still go!
I'm really excited about what God has planned, and happy to do something so useful with my long summer. Please pray that I get everything sorted in time: shots, fund-raising and being mentally prepared.

Flights confirmed!

Just a quick post to give the exciting news that the flights are now on hold! Assuming all goes to plan, we fly out on the 3rd of July, and come back at varying times throughout August and September, depending how long each person is staying out, how long people are travelling etc.

Meet the team - Jonathan

Next in the way of team introductions is your regular blog-writer, Jonathan:
I'm Jonathan, a first-year Earth Scientist from Exeter college. I'm really looking forward to going to Apolo, especially doing youthwork, as I am a leader at a Scout group and at junior church in Oxford. I am also a musician - I play piano and percussion, along with a bit of singing and a tiny bit of guitar.

Meet the team - Jon

As promised, here is the first of our 'team profiles':
I'm Jon. I'm a first year Earth Scientist at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. I'm a massive fan of John Mayer, love ski and surfing and am outrageously excited about going to Bolivia. I'm especially looking forward to working with the youth out there and the prospect of teaching some English. Thanks for all the support.

Apolo's 11!

As promised, we now have more details of the trip!
We will be working in Apolo (hence the abysmal pun above), a rural town in Northern Bolivia, with the Lugtiheid family, who are Latin Link's permanent workers in Apolo. As stated in the previous post, we will be based round a building project of some kind, as well as working in local churches, doing youth work etc.
The team are:
Claire Brown
Rob Collier
James Edmands
Aaron Freeman-Powell
Alison Raymond
Jon Lawrence
Jonathan Nash
Tom Lyle
Roland Crouch
Annabel Forbes-Cockell
Simon Luk
Over the next few weeks, a short profile of each member will be posted, so you can get to know each member of the team.
Meanwhile, prayers for fundraising would be appreciated - that plans would work out and, obviously, raise as much money as possible.
Thank you for your continued support - and Happy Easter!

So, what are we all about?

This blog has been set up by a group of Oxford University students who are heading out to Bolivia this summer on a Latin link step team. We will be based around a practical project of some kind, such as a building project, and will also be working within the local community, in churches and schools etc. If you want to keep up to date with all our news, you can either follow this blog, join the facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=367168442760, or you can donate at our justgiving page, http://www.justgiving.com/stepteam2010.
The next few posts will hopefully reveal more specific details about the trip, as well as introducing you to each of the team.