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!
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
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!
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!
Sunday, 18 July 2010
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!
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!
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
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!
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!
Saturday, 10 July 2010
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!
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!)
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!)
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
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!
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!
Friday, 2 July 2010
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
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
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