Saludos!
So in case you couldn’t tell from the video, we all had a lot of fun with the Jankes at the Carnival parade on Saturday. One of our most memorable moments occured when we were leaving. After squishing our way through a sea of Bolivians and almost starting a riot, we had no choice but to cross the parade road in the heart of a water balloon-throwing warzone. We made it across staying relatively dry…well…except for poor Pat who had foam sprayed all over her face. However, we were met on the other side by a crowd of about twenty-five Bolivians ready for action. I heard a loud war cry (which apparently signified “Get the Gringos!”) and suddenly we were all running for cover from a vicious onslaught of water balloons. Needless to say, we got soaked, and our Carnival parade experience was complete.
One major update since the weekend is that this week we have officially began our ministry internships. Yesterday we spent the morning at the Jankes’ house for ESL training with Pat. My favorite part was the Swiss Chalet-like lunch afterwards…she even had the real Swiss Chalet sauce! This morning Phil and Tarryn taught ESL at Emanuel Christian school and from what I’ve heard they had a great time getting acquainted with the students and teaching them fun facts about Canada (...apparently the CN tower is not as big a deal as we thought). I spent the morning at Jireh, the drop-in center for kids. It was challenging, with my limited capacity to communicate. The man who runs it speaks almost no English at all. But I was still able to spend time getting to know some of the kids. I suspect this will be a very rewarding ministry for me as I already feel humbled and touched after the first day. In the afternoon I also went to Emmanuel to help teach English. It was the first day of school so we didn’t do a whole lot, but English is the one of the few skills I have to offer here so I am looking forward to this ministry as well.
We don’t yet know our exact ministry schedules but we will update you as we continue to get more involved. Next week we will begin teaching our own ESL classes at Calama church on Monday and Thursday nights. We’re all looking forward to it.
Well that’s about it for now. As of right now Phil is feeling much better and we are all healthy. We appreciate your continual thoughts, comments and prayers.
Peace,
Dave
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2 comments:
Hi Dave,
Thanks for the update. It sounds like you had a lot of fun during carnival, who wouldn't love a good water fight. We had another 20 cm of snow last night, this year is now officially a brand new record for winter snowfall.
Just to update you, the Leafs are once again a dynasty, still in last place, but they've won 2 in a row........
The youth ministry that you are getting involved with sounds like it will be challenging, but as your Spanish improves, I know that you will be a real blessing to those kids. And the ESL teaching that you all are involved is something that is so important to the Bolivian people.
We are proud of you and Taryn & Phil. You are all doing amazing work and it is only the beginning, we can't wait to hear of the other ministries that you will choose to work in. You will touch so many lives in the next few months.
Glad to hear that you are all healthy, and we will pray for your continued safety.
God bless you all,
DG
Hello Dave!
Hah man Meliss had said in passing that you had a blog up so I googled your name and Bolivia and I'm glad to have found this. It's great to hear things are going well and it's very encouraging to hear you are settling in well!
Hah it's great to see you representing Springfree over there. Jevan and I unloaded three containers in a row yesterday hah it was pretty intense.
That's good to hear too about the youth ministry you're becoming a part of. It's amazing how easier a language becomes to learn when everyone else in a country speaks it as their first language. I hope you can continue to improve with it greatly and the barrier of language can stop being an issue.
Anyways I hope things continue to go well and you stay strong.
Peace, love and mercy be yours in abundance.
-Kyle
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