Happy Birthday Darren!

Today is Darren's 28th birthday and I am going to speak for him when I say it was one of the best birthdays he's had. The picture to the left is of some of the Casa kids giving him a birthday hug after they all sang him Happy Birthday in Spanish. I cannot think of a better way to spend a birthday then with a bunch of adorable kids who attack you with hugs every chance they get.

It was our second day at the Casa with the kids today. We are in the Casa Monday, Wednesday, Friday mornings and Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Yesterday was a little crazy being it was the very first day of school for the kids after summer holidays. All the teachers were amped up from the retreat last week and all had rules and plans for the new school year (the main Casa rules are posted in the main eating area and can be seen in the picture above). Our group split up into the four classes at the Casa (pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, grades 1-3, and grades 4-12) after the main assembly and met our own individual challenges. Lyn, Darren, and I (Shenaigh) went with the pre-kinder/kinder classes and spent time playing games, singing songs, and eating lunch. Much like Brian had warned us it was "like herding cats" and they definitely kept us busy. Ken, Brian, and Lois went with the grades 1-3 and unfortunately the teacher had to leave to register her daughter in school and they were left with teaching/ supervising the class for the morning. This was a little frustrating to the team as they were forced to attempt to teach the class with little Spanish, lack of respect, and no teacher.

Today was much more organized for all of us. In the morning we all went to a meeting with the UBB (Union Baptiste Bolivia) and spent time together in prayer, devotion, and coffee. Brian shared how much our partnership with the UBB/CBM meant to our church and how it has transformed our church. Ever since we began this partnership our church has become much more outwardly focused on others and our community. We thought it was very important to share to them that not only does our partnership benefit Bolivia but it also greatly benefits our church back in Edmonton.

After lunch we went to the Casa and had a much more organized day. After spending a little time with the kids Lyn, Darren, and I helped prep some supplies for the class to help reward kids for following rules. This took up a large chunk of our afternoon but we were glad to do it because we knew that the teachers would not have time to do it. We were also very excited that the teachers were implementing rules and rewards for the kids to follow discussions that arose last week at the teacher' s retreat. Brian, Lois, and Ken took their kids outside to play parachute games with the parachute that our kids at our church purchased with their own fundraising money. After that they helped the kids with their homework (writing letters, sentences, drawing pictures etc). Norma and Randy helped the older kids with homework as well.

After our afternoon at the Casa we went for a nice iced coffee treat to cool ourselves off (it was a beautiful plus 25 today) and later on we went out for Italian food as spaghetti is Darren's favorite food. Now the team is yelling at me to finish the blog so we can play a card game so I should probably go now.

We are all enjoying our time with the Casa kids and our saddened at the thought of leaving soon. God has done incredible things with and through our group and has truly transformed us as a team.

Love and blessings to you all,

Shenaigh

Transformation

These last 2 days we were working hard at the Casa. We spent Thursday and Friday removing several years of garbage out of each room. The carpet was installed in the new office location for Carla (psychologist), Darren and Shenaigh Lyn and others scrubbed wooden chairs for the pre-kinder and kinder classes, Ken hung curtain rods for Sonia (Primaria I) and Cinda (kinder), many walls were washed, months of dust swept away. New posters were made by our talented artists (Lois and Shenaigh), desks were re-varnished and of course just for Brian an electrical problem or two. While the list is long it is not comprehensive as many other jobs were accomplished by a very dedicated group of loving people I call my friends. God has shown himself in so many ways, but for me, it’s practically in the way our group has given of themselves in each and every task they have done.

Friday morning as I sat in the kindergarten class scrubbing layers of filth off the little tables I began to weep in prayer for the children who would sit at that table. As I continued to pray and intercede for these precious children, while listening to a song called “Jesus feed Us” by Steve Bell, God showed me that we all are like these filthy tables, covered in grime and sin and it’s only by the redemptive blood of Jesus that we can be clean. The picture of his love and forgiveness was a very literal experience as I watched the transformation of the tables and indeed the whole building as we finished up Friday afternoon.

Late Friday morning we performed probably the greatest symbol of transformation. We had contracted a large truck to come and remove the many years of accumulated garbage that was strewn around the comedor (eating area). Brian’s face was beaming as we completed this year long dream for him of ridding the Casa of the few last things that prevented it from having the appearance of newness. The symbol was not lost on Brian and others who realized that often we miss the step of removing those last remaining things that linger in the corners of our lives. Once the garbage was removed we turned out attention to the comedor where we cleaned all the tables and benches made dirty but the construction next door, put all the furniture in place and swept and washed the floor. The physical transformation was complete.

With the physical transformation complete, the last thing we did Friday afternoon was to go through the Casa room by room and pray. The entire Casa team had taken Friday off as a day of prayer and fasting so now that we had completed the physical work we joined then in prayer. We entered each room with our eyes open and asked God to show us that for which we should pray. We prayed for the things that God brought before us and then worshipped together with a song as Brian played the guitar. Each song was a blessing we prayed for that particular room. Each room was powerful but, by far, the most powerful room was the newly painted and carpeted room of tia Carla the psychologist. The profound sense of the deep hurt and pain that was felt by the children who would visit the room was brought to light by the power of the Holy Spirit. We cried and prayed and asked for the physical transformation of the room to be a symbol of the transformation the children would find in that place.

We finished the day in celebration. We had planned to have a fun day with the entire Casa staff but for many reasons that was not possible. Our solution was to go to a nice restaurant and treat the whole staff and their spouses (some brought their children) to a celebration. Brian stood and thanked them in Spanish for their hard work and simply invited them to simply enjoy and then we did just that! Brian circulated and translated as we ate and laughed. Conversations happened, photos were discussed, dictionaries were used but in the end we all enjoyed ourselves. Brian commented to Rodrigo during the meal that this dinner was a glimpse into heaven. A group of believers from different languages and different cultures who share the same heavenly father, gathered around a table laughing and sharing and drinking deeply from the cup of His grace.

Blessing to all,

Norma

Working with God and His people

One of the greatest blessings we have received from God in Bolivia was the opportunity to put on a workshop for the whole Casa staff. Prior to coming here, Brian and I (Ken) met to plan a retreat for the teachers. You will be pleased to know the teachers' retreat was a huge success! Brian made a wonderful decision to hire Toni to be our facilitator. Toni is fluent in English and Spanish and has been teaching missionaries Spanish for many years. A photo of the retreat is at the top of this blog.

Each day began with singing and worship. This was a wonderful time of bonding with the Casa staff. Then we followed with a needs assessment where the Casa staff focused on some goals they wanted to accomplish and how we could help them. Their greatest need was having the opportunity to talk and plan together as a team so the retreat would really meet their needs. In the afternoon I presented a session on establishing routines, rules and procedures in schools. Toni was magical as she has such a strong background as a teacher. We came specifically at this time of year so we could help the Casa staff set up for the start of the school year. Establishing these routines sends important life messages to the students:we love you, we care for you, you are valuable and this is a safe place. On Wednesday morning after worship, Randy, Lyn and Carla(the Casa psychologist) presented a session on supporting and caring for families. It was heavy as we heard some case conferences of some horrific situations for children here. There were many tears and hugs and we recommitted to constant prayer and working together to support the children. You will notice in the photo that on this second day half of the team stayed to work at the Casa. There is a long list of improvements we have made at the Casa this week which has kept us extremely busy everyday. In the afternoon, we gave them a choice of planning for the first day of school or working further on responding to student misbehaviors. They chose to focus on responding to student behaviors.

On Monday, we meet with the children so please pray that we will develop relationships with them quickly and that we continue to share the many talents our team has.

Thank God that on Monday morning when we first met with Casa staff, there was a meeting with all the Obades big wigs and we were able to meet with all of them when we met the staff. Thank God that we had also prepared introductions of ourselves in Spanish for this meeting. Our church has a tremendous reputation here. On Sunday we were introduced in church and publicly recognized. On Monday, we had finished two coats of paint on a classroom and now the teacher has moved in with new carpet. We have made a huge difference physically at the Casa all while we were putting on a major retreat. Please thank God for the impact we have been able to have already. Please pray for renewed energy for the team as we have been running hard since we got here. Please forgive us for not communicating with home as well as we might like as we are very exhausted at the end of each day.

Please give thanks for the Whittles whose relationships and ability to speak Spanish have opened many doors for our team and we have had many opportunities to put our faith in action. The Whittles are well loved by the staff at the Casa.

Much love,

Ken