Bolivian Journal 9, Jan. 13, 2006

The Line-up to get washed

Dear Friends,
Welcome to Bolivian Journal 9. In this edition I will not, as previously promised, be reporting on the English congregation. This, Lord willing, will come at a later date. I will in this edition report on a the"Baby Washing Ministry". The ministry is led by Miguel (Micky) and Techy Villareal . Miguel works at Carachipampa Christian School and both he, Techy and family attend Calama Baptist Church. Every Saturday afternoon Miguel and Techy, their friends and volunteers come to the Plaza Principal provide a baby washing service. The ministry is provided for the shoeshine boys, mothers and children and any others. The mothers and children come from the high country (altiplano) into the city for few months or more. Their first language is not Spanish, but Quechua. The women and children are not here for sightseeing or visiting family. They are here for the money they can pocket, to take home, either by begging or selling some small items (flowers, candies etc) on the street. I have been told that they either sleep out on the street or rent a place on the floor in some buildings open to them for sleeping over.(like Street Link but no bed and breakfast)
Miguel, Techy and friends began and continue the ministry as a way of serving others and the Lord. I, Susan and Anna have been privileged to help out with this ministry. Rather than tell you more myself I am going to let the story be told by emails sent to me from two others. The first is from Lea, an American missionary serving in Bolivia. The second is from Micky.
One anecdote that Micky usually adds to his story is that the first mother to have her baby washed was so shy about it that she went and hid behind a tree during the washing. When the washing was completed and the woman was invited back she started asking where her baby was. She didn’t recognize her little one becase the child was so clean! I have sent separately a batch of pictures to say what a thousand words cannot say.

Every blessing,
Kent, Susan and Anna

One Clean Baby and a brother watching

Hey Kent,
Well, when I said I had it all written down, that was truthful but it isn't really in a form that anyone else could read. It is just a bunch of notes that I took one day while picking Micky's brain. I can give you the basic details and then you can decide if you want to use them or ask Micky yourself. A word of warning, have a lot of time if you do this as once he gets going you might be there awhile!! Here is how it goes....
Micky has been a youth leader since he was 11. He is a third generation Baptist whose Grandfather helped found the BBU (Bolivian Baptist Union). About five or six years ago, he helped start a ministry to the ladies in jail, Sip of Freedom, where they would pass cakes through the bars to the ladies along with food in the form of a hot meal. On Easter, they took them the national favourite, Arroz con leche. It was during this time that they became aware of the number of young boys working the streets as "shoeshine" boys.
He and Techy( Micky´s wife) had Jireh and when he was very young he had some sort of illness where they were not allowed to bath him for nearly a week. During this time his skin got some sort of yuckiness about it and it really had them worried until they were finally able to bathe him and it came off. One day shortly after this illness, they were in the main plaza and they noticed all the dirty shoeshine boys who obviously went for more than a week without a bath and it touched them that maybe there was something they could do for them. So, Freshwater Ministries came into being. They started just with the boys, using a five liter bucket, one tub and one towel to wash their hands and faces.
Soon, people who also cared began to notice and started to donate milk and bread to feed these boys, another man donated meat to make sandwiches. Soon, the street ladies and the ladies from Potosi who come to Cochabamba with their little children to beg (this is a total other story) began to congregate in the plaza and wanted their hands washed too. Micky and Techy were so touched by how the Lord was working that they began to pray about enlarging their ministry to include these women and children. At first, they were scared to do this ministry but decided taking risks for God would be well worth it.
Soon, others got interested and donations of shampoo, soap, clothes, diapers, medicines, vitamins and school supplies started coming in. A tarp was donated and made into the tent they use today. God provided a washer for the towels and washcloths and more recently a trailer and an "on demand" hot water heater. Each Saturday, close to 100 people are given warm milk and bread, sometimes sandwiches. Heads are washed, hands are cleansed, dirty babies are washed and given clean clothes, hair is combed and styled and combs, brushes and hair accessories given. The love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is shared in an incarnational way that is truly a blessing to many.During the Christmas season, Micky and Techy and Tia give out close to 1000 gift bags with toys, soap/detergent, rice, cookies, candies and sometimes chocolate to anyone who comes to the main plaza with a need.
Well, these are my words from my day with Micky, hope you can use all or part of them. If not, I am SURE Micky would be happy to share it all with you.

Blessings to the three of you,Lea

Micky Villareal

HI!!!!!
I am working her at CCS (Carachipampa Christian School) since 14 years ago and God gave me a wonderful wife so we can hear God's voice for this ministry. When he was very young, my oldest son Jireh (6), had some blisters because he was sick with the cold, so he didn't have his bath. My wife wondered: "Can you imagine what happened with that people out there? We have shelter, water, shower and we have this small problem? Shall we go and give those babies on the street a bath?” I said, "If God wants us to do that, OK, lets go!"
Every other Saturday God is providing volunteers, Bolivians, Americans, Canadians or Australians and other missionaries coming to Bolivia. Week by week we don't know how many will come to help. So any Saturday we finish at 8:00 pm.
What we are lack (and always will) are:
Clothes for children from 0 to 6.
Milk powder - 25 kilos every month.
Sugar - 5 kilos every week.
Powdered chocolate.
Diapers.

Now, between January to November, we have many people coming to have their babies washed. They also receive milk, bath, clothes and diapers and some blister cream. Teenagers and the elderly receive hairwashing, if they choose, clothing, if we have it, plus milk and bread. For the month of December, last Christmas, we helped 2000 people! We might have the same this year.

Do you have any details of some of the conditions these street children have to endure?
This kids are working at the street: washing cars, looking after cars in the street, shoe-shining and selling goodies. Mothers try to make it by: washing some body else's clothes for 1 or 2 bs (bolivianos) a dozen, making orange juice in small cars, picking garbage or recycling plastic bottles. These people have come to Cochabamba expecting a better life. They often can only beg enough money to return home.

Do you know as to how many people are living on the street?
Our group is one of many who are giving help to street people. I can't say how many. I can tell you that most of this people have no work, few abilities and no roof over their heads. They end up living under the bridges (now rainy season the river will grow) making a shelter of cardboard with tires as walls. Some of them are "glue sniffers" that are "nursing glue" to their babies.

What is your vision for the future and how much money would you have to raise to achieve it?
By God's will, we intend to have a house, within four or five blocks of the central Plaza, that can hold at least 200. Here the people could have a hot meal in the morning and in the afternoon. Kids who are attending school in the morning or in the afternoon would have home work help. Maybe we could have a shelter for elders during the night (as the Salvation Army does) and hot meal and sharing the Gospel and singing Christian songs.
We picture having rooms for teaching and making handicrafts and, at the front of the building, stores showing and selling all the handcrafts. Who knows? We may even make contacts for export. A web page is another possibility.
We dream about having nutrition classes and cooking facilities so that the women can gain some new skills and care for their families.
In thinking of buying a building I have never asked the price because I think God will buy it (it could be 200 big ones). This would include stoves, freezers and beds, blankets, washer machines (we have one small, because we use to wash babies clothes) and spinners (we have a small one for the same purpose). I will ask to the Bank if they have any with 25 % off for sale.

Where do your clothes come from and are they expensive?
We receive clothe from the volunteers (if they have them) but mostly we buy the USA used clothes for as cheap as a dime a piece( $1 us = 8. bs) So we buy them at 1 Bs a piece, and wash them at home for next week. When we have enough money we do this, but it is not always possible because we have the need of the milk and bread as a first cost to be covered. At MANACO (BATA) the Pick-&pay are around 180 bs, tennis shoes are 220 bs each. These are the ones that have small "mistakes" at the factory. The same model for sale at normal price are up to 300 bs. and tennis shoes for up to 450 bs. For T- shirts, each shirt (the cheap ones) costs 20 bs.

What is the monthly cost for soap and water?
Soap are 25 bs for a package of 3.
Water is 180 bs month. We use 400 liters every Saturday.

These are a lot of questions and you probably will have more.
There is no problem with the questions. We are ready to let you know more because being here is very different from the picture that you may have.

Here in Cochabamba we have the best weather (25 Centigrade up to 35) during the day and in the morning 12 degrees! This means that our ministry can continue all year long.

Please pray for us and the serving ministry we have received from God and we are happy to hear that you (as God told you to) are willing to help. You may see some pictures but it is real.
Blessings on you and your willingness to help in this work (we call service). It is tiring but it gives comfort to our souls. He is with us all the time!

Kind Regards
Micky

For more photos of The Plaza Principal Baby Washing ministry click on:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=ahf9qs9.vixq3fd&x=0&y=-o5n26z

Every Blessing

Bolivian Journal 8, November 8, 2005

Welcome to Edition 8 of the Bolivian Journal

In this edition I will relate a small part of our adventure.

Two weeks ago we took a trip to Santa Cruz. After Sunday supper we went to the bus terminal to buy our tickets early, reserving front seats for the next day trip. We were successful in part as we booked to two left front seats for Susan and Anna and the widow seat behind them for me. We were so eager to see another part of Bolivia that we decided that we would take the Sunday overnight bus, saving ourselves a day of travel and gaining on extra day in Santa Cruz. We were informed that it would be a nine hour trip leaving at 10:00 and arriving at 7:00 am. All appeared to have started well. However, I soon discovered that it would not be as pleasant a trip as expected. Next to me sat a man who was a heavy smoker and although it was a no smoking bus he took advantage of every bathroom and food stop along the way to light up, puff out and then climb aboard the bus. The net result was that he and his clothes were baptized in cigarette smoke and smell. For a non-smoker like me it is torture to have to have to share side by side seating in the presence of this pervasive cigarette odor. Non smokers please dislike me, ignore me or forgive me for any offence this brings to you. I thought at first that I might witness to the man so that he might experience a change of heart and a change of habit. Even if the life transformation didn’t that night perhaps I could prevent another non smoker being victimized on another occasion. Since the stranger spoke only Spanish and I, in terms of effective witness, spoke only English the possibility of spoken witness went up like smoke. I realized that I would have to witness with my actions which meant sitting in silent, smelly suffering for nine hours. Such was my fate. This would have been the end of it but for the Susan’s first question next day after a nap to catch up on bus lag. “Do you have any itching or bites?” she asked. Fleas in Spanish are “pulgas”. We traced our symptoms down to the suspicion that the man on the bus had left me living, odorless witnesses of the trip we had enjoyed together. Chalk it up to experience. It is all part of the volunteer missionary adventure.

We as a family agreed on some of our first impressions of Santa Cruz. These impressions are relative to our experience of Cochabamba. Santa Cruz has no easily discernible orienting features: no high-rises visible to all, no ocean, no Christo to look up to (what in could be worse than this?), and no mountains defining the edges of the city. In the city it felt as if there is no north, south, east or west. Cochabamba has the Christo to look to for direction (what better in life than this?), in addition to the mountains and hills on the margin of the city. It is easy to find your bearings here much like it is in Victoria or Vancouver or St. John’s. Santa Cruz gives the appearance of being a wealthy city. There are fewer buses, taxis and trufies but more SUV´s and newer model cars than Cochabamba. In comparison, Santa Cruz also has larger and newer buildings – homes, hotels, restaurants, tourist attractions and entertainment spots. Cochabamba doesn’t have the same atmosphere of prosperity. Still, in both cities the poor are in evidence for those with eyes to see. The weather in Santa Cruz is not as agreeable as Cochabamba. The Santa Cruz climate this time of year is hot and humid. The daytime high is 30 to 35 while the night time low is around 20.The relative humidity ranges around 53%. Susan woke up one night and watched, from the bed, a tropical rain, lightning and thunder storm that last five hours, from 2am to 7am. The storm was unlike any storm either of us had seen before. Even I woke up for part of it! This time Susan could have stayed up reading without turning the lights on! That Susan did not read a book during the night, even with all the light, is an indication of what a spectacular sight the storm was. In Cochabamba at this time of year the daytime high is between 20 and 25 while the nighttime low is about 13. It is not nearly as humid, with 29% relative humidity. Considering these differences Susan, Anna and I decided that we prefer Cochabamba. I see this preference not only as a reflection of our likes and dislikes but as a sign that in our time here Cochabamba as become home sweet home for us. Chalk it up to experience. It is all part of the volunteer missionary adventure.

The return journey was a surprise. We went the day before and reserved the front seats. This time we were told that all the buses were routed via the old road, el camino antiguo. On hearing this news we looked at each other in puzzlement, asked the ticket agent a few questions in Spanish, listened to his reply, thought we understood him, believed that all buses from Santa Cruz to Cochabamba went by the old road, and accepted our destiny. The journey would last 13hours, departing at 9am and arriving at 10pm.

We boarded the bus the next morning. Within an hour after leaving Santa Cruz we began to climb and we did not stop climbing for another 8 hours. From this point on we never looked back and seldom looked down. Some times we climbed gradually and at other times it seemed like the pilot, or rather driver, was pulling back on the steering wheel to gain elevation. The road followed the contour of the mountains with all their twists and turns. The short paved portions of the road were at the beginning and end, but in between these two extremities all was gravel. There was no shoulder along either the inside or the outside or of the road. On the inside the terrain ascended to the peaks and on the outside it descended into the abyss with jungle or tiny farms and villages visible in the distance. Guard rails were only a distant memory of BC. Often we would pull out to pass and squeak by a slow moving transport truck. Alternately we would squeeze over to make way for trucks or buses careening downhill. There were grave or memorial markers of the way to remind us that others had passed this way before us. I alternated my activity between praying to the Lord and talking to myself. I keep reassuring myself that the drivers were men who were raised in this mountainous country. I could be reassured that they were not closing their eyes even though I was closing mine. Looking back on the journey, we could have been blazing a new trail up Macchu Picchu in Peru. All this is saying something since it come from one who grew up with one leg shorter than another on the slopes of the North Shore of Vancouver, who negotiated the old road to Whistler in the winter, who traveled the Fraser Canyon with Hell’s Gate, and was comfortable with the highway through the Rockies. Even though we safely reached our destination that night, I found it unbelievable, even laughable that the Bolivian Government should allow public transportation under such rugged condition. The laugh was on me when the next day I learned that a storm had washed-out a bridge on the new road, causing the rerouting of traffic via el camino antiguo. Thanks to the Bolivian government. Chalk it up to experience. It is all part of the volunteer missionary adventure.

In the next edition I hope to tell you about the ministry English congregation of Calama Baptist.

Keep up the good work. Fight the good fight. Trust in the good Lord.

Every blessing in Christ,
Kent

To see more photos click on:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=ahf9qs9.4ncgdzl&Uy=-avathu&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0

Watts HAppenings in Bolivia 8, October 22, 2005

Dear Family and Friends,

Well one more week and we´ll be into month 5. I can´t believe how fast time is going and how much Cochabamba starts to feel like home, as we get to know our way around, establish our routines (or fall into a rut, depending on how you think about it!) and begin to make lasting contacts with people. However, emails are still our life line and seeing one from someone from home (not just someone trying to sell me books (at home, usually an easy sell)) brightens up our day as we talk about what was said and how much we appreciate and miss you. So keep those cards and letters coming!
Another way we´ve been keeping contact with people has been through the phone. It´s cheaper to go out to a call (llamada) centre (80 centavos a minute - about 15 cents) to phone our families so we usually walk about a mile to do that. A few weeks ago we all went down to the llamada centre near the university so Anna could make a call and Kent and I ended up at different internet places. After Anna had finished her call she came flying into the cafe to say there was a problem with the 100 Boliviano bill we had given her. I emailed Kent who came to the rescue (his Spanish is better). We went to talk to the guy at the llamada centre. We explained that this bill couldn´t be bad because we´d just gotten it at the bank. He showed us the bill under a black light - something missing. However, the guy didn´t have a chance to scam us - we have street smarts acquired from long years of being at the Mustard Seed! I said (in good Spanish - surprising how good you get when you´re mad!), "How do we know that is the same bill we gave you, Señor?", since there had been some time between the money being paid and the problem being discovered. He argued but we left, Susan with steam coming out of her ears, Kent being calm and reasonable and Anna (smartie!) hanging on to the change the guy had given her! However, at the back of my mind I kept thinking, "I hope we didn´t scam the guy. How do I know for sure the bill we got from the bank was OK?"

Another person we´ve gotten to know has been our security guard. Every neighbourhood chips together and hires a guard, who watches over the neighbourhood day and night (usually different guys, but sometimes the same guy is out there for 24 hours). They patrol the streets, blowing a whistle every few minutes (I figure to let the verones - thieves - know where they are so they can rob a house in a different part of the neighbourhood!). They get paid very little and part of the benefits package (or all of it!) includes the neighbours taking turns feeding the guys lunch (big meal) and supper (smaller meal). The guard we´ve gotten to know best is Walker (Kent keeps calling him Johnny for some reason!), because we keep feeding him whenever we have a big meal and he´s on. Kent just can´t get away from feeding people! Walker sure appreciates it and it´s a little inroad to witnessing to him. You can pray for our relationship with our guards.

Anna and I have been taking a turn doing Sunday School. We have about 30 kids (mostly little ones) who mostly speak Spanish in the class. Anna rides shotgun (keeping them all in the room) and I teach. We both sing, help with crafts and play games. One of our favourites is Llama, llama, alpaca - you may know it as "Duck, duck, goose"! God keeps blessing us in the small things. Many of you know my poor sense of direction (Kent says at home, turn me around in the living room and I can´t find my way to the fireplace). We needed to buy some crayons for Sunday School last Saturday and so we got a taxi to La Concha (giant market 10 by 10 city blocks), trying to describe what we wanted - I´d looked up crayons in the dictionary, mi otra biblia. It turns out they call them Crayola! Anyhow my Spanish must have been really off that day because the taxi driver started to take us out in the country towards Sacaba! When he made the turn that I KNEW wasn´t the right way (at least I thought I knew!) we get him to go to the Cancha. When we got out I had no idea where we were - nothing looked familiar, so we started walking. Within 2 minutes we were in front of a librería, no, not a library, which is biblioteca, but a bookstore/paper seller. These hardly ever have art supplies, but lo and behold! this one did! As we walked along after buying the crayons, I said, "Wow! That was really a miracle for us to get exactly where we need to go!" Kent dryly replied, "It´s a miracle anytime you get where you want to go." He is talking about the woman who couldn´t find Acadia University from Main Street, Wolfville, NS!

Most of the kids at Sunday School are from an orphanage run by Peter and Delia Morehouse, a couple a little older than us. This week they had some very good news - the adoption came through for two of their little girls(Laura and Nicole) that they have been trying to adopt since before we were here 3 years ago. They are going to be dedicated this Sunday, so please thank God and pray for them with us.

Speaking of thanking God, we sort of missed Thanksgiving on the Sunday or Monday so finally got around to poultry on Wednesday.I had bought the chicken at the grocery store in a bag and chilled, like at home. As always I opened the bag and began to poke around in the back end of the chicken to get the giblets (for gravy) and haul out any stringy bits. When that was done I pulled the chicken out further to discover that the neck was still attached to the body, instead of inside the cavity. I got the knife and pulled the whole thing out of the bag, ready to chop off the neck (to add to the giblets), when I saw that (you guessed it!) the HEAD was still attached to the neck!!! I screamed (trying to control the scream, thinking "If Anna sees this there´s no way she´ll eat her supper!") and Kent (my hero) came running to see what was wrong, as the feet fell out of the bag, also. He later said he had visions of the chicken being full of cockroaches! My Dad used to say that when his family of 10 had a rabbit for dinner, when he was a boy growing up, his part was the under jaw. Kent said if Dad had been there he could have had the under jaw of the chicken. "Gladly!" sez I! Next time I won´t be so surprised. (Yeah, right!)

Anna is back from camp. They came back a day early because the weather was so bad. Anna said "They kept telling us that it was going to be cold and rainy before we went down, but they only planned stuff for sunny days." Obviously they didn´t have Camp Whitbourne, Nfld. experience, where one plans for mostly rainy days and some alternative activities for sunny ones! Kent, who went out to school to pick her up, says most of the kids looked pretty tired and miserable, which are usually signs of a good camp!

Thursdays afternoons the wives of the students at the Seminary have a meeting, where they learn about how to be "a good pastor´s good wife". This week the meeting was at my place, and my usual translators, Pat Jenke and Iris Morales (both missionaries/profs at the Seminary) were both away. I got on OK and they all enjoyed my tea buns, cream and jam. Trying to tell them the recipe in Spanish was quite the challenge, however. At one point, someone asked something about the tiempo (which can mean weather or time) and I figured they were asking the temperature of the oven (although why, since these gas stoves only have bajo, media, alto, etc.) and I began 4 .. pause while I think of what is Spanish for hundred? ... When one of the younger ladies interupted "Hours?" We more experienced cooks had a laugh at that! I really enjoy the "mujeres reunion" - women´s meeting.Women have lots in common the world over, especially pastors wives, since the pastor isn´t always good and neither are the wives! Mujeres is pronounced something like MOO Hairys, so whenever I talk about the meeting I keep seeing cows with long curly wigs!

Pat Jenke got back last night from visiting with her family. Her Dad is doing much better (thanks for your prayers) and is now at home with some help from DVA.

Thank you again for your prayers and support. I am very conscious that you have enabled us to follow God´s call in our lives.

Blessings,
Susan, Kent and Anna Watts

Bolivian Journal 7, September 6

Dear Friends,
Welcome to Edition 7 of the Bolivian Journal.
My notes this time will inform and request your prayers regarding a proposal that I have submited to the Steering Committee of the English Congregation of Calama Baptist Church, where I serve as volunteer pastor. The proposal was presented to the committee at our October 3 meeting. To my delight the intiial response to and discussion of the proposal was favorable. We, as a committee, decided that our next step was to enter into a season of prayer concerning the proposal and then to discuss further (and for me, hopefully adopt )the proposal at our November meeting.

I am sending you the rough draft of the proposal hoping that you will be able to glimpse the story of the congregation to date and possible developments for the future. I ask you will read over the draft of the proposal and join with us in prayer by making an item for your prayers, individually and corporately. In reading through the book of Isaiah, I have come at this time to chapter 62 and have been reminded of the Lords delight in and desire for his people. As I read it, God has a vision for his Church in every place and prayer is a means of seeing this vision and seeing it become reality. As an encouragement to prayer (though I suggest you read the whole chapter) I quote Isaiah 62: 6 -7 " I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yoursleves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth." We value your fellowship in prayer. As well I welcome your questions, comments and suggestions.

The proposal follows.

Calama Baptist Church
English Congregation
October 2005

Steering Committe and Members:
Please prayerfully read and consider the following statement of history, vision and proposal for the English congregation of Calama Baptist Church.

History
The English Congregation has been in existence since 1999 to the present, a period of six years. During this period there have been various forms of pastoral leadership. At the beginning of its existence and at present Canadian Baptist Volunteers have provided pastoral leadership. Sometimes individuals have taken the responsibility. During the majority of time members of the steering committee, both Bolivians and expatriots, have shared pastoral leadership in the life of the fellowship The advantage of the pattern of shared pastoral leadership is that the members take a participatory role in leadership. The disadvantage of the pattern of shared pastoral leadership is that, due to prior committments and transience of personel, it can lead to inconsistency and uncertainty in the life of the fellowship.

Vision
The varied forms of pastoral leadership have resulted in the perception that the church that is guided by a variety of forms of leadership and, predominantly, by shared leadership of the steering committee.

Alternate Vision
An alternate vision presents the church as having long term, finacially supported pastoral leadership while maintaining the participatory leadership of members.

Future
This alternate vision opens up the possibilty of intentional change in the future direction of the English congregation.

Proposal
In order to move toward the adoption and implementation of new vision of the English congregation it is proposed:

1.)That the Steering committee of the English congregation agree to adopt the vision of the church with long term pastoral leadership and agree to move toward implementing this vision.

2.) That Calama Baptist Church agree to adoption and implementation of the vision of the English congregation for pastoral leadership.

3.)That the English congregation actively seek a person to provide long term pastoral leadershhip. Various avenues of recruitment will be explored and pursued as appropriate.

4.)That the English congregation begin to channel their tithes through the English congregation in order to indicate their willlingness to support the congregation and pastor.


5.)That Calama Baptist Church agree to direct the offering of the English congregation toward to the financial support of full time pastoral leadership for the English congregation.


Respectfully submitted,
Kent Watts

Friends - we continue to appreciate you and your fellowship in this mission project.
Every blessing in Christ,
Kent, for Susan and Anna too.

Watts Happenings in Bolivia 7, September 30, 2005

Dear Friends and Family,
I just looked back at when I sent Watts Happening 6 and realized it´s been a while since I´ve written (although I´ve been pretty good about sending pictures, and Kent has written!).

We are settled in nicely to our routines and don´t seem to be having as many tummy troubles. Anna is spending a little less time talking about friends at home and more time talking about friends here. She still thinks Pacific Christian School is way bettter than Carachipampa, and I have to agree! As the cooler weather sets in at home and the warmer weather here, Kent and I are doing a bits less talking about home, too. But we all sure appreciate getting emails from you all! Life without email would have been very different for us down here.

So what have the Watts been up to lately? Almost a month ago we got to go on a retreat to the Charpari with the Youth Group from Calama Baptist Church (Spanish congreagtion) and Ivan (our Canadian Baptist Volunteers coordinator) and Christine (Youth Leader at Calama) Gutierrez. It was a four hour trip over very winding, only half paved roads. We went down and down from the middle altitude of Cochabamba, where we live, to the low altitude of the jungle. What a hard worker Christine is - and pleasant throughout! She took on the main cooking. Kent and I did devotions, with Ivan translating. The retreat center was much like camp anywhere (OK, the bathrooms were worse and the kitchen would have had a few Canadian camp cooks quitting on the spot) and there was a swimming pool that everyone enjoyed. We went for a walk to the river and saw some of the poorest housing I´d ever seen - just sticks in the ground, thatch roof, no glass in the windows and nothing inside them. No toilets (flush or not) that I could see. At first I thought they were summer cottages, but the people lived in them year round. In Canada, even we don´t see the poverty that we´ve see here.

It was cool to see the banana trees, papaya trees, coconut trees, and a real live coca patch on our trip. In Cochabamba we can see lemon and orange trees and lots and lots of beautiful flowers.

We´ve had a total of 3 rainy days since we´ve been here. 97% of the time the weather is beautiful, sunny and warm. (OK, I won´t rub it in too much!).In Victoria the staff and students at school often spend time in Jan., Feb., hoping (and perhaps praying) for a snow day. Well, Anna has already had a Bolivian version of a snow day - a blocqueo day! This is when protesters set up a road block and will let nothing through.So no school for Carachipampa because most of the students come from quite a distance to get there. Anna has an hour and a half on the bus each day. She´s made a bus friend, Ruby in grade 9, but still the ride is tedious - neither really free time nor work time. She´s made a group of friends at school (guys and gals) and is enjoying going to a youth group at the SIM guesthouse (having been big fans of the SIMs computer game we are shocked that these SIM´s don´t have lines over their heads indicating when they are hungry or tired!) and having sleepovers. Anna seems much more content and her usual happy self. She´s a great girl! Annna is going to help Lydia, a young woman from Australia, with the Sunday School - which is huge! Church pictures coming soon so you can see for yourselves!

We´ve been enjoying having people in for meals and I´m beginning to get a grip on what is and what isn´t impossible to accomplish with regard to food down here. I finally figured out that if I don´t want rice to burn or be total mush, I bake it in the oven. Cooking with gas is fast but tricky! One couple that we´d gotten to be friends with, Joan and Gerdine from Holland were here for about 7 weeks to adopt their son, Joaquin, about 7 months old. All went well for them and they went back to Holland a couple of weeks ago. There´s certainly a bond with other adoptive parents!

We´ve had some other visitors that have not been so very welcome. These native Bolivians persisted in coming to our apartment, especially enjoying hanging out in the kitchen and the bathroom (a novelty) and keeping us up at night with their partying. We weren´t sure what to do to get the idea across to them that they had overstayed their welcome, without being rude, so we asked Ivan what we should do and we asked Blanca, our Spanish teacher what we should do and we took their advice and poisoned our uninvited guests.

The bug spray that we used on the cockroaches (spraying in the drains of the kitchen and bathroom where they liked to hang out) was really strong (probably not permitted in Canada). In fact, I think Kent got a little poisoned himself one day. At Spanish he was really stupid, not focusing on the lesson at all. When we told Blanca what he had done she told us that after we spray we need to stay out of that room for hours. At the end of the class Kent lay on the floor on his back and waved his legs! I stamped (almost) on him! But we haven´t had any of those unwelcome visitors for a few weeks now, so hopefully they got the message and are gone for good! Poquita, the dog, was afraid of the cockroaches, but I couldn´t help thinking that Latte, our cat who stayed behind in Canada, would have enjoyed playing with the cockroaches!

One thing you can keep in your prayers is Pat Jenke´s dad who is sick in Canada. He´s 85 and has congestive heart failure and has ended up in ICU with an infected gall bladder, very low blood pressure and kidneys shutting down. Pat returned to Canada to be with her family at this time. Also keep Terry and the boys (Joel and Jonathan) in your prayers as they cope without Mom in a very busy schedule.

Another prayer request is for peace, harmony, and wisdom between the UBB and the Seminary.

Elections are coming up in Dec. 5. Evo Morales is the first indigenous Bolivian who seems to have a chance of winning, which would be good, since he wants to nationalize the natural gas, etc. so that the Bolivians benefit from their resources, but he´s pro coca (it isn´t a problem here - alcohol and glue seem to be the stimulants of choice - and is used much like we use tea or asprin) and somewhat anti-Christian. He´s more popular in the campo (country). Pray for wisdom for the people and the candidates as they form policy.

We have recently heard of two separate situations where murder was committed against inocent people (relatives of friends) and in both cases the police were paid off and the known murders were not even charged with a crime. Because the police earn so little, it is easy to buy them off. One friend, a Christian, has an amazing attutide towards his sister´s murderer. He says he has Christ´s peace in his heart, which he himself doesn´t understand and that God is just. Pray for those families and for the judicial system of Bolivia.

God bless you all and we thank you for your support, both financially and prayer. We are well aware that we are serving Christ here as your representatives.

Susan Watts

Bolivian Journal 6, September 10, 2005

Hello friends,
Welcome to Bolivian Journal edition 6 with a reflection and an anecdote to keep in touch with you.

Thus far we have been blessed with relatively good physical health. Good health was one of our prayer requests when we left and it continues to be an item for prayer. So if you have been praying your prayers have been answered and appreciated. All three of us had an initial period of adjustment to the thinner air at higher altitude. For the first while we had less energy and needed more sleep than usual. It is difficult to say when this adjustment ended but we seem to be back on track now. The Bolivian food and contaminated water sometimes cause problems for Canadian stomachs, including our own. Thus far Anna, with no reaction, has been the healthiest in this area. Susan and Kent, a couple of times, have unknowingly eaten something they shouldn´t have and been punished with a night full of trips back and forth to the bathroom. Don´t worrry I am not going to go into details for fear it might upset you too! Susan has suffered a few of days of headache sickness due to what we suspect is an allergy to msg ( it means for her: "Migraine Suffering Guaranteed"). So overall our bodies are doing well. This is so important as it enables us to enjoy and accomplish our work without the hindrance of poor health.

It has problably happened to you that through one of the multitude of little decisions and events that you realized that you are being cared for by someone much bigger than yourself.
For several days Susan had been telling me that I badly needed a haircut. I finally determined to heed her advice. I was going to meet a new acquanitance, Freddie, at La Casa de Amistad. Due to an unforseen delay I had an hour to wait until Freddie arrived for our visit together. The opportune time had arrived for the haircut. I decided to walk to Avenida Ayachucho. From our trip three years ago, I recalled there was a reasonable barbershop somewhere along this street. On my way to Ayachucho, after only less than a block, I came across three barber shops within a third of a block of one and other. For a few minutes I headed on to Ayachucho but decided to turn back and have another look. I gazed into each shop on my way past. Again I turned and strolled slowly by. The first shop looked to be the smallest and dingiest.The second one too was small but there were two barbers and a little more light.The third shop was four or five times larger than the first two put together and seated were two or three men waiting for their turn. The third shsp looked more expensive than the first two. Being a cheapskate, the possible variation in price was a factor to me. I know this is ridiculous since it would mean about a dollar one way of the other. It sounds like more to the spendthrift if you think in terms of six or seven bolivianos diffference.

I was indecisive. I hesitated. (What else is new?)I could forget the whole project, but then I had to face and deal with Susan should I return home unshorn. This could be worse than the haircut! With all the blind boldness of a stanger in a strange land (an obvious gringo foreigner and cultural idiot in the midst of native Bolivians ) I rushed in where even angels might fear to tread. The middle barbershop/peluqueria was my choice. One of barbers smiled kindly and motioned gently to me to sit until he was finished with his present work. As I sat and stared blankly at local newspaper headlines ( an announcement of yet another presidential candidate from yet another party) I heard the music coming from the shop radio. I thought I could recognize the tune but could not understand the words. It was nice music. It sounded like something I had heard earlier that week. Now it was my turn to be butchered, or rather barbered. After sterlizing his instruments by passing them through the flame of a very small torch, the barber began. The music again took my mind away. I recognized the tune and the words this time. "El es el Rey. El es el Rey." ( He is the King.He is the King.) The four or five year old boy, whom I guessed to be the barber´s son, was moving and singing with the music. "El es el Rey.El es el Rey. El es el Rey de mi vida."( He is the King. He is the King. He is the King of my life.) Hey! I imagined I was in Calama church getting my hair cut and worshipping with the Spanish congregation. The barber and I shared a some small talk about the music being Christian and where we each attended church. The haircut was done. Perfect - short all over and even, with no loose pieces. Susan would be happy.
The price was right: five bolivianos, about 75 or 80 cents Canadian. I will go back there next time. I was happy too. All went well.
But more than all this, it was one of those times. It was one of those moments of knowing I was cared for by Someone else (besides Susan that is). Jesus says: " And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." (Matthew 10:30 )

I hope you know the same blessing.

In His service,
Kent

Bolivian Journal 5, August 29, 2005

Hello folks,
Welcome to fifth edition of the Bolivian Journal.

The season of missions at Calama Baptist is an annual event that involves all four congregations, Spanish, Portuguese, Quechua and English. Each congregation is to focus message and ministries on the missions theme for each Sunday of the month of August and perhaps into September. The purpose of the season, generally, is to raise awarness of missions and specifically, to raise enough funds to help support the missionaries who have been sent out by the Bolivian Baptist Union. This past year or so is the first time the Bolivian Baptist Union has sent out their own missionaries, one to somewhere in Argentina and the other to Kurdistan. This is a big step for any denomination so the churches´ prayer and fininancial support will be put to the test.

We have just finished our season of missions at the English congregation of Calama Baptist, though the other congregations may continue for a week or two more. At Calama the month has given to congregations an opportunity to work and worship together. Last Sunday we all shared in an evening service. There was a parade the young people dressed in the different traditional outfits from the various regions of the nation.The English group gave power point presenation of their mission work: ophanages, CBM missionaries, volunteers etc.The service featured praise and worship in all four languages(not all at once thankfully !).The Portuguese praise team was terrific. Even for those of us without knowledge of the language the music and song drew us all into joyful worship. The sermon was delivered by the Portuguese pastor who for the occasion spoke in Spanish. At the close for the service we followed what seem to be international guidelines of Baptist polity and procedure by racing for and devouring all the deserts and refreshments available.

At first I wondered about the value of the missions emphasis for a whole month, but as it has turned out it has been an educational experience. The season, at least from my new perspective, has given the church an opportunity to look at hopefully evaluate itself in terms of it´s involvement in missions and then to adjust its ministry accordingly. The messages for the month of August were based on: Jonah chapter three- the renewed call to Jonah (delivered by Peter Moorehouse, and ex pat Australian who is "Dad" at an orphanage of about thirty children), Matthew 9:35-38( Christ basic motive and the disciples initial move in mission) Matthew 4:17-32 (" I will make you fishers of men."), and Matthew 28:16-20( The great claim, commission and encouragement)(delivered by yours truly).

After two months with the congregation I have come see my role as that of volunteer interim pastor. The congregation was formed four to five years ago and has survived with one or two volunteer pastors and shared leadership since that time. Considering the presence in Cochabamba of missionaries, short and longer term volunteers and Bolivians who like to learn and speak English there appears to be a potential for growth of the English fellowship. Since volunteer pastors come and go and others who have shared leadership are busy in other ministries, it looks to me as if stable, longer term , committed pastoral ministry would be one ingredient to move the church toward reaching its potential. I mention this assessment for those of you who will pray for the leadership of the church in seeking God´s guidance and wisdom in this area.

This week there is a change of pace. It has been decided that this coming Sunday there will be no English service due to the fact that Sunday September 4th is "pedestrian day" in Cochcbamba. We are told that there is no motor vehicle traffic and only pedestrians on the streets this day. This will make it difficult for most people to reach the English service. This change of pace, I hope, will allow additional time to catch up on Spanish study, to pray and to plan. The three of us have made plans to join the Spanish youth group on a overnight Saturday retreat to the jungle region a few hours to the north by north east ( I think)of Cochabamba. All we have been told so far is to take mosquito repellent. I have a nightmare of the three of us being carried off forever into the Amazon by condor sized insects. If we survive we will let you know all the details of our narrow escape.

That is all for now folks.
We appreciate your prayers.

In the Master´s service,
Kent

Watts Happenings in Bolivia 6 August 26, 2005

Dear Friends and Family,

Well, life here in Bolivia continues to be an adventure, or series of misadventures - I´m not sure which! I hope to send some photos of our apartment and Anna´s school soon (being without a computer at home I have to make an apointment with our volunteer coordinators to use one of their computers, so that I can burn a disc at the end of our time here and it seems to take forever to upload photos onto Yahoo photos).

Speaking about day to day stuff, our Hoover washer slowly died and we got another washer - a real one this time - Dennis and Judy Sherman´s old washer (does this mean we´re real missionaries now?). What a joy to put a wash through without having to stand over it and encourage it along (although we do have to make sure that the water pressure is doing OK or we have to lug water back and forth from the bathroom to the kitchen). To think my grandmothers each brought up 9 children without even cold running water. And they had to clave splits and keep a fire going, even in July (although this was Nfld. we´re talking about and there are some Julys you´d be happy enough to have a fire going!).

Last weekend I managed to get some MSG into my system (lunch out on Sunday) and was pretty out of it with a migraine for Monday and Tues. Tuesday morning I was feeling a little better and decided to put a wash through the new machine. After it was all going well I sat in the livingroom and read a book of Anna´s by a Canadian author with a time travel theme. I was comparing it to other time travel books and thinking about what a great way to introduce kids to historical fiction, which is a great intro into various social studies topics when I was snatched back from Neerlandia to Cochabambia with Kent yelling something about "FLOOD"! When I looked up the kitchen, hallway, diningroom and Kent´s study were "decks awash"! Kent had been working on his sermon and noticed water at his feet and thought the dog had paid a visit! What a great washing maching we have - it does floors, too! I always wanted a self-cleaning kitchen. Thank God for the drain in the floor, tile floors and that we´re on the first storey of the building.

I´m working away at cataloging the books into the computer. It´s going slowly, since I´ve cataloguing with a Spanish/English dictionary in one hand and a OCLC Dewey Rules in Spanish in the other (so you can see that doesn´t leave too many hands for typing, sricking on labels, etc.). Most of the cataloging is original (in more than one sense) since hardly any of the book´s records are online at the National Library of Canada or Library of Congress, although sometimes I can get an English record of a tanslated book and then I translate it.

Today in the Seminary staff meeting I talked about how important it was for them to have a permanent librarian and they decided to hire someone by Feburary so that I can train her in the last months I´m here. Hallelujah! This is a major breakthrough (instead of the major breakdown I though I might have)!

Anna´s really glad to be back at school (and how many 13 year olds do you know that are glad to be at school 3 weeks early?) and strating to make some new friends, but you know adolescent girls (and if you don´t there´s another thing to be thankful for!) - they´re not the easiest group to break into. Luckily Anna is pretty outgoing. She´s finding that they pile on the homework at Carachipampa (I agree - there seems to be LOTS more homework than PCS secondary junior grades), but then again she doesn´t have soccer, piano, dance, youth group, and afterschool sports (yet).

I´m finding it a bit weird to have Anna go off to school without me. It´s different not knowing all the teachers and their quirks (really picky about homework, likes absolute obedience or can get away with a smart answer now and again, don´t ever ask to use the washroom, get him telling stories and you´re set for a free period, etc.). She has about a forty minute bus ride in the morning, but has been using her time wisely - getting to know most of the people on the bus!

Last week we had the Jenke males up for supper (Pat is still in Canada enjoying family and getting Emily settled at university) and a couple that had shown up at church the previous Sunday. I´m being the good pastor´s good wife as well as the librarian, as you can see. The couple Joan (the guy) and Gerdine are here from ..... 10 points for guessing Holland ... to adopt a sweet baby boy Joaquin. Things seem to be going slowly for them with the adoption and they´re pretty lonely. Please keep them in your prayers, that the adoption won´t drag on too long. I can´t get away from those forthright Dutchmen, even in Bolivia! Meeting them made me miss my collegues at Pacific Christian School even more!

Bolivia never ceases to amaze me with all the contrasts between old and new. In Cochabamba there´s an internet cafe (although I´ve never seen a cup of coffee at one) on practically every block but there still isn´t a laundromat to be found - there´s a business opportunity for someone! On Saturday we took the teleferico up to the Cristo de la Concordia - the primary tourist attraction in Cochabamba - and had a picnic at the top. We climbed up to Jesus´ arms inside the statue and then walked down the hill. The contrast? On the way up in the teleferico in our gondola, there was a woman in traditional costume with her little boy, and a young couple, who like moist young couples in Cochabamba were very interested in each other. A cell phone rang. Traditional woman took her cell out of her basket and proceeded to give a play by play of our journey up. Too bizzare!

Our tourist adventure cost all of $2.00 for the three of us.Here´s the Cristo (we live at the base of the hill, near the teleferico, right side of the picture):

Bless you all,
Susan

Watts Happenings in Bolivia 5 August 11, 2005

Dear Friends and Family,

Can you believe that we´ve been here for over 5 weeks already?¿? We´re quite settled into life here in Bolivia and have our routines.

I have finished weeding the library !¡! - well, at least finished those things that were catalogued and on the shelves - there are still stacks of old newspapers and magazines and English novels that need sorting and throwing out, but I´ll work on that bit by bit. The important thing was to get the catalogue cleaned up. Raul, our computer wiz, has gotten Windows 2003 from somewhere (I don´t ask too many questions) and now the Follett library programme is installed and I´m cataloguing like a mad fiend (or relatively pleasant Christian!). My hope (prayer request alert!!) is that by Feburary, when this term ends, I´ll have most of the catalogue on the computer and have enough Spanish that I´ll be able to train someone on the Follett programme. I am hoping that they will be able to hire a Bolivian - not just a student - to take over. A library needs a librarian that sticks around for a while to see it develop.


Carachipampa High School

Anna is having a much more happy time. Her friend Rachel Fuller, whom she had been emailing is now back from Canada and they´ve already had a sleepover at our place. Anna had to go out to Carachipampa school to write a Math exam and some sort of English evaluation. She was worried because she didn't remember doing multiplying with negatives (no, I don´t either!) in grade 7 and that was on the test, but I´m sure she did fine.There she met Rachel Fuller, whom she had been emailing and is now back from Canada.

They´ve already had a sleepover at our place with a trip to the beauty salon to have manicures and pedicures, complete with little flowers - for about $3.50 each! Anna sure enjoyed having a girl to hang out with and we sure enjoyed hearing those girly giggles (although, Mom the crab got a bit tired of it at 1:30 am!). Anna was invited to Hans and Gracella Ellen´s son´s birthday party and Rachel went along, too. Anna was impressed that she was invited to a grade 12 boy´s party!! We had a coffee (Tim Hortons secret stash) with Rachel´s parents. Boy did it taste good. My coffee maker needs a ring (I haven´t braved finding that in La Concha yet!) and I´ve been drinking Nescafe. And you know what they say about Nescafe - No es cafe (it´s not coffee). Anna´s off to our Bolivian friend Sara´s tonight for another sleepover and tomorrow she´s going with her to her church where they´ll dress up in Amara clothes for a ceremony. She´s got her camera so I´m hoping she´ll get some good pictures to share with you. School starts on Monday and the school truffi (van/bus) will pick her up at the Seminary gate. Tuesday is a holiday because of Urkipina - a holiday where the moon worshippers climb a certain mountain to get a stone from a hill out by the school to bring home. There will be parades and dancing and costumes and drinking galore. And there´s something about an appearance of the Virgin mixed in with it - Bolivian Catholicism has a lot of old paganism thrown in.

On last Friday night we had a couple of families from the English congregation at Calama for supper (very tasty - supper not the families!). I acheived a chocolate cheese cake in our strange gas oven (ever tried to mix cheese cake batter in a blender?)! It turned out that both husbands were engineers. Saul, who is a semi-retired prof at the university here (the 2nd PHD they had in the engineering dept) has spent a lot of time travelling around the country giving speeches about what uses Bolivia´s natural gas could be put to, rather than giving it away to the international companies (from Spain, France and Brazil) - gas (which everyone uses to cook with), deisel, plastics, fertilizer, etc. As he told the people:"My students know how to make these things". His wife said that one of the reasons there was the political unrest this spring is because Saul had made the speeches and people now know what could be done with the gas, if the polititians weren't pocketing kickbacks from the international companies. Saul asked Kent if he thought a Christian should be involved in politics. He has been asked to run for the elected Senate as an independent. Isn´t that exciting? Election is in Nov. sometime so please keep that in your prayers. Someone said that Bolivia is a beggar sitting on a throne of gold. She has wonderful natural resources (gas, tin, copper, silver, gold, iron ore, etc.), the people are hard workers, but because of political mismanagement Bolivia is the poorest country in South America, the people have the shortest life expectancy and the highest deathrate amongst newborns.

Last Sunday Anna played her clarninet and I sang and played the guitar for communion. I love it when we do music stuff together! It reminds me of being a kid and Mom on the pump organ, Carter on guitar and Johnson on mouth organ and accordian (I got to hold up the mouth organ). I wonder if we can learn `Petty Harbour Bait Skiff´ (it would speed up giving out communion!)?

God is good and we are glad to be here in Bolivia serving Him.
Blessings and Love,
Susan Watts

Bolivian Journal 4 August 11, 2005

Welcome friends to Bovlivian Journal 4. In this edition I will report on one special evening.

On Sunday evening, August 7, I accepted an invitation from pastor Antonio to go with him to his church, Shaddai Baptist Church. The journey would take us forty kilometres out of town from where we live. Antonio, a grandfather, has pastored for ten years and is attending and residing at the Seminary. At 7:OO pm we caught a trufi and headed out. A trufi is a van that seats sixteen and sometimes more people and stops whenever and wherever anyone wants to get on or off. As we journeyed along in the darkness (remember it is dark, with little or no twilight, very soon after the sun sets at about 6:OO) Antonio, who speaks Quechua and Spanish but no English, leaned over and told me that I would address the congregation that evening. I think he used the Spanish word to preach but I wouldn´t let myself even consider the possibility. I just shook may head,smiled at him, laughed in unbelief. I secretly persuaded myself that I had the right to remain silent. The further we travelled the poorer in appearance became our surroundings. The trufi stopped in the proverbial "middle of nowhere". I followed Antonio in dark night, up a rough dirt path, over a ditch or two, alongside a field to a couple of buildings. Antonio identified one building as his casita/ small house. The church building, the ground floor of this house, a room approximately 15 feet wide and 45 feet long. Making our way around a couple of children and dogs, we stepped out of the darkness and into the light. The room was full of 35 to 40 people patiently waiting for pastor Antonio to arrive. After a few handshakes and smiles and an offer to sit "upfront", I quietly slipped in to be seated beside a quiet looking man in the second row. The worship leader commenced to lead the congregation in singing. I figured I might recognize some of the songs until I realized that all the singing, complete with hymnbook, would be in Quechua. Thankfully everyone was clapping out the beat and so I was able to blend in, and even hide myself in the group, by clapping along with them. I felt a little more relaxed when I recognized one song as " I have decided to follow Jesus". I sensed the presence of the Lord in this simple, sincere worship. After the music there seemed to be a series of announcements and then a time of open prayer. I guessed the sermon would be next. What else was there? As I listened I understood the worship leader to say that he now called upon pastor Kent (Kint) (me) to come "upfront" and speak to the congregation. Everyone spoke Quechua and everyone spoke Spanish but no one but Kent spoke English. For a moment I thought I could just remain glued to me seat and they would understand my shyness and proceed with the rest of the service. Then I realized the my embarrassment at staying seated and probably being rude would surpass the embarrassment I would feel in trying to speak English to Quechua and Spanish ears, minds and hearts. Before I knew it and apart from my will I was on my feet, upfront, facing an eager, expectant and friendly looking congregation. (aren´t they all?). The next thing I knew and to my astonishment I heard a man speaking in broken Spanish, yet none the less Spanish, saying something like: " It is a good night here.I am from Canada. I live at the Seminary near to brother (every male is a hermano/brother in Bolivia) Antonio. I am a Chistian. My wife is a Christian. My daughter is a Christian. My daughter Anna is thirteen years old. God bless you." Noticing the surprised and somewhat amused faces of the congregation I sat down amazed at the wonders of God. Next Antonio delivered the sermon, based on verses 27-31 in chapter 40 of Isaiah. With the familiar text I was able to catch the drift of the message. Well,I thought, now there is probably a final song and then the benediction. Wonders never cease! Now I heard the worship leader once more saying that pastor Kent would now adress the congregation again, this time in English. I wasn't to be let of the hook so easily. What more did they want from me? I looked pleadingly at Antonio and shook my head from side to side, a gesture that I was sure meant no! in any language. Antonio just looked at me kindly, grinned and gently motioned toward the place beside the pulpit where I had previously stood. I obeyed. This time should have been no problem. After all I had spoken their language, surely now I could speak mine. I hesitated, then opened my mouth and said again in Spanish:"No recuerdo ingles." ( I don´t remember English.), which at this moment was the absolutely true. After this icebreaker I said first in Spanish and then (translating? for whom? myself?) in English something like: "My God is your God. We have the same God, the same Jesus Christ, the same Holy Spirit.God bless you. Many thanks for this night." I sat down again. From whom did those words come from? I now know. The music started up. We sang again and then, you might have guessed it, pastor Kent was to come forward again. This time I was greeted and embraced by every member of the congregation as they sang a bienvenidos hermano/ welcome brother song.

Antonio's Grandson on the Seminary grounds

After a time of mixing and mingling in conversation the service has officially come to a close. Antonio led me through the Bolivian night back down the path to the main highway. We soon were on a trufi again and on our way back to the Seminary. As Antonio and I sat in silence, this time I leaned over to him and said "Dios es bueno!" What else could I say? I trust you agree.

Dios les bengiga,
Kent

Bolivian Journal 3 August 6, 2005

Welcome to the third edition of the Bolivian Journal with a few lines to keep you up to date on our adventure of ministry.

We continue to go Spanish three days a week. We are doing ok in our lessons but believe it or not it more difficult to find real life situations in which to practice. The contacts we have here tend to speak English when they are with us. It doesn't come naturally to walk up to someone and have a meaningful conversation asking: ´´ Tiene un foto album? (Do you have a photo album)Como te llama tu tia? (What is the name of your aunt) Que quiere comprar? (What do you wish to buy)Donde es el partido de futbol? ´´ (Where is the soccer game)(sorry I forgot the upside down question marks at the beginning of the Spanish question.) And then if and when they should answer you say with enthusiasm and a rich accent: ´´Que bueno!´´ (How good) The other day in class in response to a situation in which someone was supposed to shouting at me I was to respond: " Why are you shouting at me? I am not deaf(sordo)." Instead,awaking from my day dream, I answered " Why are you shouting at me? I am not fat (gordo)." The teacher, Susan, Anna and I had a good laugh at my expense. Despite these obstacles we are still studying in the hope that someday we will be able to discuss which library book they want or if they would like to come to the English service and speak English for a change. Que es la vida!
Last Saturday night we had the privilege being treated to a farewell meal by and for the volunteer ministry team from Stanley Park Church in Kitchener Ontario. I know now that Vancouver has not exclusive rights to the name.The team of nine members included two families, two teen young ladies, and one retired pastor by the name of Ron Watson. Ron had served in various locations including Dryden, Ont. and had also been area minister in Ont. at one point. It is no suprise that Ron knows Oshiro's and via this email passes on his greeting to Tom and Vi. It is a small world. The team was here for eighteen days and helped out with construction and finishing a new sanctuary at "Luz del Christo" church. On "off" days they ministered to childrens classes, attended services, shared testimony, pitched in with the baby washing downtown, became oriented in Cochabamba and took a weekend trip to La Paz and First Baptist. Oh yes they also worshipped with the English congregation at Calama Baptist. The Canadian Baptist volunteers enrich the ministry here in Bolivia and go home spiritually enriched themselves.

Puerto Madero

Back to the dinner with the team, it was voted into the category of " the best meal I've ever had", by both Susan and Kent. We went to the "Puerto Madero" and enjoyed a buffet with several separate cooking stations at which the dish your choice was individually prepared over flaming burners before your very eyes. The meal was soooo good and the sights, sounds and smells of the cooking fascinating.

Begining last Sunday, running through August and into September, all four congregations at Calama Baptist are celebrating the their annual season of missions. The theme each Sunday for each of the congreations ( Spanish, Quechua, Portuguese, English) is, of course. missions. On August 21 in evening service we will come together to share in worship and a light meal following. This past Sunday our Canadian Baptist missionary, Terry Janke, preached at the Spanish morning service. He based the message on John 15:8, the overall theme verse for the missions season. We know Terry and his wife Pat from centuries ago when we attended Acadia Divinity college. Pat is currently away helping to lead worship for the womens meeting at the Baptist World Alliance conferences in Birmingham. It was wonderful to hear Terry preach in Spanish and notice the attentive congregation. We actually caught more of the Spanish message than usual since Terry's Spanish is not a rapid or heavily accented as most that we hear.

Calama Teens wearing costumes frrom the various parts of Bolivia

I have attended my first meeting with the steering committee of the English congregation. It a taken a while to get to the first meeting since the members of the group all have busy shedules and some have been in North America for a summer furlough. Although I have been preaching for the Sundays in August I now have a little better picture of what role the committee expects me to take. As one member of the committee put it, I think lightheartedly,:"basically, we are dumping it all on you." Rather than taking that to mean that the church absolutely had to grow from twenty to five hundred in less than six months or I would be fed to the llamas, I understood that to mean that they are happy to have someone, anyone, to serve in the area of pastoral ministry. Even so I would prefer not be fed to the llamas.After listening to the Sanhedrin, I mean the committee, I have gathered that they hope I will able to keep track of and follow up on the stray sheep who wander into the service and to keep them in the fold. This scenario reminds me of the early stages of church planting way back in the Maritimes. I continue to enjoy the discipline and hard work of prayer and the ministry of the Word. The steering committee has been used to carrying this load themselves so they seem glad to let me preach and yet at the same time they want and are willing to share in this ministry. In July the messages each Sunday were based on one of the first four (120-124)pilgrim psalms(120-135). The beginning our pilgrimage seemed a logical place to start, but for now we will leave these psalms, perhaps to return to them later. In August the season of missions will determine the theme of the Sunday messages. For now, I have in mind some passages in Matthew´s gospel ( the call to be fishers of men Mt. 4, Jesus' compassion for the multitudes and the discipes charge to pray for workers to be sent out Mt. 9, and the Great Commission Mt. 28) but will wait and see how this unfolds.

This week Susan and I went with Anna to Carcachipampa Christian School for some entry level tests to measure Anna`s abilities in English and Math. All new students are required to take the tests so that the school has some idea of the raw material they are dealing with. While Anna was busy I had some time to sit in the sun, sip some coffee, devour a bread roll and casually meet some of the staff members and parents. After the tests Anna was excited to meet her new friend and classmate Rachel. What a difference a friend makes to a teenager. As it turned out Anna spent the day with Rachel and then in the evening joined the youth group for more new friendships and a night of snacks and lazer tag. Classes at Carachipampa are scheduled to begin on August 17 and once they begin life will be faster and fuller for Anna.
Last night hosted a the Ramirez family and the Escaldero's (a couple , though I am not positive about the last name) from Calama Baptist. Susan displayed her usual culinary and hospitality skills and fed all, as she would put it, "within an inch of their lives". It was a enjoyable occasion of getting to know people in a little more depth than over coffee after Sunday service. I am reminded again that there is a connection between knowing people at a deeper than a surface level and offering appropriate ministry to them.

There is more to share but I will save this until next time. Many thanks for you interest in and support of this ministry.


Stay in touch. We appreciate your notes.
Love in Christ,
Kent

Watts Happenings in Bolivia 4 - July 29, 2005

Dear Family and Friends,
¡Hola from Bolivia!

Well, what's new since last time? We've started our Spanish lessons with Blanca de la Rosa (really her name!) who is an older woman who has taught for 30 years. She came well recommended by Pat and Terry Janke and Dennis and Judy Sherman. She keeps us strictly on task (which we like) but is able to have a laugh now and then. For example one day as we were going over masculine and feminine nouns (like French, but makes a bit more sense) she was telling us that most nouns that end in a are feminine and most that end in o are masculine. But she then went on to tell us that contrary to the rules, el problema is masculine and la solution is feminine! It's a ton of work - one hour classes three days a week and LOTS of homework! Anna isn't enjoying homework on summer holidays, and I must say there are other things I'd rather be doing (root canal, for instance), but we are learning slowly. It's not very meaningful yet, though. As Anna said, how likely are we to have a big conversation with someone about what colour shoes we're going to buy! Poco a poco!

Blance de la Rosa in front of her casa blanca!

In the library, I'm weeding away and am about 2/3 of the way through. Today it was books of sermons in English by ministers I've never heard of on obscure "relevant for the day" topics. OUT! Ruthless! I also keep coming across bizzare cataloguing - where are Eve and Cidalia (my PCS library aides - yes I have aides!) when I need them ?¿? Hopefully having a well deserved holiday!

Raul (computer guru) hasn't yet gotten the Follett (library) programme on the computer yet, this time because the programme needs Windows 2003 and the computer doesn't have it and it'll cost about $300.00 US and no one has come up with programme or money yet. Hopefully it will all come together soon because I want to get the catalogue on the computer as soon as possible and get someone trained to take over.

Shopping is always an experience here. For fruit I can rely on the fruit man who comes every day wheeling a huge cart of bananas, pineapple, oranges and papaya, announcing what he has through a loudspeaker. If we could live on bananas (25 for 5 bolivianos - less than a dollar) we'd afford to bring back lots of beautiful alpaca sweaters! For vegetables we can get them at Friday's market outside the Seminary where there are two blocks worth of stalls set up on both sides of the Avenue. We look the other way as we pass the meat stalls, or I think we might become vegetarians but Poquito the little dog, likes bones from the market. This market sells mostly fruit, vegetables, cleaning products. The next step up is the supermarket, where, for a price, you can buy mostly anything. We get our meat here and any "treats", rice, pasta, milk, etc. With it all evened out, groceries are about 1/3 to 1/2 cheaper than home. When we want to buy anything else (embroidery thread, a frying pan, a bedside light, an alarm clock that doesn't work - they don't seem to have Sears return policy!) we head to La Concha - 10 city blocks by 10 - a veritable rabbit warren of little stalls.

Spice Seller

Kent's favorite activity is not shopping (too many years of doing gift wrapping in the malls!) so to find some of the more obscure things in the market we called on our Bolivia friend Sara to come to our aid. She whirled Anna and I round the market and we christened the new cookware that evening and invited her for supper. Another time we were down there as a family looking for a tablecloth (we had a team of volunteers that was here from Kitchner ON and some other friends in for supper and I wanted the table to look a little better than it usually does) and we wandered into the crafts part of the market - witchcraft! There were dead llama fetus and dead amadillos and people with bells and soap and flower offerings and lots more but Anna was so grossed out at the hanging animals that we hurried through. Although we are enjoying being around the students and profs from the seminary, there is a lot of spiritual darkness in Bolivia. Pachemama is still a big spiritual influence.

We're enjoying having people in for meals and getting to know new friends and reaquainting ourselves with old friends. Sara (who's in her 20's) has been very kind to Anna and has let her hang out with her and some other girls from the seminary. School starts soon so things will get better for her soon.

God bless you all and thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.
We love to get emails!

Susan Watts

Bolivian Journal 2 July 15, 2005

Hello Friends and welcome to the second ediion of the Bolivian Journal,

Anna and I are stationed at the Seminary library msn-ing and emailing. It is good to hear the bits and pieces of news from home. Thus far I haven´t been homesick but the exhange of news on the email may be part of the reason I have been spared this little trial. All is going well with us. Today, Saturday July 10, we visted a small (capacity of eight one to four year olds -all boys) Christian orphange recently initiated and backed by an American missionary family, Mike and Bonnie Timmer and five daughters. The Timmers spontaneously acknowledged their indebtness and gratitude to Dennis and Judy Shierman for befriending them and directly them to some influential contacts to get the orphange ministry started. There are some sad stories behind those big dark Bolivian children´s eyes. One infant was the son of a thirteen year old who was a concubine of an older man. When she became pregnant he rejected her. After the birth she showed up at the orphanage saying that she couldn´t be responsible for what might happen to the baby. The orphanage took in the boy and the mother has not been seen since.

Mike and the orphanage house parents

Tomorrow we are planning on going to the Plaza Principal in the afternoon to participate or at least observe the Saturdy afternoon at 4:30 baby washing ministy. Well, tomorrow has come and gone and we have attended the baby washing. It is an amazing street ministry. The mothers and their children, infants to seven or eight year olds, were waiting in the plaza when we arrived. From what I can gather these mothers and children are indigenous people from villages or countryside around Bolivia. They have come to the city to ``seek their fortune´´ and try to escape the poverty of their previous locations. The dream doesn´t work out and they end up living and sleeping on the streets begging. As we waited for the washing there were volunteer mission teams that appeared on the scene. One team of Anglicans put on a puppet show with Bible stories for the children. My eyes were not on the puppets, but on children who were taking in everything they saw and heard. Pray that seeds are planted and will one day grow. The puppeteers then turn their efforts to passing out Christian tracts among the adults relaxing in the Plaza.Eventually the organizers of the event arrived and got to work. With a variation of a Coleman camp stove water was heated. This, for the mothers is a big bonus. The word quickly spreads that there is ``agua caliente´´.Soon a metal frame and plasitc cover were put up to make a tent. Volunteers, dirty little one and some mothers enter one end of the tent and emerge in a few minutes out the other end, clean and smiling. Out side the older children and mothers wash, comb and braid their hair. Anna helped out as she could and would like to return, especially once the North American vacation season is over and there are fewer volunteers. She experieced the volunteer´s dilema of having all the willingness in the world yet not having enough to do. As the washing continues the children and mothers are given a plastic cup of milk drink and a bread bun. As probably almost everywhere in the world there are some candy bags handed out.As the event draws to a close organizers, volunteers, mothers and children head ``home´´ for the night. On the one hand this is a wonderful street ministry to the poor, but on the other hand, what do you think, is it enough? Oh yes, one added surprise to the afternoon was that we unexpectedly met our Bolivian friend Pache who we initially met three years ago in our summer ministry here. He is doing well, being involved in ministry and attending Maranathachurch. We promised each other we would connect again soon.

Sunday moring July 10 is a bit of a shock to our systems. We are accustomed to getting up on Sunday morning when we are ready, having a leisurely and usually late (late not latte) coffee and breakfast, doing devotions, reading, playing and relaxing and then heading to the Seed for a 1:15 worship service. This, on its own, is no problema. The shock comes here in Cochbamba when at 5:00 or it may be 6:00 in the morning the at the Catholic church a couple of blocks away the bells begin to ring to call the people to mass. What a great alarm clock! For some! After another bit of sleep or at least one eye closed we tumble out of bed to shower, grab a quick coffee or juice and maybe a roll and around 8:35 take a cab to Calama Baptist to be well ahead of time for the 9:00 am service. After all this the sermon is based on Psalm I20 which begins: ``I call on the Lord in my distress....´´ It spoke to me. I don't know how we will ever readjust to worship at the Mustard Seed unless we join the crew who sleep in the doorways and are always super early for Sunday service. More serioiusly, we are enjoying worship at the Calama English service. Susan joined Patricia Janke and Bonnie Timmmer in leading praise and worship. We were joined by a short term mission team of twenty - mothers and daughters- again from Willow Creek Church in Chicago. It is hard to tell yet but it is my hope and prayer there may be some curioisity on the part of Bolivians who are interested in attending a English service. Yes, the text for the sermon really was Psalm 120, the first the Psalms of Ascent or Pilgrim Psalms. It seemed a reasonable place to start to lead us to reflect on our Pilgrimage as God´s people. I am enjoyng the challenge, hard work and spiritual discipline ( not least in terms of application to my own life) of regular preaching. Please pray that God use His word to convict, convert and strengthen His people. I have yet to meet with the stearing committee due to their complex schedules, but in the meantime have made some local contacts. This Sunday I have been invited and agreed to go with Antonio, a Seminary student and local pastor, to the evening service at one of the churches that he pastors. The is a small one on or past the edge of the city somewhere. Antonio speaks both Quechua and Spanish but has assured me that the service will be in Spanish - a very small comfort to me. Also I have reconnected with Umberto who is active in Overseas Mission leadership. He tells me that Bolivian Baptists have missionaries in two countries.

At Calama church this past Sunday we are reminded by a couple of young fellows that there was a professional soccer game between the two best teams in Cochabama that afternoon at the local stadium. Anna, being a soccer player and I, being an experienced soccer father decided to go and see what it was all about. After avoiding the ticket scalpers and making our way by the police or military ( they are hard to tell apart) at the gate we walked up the tunnel to find the entrance to some unreserved seats. As we emerged from the tunnel we joined a near full stadium of an estimated ten to fifteen thousand fans complete with bands, banners, competing team colors, food and souvenier vendors. At her first soccer game with this attendance, which was slightly different from fifteen or twenty parents straggled along the sidelines at Braefoot Park ,Anna´s eyes were open wide and all she could say was ``WHOA!´´ It was a thriller of a game with Aurora coming back from 1-0 game in favor of Wilsterman at the half to beat them 2-1 at the final whistle. It as a valuable time of cultural immersion witnessing the Latin passion of the players and fans. We couldn´t understand a single word that the man a couple of rows back was yelling but Anna thought that they at least sounded like `bad words´´.
This week at the Seminary,Brian Stelck, Principal of Carey College in Vancouver, is teaching a course to a class of Bolivian and missionary leaders. This is the second course that Carey has offered here in a new program to offer its Doctor of Ministry program to students in Bolivia. The students will have to one or two courses at Carey in order to satisfy official requirements. This arrangement is an exciting new link between Bolivian and Canadian Christian advanced education and leadership development. Pray for the future of this endeavor.

We are scheduled to begin Spanish lessons next week. The three of us will begin together, but Anna will take hers as part of her grade 8 course once school starts in mid August. I am hoping that we will quickly be able pick up some elementary Spanish so that we can broaden deepen our communication with the Bolivians.

Well, my friends, that is it for the second edition of the Bolivain Journal. Keep us in your prayers and stay in touch.

Dios les bendiga,
Kent, Susan and Anna

Watts Happenings in Bolivia 3 July 15, 2005

Dear Friends and Family,

The internet has been down at the Seminary and between this and that I haven´t gotten to an internet cafe this week so here´s my update for the week!

The work in the library is coming along well - the Reference Section is weeded and the shelves are cleaned, and Elizabeth has pulled the cards from the catalogue. We´ll probably try to sell the discarded books for a few bolivanos each (1B = 18cents). Anyone want a 1943 Britannica? I´m sure if it were easier there are a few I could sell on eBay, but with the Bolivian postal system, I´m sure I won´t try. I´ve gotten throught the 100´s - Philosophy and Psychology, for those of you who don´t do Dewey-speak - and am on to the largest section of our Seminary library: the 200´s or Religion. I haven´t seen Raul this week (our resident computer guy) so I´m not sure how he´s doing with getting the Library programme onto the computer. They were messing around with trying to patch together some more memory for the server. The computers in the seminary are pretty miserable. I think that is a real need here - most of the students wouldn´t have any access to a computer except through here or an internet cafe, which seems cheap to us but would be dear to them, so these computers get well used for students doing research and typing up papers.
There have been a couple of Doctorate of Ministry courses being offered at the Seminary these last two weeks from Carey College (Regent at UBC), so even though there are no students around because it´s their 3 week break between terms, there have been lots of Profs and some of the hierarchy with the UBB (Bolivian Baptist Union) around to chat with on break. We´re hoping to start our Spanish course next week which will be good because my chatting skills are pretty limited right now! I can answer: Where are you from?, How long are you here for?, What are you doing here? and Do you want to buy this ____? Fill in the blank with some unwanted item.

Someone asked what our living accomodation was like - we´re living on the campus of the Seminary in an apartment. In our building there is another apartment upstairs and some single bedrooms for students, as well as a recreation room with a foosball game which backs on to our bedrom! We have 2 bedrooms and a study for Kent, a kitchen (all coucacracha now gone), a living room/diningroom and a bathroom (although why I call it a bathroom when there is no bathtub, I´m not sure!). We have cold running water and a toilet that you can´t put toilet paper in. I have a Hoover washer (small tub that washes about 7 items of clothing at a time and then you put it into the spinner to get the water off) and lots of clothesline (the clothes sure smell better than Bounce!). The floors of the apartment are ceramic tile which is chilly now that it´s winter but will be nice and cool in the summer) and the walls are stucco. As we clean and begin to accummulate a few items it starts to feel and smell more like home.

We are having lots of casual interaction with people on campus that wouldn´t be happening if we were stuck off in some nice house like we were last time. For example, the other day at coffee break one of the profs introduced us to an older man and woman and their daughter who had come down from the altiplano to see a doctor and to get some proper id for one of the women. The prof is originally from near their village. It took them a day travelling on the back of a truck to get to Cochabamba from their village. Since they had to wait around for the prof to be finished class before he could help them we invited them over to our apartment. They spoke mainly Quechua, but the daughter spoke pretty good Spanish. The father told us he was hungry, so I cooked up some chicken and veggies I had around (I miss my microwave!) and served it with some tea and bread and butter. Pedro, the dad, enjoyed the butter best of all, I think - he reminded me of my dad, in that he like to eat the butter like cheese! They have about 30 sheep and 3 cows (not with them!) and grow some potatoes and barley. After they had been in the house a while I realized that there was a baby in the younger woman´s bundle she had on her back. The baby was only one month old and sooo cute!. Once I find a computer that I can put the pictures on I´ll send those along and you´ll see for yourselves why I had a hard time giving the baby back to the mom! That whole exereience reminded me of being a little girl at home in Nfld and people I didn´t know coming to our house from "around the bay" and Mom breaking open a bottle of rabbit to feed them. I only wish I had half the gift of hospitality my Mom did! A few bottles of rabbit would come in handy - especially without a microwave!

Oh, here´s our "Stupidido" story for the week! Kent and Anna met two girls around Anna´s age that are kids of students here at the seminary (many of the students are older and are pastors of smaller churches around Cochabamba). They told me that one of the girls was named "Dos-Marie", which I thought was pretty stange because that means Two-Mary! I asked what the older girl´s name was - Uno-Marie (One Mary)!? Later in the week I met the two girls and it turned out her name was Rose-Marie! Of course we´ve refered to her as Dos Marie and the older girl (Eunice - sounds a lot different in Spanish - EE oo neez) as Uno-Marie ever since. Eunice came over one evening for supper and hung out with Anna for the evening. We´re playing a lot more crib, Uno and Dominoes than we ever do at home!

Blessings on you all and thank you for your prayer support. Pray that we´ll be a blessing to those around us and that the computer programme will work!

Love,
Susan, Kent and Anna Watts