NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

Living where we do in the city, we face the reality of death as we have a funeral home as a neighbor. In our culture, for the more wealthy, there is a funeral procession behind the hearse for the length of our block. A band sometimes follows playing a dirge like melody. It is a constant reminder that people enter eternity every day. Some enter into eternal life, but so many face eternal death. Please continue to pray for us as forge ahead in language and culture study. We are so burdened for the people here and want to explain clearly the joy we can have when we lose a loved one instead of the sorrow of losing them forever.

I think of that quote from Romeo and Juliet…”What’s in a Name?  That which we call a rose by any other name would smell so sweet.”

As we continue to adapt and learn new cultural things, one thing in which I’ve had to succumb is a name change.  Obviously, different languages are going to pronounce names differently and when my parents decided to call me Julie…they had no idea that I would one day be serving in a Latin American country.   They all had “J” names and didn’t know that the Spanish language pronounces a “J” like an “H”.  For John, it’s not too grave as John is pronounced “Huan”.  But I didn’t really like the sound of Hulie.  However, the “J” sound is common in some names so people do know how to pronounce a “J”.  When it comes to writing my name…that’s when it becomes more of a challenge.  If written like I write it, it would be pronounced, “Ju-lee-eh”.  Since Spanish is a very phonetic language, and things are written as they sound…I usually see my name, “July”.  Now, for me, that’s the month that we are entering…Not my name!  Isn’t funny how attached we can be to a simple spelling…but it is yet another adjustment.  Sometimes I’ll sign my name Juli because it is pronounced the same and that seems to sit a bit better that July.  Well, that’s how it goes, huh.  Just thought some of you may get a kick out of the “little” things that we deal with from day to day.

Alpha-Omega
Click on the title “Alpha-Omega” to check out Bolivian music and dance!

The convenience of life here is fleeting as we grow more accustomed to our new environment.  Yesterday, we were trying to find staples for a staple gun.  They are 3/8″ size and some told us are sold in a bookstore.  We went to several large bookstores and were told to go to a hardware store.  After 3 hours of walking, asking in about 10 different stores and accomplishing other errands as we went, we still found none.  At least we were able to find some other items for the house, and get plenty of exercise while doing it!

NTM recently made this video available and we wanted to share it with you.  It gives a tribal person’s perspective.  We hope you find it educational as well as a good reminder to continue to pray for those who have yet to hear the truth and those missionaries working to make it possible for them to hear.

This is the mode of transportation we typically use to and from language school.

The trufi is the other form of transporation that is widely used in Cochabamba.  A trufi is a 15 passenger van that travels a set route.  Each has a number displayed in the front windshield.  Just like the micro, there is no set schedule.  You simply wait by the side of the road and when your number trufi comes along, you flag it down with your hand.  If it is full, the chofer just keeps driving and you wait for the next one to come along.  Sometimes there are two or three within minutes and other times you may end up waiting for about 10 minutes.  It all depends.  Each one way trip in the trufi costs 1 boliviano 50 centavos per person (or about 21 cents).  It’s a very economical way to get around, especially if we are alone.  When the 5 of us need to go somewhere, it’s often difficult to find enough space for all of us, so it’s more ecconomical at times to take a taxi (about 10 bolivianos).

As most of you know, we’ve been asked to use public transportation in order to better understand Bolivian culture and how the majority of Bolivians live.  We wanted to share 2 methods of transportation to which we’ve become accustomed.

First…the Micro (pronounced mee-croh)

The Micro is a medium sized bus that is generally brightly colored with red, white, and blue.  Each has a letter on the front.  Each letter stands for a different route.  We generally use the micro “S” which comes about 1 block from our house and can take us “downtown” or any number of places that we generally visit during the week.  There are no scheduled stops.  To get on, you stand somewhere along the route and flag the driver.  To get off, you simply say, “At the corner, please” or “I’m going to get off, please”.  Most times, we take this bus to the main road (the avenida) and connect with a trufi (true-fee…look for definition in the next post).  Sometimes the micros will be rather empty and other times, we find ourselves packed in like sardines.  It usually depends on the time of day. Hope this gives you a little more insight as to our daily life.