John and Julie Meyers Serving in Bolivia with New Tribes Mission Birthday Girl
Bekah had the privilege of being the first member of our family to celebrate a birthday in Bolivia. I (Julie) surprised her at school with a cake from a popular bakery in Cochabamba. Later in the evening we were going to head out for pizza around 6:00 p.m. and then to a park. At 5:15 we received a call from a friend that she and her children wanted to come and surprise Bekah and wish her a Happy Birthday…around 6:00 p.m. OK! These are friends of Bekah’s, so we decided to change our plans and wait. At 6:15 p.m. Reiny came with her children and surprised Bekah with cupcakes. What a wonderful treat. We shared the cupcakes and a visit together and decided to still head out for pizza aournd 7:15 p.m. Reiny left and we headed out to get into our taxi and our other friends, Ivan and Ely showed up. They also had a present for Bekah, and wanted to wish her a Happy Birthday. We invited them to join us for a pizza dinner. There were about 13 of us in all. After pizza, we went next door and bought ice cream bars to share with everyone. At this time it was close to 9:00 p.m. and the park idea had to be put on hold for another day.
Flexibility and willingness to change plans is a way of life here…but not so easy for the North American mentality. We are learning day by day. Relationships generally trump time…is that so bad? When we look at scripture, I can’t really think of a verse that depicts Christ running late for an appointment, however, there are many that depict Him conversing with people and showing His love.
Reiny Days
Reiny (pronounced Rainy) is one of the ladies in our church. It’s very customary to bring something with you when you go to someone’s home, so I decided to take a loaf of homemade bread. The next day I received a phone call that there was going to be trouble in the house if she didn’t learn to make bread like the loaf I had given as a gift. Her husband loved the bread! So, the next day I had an opportunity to teach my new friend how to make bread. She’s now an expert and has a very happy husband, Eloy, and her 4 young children are enjoying the bread as well.
Reiny has been very hospitable and her family has welcomed us with open arms. She is always smiling and we are very thankful that this family is part of our church.
Although her name is pronounced rainy, days spent with Reiny are anything but rainy. They are pleasant and full of opportunities to learn language and culture, but most importantly, an opportuinity for fellowship.
Kids Start School
The kids started school last
week…although, they didn’t start at the beginning of the school year, but at the beginning of the third trimester! They just finished (North American) summer break and will have (Bolivian) summer break in mid November. The school asked that they repeat the latter part of their last school year so technically Rachel’s still in 10th grade, Nathan in 7th, and Bekah in 5th. The beauty of the situation is that their grades don’t really count since they’ve already completed those grades. This will allow them to concentrate on learning Spanish. Yes, over 50% of their classes are taught in Spanish. They have a couple of classes in English, but the majority is in Spanish. They also have to wear uniforms and now they really look like the children from the Narnia films. Overall, the first week has been pretty overwhelming. They are driven to school each day by our friend, Christian, who has his own taxi. The kids have grown to love him and he is very kind and conscientious. Please continue to hold them up in your prayers as they have had to make so many adjustments and now this is just one more.
First Several Days
We’re getting settled and are mostly unpacked. We had no problems getting through customs and the kids are thrilled with the house.
Grover and Nelvia are the couple with whom we are staying. Nelvia speaks no English which has been a great workout for Julie’s Spanish.
We’re surrounded by the Andes Mountains and the view out of the kitchen window is just breathtaking.
On Monday Julie was able to experience "la cancha". This is the market where many Bolivians shop. We purchased a few small items and have begun to learn the bartering process.
So far we’re all enjoying the food. We’ve had a chicken dish called "picante de pollo", a Bolivian soup called "sopa de mani" (peanut), and a dish called "pollo de horno", (chicken from the oven) that’s served for a special occassions like a birthday or Americans moving to Cochabamba.
I joined the swimming pool with Nelvia and we went for the first time last night. The instructor gives directions and the "students" swim laps according to the stroke that he wants us to practice. About 15 people share one lap lane. Quite different than in the U. S. We’re uncomfortable if we have to share with one or two people!
Thanks for your prayers. We’ll try to upload pictures here for you to see as we’re having difficulty with Facebook.
Email seems to be the best way to get us a message. Thanks so much for everything.
We’re having trouble posting to facebook.
5 days and counting…
Each day a bit more gets done and we’re almost wrapped up with our packing and sorting. We would ask that you pray for some details to get worked out for my (Julie’s) medication. It’s been recommended that we take a 90 day supply with us and so far, we’ve been unable to work out some details with the insurance company.
We just sent out our July newsletter. Please send us an email if you did not receive it and would like to be added to our list.
More tomorrow,
Julie
One Month to Go
We’re only one month away from leaving for Bolivia. We’re all very excited and busy organizing our "stuff". We’ve come to the conclusion that we don’t own our stuff but it owns us! We are only taking suitcases and carry on’s so most of our belongings will be stored or sold.
We have 4 Sundays left before we leave and will be at Millersville Bible Church this coming Sunday (June 28) in the morning. Sunday July 5 we will be at Exeter Bible Church for both morning and evening services. July 12 Julie will be away for the weekend at her 20th class reunion from Houghton College and John and the kids will be at Bethel Memorial Baptist Church and the whole family will be at Bethel on July 19.
Commissioning Service
Our Commissioning Service will be held at Millersville Bible Church, Lancaster, PA on June 7, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. There will be a time of fellowship and light refreshments from 5 – 6 p.m. We would like to invite you to attend this service and pray that it will glorify God for what He has done and will continue to do in our lives.
Child care will be provided. Please go to:
www.millersvillebiblechurch.org for directions.
Hope to see you there!
John and Julie
Upcoming Missions Conference
Next week, Calvary Monument Bible Church, Paradise, PA will be holding their annual missions conference. We have been invited to participate this year and are looking forward to speaking nine times throughout the week. We would ask that you pray for us during this time as our schedule is quite full. We’re also praying that God would stir up laborers for His harvest. Every time we have an opportunity to share, whether it be our testimony, or about our ministry, it gets us more and more exited about leaving this summer! If you would like to get more details on the conference, please visit the church’s website at www.calvarymonument.org
We also want to share a huge praise. Our currect pledged support is now 71%! We thank God for the way He continues to encourage us through His provision.
Refreshment
Recently we had a weekend away, a gift given to us by our Sunday School class from Millersville Bible Church. We were able to get away to the Inner Harbor and attend a Family Life marriage conference, A Weekend to Remember. We are so truly thankful for this time to take a break from ministry and parenting and be reminded of the precious gift God has given us in one another. It’s so easy to neglect the things that are so important, isn’t it. Thanks Homebuilder’s Class. We love you and thank God for you!
Latest News
"Therefore we do not lose heart" Paul states in 2 Cor. 4.
This passage has become so close to my heart these last months as I’ve gone through the process of being diagnosed with MS. "Though our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal weight in glory that far outweighs them all." I’m so thankful that Rob and Wendy Jacobson put that to song and I learned it during my Houghton College days.
We’re still making plans to leave the country this coming July 2009. We plan to serve in Bolivia, South America. We are very excited about living in another country and culture. We hear wonderful things about the country and apparently the climate in Cochabamba is just perfect for someone who has MS! Isn’t God good.
Our kids are doing well and have really plugged in at church and school.
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