Thanks for Your Prayers

Saludos (greetings) to all of you out there. Several of you have been asking for an update after the last blog update concerning the political situation here in Bolivia. Thanks first of all for your prayers. If you ever doubt that God is listening please know that He is, because the results are all around us.

I will make it short because I am sure that in the next week or so we will have a better idea of where things are headed here. However, let me say that the Christmas and New Year´s season was one of peace and happiness for our family. The city of Cochabamba has experienced no demonstrations of any kind since my last post. Things in the other cities such as La Paz, Sucre, and Santa Cruz have also been much calmer presumably because of the holidays.

This coming 7th of January there is to be a meeting between the president and the opposition leaders of the what is being called the -media luna- which means half moon. The "half moon" represents the departmental leaders of Santa Cruz, el Beni, Pando, Tarija and Cochabamba. Although Cochabamba´s departamental leader is an outspoken member of the president´s opposition that does not mean that all of the Cochabamba Department (like a state) is in support of the opposition. This is one of the main reasons for the conflict. The people in the rural areas and those who have migrated from rural areas to the cities tend to be more in support of the federal government represented by the President Evo Morales and the MAS political party. The opposition tend to more urban and middle to upper class. The opposition also has strong bastions of support in the eastern departments especially in the department of Santa Cruz. Unfortunately throughout the past two years regional, racial and socio-economic divides have deepened dramatically. Please continue to pray for the leaders of Bolivia that they may have the best interest of their fellow Bolivians in mind as they make decisions. Also please continue to pray that the works in La Paz, Viacha, Santa Cruz, Sucre and Cochabamba may not be hampered by the conflicts. Pray for the Christians in Bolivia that they may shine a bright light and bring honor to God our Father.

Another prayer request we have is not concerning Bolivia at all yet it is concerning Kenya. Living overseas has allowed Katie and I to see the world in a whole new light. We now know firsthand what it means to see fellow countrymen fight against each other in the streets. We also know how that affects people in their daily lives. Our hearts go out to the Kenyans, especially to our brethren there. Julie, our teammate, grew up in Kenya and we have been blessed to hear about the work her parents along with other missionaries and Kenyans have done in that nation in service of the Lord´s church. It, much like Bolivia, is a beautiful place with an even more beautiful people. Although we have not met them face to face or shaken their hands we have brothers and sisters in Kenya who are presently living through some very rough times. Let us all pray that peace reigns and that the Lord may protect His children who live in Kenya. Let us pray that the leaders of Kenya may also be blessed with wisdom as Solomon was so that they may lead their nation back into a state of peace. Let us pray that the work of the Kingdom be not hindered in Kenya.

p.s. No baby yet! Of course I would have mentioned it. We are still waiting. Katie´s parents arrive next week to help out. We can´t wait! We have the name picked out, and you will have to just wait and see what it is. Of course it was extremely difficult to find an suitable name to go along with a sibling named Jubilee Song but I think we did it.