Fuzzy Pictures, Bright New Paths

Okay. Sorry for the fuzzy pictures. But, read on....

Two weeks ago this Sunday we returned from an amazing family encampment. For all of you who got to heard in my furlough presentation about the blessing it is to see Christ uniting all kinds of Bolivians, well, it happened again! The encampment thanks in part to my teammate Josh who organized, Tom Allen from Ontario, CA and the rest of the church family from Cocha. we were able to gather 140 Bolivian Christians for the first annual Bolivian Family Encampment.

By all accounts it was a success. True there were some cold showers and scraped knees, but isn't that part of the fun? We had groups from La Paz, Sucre, Santa Cruz and of course Cochabamba. Josh had found a beautiful campsite about an hour outside of Cochabamba. We were able to spend Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning there.

The best part, was no not me trying to scale a 40 foot wall with one of those harness things while Jubilee yelled from below, "Daddy why can't you go further?". The best part ocurred when we were back in Cocha for Sunday services. Many people from the other cities had graciously stayed to be able to worship with us on Sunday morning. Katie and I found out that at least 15 people can fit comfortably in our apartment! After a wonderful and uplifting time of worship we listened to a great message by visiting guest speaker Tom Allen, of Ontario, CA (Inland Valley Church of Christ). Following the message there were 7 individuals who choose to become disciples of Christ that day by confessing Jesus as their Saviour and being baptized into Him. One man, Jimmy came from Santa Cruz and another man, Ernesto, came from Sucre. The other 5 new Christians were all native Cochabambinos and all had been studying and worshiping with us for quite a while.

Many of you may remember during my furlough presentation hearing about Augustina who is a single mother of two. The church has been blessed to help her in many ways through our benevolence program and in this way we had gotten to know her and her children. Upon being baptized she made it clear that she wanted to be a new creation from here on out.

Some of you may also remember seeing a picture of our small group Bible studies called CAFE groups. In one of the pictures with new brother in Christ Miguel sat a man named Gaston. Gaston is now a new brother in Christ as well.

The other three individuals who were baptized were all members of one family. Some of you may remember that Pedro began taking classes at the Bible Institute after Rebecca his teenage daughter began taking English conversation classes. Pedro's wife Beatriz began coming to church and I think initially it was to check out where her husband and daughter were spending so much time. Praise God that Pedro, Beatriz, and Rebecca are now new Christians.

Before I close let me say this. I had specifically asked and commended each congregation I spoke to, to be in earnest prayer for the "on the verge" people. People who had the good news of Jesus several times and yet were still not quite sure. All five of these people were among the "on the verge" people. In fact I requested prayers for Gaston and Augustina by name. Thank you so much to those of you who asked God to work in the hearts of these people.

Let us praise our Father for these precious souls and let us be evermore in prayer for them as the most difficult part of the Christian journey begins which is that daily crucifiction of the old self and the daily choice to do as Christ would have us to.

We love you guys!

Other important prayer requests:

Katie and baby (she has been asked by the doctor to stay mostly at home until the baby is born)

Julie and baby (everything seems to be going fine)

Laura and baby (think everything is fine, she is on furlough surely enjoying Thanksgiving!)

Sandovals' Visa Process (they plan to go on furlough in two weeks)

Marcums and Forbess' (how are we going to do this without the Bulls and the Sandovals for two months????)

Custers (continue job hunting in the states)

Me (I always need help in the daddy and husband department, you know to be a good one!)

This world is not my home, I'm just a passin' through

Okay, so my two girls are sleeping safe and sound in their beds and I thought now may be an opportune time to write. Thanks for your prayers regarding our travels. Our flights occured without any major complications and we arrived actually a little early to Cocha. Praise God!

Upon taking our first nap in our bed after nine weeks on the road I turned to Katie and simply said "words cannot express", and Katie said "I know, you don't even have to finish the sentance". We loved seeing everyone and we loved sharing about the work and getting to witness other great works going on out there. However, how truly sweet it is to be back in Cochabamba. During our last driving trip from Brownwood back to Dallas I asked Katie where she would like to see us ending up when we come back to the United States. We talked a little about all the places that we had visited and we mentioned a few places that we felt would be "doable". Although, I must say that all I along our trip we had been saying how we felt God has truly placed in the right place at the right time for our family. Arriving in Bolivia, and especially once we finally got to Cocha, I immediately felt a sense of coming home and our conviction that God has placed us where He needs us and where we need to be was reinforced tenfold.

Of course, I say that Cochabamba is our home with the understanding that even tomorrow we could for some reason have to leave. If we learned nothing else from the events of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it was that nothing on this earth is guaranteed. Therefore, Katie and I try not to ever feel too at home anywhere, except for when we are in fellowship with our Heavenly Father and His children, for those times are the glimpes of our true homeland that we have awaiting as Christians.

Now that the Forbess family has joined the ranks of the globally mobile we have learned evermore to trust in the truth that our true citizenship is in Heaven. When we are in the United States there are many people and aspects of the culture that we love and there are aspects of the culture that we find hinder us daily in our goal to be Christ-like. The same is true of life in Bolivia, though those hindrences be different. What we have also grown to understand in greater depth and appreciation, is that we don't have define ourselves by the standards of geographic or political boundary. Yes, there is a part of me that is very American and that is part of my identity that will always be there, but as I try to live each day in the footsteps of Jesus, I am drawn to an earnest desire to define myself first and foremost as a disciple, a brother, a mentor, a student, a husband, a father, and a son of the Creator and Master of the Universe. I love the United States and I love Bolivia as well, but it is not because I think one is so wonderful. I love these places because they are inhabited by people who are all precious because they are creations of the Creator, but people who in their majority still live unaware of the peace and joy that is found through the grace and mercy Jesus offers. Wherever God asks Katie and I to be I am sure that His will is that we share with others His love through our words and more importantly through our actions. During this brief moment of our life God has placed our family in Cochabamba to be messengers and ambassadors of a living hope and we are thankful for the awesome privilege and blessing that is.

Our prayer request for this post is one of thanksgiving; thanks for the precious time we had with our family, our church families, and our friends; thanks for safe travel; and thanks for being able to come back. Taking a quote from our teammate Julie's latest blog entry, "God is good all the time". May God bless you on this day.

Two Days to Go....

Well, hello to you all. Currently we are in the Big D, actually Colleyville. Sunday and most of yesterday we spent in Brownwood to visit a little more and receive some last minute spoilage from Granny who cooked us a delicious breakfast before heading back to Dallas. On Saturday night Katie's sister and brother-in-law hosted a wonderful party in honor of Auntie Joyce, and we were able to see lots of friends and family who may not have otherwise seen. Friday night we visited our good friends and previous neighbors Javier and Lora Beth Escalante at Lora Beth's sister's home in Dallas. It was also a good time to get to know Lora Beth's sister and brother-in-law and their two beautiful children.

Before coming to Dallas, we spent a week or so in Hot Springs Village with Katie's parents. During that time we also got to make a little side trip over to Olive Branch, Mississippi to visit the Friendship C of C and Linda, Katie's mom, treated us to a special visit to Graceland. Before Hot Springs Village, we were a week in Rogers, AR with my sisters, Grandmother, great aunts, and cousins. We did many fun things in Rogers, among them we celebrated the Cousin's Birthday which Jubilee enjoyed immensly.

On Friday and Saturday Katie received a major answer to prayers. During the whole time we have been on furlough Katie has been asking people to pray that she may find a curriculum to use for the prison ministry. So, lo and behold, on the very days we were scheduled to be back in Dallas there was a conference to be held at the Prestoncrest C of C just minutes from Auntie Doris' house in North Dallas. Personally, I had been praying and hoping that Katie would not only find a curriculum, but that she would get to meet lots of people involved in the same kind of ministry. Both things happened during the conference. Katie found a great curriculum already translated into Spanish and she was able to do lots of great networking with other people throughout the brotherhood working in jails and prisons to bring the good news of Christ. So all that to say thanks for the prayers! God heard our prayers and answered in a mighty way, praise God!

Hopefully, once we get back home I will have more time to sit down and do a better write up of our travels. Thanks to all of you prayer warriors who have been praying for safe travel and good health. Please continue to pray that the last leg of our journey will be most importantly safe and secondly that it will be uncomplicated. May God bless you in abundance, richness and fullness of His love. We serve a great God, amen!

More Photos....

A Picture Says a Thousand Words

Greetings from the Heartland

Greetings from the Heartland

Hello to all of you out there. Today marks our fifth week back in the United States on furlough. Many of you may have been wondering, “what’s up with the Forbess family?”. Well, we are here in Chillicothe, Missouri with my parents and supporters of the Chillicothe and Hamilton churches of Christ. So far we have visited supporters, friends and family in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Missouri. Next week we will go on to Rogers, Arkansas for a week and then we will be in Hot Springs Village for a week.

Let me jump straight to Jubilee whom you want to hear about first anyway. She is loving her time here and two of her favorite things are parks and water fountains. Not that we don’t have parks in Bolivia, but we happen to be back at a great time of year when it is the perfect weather to spend time outdoors. In Brownwood, Jubilee got to reacquaint herself with Granny Bobbie and eat her delicious food and basically be spoiled rotten. She also got to ride around Lake Brownwood and had many opportunities to get her toes wet which she loves. In Dora, NM our friends Mickey and Alicia Burkett have several tractors and school buses so Jubilee thought it was great fun to hop up in those with the help of Mickey and pretend she was driving. In Colorado Springs, Jubilee got to see her friend Pamela, daughter of our close friends Roberto and Johanna Batres. Pamela and Jubilee were born within a week of each other so it was nice for them to have each other to play with. In Evergreen, Jubilee got to see many people we love dearly, among them Santa Steve. Jubilee is quick to tell you if you ask that Santa lives in Evergreen not the North Pole! In Denver, Jubilee got to see more friends and so did mommy and daddy. Visiting the University church of Christ in Denver was very special as this was the congregation where the elders had said a special prayer for her future although she doesn’t remember that. We spent one night in Kearney, NE and then on our way to Chillicothe. In Chillicothe, Jubilee has got to spend lots of time with Grammi and Pops as well as a short time with her three aunties and cousin Janet. We have still yet to take her to Chucky Cheese’s or bowling which she has repeatedly asked about though. Please pray for Jubilee as she is dealing with a stubborn cough and she has started to ask for her favorite people in the world, Michaela and Nathan.

Katie and I are also doing well. There have been so many wonderful things to happen during our furlough. Probably the best part of our time back in the states are the countless encouraging conversations that we have had with other saints who are out there on the front lines as well. It has been so nice to talk with other people and receive and give encouragement. Thanks so much to all who have lifted us and the work up in prayer. Please pray that the rest of our time in the United States goes well and that we are blessed with good health as traveling can begin to take its toll.

One more item before I close and that is Baby Chippy. No, that is not the official name; Chippy is the name Jubilee has chosen and until we chose a name this is what we are calling the baby. Everything with Katie’s pregnancy continues to go well. There are the regular things such as occasional morning yuckiness and tiredness. Aside from those things however, Katie has been feeling well. We did have one scare in Santa Fe when Katie took a little tumble. At first her ankles hurt very badly, but by the next morning they felt fine. We are so thankful to our dear friends Jean and Leroy who I know said a special word of prayer for her. Praise God that Katie did not suffer any serious injury as a result of her fall, and please continue to pray for Katie and Baby Chippy that they may enjoy good health.

To our friends whom we have already seen and visited with, thank you for your encouragement and love. To our friends and family whom we have yet to see, we can’t wait! And to our church family in Cochabamba, nos hace mucha pero mucha falta y les queremos mucho! May God bless you in richness and fullness of His abounding love.

La Familia Forbess

More Updates

As I said, I would like to post a bit more of information today as I have time. But please scroll down to get the rest of the information on recent baptisms, etc... that I posted earlier today.

HARDING INTERNS

There is so much to say about these wonderful young people and so little space. We were truly blessed this summer with the arrival of Taylor Box, Stephanie Sanderson, and Jason and Rachel Eades. During their time in Bolivia they attended language school for Spanish and Aymara, lived with Bolivian families, lived with us the missionary families, visited congregations in La Paz, Santa Cruz and Cuzco, helped with all kinds of ministries and activities and brought a youthful warmth and joy into our team life and church body. They are still at a stage in life when it is easy not to take yourself or others too seriously and that was a wonderful kind of environment to be around. In addition, we saw each of the four interns grow immensly in their knowledge of Latin America and missions and more importantly we saw each grow a great deal personally and spiritually.

At the end of their stay I received an additional blessing when I was able to accompany them on the last leg of their journey which took them to Cuzco and Machu Pichu both located in Peru. It was a great opportunity for me to get to know each intern even more, share with them more a little about my experiences, and learn from them as well. Probably the most uplifting time during our Peru trip was the time the interns spent with the Christians in La Paz as well as when we all were able to spend time with the Christians in Cuzco. On Saturday night in Cuzco one of the brothers invited us to his house where we were all then accompanied to their neighbors house where the wife is a new Christian who was baptized at the Ladies Conference in Santa Cruz and her husband is not a Christian. Although we had nothing planned, I mentioned to the family that our four interns loved to sing and were quite good at it so we all spent a good two hours singing together and encouraging each other. By the end of the night the interns had experienced one of my favorite aspects of mission work which is spontaneous and genuine fellowship.

Please pray for Stephanie, Rachel, Jason, and Taylor as they all consider how they are being called to work for the Kingdom. They are great servants and will be ablessing to whatever work and church family they find themselves in.

THE TEAM CHANGES

Earlier this month it was announced that the Drew and Jamie Custer will be leaving Cochabamba to return to the states. We are deeply saddened by this news and earnestly ask for your prayers regarding our team, the church family here in Cochabamba and for the Custers' reentry into the states. Please refer to Drew Custer's blog for further information regarding this decision.

FURLOUGH

Many of you are already aware that Katie and I will be leaving on furlough on August 18th to be gone until October 18th. Katie has worked very hard and diligently on our schedule although we are still trying to figure out how to visit a few of you. If any one of you would like to receive a schedule of dates and places for our furlough and did not receive the schedule please let us know and we can send it to you as soon as possible. Basically our journey goes something like this: Dallas --> Brownwood, TX --> Dora, NM --> Santa Fe, NM --> Colorado Springs, CO --> Evergreen, CO --> Denver, CO --> Kearney, NE --> Chillicothe / Hamilton, MO --> Rogers, AR --> Hot Springs Village, AR --> Dallas, TX --> Brownwood, TX --> Dallas. And somewhere in there we are trying to fit in Olive Branch, MS! It sounds a little overwhelming but we must say the Lord has already blessed us with a vehicle to use during our time and we are looking forward to seeing everyone. If we are going to be in your area and you would really like to visit with us please write us by email so we can figure out a time and place. In most places we have a place to stay, but in Denver we do need a place and in Kearney we'll probably just stay in a motel since it is about half way between Denver and Chillicothe. Please pray that we have safe travel, that we have fruitful fellowship, and that we don't get too stressed driving across the country's midsection!

I have asked Katie to help me post pictures from the Ladies Conference as well as from my trip to Peru and from the three recent baptisms, please continue to check the blog as those pictures should be up very shortly.