We had our dedication for the new home last night (Sunday). It was a lot of fun. We invited the people who’d helped us get started or who’d had an impact on the ministry. In all, there were around thirty people there. For some of them, it was the first time they’d had the opportunity to see the house or even meet the guys. That was a cool thing for me…having the guys understand that there’s a community of people both here in Bolivia and in Canada, who are praying for them and supporting them. That they’re a part of a larger family who believes in them.

Marcee (my co-worker with International Teams) and my friend Corina (who’s known some of these guys for many years) both shared words of encouragement for the guys, and then we had a time of prayer. I shared a few things too, about the journey that God has taken me on to get to this point. It’s amazing to see such tangible evidence of God’s blessing. To think that only a few years ago, this was just a thought in my head…and now God has brought it to fruition.

Thanks to all of you as well! For your prayers and financial support. None of this would be possible without your partnership and trust. So THANKS! =)

A few random thoughts and observations…

I cooked. It was fine. I did the whole Canadian summer BBQ thing (except I have no BBQ and so we just cooked the hamburgers in the oven). I made a lettuce salad and for some reason the guys thought it was the best salad they’d ever had. Maybe because it only had a handful of onions as compared to the 50-50 split of onions to lettuce that the guys use. We also did broccoli, cauliflower, green peppers, etc. with ranch dressing dip. Jesus’s girlfriend and sister were helping us get ready and so I asked them to cut everything. They could NOT understand why I wanted them to chop up raw vegetables to eat. I just told them it was a gringo thing and once again reinforced the “Gringos are weird!” thinking here.

My glass cake pan broke in two while cooking the hamburgers. I just bought it in February.

I bought three times too much food so the guys are happy that we have five more bags of potato chips to eat.

Everyone was impressed with how clean the boy’s rooms were. I’d like to take credit, but really I’m a bit of a slob..at least when it comes to my bedroom. The rest of the house is a different story. Which is exactly opposite to the guys…it keeps life interesting. But their clean rooms are all their doing. Someday I’m going to post pictures of David’s sock/underwear drawer. It’s a thing of beauty.

I think the guys were moved by the whole experience too. They were a bit shy at first…I had to kick Jimmy and David downstairs to visit people…but after awhile they got into it. And this morning when I got up, everyone was cleaning without having to be told. There was a mountain of dishes…and there was David was contentedly washing them. It was a happy moment. It probably won’t last.

So there you go. I guess we’re official now. Although I still don’t have a name for the place which is important down here. When people ask, I just keep telling them I’ll figure that out eventually. Maybe for the first aniversary….

Some pictures…

So there you go.  Sorry most of these pictures are of us either cooking or eating.  During the prayer time I was…well, I was praying.  So picture taking was a little difficult.  I could have snapped a self-portrait when I was sharing, but that seemed a little self-indulgent. 

Thanks again for praying!