Luggage

Our luggage waiting to be loaded (a few items here are not going to Bolivia)

Prophetic? I say yes!

As we got on the road yesterday morning, we were running late. I know what you are thinking, ”sounds like Jeff and Susan!” So, we get to the rental car desk, and I ask the gentleman behind the desk what kind of car we were getting. His response made me smile. He said “It’s a Genesis.” How fitting, that as we depart home, we are reminded that we are starting a new course in our lives. Also, the Hyundai Genesis is a very nice car. This also reminds us that as we start off in the direction that Jesus wants us to go, great things happen. The rewards that we are promised in the Bible don’t always have to be spiritual. After all, fishing on the other side of the boat caught the disciples a net full of fish.

I want to thank everyone again for everything that each of you have done for us. From financial support to prayers, each of your contributions have been essential in the success that we have enjoyed so far. We have been truly blessed to have such a caring bunch of friends and supporters. We are finally on our way, and we can hardly wait to get there, and get started on serving among God’s people at the UAC-CP.

Jeff

We received a package today from Leon and Lorraine Pfotenhauer, members of St Thomas Episcopal Church in Sioux City. In this package was 100 pray chaplets and 2 packets of stretchable wrist-let bracelets, plus one set of each for each of the three of us. Leon, and his wife Lorraine, made these for Delaney to give to the locals as she makes friends. This box represents a LOT of work, even if it is a labor of love. Thank you SO much Leon and Lorraine. Your gift will be used well, and hopefully soon, youth all over the Nor Yungas will be praying with them!

We are getting more and more accomplished on our "to do" list before we leave, and that time is sprinting up on us! We are having trouble getting to sleep the closer we get to the date with so much to still be done!

Time for bed now, but wanted to share the joy we felt when we opened that box! Thanks again Leon and Lorraine for that thoughtful gift!

Today's news

As our departure quickly approaches, we find ourselves more and more overwhelmed -- by the love and generosity of everyone with whom we have shared this dream of ours, and by our own feelings as the dream gets closer to becoming reality. Tomorrow St. Andrew's will commission us for our year in Bolivia. We feel very humbled by the caring and prayerful support of our faith community, and though we will miss them while we are gone, we know that they will continue to pray for us and think of us while we are away.

We are making progress on finishing renovations on the house before we leave, and hope to get the kitchen floor put in by the end of the week. This will be my (Susan's) last week at work, an occasion I find bittersweet because I am very much looking forward to our stay at the UAC-CP, but I will miss the co-workers I have come to know as friends. I am so thankful for my friend Bonnie for giving me the opportunity to work with such a great bunch of people, even though she knew there was a good possibility I would leave only a year later. What a year it has been...

We have our temporary visas now, all our shots except one Delaney will get at a last checkup with her doctor this week, all our luggage. Delaney is all registered for her classes and everything seems to be ready there. Many thanks to Sue Ann Raymond for donating her laptop so that Delaney can have her own computer to do her schoolwork.

Jeff and I both have a couple more rounds of volunteering to do before we go. He will pick up and deliver the bread donation one more time this week, plus help with distribution at Faux Farms' CSA program at least once. I will do Share Iowa distribution next Saturday. I want to give a shout-out to Carrie DeVries, who will be taking over that program when I leave. Thanks so much for doing that!

Delaney is busy mowing lawns today for spending cash to take with her next weekend, when she will go with her boyfriend and his family to Valleyfair. She views that mini-trip with great anticipation, and hopes that Quade doesn't make her ride too many rollercoasters, since she REALLY hates them! I am sure they will have lots of fun together, and I hope it doesn't rain the whole weekend.

Less than one month to go until we head WAY South!!! Purchasing the tickets was a big relief. We did get our Temporary Visas in the works and should have those any day now. We are still short of our Extended Visas, so we can use some help. Those Visas cost $500 each Wife just informed me that the price is $500, not the $400 I previously stated). Again and again, we have placed this whole trip into God's hands. Again and again, the obstacles simply disappeared. We continue to see encouraging signs that our trip is still on track, yet, per human nature, we start doubting again. I pray that this is one of the last moments of doubt (at least until we get back from Bolivia!). So, once again, I am asking for assistance. We can not do this year of service on our own. If you have any questions about our trip, please ask. If you have any doubts about this trip, again, please ask for clarification. We appreciate everything that has come in, but we need a little more. I know this sounds like a telethon, but it is true. I know how those telethon workers feel. Your emotions go through the wringer. You feel the highs of reaching goals, then you realize that you have the next goal to accomplish. Sometimes that goal is higher than the one you just passed, some become lower, so you can start to see your final destination just over the hump. This describes where we are right now. We have our tickets, we have our departure date, we have our luggage (minus a carry-on), but we still need the Visas that will allow us to stay past 30 days. I appreciate everyone of you that are following this page and blog. If you know of anyone that might be interested in supporting this trip, please give them our contact information. If you need that info, please send a message. keep us in your prayers, whichever God you like, and know that you all are in ours too!

God's Peace

Jeff

Had a wonderful morning preaching at Trinity Episcopal Church, Waterloo! A BIG thank you to Rev. Maureen Doherty for inviting us. Yet again, I am amazed and humbled to belong to such a wonderful diocese! The time is flying as we near our departure date, so if you wanted to donate, anything would be greatly appreciated!

Wow, what a week! I have spent the last few days thinking about my experience at the Global Episcopal Mission Network Annual Conference in Bogota, Colombia. It has taken those few days to decompress everything that my hard drive (soft in my case) heard, saw, and felt.

To begin with, taking off from Waterloo Airport with 3 inches of snow on the ground and still falling is always fun. I thought that the pilot was trying to “drift” on the landing in Chicago! The de-icing we had to go through made me miss my connection, but it was much better than crashing and missing the rest of my days! Landing in Bogota was easy. Immigration and Customs was easy too. Got to the National Police Compound where we were having the Global Episcopal Mission Network Conference, got situated, and went to bed. The Mission Formation class was truly an experience. I hope to make the Formation Class proud. Learning how to establish a mission that is self-sustaining is important in “times like this.”

Sunday morning we attended church at the Cathedral in Bogota. Bishop Duque was most gracious, plus this is the first time I have ever seen a Bishop initiate a high five from a little boy while processing out after the service! He also invited us downstairs to the Fellowship Hall where Juan Valdez (coffee) was waiting for us. Later that afternoon, I got the pleasure of leading a small group in prayerful consideration of a Bible passage. The subject was Acts 16:9-15. Paul had been given a vision to go to Macedonia and spread the Good News. Having a Bishop in your small group Bible study can be a little daunting, but we survived!
Monday morning dawned bright and early. We all listened to Humberto Shikaya, Director of CREAS, an ecumenical organization whose mission is to strengthen the capacity of the ecumenical movement, churches and social organizations in the promotion of human rights - civil, political, economic, social, cultural and environmental. It really hammered home the idea that whatever we do in the field of mission, it must be sustainable. The rest of the morning was spent listening to Dr. Paulo Euti, Latin American Facilitator of the Anglican Alliance, as he spoke of the “Theological linkages with Economic sustainability.” Again, everything must be sustainable. In the afternoon, I had the pleasure to listen to Grey Maggiano, Eileen O’Brien, and Ted Gaiser on how to develop project plans. Discernment is ALWAYS the first step. What Susan and I have been doing for the past several years was exactly what we should have been doing, other than not listening 12 years ago!

Tuesday, we had the pleasure of going and meeting with the extraordinary women that were mentioned in my last blog entry. The women of Mesa de Organizaciones de Mujeres Soacha are totally the heroes that the world needs today. I only hope that I can live my life to their standards! Tuesday afternoon we all had the opportunity to see what a sustainable mission is supposed to look like. The Dominican Development Group is doing great things. Good luck on your new positions Bill Kunkle and Rick Harlow!

Wednesday, we had the indubitable pleasure of going to the farm at Facatativa. The bus trip will stay in my dreams forever! Nightmares count as a dream, right? After having the Bishop of Colombia’s daughter run up the hill in front of us, cheering us on that we could also run up the hill from where the driver announced that he “wasn’t going any further,” we did spend most of the trip in tears from laughing about windows falling out, Jeremy Lucas and Elizabeth Boe! The farm is situated at the top of a hill with burros and many dogs.  In the afternoon, we got to hear about a successful microcredit program in the Dominican Republic. The wife of Bishop Duque, Blanca Lucia Echeverry presented on “Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Colombia. This program is garnering support for the Colombian displaced. Colombia ranks 2nd in the world for displaced persons, only behind Sudan. These are the same people that the women of Soacha are assisting.
Thursday morning was given to 3 Bishops, Bishop Duque of Colombia, Bishop Allen of Honduras, and Bishop Holguin of Dominican Republic. Each Bishop shared his vision of what missions they would like to see and what form they would like to see the mission in. Time and again the answer was simple, do not come to give, give, give. A healthy mission relationship is one that offers something to both sides. The people we want so desperately help have an abundance of gifts to offer us at the same time. Even if it is the Holy Spirit, they have something to offer. We must not belittle their contribution. Many people have said that they went to help someone, only to find out that they were the ones in need, and those they went to help were the ministers of what they needed. The afternoon was capped off with the Holy Eucharist with the Presiding Bishop presiding and preaching. Bishop Wilfredo Ramos Orench assisted with the service while Deacon Holly Hartman read the Good News in English, while a newly ordained Deacon (8 days before) read it Spanish. He wasn’t intimidated at all!

I won’t go into Friday, as my mother taught me that if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all! The only pleasant time was standing in the hotel lobby waiting for taxis and discussing “hovering” with the Presiding Bishop and the other ladies present!

I have many people to thank for this opportunity, so bear with me. Melody Rockwell, you ROCK! David Oakland and the OWOC Commission, thank you, thank you, thank you. The rest will just have to know that I am so much in your debt that I can only hope that when people look at me, they see Jesus, (albeit a VERY large Jesus)!

I apologize for the length, but it all needed to be said!  Jeff