old friends, the mango tree and a widowmaker

5Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man's behalf! 20Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me! These verses from Psalm 66 really sum up how I feel at the end of our first day in Bolivia. To be honest, it was actually two days; we just didn't really have the normal break for sleep in between since travelling from Spokane to Santa Cruz spanned 21-hours. The first thing I saw as we pulled in to the missionary home compound here was a ginormous mango tree. Those of you that know me won't be surprised to hear that I got a lump in my throat at that sight- so beautiful. lol! 😅 (Too bad they're not in season at the moment.) There are 50-ft avocado trees, lovely orange trees in blossom and pomelo trees. Jeff Johnson (far left) and I traveled from Spokane together. We met up with our two other ministry partners, Adam and Danae Wolf in Miami and flew down to Santa Cruz, Bolivia together. It's good to finally be on the ground here together and gearing up for Cumbre: Ministerio de Adoración (Summit: Worship Ministry).

One of the joys of this day was reconnecting with several people I met 13 years ago when I came to Santa Cruz for a pastors conference. It is so great to see them thriving in their walks with Christ and just blooming where they've been planted. Eloy was a teenager I met last time I was here. We connected and I got to hear about how he is now the worship leader at his church, married to a lovely woman named Katherine, and teaching music classes at Henry Prince School. He's a guitar player, so we are getting along famously. 

Tuesday afternoon, which is kinda part B of this extend-o-matic day, we had some down time, so I decided to shower. This gave me my first opportunity to take a shower under an electric shower water heater. (I don't know if that's actually what they're called), but Jeff Roth, the missionary whose shower I was about to use, instructed me in its use and warned me to be sure I keep my hands away from the wires while I'm showering. These contraptions didn't get their nickname "widowmaker" for no reason. In the end, it was a very comfortable experience and I felt refreshed and clean...and I'm still alive, which is super.

In the evening, we had the first official event of the Cumbre (Spanish for 'summit'), a Q&A with worship leaders and a few non-musical leaders from the 10 Santa Cruz area churches. Our purpose was to hear from the leaders about challenges they are facing in ministry, to commiserate and encourage each other in the sometimes lonely path of leadership. It was a sweet time. Thanks for all your prayers and support. Keep the prayers coming!