Barbara on Thursday

Hola,

Many blessings are happening in Cochabamba!  Each day begins with our morning devotions and

encouragement of each other.  What a blessing Matthew is to everyone here.  The Bolivians are short, dark skinned people who see this tall, light skinned man and respond to him immediately.  He makes the children’s faces light up and the Church leaders eat up every word of his instructing. God is so Good!

One of my favorite moments was the orphanage visit where we were able to bring an hour of joy to several young girls whose lives have included sexual abuse and abandonment in the street.   The loving hearts of Kyle and Erika reached out to them like family, Matthews portrayal of the crazy peacock had them belly laughing….something they hardly do.

I want to send a message to the last year’s team, Wendy, Mark, Joanne and Diane,  If you have any doubt that we made an impact in the administration of this Congregation…..doubt no more.  They heard every word we said and have put it all into action.  They are so appreciative and have made so much progress in their Church being able to serve the Lord.  It is amazing!

Yesterday I got the blessing of doing the outreach in the park with the children, followed by the Church activities that are fun and welcoming to the children and give all of the team a place to shine.  Last evening the talk to the Church leaders was about resolving conflict.  Matthrew and I role played a conflict between us and the congregation loved it.  We used a model Wendy McAdam gave us of 2 ovals intersecting, one being my opinion and one being Matthews.  The overlap was the issues we agreed upon.  They were engrossed and offered several pieces of advice for us to solve our differences.  At the end of the evening one of the Church leaders came to Matthew and told him that this drawing was very meaningful and would help them in their future.

It is very clear here that we …the cureent and past teams and the congregation of OSLC…the are appreciated and loved and that what we bring them has helped them.  Last evening Matthew and I both thought that we want to bring some of what they have to teach us back to Topsfield.

To all you sender, mucho gracias!    Barbara