Our week-long training at International Teams has come to an end. It was a great week of learning for both of us. We learned about the vision and values of ITeams and feel so confident in choosing them to send us out to Bolivia. We met so many of the staff members and you could see in their hearts the passion they have for the oppressed people in this world. ITeams focuses on ministering to the poor, the slave, and the blind. We had the opportunity to learn about many different teams around the world and how the Lord is working through each team. We are so excited to be a part of this missions family. If you want to learn more about International Teams and their values please visit www.iteams.org. We are proud to be representing this organization!

Another highlight of our training was meeting some incredible people who are also committing their work to the Lord through missions. We roomed with a couple who will also be serving in Chocabamba, Bolivia. They have three girls and will be moving their family to Bolivia to join a team that builds homes and raises up Christian families to support and care for orphans. We also had the privilege of meeting Katie, one of our future teammates!! She has been living in Chocabamba for about two years and will be going back to join the team at The Center. We had her over for dinner and learned so much about Chocabamba, The Center, and the people of Bolivia. Thanks Katie for answering our questions and spending time with us!! We can’t wait to get to know her more. Please pray for her as she is also raising support!!

In the coming weeks we will start traveling to different churches to share about The Center and our plans for joining the team there. We will for sure be traveling to Wisconsin and Missouri. We will also be sharing with our home church through small groups, and maybe even a meet and greet after church one Sunday. We’ll keep you posted. It’s our goal for our brothers and sisters in Christ to catch our vision and partner with us in prayer and support as we follow the Lord’s call in Bolivia.

If you do not happen to attend one of these churches, we still want you to learn more about The Center and how God is already working there. Please take a few minutes to look at the pictures of these adorable kids, read the information about the Center, and pray for us! We depend on your prayers to help pave the way for us. God is working in huge ways, and He is hearing you as you lift us up in prayer.

If you feel led to bless us with a gift of support, please go to www.iteams.org/give. You can pledge your support online. Have fun learning about The Center. We hope it excites you as much as it does us.

We want you to learn more about The Center of Friendship and Support!

The Center is committed to providing opportunities for disadvantaged children with the goal to reach them for Jesus.

The Center is an after school support program that has classes in mathematics, Spanish, English, physical education and Biblical studies. The Center can provide these programs for up to 55 children. The intent is to keep class sizes small to offer an excellent service and share Jesus personally with each child.

Bible Studies

The Bible tells us we are to train children in the way they should go and when they are older they will not stray from it (Proverbs 22:6). The Bible classroom is equipped with the resources necessary to effectively share Bible stories and principles with the children.

Library

There are two library teachers who help the children find answers to unsolved questions from school. The library is equipped with all the resources needed to help these kids with their homework.

Sharing with families

The Center strives to develop relationships with the childrens' families and share the gospel with them. Pray that God will change their hearts and lives and that soon we will see these families attending church.

The Team

We will be joining an incredible team of dedicated individuals and families. David and Toty (pictured here) are the founders and leaders of The Center. They have a daughter, Joana, who is about our age. She works at the center as well and has been our number one contact in Bolivia. David and Toty have also worked hard to plant a church in the same building as The Center. This church is called Yo Soy, which means “I Am.” We are excited to join this church.

The lack of posts accurately mirrors a lack of time for posting! It has been an extremely busy last month. We were blessed to take an incredible vacation to Tennessee and North Carolina. We met up with Jason's family and spent one of the best weekends ever camping in Tennessee. We were with Jason's brother Ben and his wife Shanika, and Jason's sister Kelli and her husband Alex. The six of us had a blast sitting around the campfire late into the night and talking, laughing, reminiscing, and listening to how God is working in each of our lives.


From there Jason and I headed to Smokey Mountain National Park where we camped for three nights and enjoyed God's beautiful creation all around us. It was awesome for us to wake up and see mountains everyday. It made us very excited to live in the Andes Mountains in Bolivia!






Next we headed to North Carolina where Jason was in one of his best friend's weddings. It was a wonderful time with lots of friends and lots of fun. We did white water rafting and hiking and enjoyed witnessing the marriage of two incredible friends.


When we got back home we started to prepare for our garage sale and move. It was a busy time but we were able to do both successfully. The whole moving process went so smoothly. We were so thankful to have lots of help. Jason's family came up from St. Louis and my family came down too. We also had Kasey's boyfriend Matt help us out. He has a truck and so does my dad, so with two pick-ups and lots of hands it was a really smooth transition.


We are all settled into our new place and loving it. It is such a nice feeling to be living more simply. It's also an added bonus that Jason can walk to work. It takes him about four minutes.





This week we are at International Teams for our one-week training. It’s so exciting to meet all the other Missionaries in Training (MITs). There are 11 other MITs here for the week. The training is from 8-5 every day and consists of classes in cross-cultural communication, biblical frameworks, financial planning, and the overall vision and values of International Teams. We also had a testimony time where all the MITs shared their testimonies. It was incredible to hear how God is at work in the lives of His children.

On a side note, Jason and I have signed up to run the Chicago Half Marathon. It’s 13.1 miles….kind of far for us…..we are not runners in the least bit! Surprisingly, the training has been going well so far. Right now we are at five miles and are increasing each week. We are thankful to have moved right next to the perfect bike path that runs right along the Fox River. It’s an ideal spot for training that provides some beautiful scenery to take our minds off the run. We’ve seen many deer along the way, and once even a big snapping turtle!

Please continue to pray for us this week as we are in training and God is preparing our hearts for the journey ahead. After our training we plan to really focus on our support raising, talking with churches, and sending out more letters. So if you have not heard from us yet, we haven’t forgotten about you! There is still a lot to be done……as always!