As I write this title, it’s kind of ironic because not only is this update overdue, so am I! I guess that word is just on my mind. My due date was Tuesday and yet here I sit coming up with excuses why it’s perfectly legitimate for me to bake mega-fattening chocolate cake and have plans to devour more than my fair share. So before I transform into Paula Dean, I figured I’d do something a little more useful with my time.
During the last nine months, Jason and I have been going back and forth between our options of what to do concerning International Teams and our previous plans to serve in Chocabamba, Bolivia at the Center of Friendship and Support. Iteams graciously gave us the option of keeping our account open and continuing the fund-raising process after the baby was born. This really appealed to us because we both felt that our call to the mission field was not extinguished with the news of this pregnancy. We both still have a passion to serve and the support we’d raised thus far would really get us off to a great start with future missions plans. We didn’t want to lose what we had going for us.
Of course we were still very unsure of what those future plans would look like. How long would we wait until we’d feel ready to travel with a baby? How would we adjust after the baby was here? Would we still feel like going? These are all questions that remain unanswered even today. Although we were clueless and far from at peace, God was working the whole time to bring us a clarity that still amazes us!
Just before Christmas we heard from Joana, our teammate in Bolivia, that the Center was going through some big changes. The building they had rented since the Center first opened was no longer available for their use. They had to be out shortly after the new year began. This meant the Center would be closed until they could find a new location. After much searching, the team decided to purchase land and build a new Center from the ground up.
This news provided the perfect opportunity for us to help our Bolivian friends in a more tangible way than we ever could have imagined. What they needed now was not the service of two distracted new parents coming to “help” them. They needed resources, and we had just that sitting untouched with no concrete plans for its use. The Lord had made it clear that the support we had raised was meant to be used now! We got in touch with Iteams and asked them to donate all our funds to the Center in Bolivia. This money will be used to help purchase the land and building supplies for the new Center.
Don’t you just love it when God makes sense of all our confusing situations? For so long we had wondered why God had us start this process only to interrupt it. We felt so bad about leaving our generous supporters with no information as to what was happening with their donations. We even felt guilty for having so much support and not bringing it to work for God’s kingdom. We were so busy feeling all these things, we forgot the Lord was at work making sense of it all.
We are happy to share this news with you and for those of you who did support us, we hope you feel content to know your gift is being used as a huge blessing to the children in Chocabamba who so desperately need to hear about the love of Jesus.
To learn more about the new Center in Cochabamba, please visit Joana’s blog. There you will find updates and great pictures as they start construction.
Please remember to keep this team in your prayers and thank you so much for your support during this journey in our own lives. God has been so faithful in showing us how much we are loved and supported and Jason and I could not be more greatful!!
The chocolate cake is calling.......... :)
