Another month has flown by with only one more month remaining here in Ixiamas. I am sure the two months I am home will go by even faster.

We started out the month of October with a day of fasting, spiritual growth and Communion on Sunday the 4^th. The fasting was, of course, optional but everyone participated. We broke the fast with Holy Communion. We spent meal times in corporate and private prayers along with meditation on God’s Word. All of the students and staff really seemed to grow from the experience.

One Saturday, we went to visit the village of Puerto Ruso. All the people living in that community are Tsimane Indians, and very few of the adults speak Spanish. It was a great day of seeing new places and traveling down roads that were barely wide enough for the truck to make it through the thick jungle growth. We shared God’s Word by making gospel bracelets with the entire community and a skit showing how Christ died for our sins. Our girls treated everyone’s head for lice with vinegar. Two men in the community have Bibles in their own language given to them several years ago by some missionaries from the States. They were very proud of them and quick to show us God’s Word in their language. We met at the school where two teachers teach around 40 children up to grade 5. We introduced them to the Internado and shared how we could help their children get a higher education by coming to stay with us during the school term. All of the kids were given a Spanish New Testament that Christ Community Church of Columbus, Ga., brought to us this past July.  We shared a meal of rice, plantains and meat (our contribution to the meal), which the men cooked over an open fire on skewers. Afterward, we had three big soccer games. The girls’ game ended with no score, but the Internado boys won their game. Game 3 was the men and older boys; Puerto Ruso won 3 to 1. We also had a visit from a wild black monkey in the plantain grove bordering the soccer field.

The next day Rachel, Andres (who works at Two Trees), Eduardo (my Spanish teacher who worked as director here in 2004 – 2006 and at the Internado in Sapecho prior to Ixiamas) and I drove to Sapecho to buy cacao trees. It was great to visit the town where Sarah and Ken Corson lived when they were missionaries in Bolivia. We had a great meal along with really sweet oranges and coconut juice right out of the coconut at the home of Abdon. He was a supporter of the Sapecho Internado when it was active and helped out with teams that would come there. He also raises fish and showed us the new pond he is building. We loaded as many trees as we could get in the truck, 722 seedlings. Traveling in the truck was quite different than the flota (big bus), and I took some great photos. I actually drove 35 mph, the first time I have gotten over 20 since my arrival.

We ask for you to continue praying for us to find the right person to work with our animals and gardens on Internado grounds for 2010 and for safety as we drive the truck to LaPaz the 1st of December for servicing during summer vacation.

May God bless you all,
Becky