Hola hermanos, hermanos, amigos y amigas!  (Hello to brothers, sisters and friends)

Here’s to share with you some of the highlights for this past summer in the Internado. (which is suppose to be the winter in Bolivia) 

After 3 weeks of vacation, (mid June to first week of July) the children all came back for the second semester of schooling. Everyone came back with excitement.

Welcome Morella!

Morella is the newest member of the family in the Internado. This sweet and pretty young girl is in the 5th grade. She joins the group of elementary kids under the supervision of the Bolivian pastor, Hermano Elizeo.

Computer & English Classes.

I had revised the schedule for Computer and English classes for the second semester.

I have 4 students each class, 6 classes in the morning, 3 classes in the evenings and additional class for elementary kids in the afternoon. Thank God for the assistance of the Interns.

I am happy to see the kids learning more about the computer. At the start they struggle with  learning new things. Most of them will say, “I can’t do it, I don’t know how…” With much patience and encouragement, I always tell them “You can…”

As they start to learn and do it, afterwards, they say, “Yes, I can”.

For now they are learning the different functions with MS Word.

Thank God for sending a new dorm mom for the girls, as the past dorm mother went back to La Paz for her university degree.  Ruth, the new dorm mom is also from the main city of La Paz. She is very good with the children. Please pray for her because she is more scared of the insects and bugs as we live in the middle of the jungle. She is also scared of the alleged snake seen by one of our girls near the river.

 
One of the boys, Gualberto (14 years old ) had an appendix surgery a few weeks ago. Thank God we got him on time in the hospital before it burst. He had  a good recovery and is now back with his schooling.

Praise God for the blessings of the team that came this summer; from Christ Community of Georgia, the team from South Carolina, and from Cullman, Alabama. The kids have enjoyed their visits. I also got to celebrate my birthday with the last two teams and with all the kids in the Internado.

This past couple of months I had witnessed the celebration of the anniversary of the founding of Ixiamas (June) and the main city La Paz (July). The townspeople did the traditional parade for the celebrations.

I also thank the Lord for the special blessing of the Interns from Auburn this whole summer; Abby, Olivia, Katie and Brian.   They have been a great blessing to us all in the Internado, especially to the children. I appreciate their flexibility and being open to help in whatever way they could. We will miss them all.

I also thank the Lord for another visa extension for mid July to mid August. I would appreciate your prayers for leading for my next visa extension for mid-August to mid September as Bolivia has some changes on visa extension. 

For this coming month of August I am excited as Internado workers (3 Bolivianos, Rachel and I) will start Bible Studies by groups with the kids on Sunday nights.  Please pray for the power of the Word God to continue to work in the hearts of the children. Pray that they will have a desire to know more the Lord through His Words.

For the past couple of months, the Lord has been teaching me a lot of things through this place.

I am grateful for His mercy and grace. I am learning to thank Him in everything, whether in good times and bad times,

I Thess 5:18 “in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”. 

Dios te bendiga!

Vicky

  

 

The last week has been rather quiet around the Internado. Rachel is back and we are so glad to have her. Unfortunaelty she had to return to a lost puppy, sneakers. We did everything in our power to return her before Rachel got back, announcements over the radio in town, we even offered a reward. But, alas no found puppy. So to lessen Rachel’s pain, several of the chicas brought puppies to the internado to replace Sneakers. Needless to say after two new additions to the Internado zoo, Sneakers was found, and the Internado dog count was up five. Yet, the abundance of puppies was not to last, Hermano Matteo mandated that all puppies, excluding Sneakers, be returned to from whence they came.

Saturday evening we experienced our first Boivian beauty pagaent at the colegio. Satina, one of the chicas from the internado, was choosen as one of the 2 representatives from her class. In an indeavor to support her, me, Vicky, and Olivia decided to brave the crowds and attend the pagaent. The pageant turned out to be similar to the pagaents we were used to, except for the typical dress, which consists of costumes, with seeds, sunflowers and grass. It was very interesting. Unfortunaetly Satina did not win, but she looked stunning and maintained her grace throughout the show. It was a wonderful way for us to experience more of Bolivian culture before we have to leave.

Tu hermana in Christ- Katie

You are invited to help the SIFAT staff celebrate our cofounders Ken and Sarah Corson’s 50th wedding anniversary at an informal cookout on August 16 at 10 a.m. Since leaving directly from their honeymoon to serve in Cuba, their marriage has been a legacy to missions, with almost 30 of their 50 years together given to SIFAT.
We would like to put together a scrapbook for Ken and Sarah with meaningful photographs and stories. Please bring your photo and/or story to include in this very special tribute to their marriage. If you cannot attend, please send your contribution to include in the scrapbook. Remember to include your names and when the photo was taken.
Ken and Sarah ask that anyone wanting to give a gift in their honor send it to SIFAT for the Sarah Trust Fund.
We hope you’ll join us at the lodge on SIFAT’s campus at 10.a.m. sharp for a special program, lunch and a wonderful time of celebrating their lives together. Please RSVP by August 1 by calling the SIFAT office (256.396.2015) or by e-mailing Marie (lanierm@sifat.org).

Tuesday morning we headed out bright and earlyto embark on our journey to El Tigre.  Riding on top of the truck (my new favorite mode of transportation) plus the free live entertainment provided by the group from St. John`s made the trip not only bearable, but a whole lot of fun.  The kids in El Tigre greeted us with fruit, then hearded us all together for an afternoon of soccer.  The guys held their own against the Bolivian`s, but the girls were a different story…we were more entertaining than anything else. 

After the soccer game, St. John`s organized a VBS, complete with a bible story, music and crafts.  The kids loved it and I loved being there to experience it.

Elba`s (one of the older girls at the internado) sister-in-law lives in El Tigre and was gracious enough to open her kitchen for our cooking needs.  We ate well, slept under the stars and woke up renewed and refreshed Wednesday mornign.  Before heading back to Ixiamas, we had a service with one of the two churches in El Tigre.  At one point we were all singing “Awesome God“  in English and Spanish.  It was such an beautiful moment, the Lord was present and glorified. 

Back at the Internado the team worked hard on the rabbit hutch and the new building.   With Cowboy`s help I was even able to come up with a new solution to fixing the top of the ferro cement tank (apparantly it is not as easy as one would think to build the top of a ferro cement tank).  *Thanks Cowboy!

 The goodbye`s began while we were away in el Tigre (Abby and Bryan had there farewell with the kids).  They, along with the group are on there way home as I type this.  Judith will bid the kids farewell Wednesday night and Angel (a volunteer here) will say goodbye then also.   It is sad at the internado as we all say goodbye to old and new friends. 

Katie and I have a little more time left, so check back for more on life in the internado.

Adios,

olivia

NOTE:  Mr. Terry, Thanks for Three Cups of Tea.  I finished it this week and LOVED it.  It is definitely worth reading.  It opens your eyes to a whole new attitude of service.  I`m passing it off to Vicky and Rachel.  🙂

The good news is that Sifat readers will no longer have to endure our blogs.  The bad news is that we have said our goodbys to some of the most amazing people we have had a chance to meet.  Today, I made my way here to Rurrenabaque with the last group of this year.  Abby, Katie, and Vicki have been here the last two days on a Pampas tour, and should be getting back in town any minute.  While Katie and Vicki will return to Internado, Abby and I will head to La Paz, and from there back to the states on Monday. 

Our time in Ixiamas has taught us far more than we could possibly ever have to share.  Through the Internado staff, the kids, and the people of the pueblo we have encountered the love of Christ constantly.  I personally have truly been blessed by this opportunity to serve and share.  While we are excited about seeing friends and loved ones back home, we will always remember the new friends we have made here in Ixiamas. 

The final group has truly been a blessing as well.  Through various bible school type activities they have really made an impact on the kids at Internado.  Last night, they specifically prayed with and for each kid, and lives were genuinely touched and changed.  They also finished most of the work on Internado´s new rabbit huch (all but the thatch roof, which no gringo has the expertise to weave….) and the second floor of the new building is progressing quickly. 

Thank you for your prayers and support throughout our stay here in Bolivia.  It has been an eye opening, life changing experience.  See you guys soon!

Bryan and Abby

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