Thanking God at Christmas

2007 has been an amazing year for our ministry. About 18 months ago, I began a Bible study for university men, many of them students of English. By January, 2007 I had about a dozen guys involved. Early this year the guys asked if we could include college women in the group. Funny how that worked out.

I recruited some young professional women to work with me, Patricia and Paola. Working together we have seen dozens of young people commit their lives to Christ and we are averaging 50 in our weekly meeting.

Last Saturday we had our first annual Christmas dinner/party and served 80: About 60 of our students and 20 family members. We praise God for his faithfulness to build a movement here among College men and women.

Here is a short video of the dinner. I trust you will have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The kids from Talita Cumi

On Sunday we had the joy of entertaining two of the kids from Talita Cumi, the children's home near our house. Jeanie is on the board of the home. Once a year the kids all find families for a day so that the 24/7/364 staff can have time together for planning. Beatriz, 17, and Juan de Dios, 5, spent the day with us. We went out for pizza and a movie (Disney's Enchanted) and then home to make a cake. Here is a picture of Juan de Dios helping Jeanie clean up.

Juan de Dios has only been at the home for five months and everything is an adventure for him. He had hardly been cared for with an absent mom and a father just out of prison. He is missing his front teeth, but from decay, not because they fell out normally. Nonetheless, he is one happy boy. You should have seen him doing cartwheels, a recently acquired skill, through the lobby of the movie theater!

Please pray for Juan de Dios and all the kids at Talita Cumi.

Ron

Polarization in Bolivia

The last several days have brought fear, confrontation, and uncertainty in Bolivia. Rather than try to explain the situation, I'll give you a link to an article on the democracy center's blog. The democracy center is run by a left-wing American who is usually anything but objective. Intestingly he gets it about right in his analysis this time. If you have a few minutes you can read about what's going on here in Bolivia. Then please take time to pray. Ron

Thanksgiving here and there

We celebrated a good old US Thanksgiving with about 70 folks from the American missionary community here in Santa Cruz on Thursday. We had turkey and stuffing, pumpkin pie, and everything except Grandma's "green fluff" jello.

Meanwhile back in Gainesville, Florida our grown children and their spouses all got together at our son Stephen and his wife Rachael's home for the holiday. We are so happy to see that they are staying close.

A story of courage

I want to tell you about my good friend Alfredo. He is a small young man, 25 years old. Two weeks ago we celebrated with him as he successfully defended his thesis and graduated from the Gabriel Rene Moreno University. He has been a leader in our student movement since it began about a year ago. Alfredo has been with us on mission trips and has a heart for leading people to faith in Christ. He leads the fun time at the beginning of our big weekly meetings. Since his father died 12 years ago he has helped his mom raise his four younger brothers and sisters. In the last several years she has been in poor health and has depended on Alfredo's teaching job to bring in most of the family income.

Last Sunday night he called me just before I was to leave on a trip the next day to Uruguay. He was sobbing. His mother had just died of pneumonia in the public charity hospital in Santa Cruz. I told him I would meet him at his house. When I arrived a few friends had gathered to wait for Alfredo and his mother’s remains. I comforted the younger kids and waited with them.

The old Toyota station wagon arrived with the casket and we carried it from the dirt street up the embankment to the house. The kids had cleared out one of the two rooms in front of the house and the morticians went to work. They did all of their work right there at the house. The neighbor ladies asked the kids to get their mother’s best dress and shoes. Someone scrambled to find shoe polish. After about an hour, the work was done and the room was open for visitors.

By midnight there were around 40 people sitting quietly in the yard. I slipped some money into Alfredo’s pocket and prayed with him, then left for home and my trip to Uruguay. I phoned my Bolivian Campus Crusade staff friends to give them the news and they assured me that they would be there to support Alfredo. The service was held on Tuesday and a dozen friends from the student group and dozens from their mother’s church were there.

Jeanie and I went to visit the kids yesterday. Alfredo and his sisters showed me albums of photos they had put together and were doing pretty well. His fourteen year old brother Noah hung around quietly in the background. Alfredo is committed to keeping the family together in the coming years. His sobs have given way to courage as the younger kids lean on him for strength. Please pray for Alfredo, because for him youth has come to a screeching halt. He is the man of the family now.

JESUS Film Movement: Brasil

Hi from Sao Paulo, Brasil. I am here with 20 leaders from all around South America thinking and dreaming together. They all work with the JESUS Film project to reach lost people in their countries.
As we move toward the future we remember fondly the picture of two men and a burro taking the projector, generator, and JESUS Film out to the villages. In some countries we still do exactly that!
In most of urban South America, we need to think through new, effective strategies to reach people using DVD's, new films, Internet, etc.
It is thrilling for me as the JESUS Film leader for South America to learn from the creativity and energy of these national leaders.
Please pray for our leaders in South America as they continue to seek new and relevant ways to reach lost people with the Good News of Jesus Christ,

Ron

Going to the Dogs

Hi from Bolivia,

A few months ago some friends of ours had an unplanned litter of puppies. The mother is a boxer and the father, well, maybe a poodle. So the puppies are Boxerdoodles. However, now that we have one of the puppies (not house trained yet) Jeanie says she is a Pooboxer. She is almost 4 months old, black with white trim and really gives 7 year old Lizzie a run for her money. We named her Sheba. The video gives you an idea of what life in the living room is like.

Great retreat weekend

Hi from Santa Cruz,

First off, we had a tremendous weekend with about 60 young people from our ministry together at a retreat just outside of town. We shared a lot of the CCC basic discipleship messages like: How to be sure you're a Christian and How to experience God's love and forgiveness. About 9:30 pm on Saturday, the heavens opened up and we had several hours of hard pounding rain. It was so loud that we had to give up on any kind of conference sessions. Like a lot of buildings here, the conference center has a tin roof. The GREAT news is that the rain washed away the smoke!

On the morning the conference was to begin, I was up early and went into the bathroom in our house and found THOUSANDS of mosquitos. We had some spray, so I gassed them and closed the door. The floor and counters were covered when we went back in. Who knows where they came from. That night Jeanie went home to take care of the dogs. The storm that brought the rain also burned out our computer monitor and the water pump. I guess the lightning got pretty close!

Speaking of discipleship, I found a great article by a missionary with International Teams, Woody Roland. He describes some the barriers to effective discipleship in Latin America. His points are right on target. If you have a few minutes, follow this link and read the article.

Barriers to Discipleship in Latin America

Blessings and thanks for your prayers,
Ron and Jeanie

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

FIRES IN BOLIVIA
"Hundreds, possibly thousands of fires (locations marked in red) were burning in South America when the MODIS on NASA’s Aqua satellite passed overhead on September 25, 2007, and captured this image.
The most intense fire activity was in Bolivia, where fires are concentrated in the Santa Cruz Department, in the southeastern part of the country."

That's the news from NASA. The news from our house is that the smoke is intense. Coming home from the office today the sun was completely blocked out and it was dark earlier than normal.
It's not too smoky in the house, but outside is bad. Bolivia has no real fire fighting capablity, and the president is preoccupied entertaining Iranian dictators. The only solution will probably come with the rainy season in a month or two.

Magdalena: Released from Shame

Last week I was in Cartagena, Colombia for the religious broadcasters convention for Latin America. I was there to premiere the new film we are working on called Magdalena: Released from Shame. The film presents the gospel story from the point of view of Mary Magdalene. The producers really wanted to reach women who are oppressed around the world. It really struck a chord with women here in South America.

We had a couple of goals, one was to distribute 1300 free DVD's of the film to participants, but more than that to encourage them to use the DVD to reach women for Christ and to start new small groups of women. In addition we showed the film on the big screen to an audience of several hundred.

I was anxious to get the reaction of the women who saw the film. Here is a brief video of some of their responses. Their excitement was plain to see:



I'll keep you posted as we distribute the film more widely throughout South America.

Ron

Bernadette Todd in Bolivia

Dear Friends,

Last weekend found us in separate countries, thousands of miles apart involved in very exciting ministry projects. While I (Ron) was in Cartagena, Colombia (I'll be writing about that separately), Jeanie was hosting some friends of ours from Miami, Bernadette and Jeff Todd.

Bernadette was here in the summer of 2006 and came again to share her story with students and families. She suffers from muscular dystrophy to such an extent that she has very little movement in her body. But, as she is fond of saying, she has her voice! And she uses her voice to tell people about God's goodness and his love.

Here is a video that our Campus Crusade team put together of her time in Bolivia last weekend:


Please pray for the folks that made commitments to Christ as they heard Bernadette's story. Pray as well for Bernadette and Jeff as they continue to minister together.

Ron

Spider, Stove and Birthday

Hi from Bolivia,

This month Andrew celebrated his 15th birthday with Mom and Dad and then later with some friends. He got a new guitar that he's already playing pretty well. It's hard to believe that Andrew is growing up so fast. We are really proud of him.

Behind him in the picture you can see the gas stove we bought when we moved to Bolivia in 2003. It works OK, but one of the things Jeanie missed from her range in Miami was the delay timed cooking feature. She used to put Sunday dinner in the oven to turn on while we were at church so that it would be ready when we came home. She has missed that a lot lately because we have a lot of young people at church that we like to invite home with us.


You can buy that kind of electric stove here, imported from the U.S., but they are very expensive, about double what they cost in the U.S. Well, God in his goodness brought some missionaries to town from Cochabamba who had just the stove that Jeanie had in mind. We bought it and brought it home this week. Not a big thing, but it will make life and entertaining more enjoyable for Jeanie. We donated our old stove to the Campus Crusade ministry center. Anyway, on the left is a photo of the new stove.



Last, here's a photo of some wildlife that Andrew found on the shower curtain this morning:

Settling back in

After an intense time of graduation, wedding, mission teams (6), and a lot of travel (Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Orlando), I think life is going to settle back down to normal for a few weeks.

The big change in our lives involves school. Andrew is back at the Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center beginning his freshman year at the high school. He is really enjoying it so far. The other big change is that Jeanie is now working as a teacher at the school. She has two classes, freshman English and first year Spanish. Because the high school is very small, she only has VERY small classes: one in the special English class and four students for Spanish. She says reviewing the basics in Spanish really helps her. I can tell you her accent is great!

This morning is the big kick off brunch for the women’s bible study that Jeanie helps to lead. They are expecting about 50 ladies this year. Thanks for praying!

National Community Church

This week has been a fantastic time with the team from National Community Church from Washington, DC. Our daughter and son-in-law, Sarah and Dustin Hanks are members of the church and both had planned to come with the team. As it turns out, Sarah is expecting a baby in January and they decided that it might be better for her to stay in the U.S. We have enjoyed having Dustin with us this week.

These guys from DC are amazing. They are professionals, mostly, and ready for anything. We have built a church floor, ministered in schools and neighborhoods, climbed the Inca Ruins, and had a few sicknesses. We have seen a lot of people express faith in Jesus this week.

And, wow, these guys know how to blog! World champions. GREAT PICTURES. Here is the link to a much more complete story of what's been happening.

Blessings,

Ron

Ecuador and Peru

This week I have been in Quito, Ecuador and Ayacucho, Peru working with our JESUS Film coordinators in both countries. In Quito the national director of Campus Crusade took me up the new gondola lift up the side of the mountain on the west side of the city. The top of the ride is at 13,300 above sea level.

We walked around awhile and I saw a sign offering horse tours that would go farther up the mountain. I rarely do tourist things when I travel, but decided to go for it. I rode with a guide up to 15,100 feet, to the base of the Rucu Pichincha volcano. Horses that work at that altitude are a special smaller breed.

This morning I arrived in Ayacucho with my friend Carlos Olano. We met some of the volunteer pastors who are leading the Quechua Ayacucho project, targeted to Quechua Ayacucho speakers and their Spanish speaking children.

Tonight we drove about 20 minutes outside of the city on a dirt road to a hillside village at about 10,000 feet elevation. The JESUS Film team was there before we were, but were having trouble making the projector work. The village has no electricity, so about 15 Quechua men and boys gathered around the projector and generator in the dark to try to figure out the problem. They were amazingly patient and calm as the minutes stretched into an hour of waiting. They worked on it together with no real sense of time. In the end the problem was solved and people gathered to see the story of JESUS.

Tomorrow it is back to Lima and on to Santa Cruz.

Ron

Thank you Grace Community Church!

Thank you Grace for sending a team to Bolivia. Together with Christ Fellowship in Miami, Windermere Ministries in Orlando, and National Community Church in DC you are making a mark for Jesus in Bolivia in 2007.

In fact you are leaving a legacy. With the Grace Team alone, hundreds of people have heard the Gospel one on one, through group presentations, and through the JESUS Film. Hundreds have made the life changing decision to receive Christ as Savior. You have helped to plant two new home churches and have left wonderful structures for them to meet in.

Jeanie and I and the whole team of Bolivian staff and volunteers thank our Great God for leading all of our teams to share in the ministry He has called us to. As you return to the U.S. may He be your constant Guide, Companion, and Teacher as you take the same Gospel to a lost and dying people. We love you!

Ron, Jeanie and Andrew

Songs and JESUS Film

Hi from Montero, Bolivia!

Thursday. The team has one more ministry day in Montero and everyone is holding up great!

Every day the team from Oregon has been ministering to children through puppets, music and crafts. Today the kids decorated little pouches and made toy fishing poles. This is a picture of Stephanie leading songs with Amelia, one of our Bolivian volunteers. (That's Andy in the background).

After the kids activities we have been showing the JESUS Film. This is photo from this evening. The film presents the story of Jesus from the book of Luke. It gives people a chance to understand more about the life of the Savior, either just before or after they have trusted Him.

Tomorrow we will lay the brick floor for the second tent. The tents are used for the new home groups that are forming in two new neighborhoods.

After that we'll go back to the neighborhood in the afternoon for more house to house evangelism and children's activities.

Thanks for praying for the team,

Ron

Tents, Movies, Kids and Small Groups

Hi,

Today is Day 4 for the Grace Team from Oregon. They have been out sharing Gods love door to door using the Four Spiritual Laws, they participated in a JESUS Film showing tonight and did VBS activities and small group Bible study in the new tent structure for one of the new church plants. This photo was taken this afternoon.

Please pray for continued good health and strength as we move into the second neighborhood tomorrow.

Blessings,

Ron

Monday - Cold and Rainy

Dear Friends,

The Grace team is doing great! Here is a picture from our training time together with the church we will be working with in Montero.

This morning we woke up to cold and rainy weather - about 52 degrees Farenheit. The school we were planning to visit this morning with the puppet show cancelled classes! We had a great time of prayer and praise and are looking forward to sharing God's love in a children's home later this afternoon.

Blessings,

Ron and the Grace Team

Grace Community Church in Bolivia!

Hi!

A mission team from our home church from Oregon, Grace Community Church in Gresham, arrived this morning after 23 hours of travel. We let them rest about an hour and a half before lunch and then a quick tour of the downtown plaza in Montero.

This afternoon we started training on how they will be sharing the Good News of the Gospel using the Four Spiritual Laws. In Spanish! They will have volunteers from our campus ministry and the local church working alongside.

Tomorrow they will be sharing the puppet show at a school, putting up semi-permanent tent structures, doing a childrens Bible school, sharing the Gospel door to door and showing the JESUS Film. Please pray for the team that God will give them extra strength and good rest.

They are tired, but we promise a good night sleep tonight.

Blessings from Ron and the team.

How do you describe a free gift?

Last week we were working with a team of Chiropractic physicians to help plant a church in a town in the campo called La Porfia.

I was sharing the Great News of salvation by faith alone, by grace alone with a couple of men who were watching the construction of the new church building. As I shared with them, we got through the part of God's love - they agreed; then I talked about our sin -and they also agreed that we are are all sinners. I moved on to the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made on the cross on our behalf. Again, they knew that story.

Last, I shared our need to receive by faith God's free gift of salvation and eternal life. By way of illustration I asked them each if they had ever received a wrapped birthday or Christmas present. I often use that illustration to show people that all we do is receive the gift - that we don't work for it.

Each man replied no, they had not ever received a gift. But, I insisted, as a child surely you received a gift? Again, No.

How do you explain the concept of a free gift to someone who has never received one? We talked further and I explained what it might mean to receive the free gift of salvation and one of the men prayed with me to receive Christ as Savior.

Please pray for the new church in La Porfia. Pray that God will use the ministry of the church to bring the free gift of salvation into many homes.

Ron

Back in Bolivia

Dear Friends,

We are home again in Bolivia after a hectic 3 weeks in the USA. We went to South Carolina for Patty's graduation from Furman University and then on June 15, her wedding to Luke Tolbert. We came home thrilled with our new son-in-law, nostalgic for our little girl, and sorry to be thousands of miles away from our grown children. The number one sacrifice all of our missionary friends mention is the separation from family.

Here is a link to a video I just posted of the graduation and wedding. We're pretty proud of Patty!

Two men, two stories

Dear Friends,

Our young adult group is growing! Last Saturday 24 men and women came out to our meeting. Every week we have some new people and I try to meet with all of the new men over lunch during the week following the meeting.

This week I met with Pepe on Tuesday and Marcos on Wednesday. Both are about 30 years old, single but in relationships. I met with Pepe, and we had a good time getting to know one another. I learned from his story that he was living with his girlfriend. I shared the gospel with him using the Four Spiritual Laws. When I came to the end of the booklet, his response was that he was sure he had Christ in his life. That made the challenge to receive Christ a little redundant.

We talked some about God being the author of life and the One who sets the standards of right and wrong. Pepe is a great guy, but the issue of sin is definitely not clear to him yet. We’ll spend more time together in the weeks to come talking about the holiness of God and His standard of perfection. Only when we understand His holiness does our need for a Savior come into clear focus.

The next day (today, actually, as I write this) I met with Marcos. We spent 45 minutes or so just chatting. He has almost completed his degree in English and works for a Tour company. Like Pepe, he is one of the nicest guys you could hope to meet. He lives with his younger sister. His parents have long since split up.

As I shared the Gospel with Marcos, I was thinking about Pepe and really wanted to make the issue of sin clear with him. I really emphasized why we need salvation. As I came to the point of decision in the Four Spiritual Laws booklet, I read him the prayer, but then explained again that it was a matter of faith in response to God’s offer of grace. We talked again about sin. He said that he wanted to pray to receive Christ. Again I explained that it was a matter between him and God, that God was calling him to repentance.

He responded, “Ron, I know I’m a sinner. I want to pray that prayer right now.” So he did, right out loud. We were both overcome with joy. I shared more with him from the Bible what it means to know Christ. My favorite thing to share with a man who receives Christ is John 1:12. I explained that since he had received Christ, he had a right to be called a son of God. I asked him who his Father was, Marcos responded, “God is”. I told him that 36 years ago I prayed to receive Christ as well, so God is my Father, too. Then I asked him if we had the same Father what that made us. A big smile spread across his face as he answered, “BROTHERS!”

Please pray for Marcos as he grows in Christ, and for Pepe that God will continue to draw him to Himself.

Blessings, Ron

Brrr in Bolivia

Well, about the time we read about warm tempertures in the U.S., the temperature begins to drop in Bolivia! This morning we had a low of 51 degrees, with 14 mph winds from the South (that's where cold comes from in our part of the world south of the equator). It is a hard time for poor people here, because no house has central heating. Coats and blankets are always scarce.

For us, it's kind of fun to feel the cold and think of life back home. Our new house out in the country has a wood cookstove that has stood idle through our first months - summertime - in the house. This morning Jeanie decided we would fire it up. As I left for the office, smoke was coming out of the chimney, the kitchen was warming up and Andrew was scrambling eggs!

We'll enjoy it while it lasts. On Saturday the forecast is for clear skies and 86 degrees.

Ron

Easter weekend in Bolivia

Ron and Jeanie Burgin
Campus Crusade for Christ, South America


Hi from Bolivia!

We had a great Easter weekend in Bolivia. Andrew and I went with about 35 friends from our local Campus Crusade ministry out into the campo to show the JESUS Film in a couple of small villages. Jeanie stayed home with some other Easter weekend responsibilities (breakfast on Sunday at the churchJ).

Conditions were interesting! We stayed at the ranch of some friends. It was a nice house, but it had very little water. What little came out of the tap was very rusty. Fortunately, Andy and I brought 4 five gallon containers of water from home. It’s a good thing we did, because there was no other available water to cook with. The bathroom facilities were nice, just no water. So, we worked out a two bucket system: one to dip from for “showering” and another to empty into the toilet to flush it. Everyone was responsible to fill the buckets outside when the finished with the bathroom.

Have you ever heard of a “peto”? It is a particularly aggressive Amazonian wasp. I was with several of my guys when I found a nest of petos in a tree near the ranch house. I thought it would be a good idea to throw a brick at the nest. You have never seen a bunch of Bolivian guys run faster! Meanwhile, I stood and looked at the petos as the nest fell to the ground. Within a couple of seconds one of them stung me on the forehead with such force that it felt like someone hit me! Over the next 24 hours my forehead and left eye swelled up. The pain was like no Oregon yellow jacket sting I have ever felt.

To get between the ranch and the villages we had to ford a river in the jeep. It is four wheel drive, but it was a little bit of an adventure each of the 10 crossings. Andrew and the college guys thought it was a lot of fun. I held my breath each time.

On the Saturday afternoon Andrew showed the guys how to play American football in the river. I explained the rules, which the Bolivian guys find hilarious compared to soccer. The hardest rule for them to understand was: no tackling after the ball is dead – incomplete pass, runner is already down, etc. They really liked the tackling part. Here is a video in the river (the same river we had to cross 10 times).



We showed the film on the soccer field opposite the little Catholic church. The local community leader gave us permission to use the benches from the church! Here is Milton Andy carrying a bench for the showing.

That evening 25 adults and 15 children made decisions to follow Jesus as their Savior. I shared with two boys, Jose Patricio and Rodrigo. They were 10 and 11 years old. As an American, you would look at them and think they were about seven. They are very small. I asked them if they were sure that if they died that they would go to heaven. They weren’t positive, but wanted to know for sure. I explained how they could know for sure, and each of them prayed to receive Christ as his Savior.

We were working with a local pastor who has been in the area for about 6 months and he will be following up with the new believers.

Please pray for:


*Jose Patricio and Rodrigo – that they would grow in their faith.
*Pastor Adolfo who will be following up with the new believers.
*Jesús, Luis, Milton Andy, Edén, Never, Adolfo and Renato – the guys from our Bible study who went on the retreat. Pray that God would give them a vision to reach lost people.
*Pray for the growth of our ministry to college age men and women. Next week I will be giving a talk at the state university. We are trusting God to grow from 12 to 50 kids in the next several months. (We are just one of many college groups sponsored by Campus Crusade here in the city)
*Pray for our friends Tony and Sarah, missionaries here in Bolivia, whose premature twins died after a few days of life last week. Sarah is still very weak.
*Pray for God to give me wisdom as I work with our staff in the other countries of South America to maximize the impact of the JESUS Film.

Thanks for being part of what God is doing here in Bolivia! We couldn't be here without you!

In Christ's love,
Ron, Jeanie and Andrew

Meet the guys

For the last 4 or 5 months I have been building relationships with a bunch of university guys. They are mostly students of English at the state university in Santa Cruz. We get together Saturday evenings for Bible Study, prayer and fellowship.

They have really blessed me by their willingness to learn from God's word and by their faithfulness to show up every week. We are going through a study now on Bibilical manhood. There is not much in this culture that gives a Christian man hope. As we learn together what God made us to be as men, they are really encouraged. As John Eldredge wrote in "Wild at Heart", God did not create us to be "nice guys" but courageous, even dangerous Men of God.

I wish you could meet Luis, Marco, Humberto, Ernesto, Ever, Eden, Jesus, Luis, Renato and Darling. These guys are going to be mighty men of God in Bolivia.

Jeanie is an Artist!

A couple of weeks ago our Bolivian neighbor Daisy invited Jeanie to come to a painting class. The ladies from the neighborhood are learning to paint on fabric. They make tablecloths, pillows, and a lot of other things.

The ladies were there to learn to supplement their family income by creating salable craft items. Jeanie was there to meet the ladies! I think her work is beautiful!

Quechua recording of JESUS Film radio version

Hi From Bolivia,

Exciting things are happening here as three men from Orlando have come down to work with my Bolivian colleagues to record the Quechua and later, Aymara versions of the JESUS Film audio version.

We'll be using the new audio version to do initial follow-up among new believers in groups forming following presentations of the JESUS Film.

The photo is of Herbert Ogeda, the Quechua language voice actor who played Jesus.

Please join us in praying for the technical details of the recording and that God would use the recordings in a tremendous way in the lives of millions of Bolivians.

Blessings from Bolivia,

Ron

Perfection, holiness and old cars

Perfection. I am thinking of perfection in the American sense of wanting everything to work properly, the first time, consistently, and without maintenance. The joke around our house is that I am "Tech Support". In Bolivia we require a lot of tech support; for cars, computers, pumps, roofs, etc., etc. The trade off we have come to is that Jeanie manages the household in tough circumstances, but I do all the Tech Support. Fortunately these days my young associate, Andrew, is becoming quite adept at Tech Support.

The ongoing pursuit of perfection in all things mechanical means spending a lot of time visiting the mechanic. After a while we come to a new trade off: perfection vs. time spent pursuing perfection. Am I willing to accept a certain level of ongoing low level imperfection in order to have time to do the ministry God has called us to? Our radiator leaks a little. Back in the U.S. I wouldn't tolerate that. Here, well, I am sort of resigned to checking the water level every couple of days.

When I think of my personal life, can I afford the same luxury of tolerating and accomodating a low level of sin - imperfection - in my life? God tells me in his word:


As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." I Pet 1:14-16

and again:

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Rom 8:13

What seems expedient in the physical world, i.e. tolerating imperfection, doesn't seem to be profitable in the spiritual world. God has a higher standard. Fortunately for us His higher standard is accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Well, anyway, that's what I've been thinking about this week. I'll write more later on some exciting new developments in the ministry.

Blessings from Bolivia,
Ron

Gadgets are good

Hi from Bolivia!

I just finished a couple of intense days of meetings with our Bolivan Campus Crusade leaders, leaders from JESUS Film and representatives from Hosanna Ministries. We are working on a comprehensive evangelism and follow-up strategy that churches can use.

They brought us samples of a revolutionary device the size of a brick that looks like a radio. It is not a radio! It's called the PROCLAIMER and it comes with a flash memory chip containing the whole bible in dramatized audio format. It has a speaker that will easily allow 100 people to listen. It has three power sources: AC power, solar power, or crank.

We plan to use the device with poor congregations that partner with us to show the JESUS Film. The new follow up groups for people who come to Christ at the film showing, will gather once or twice a week to listen through the New Testament.

We will be working with new groups in Quechua, Aymara, Guarani and Spanish.

Gadgets are good! (But God is GREAT!)

Ron

The extremes of life

Hi from South Carolina!

Jeanie, Andrew and I are here in South Carolina to celebrate our daughter Patty's engagement to Mr. Luke Tolbert of Greenwood, SC. As a violin major at Furman University, Patty is required to perform a senior recital. We all attended the recital Tuesday evening. She was amazing (even if her dad says so)!


On Monday we went with the whole clan to visit Biltmore in Asheville, NC. It is the largest private home in the U.S. I have to say the contrast in wealth between that house and and average U.S. home is about the same as the contrast between the average U.S. home and the average Bolivian home. The house was beautiful in every respect.

In the end, however, the only thing that matters is our relationship with Christ. Whether you are the poorest Bolivian or a Vanderbilt, you'll have to give an account to your Maker someday. We'll be on our way back to Bolivia on Friday.

Thanks for your prayers for the country. In the days we have been away, things improved and then got worse again politically. Please pray for our friends Dan and Daryl Collins and everyone who lives in Cochabamba, the focus of unrest these days. Pray that Christians in Bolivia will be strong in the strength of the Lord.

Blessings,
Ron

Pray for Pastor Johnny

In our Christmas letter we mailed back to the U.S. I mentioned Pastor Johnny:

"I want to tell you about Johnny. He is a pastor of a small church in El Alto. For the past two years he has faithfully attended our T-Net pastors training. He has learned to use the JESUS Film to win people to faith in Jesus. He has learned how to follow up new believers and help them grow. He has learned how to build spiritual disciplines into their lives so that they can become Christ-centered multiplying disciples.

Johnny is determined to develop leaders in his church who are multiplying disciples of Jesus Christ. More than that, he wants to train other pastors to do the same. This morning while I was in a meeting, we got a phone call from Johnny. He has organized three groups of pastors, 25 in El Alto, and 10 each in different outlying areas to come together to be trained. We’ll help him, but he’ll do a lot of the training himself. It is because of people like Johnny that we love serving in Bolivia."

Two days before Christmas Johnny was attacked near his home. He was choked and was unable to speak for nearly two weeks. He lost his cell phone, wallet and his identity card in the attack. You would have to live in Bolivia to understand the magnitude of his loss. He has been forced to move his family because of threats on their lives.

Maybe we shouldn't be surprised that a key leader would come under spiritual attack. Please join us in praying for God's strength for Johnny and his family as he recovers, and as we seek ways to help.

Ron