March 2017
Hello from the hot and humid jungle of Bolivia! We were able to return to Bolivia in February and have settled back in just fine.
This week we were finally able to start the final process of our residency. Everything seems to be going fine with this. It was MUCH more expensive that we were expecting. We had been told it would cost us about $500 to finish, however, it is costing us over $3,000!!! I am not sure how that happened!!! We had saved about $1,000 expecting it to be more expensive than originally told, but no where near $3000. Please pray that the Lord will help to provide the money we still need to finish.
We also have interesting news that we just found out. Because our children were born here, and are citizens here, it will help us become citizens. We have to get some paperwork from the States but after that, we will be able to have dual citizenship in the States and in Bolivia. This is great news for our ministry. As you may remember, Bolivia is heading towards socialism quickly. They also really do not like foreigners. They could at any moment decide to kick us out as foreigners or as missionaries. However, if we have full citizenship, that wouldn't happen. We would be able to stay regardless. So as soon as our residency is complete and we are allowed to return to the States and complete our furlough we can also obtain the necessary papers to complete this next step as well.
We are also still praying about buying land here. We have the area and a piece of land we are really interested in. We currently have raised about 20% of what we need in order to purchase it. Please help us pray over this! It is something very important to us and to the ministry.
Please remember that we will be returning stateside sometime around May to finish our furlough. We were required to split our furlough in half due to our residency and the paperwork involved (once we become citizens, that wont be an issue anymore!). While we are back in the States, our main goals will be to raise money for the land and to also raise more new support. Please help us pray for wisdom in accomplishing both of these goals.
As of now, we will at least be waiting to return until after Easter for two reasons. One is waiting to finish our residency paperwork and the other is for some visitors that are coming to stay with us in April. Please pray for our visitors. It is a couple that have surrendered to Bolivia as missionaries. They are coming for a survey trip to get an idea of where God wants them to work. We are excited to be able to help show them around and help them. This is an answer to our prayers that God would send more laborers to this harvest.
Lastly, please help us pray about our printing ministry here. There have been some very big doors open but there have also been some big doors shut. In the last couple of months, we found out that we have probably lost the financial support for the printing ministry. Nothing bad happened, it was just that some positions changed and so did the support. And on top of that, when we returned the printer was messed up and is now being worked on, which obviously has its expenses. While this door seems to be closing, another fairly large door has opened. We have been approached by another ministry to try and help supply Sunday School material for several churches here. We have found a material that costs about $50 per quarter for the originals and then the cost of printing. Since we have lost our publishing support, we still have not figured out how to work all of this but we are excited about the possibilities.
Once again, thank you for all you do for us and with us. Our ministry here would NOT be possible without people like you. We look forward to possibly seeing some of you on our return trip.