September 2020 Prayer Letter
Good Day From Bolivia,
We are excited to be writing you once again with news of what is happening in Bolivia. You help make the ministry possible and we love letting you know what God is doing here.
Thankfully, things are slowly opening back up from the quarantine. We are finally able to drive, and we are allowed to do more day-to-day business than we have for the past 5 months. There is still a nightly curfew, but it is much more tolerable now than it was. They say that our city has had about 75% of its citizens infected at one time or another. So far, there has been little sickness among our church members from the virus and for this we are thankful.
As part of the new quarantine rules, we have finally been allowed to start Sunday morning services again! We were so very excited! These last 6 months have been a reminder of why the book of Hebrews tells us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves. We are limited to only being allowed to use 30% of our facility to avoid having too many people in a gathering. We also must follow the local health protocols but for both of our churches this has not been an issue. We set up our chairs for services outside under the trees to help accommodate for the attendance limit. With 50 people in attendance last Sunday, we consider this a great response to our services starting back.
With the new, lighter driving restrictions, we have been able to look into buying the church property. The land we originally planned to purchase is still available but has a couple of problems. One is that the price has increased recently. The new price is not a lot more but more than we believe the land is currently worth. The other problem is a new road coming through may ultimately take away from our land, so we continue to look. We have found another lot that we like. It is slightly smaller, but less expensive and in be a better location. Since it is across from the only medical clinic in this area, everyone would quickly understand a description of its location. We took several of our church members to see it and had a sweet time of prayer over the property. We have already spoken to the owner and are waiting on our lawyer to check the paperwork to make sure everything is in order. Please help us pray for wisdom in this matter.
In October, Bolivia will have its new election. If you remember, last October there was an election that caused a lot of problems due to suspected fraud. The president stepped down and the interim president scheduled new elections for May. Due to the pandemic, that was postponed until the 18th of October. We are expecting protests no matter who wins. If the former president's party wins, the others will claim fraud again. If someone else wins, his party will protest. We don’t expect the protests to be as bad as last year though. Currently, the former president's party is leading in the polls, but we will see what happens in the actual election.
Ellie and Daniel started school this month. This is Daniel's first year and Ellie's second year. So far, the school year is going very well. Daniel is excited to be learning and enjoys his classes. Ellie is also doing well. Her difficulties due to autism have improved over the last 2-3 months. We praise the Lord that she has been doing much better. Jessica spends so much time working with her. I am thankful for Jessica’s patience and endurance. She is an amazing woman!
Once more, we are very thankful for your continued prayers and support. May God be glorified through our joint efforts here in Bolivia.
