The kid's table during lunch on Sunday.

Contact Center

Open house/ inauguration of the contact center.

About 15 people showed up to see the contact center and to hear what we have planned as far as the purpose of the place and what types of studies will be offered in the next few months.

Everyone worked really hard to get it the way it is now and ready for the open house. We'll try to put some "before" and "in progress" pictures on later to give you a better idea of the past few weeks.

Continuing in His plan

Where to begin..?? Everything has been so wonderful, just being here has continued to be a dream come true.. Yes there are difficult days.. and frustrating times, but overall we are consumed with thankfulness. We continue to work on visas and wait for paperwork from Mexico and Ecuador (an everyday headache due to the local bureaucracy). We hope to be done with it by the end of the month, (especially since Erik and I are paying a daily fine because our second visa for 30 days has expired again.)
The Contact Center
Other than visa work, the work here is progressing. We have found a place to set up our contact center, and we were able to start fixing it up this week. We have been praying about the Contact Center for a long time now, and to actually have it is so exciting. The location is great.. the conditions are bad, but we are fixing it up. We've beeen putting in cabinets and a sink in the kitchen, changing broken windows from all the dinamite blasts from the protests, scraping the walls down from the humidity in the paint, and changing out the bathroom also. As for the location we are a block down from one of the major universities, a block from the main drive through town and two blocks from the black market. We are so excited about opening it as soon as possible. Already so many people stop and ask us what we're going to do with the place and many are interested in studying the Bible.
Seekers of Christ
We've started with groups and studies in our home. It has been very exciting to see that there are so many seeking to know Christ and His word. There is no greater joy than sharing with someone who is just ready and desiring with all their heart to know Christ and make Him Lord of their lives. This Wednesday in my time with Carla (a woman that sweeps the street in front of my house) she said, "I understand now that Baptism is really important to God... but how do I prepare myself for baptism?" She is so in love with God, I look forward to my times with her, she comes in for coffee 2 or 3 times a week. I really enjoy my times with her because of the evident hunger she has to change and know Christ. Hopefully soon we'll be writing with news of her decision to give her life to Christ.
Swimming upstream
I am a very bad swimmer.. at the most, I know how to doggy paddle. Lately I have felt that I have been doggy-paddleing up a stream. I have never seen as much Public Pornography as I have seen here in Sucre. It's all over Bolivia, in every store you walk in, in public offices, banks, immigration, and police and government offices. Posters and Calenders of naked women are plastered all over the place. I've started my "sorry swimming" against the current. I make an effort to say something to the owners of the stores, or the managers. They usually think I'm a crazy gringa and usually say something like, "That's not pornography..." or "That's what you see all over Bolivia." And I usually say something like, "If a poster of a naked woman isn't pornography, than what is?" or "I have bigger dreams for Bolivia, than for my son to grow up immune towards pornography." So Zion and I have cut out paper clothes and we carry them in his diaper bag with a glue stick, and I am now on a mission to dress the women in the posters. People usually get a pretty good kick out of it, when I tell them that I would like to dress the women on their posters.. but they haven't said "no." Usually they won't look at me in the eye after I've glued cothes to their posters. I'm thinking of getting the Christian women in Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, and La Paz started on the same mission. At least I will have some company as I doggy-paddle up stream.
Thank you for your love, your prayers, and your support. If you want to know how you can get involved in the work here, or help with some of the unexpected one-time costs for the Contact Center please drop us a note. God is faithful.
jenny_laguera@yahoo.com ~ my e'mail
all_i_can@hotmail.com ~ Erik's e'mail

Pictures of the team

Pancho meeting with the church in Cochabamba

Naomi in her new home.

This past month has truly been a blessing.. We've had the opportunity to familiarize ourselves with Sucre and with Bolivia. We've visited the work in Cochabamba, and the men on the team took a trip to Santa Cruz to meet the church there and receive their blessing. It was so encouraging to see what God is doing to Bolivia and the way His Kingdom is growing. Erik and I started a small group study in our home for friends we've made along the way. It is exciting to see the work getting it's start and seeking God's dream for the church here in Sucre. We are currently still working on visas.. and will be thankful when this process is done. We are looking for a strategic place for a contact center. We would like something close to the Peatonal, the street is called (Junin) Thousands of people walk up and down that street daily.. so if we could find a contact center in that area, it would be great. For this next month our goal is to continue with groups in homes and find a place for the contact center and get the furniture made. As we've said before, Sucre is interesting in that it doesn't have good furniture and you have to go to cities 12-13 hours away to order your furniture and have it made. Erik and I ordered a living room set a month ago and still haven't received them... but we will be extra thankful when we get them. So we know that we need to get going on the furniture for the contact center pretty soon. On Sundays we are meeting in homes and having our celebration and worship times.. It has been a very special month. On Tuesday mornings the women on the team and the men get together separately for some intimate prayer times. These have been very special times, especially since so many things are out of our hands and we know that only God is able. We wouldn't have it any other way.

Thank you for your prayers and your love. Please stay in touch and let us know how you are doing. ~Jenny Reyes~

The team in Sucre

The team together in Sucre!!!

We are here and halfway sane

I have to apologize for the length of time that has passed since our last update.. Things have been pretty crazy.. and finding a wireless network that worked has taken a little bit of time. Here we are though, and I am so excited to let you know how things are going. The whole team is now in Sucre and with homes.. we are running the local rat race now with Visas, and we feel like every two steps we take we take a step and a half backwards.. but we will succeed. This is a great trial for our patience. We just have to laugh sometimes, so that we can keep our sanity. Here is a list of ways you know that you are living in Sucre, Bolivia. Maybe you will get a kick out of these.
1. You have to visit the immigration office at least 5 times a day, and wait in an endless line to ask what is the next crazy thing you need to do in the visa process.
2. To receive needed forms from immigration or the local police office, they always give you the original form and have you walk across the street to make the copies you need and then return their original form.
3. You have to wait in line for 2 hours to pay a 3 dollar fee for the parperwork tat they took too long to fill out.
4. You visit the movies and during the movies you feel something cuddling your feet, you look down and you see a big furry cat sleeping at your feet.
5. On the night bus rides back and forth from La Paz and Santa Cruz, they stop for a midnight bathroom stop. All you can do is try to think "Happy Thoughts" so you can survive the traumatizing experience of using the local restroom.
6. You finally find a house to rent. You move in only to find that the land lord has decided to stay for a couple weeks with you in the house. You kindly have to ask them to leave because you are now paying rent for a supposedly "independent home." This comes as a surprise to them, because they also need a place to live.
7. It takes all afternoon to find someone who sells a can opener. (or other needed specific needs)
8. To buy furniture you have to find someone to make it for you..

Really we are so thankful to be here and that God is truly taking care of us. We all have found homes.. the Torrez family has found a good school for their kids. We are all so excited about God's plans and dreams for Sucre.
This Friday we will be taking the day off from visas and we are going to fast and pray as a team for the city.. We want to prayer walk the city and just ask God to take total control... that he would deliver Sucre and take it as His own. Please join us in prayer for the city of Sucre.
Thank you for your prayers and your love.
We will be in touch more often now that I've found a wireless connection.
~ Jenny Reyes