Safely South

Dan received a call from Jhonny mid morning to say that the team had arrived safe and sound in Bermego!

Dan and I (Colin) spent the morning with a missionary who has been mentoring Dan and missionary pastor in a local Presbyterian church in the greater Cochabamba area. In the afternoon we packed for our early morning departure to meet the rest of the team in Bermego, tomorrow. In the evening we had dinner with a short term missionary friend of the Collins' from Canada who is working with youth in association with Canadian Baptist Missions.

The haziness from the mountain forest fires cleared a bit today and in the afternoon there were amazing views of the mountains surrounding the city. Dan says every one is anxiously awaiting the summer rains that begin next month sometime to green the place up and wash the smoke and dust away. Being in this high plain it is so awesome to realize we are already at 9,000 feet and the mountains that surround us tower still higher into the 12,000's and beyond.

Yesterday Dan and I spent the day tracking down materials for the on-going renovation of the office space that the team spent so much time and effort painting and cleaning. Nate went with us as well as a local contractor, Alex, to find someone to repair the machinery that is down at his carpentry shop. What happens with a mere phone call in the states takes hours of leg work and relationships here. Multiple businesses usually need to be found to complete a project, there are no Jerry's Home Improvement stores, Lowes or Home Depot here. Providentially we found most of what we needed at one site, including cement which seems to be scarce right now in Cochabamba. Nate also found a machinery mechanic that would meet him this morning (everyone else was telling him they could not come for weeks out).

Please pray for the majority of the team who are already in Bermego as they adjust to a much lower altitude and more of a tropical climate. Dan's mentor, Dave, said today that the town is much smaller that Cochabamba, more like the size of Cottage Grove or Canby. Pray for the 4 who will head south tomorrow to connect through Tarija and rejoin the rest by evening.

Please continue to pray for unity, health and strength as we start into the last week of our adventure here.

Colin, for the team