Planning our first trip to Bolivia

Boy, what a blessing this last month has been! We got to spend a lot of time with our family for Christmas, and then a week later, Brad turned 23 and we had a wonderful time reuniting with old friends on New Year's Eve. Yesterday, the 5th, was our two year wedding anniversary, which was another wonderful night. We are so blessed to have each other, our friends, and our loving family!

But now that the holidays are over, it's time to look forward to heading into Latin America to begin our ministry. We've been making some big plans for the next six months. First of all, we're going to Bolivia in February and March. Things are starting to come together for this trip. We have applied for our visas and are ready to step out in faith and go where He has been leading us. It's an exciting time, but also a faith-growing one. We have been on a roller-coaster of spiritual highs and lows as we deal with questions about where God is leading us and how to best fulfill His call. But I thank God that we are growing daily as we seek to follow Him and cannot lean on our own means to make any of this happen. We are praying more, seeking Him constantly, and preparing our hearts for this new and exciting time!

We are planning to be in Cochabamba, Bolivia for eight weeks from the beginning of February to the end of March. While we are there, we will be meeting with local missionaries and pastors about starting a literacy and ESL (English as a Second Language) ministry in Cochabamba. We will be assessing the need in the area for literacy and determining if Bolivia is where we want to establish our full-time ministry in Latin America. I'm sure our Spanish will be improving daily as well, which will undoubtedly be a fun and challenging experience.

Below is a map of Bolivia. Cochabamba is near the center, right at the base of the Andes Mountains (it's elevation is 8,500 feet). It is a beautiful city with relatively nice weather year-round (When we're there it will be summer and the rainy season, with average highs in the 80s.)



We are very excited to go, and we will be posting videos and pictures of the people and places that we see in Cochabamba while we're there. For a financial update, we have about 35% of the funds needed to make this trip happen. We are so blessed by your prayers and support that are transforming our vision into a reality!