Our Journey to Llallagua, Bolivia

We could spend several paragraphs telling you about all that we experienced and learned about the people and culture of Llallagua (pronounced yah-YAHG-wah), Bolivia, but these videos and photos are probably a much better introduction.

Quechua hymn we attempted to sing along with at a church in Llallagua, Bolivia

Here's Victor preaching in Quechua after we sang. He's the one that made all this possible.

Quechua women spinning yarn in a church in Llallagua, Bolivia

Our visit to another small church on a rainy afternoon in Llallagua, Bolivia where the women were spinning yarn.

We also have lots of good pictures of our trip to Llallagua on Amy's Facebook. Just click this link to see them, even if you don't have Facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=155774&id=615102321&l=177056e3c9

Back On Our Feet

Well, some digestive sickness knocked us off our feet for the past few weeks. It's easy to forget how wonderful eating is. We could only drink fluids and fantasize about what we would eat if we were able to. (Don't ever stop drinking fluids if you have that sort of sickness. Ahem, anyway..)

However, we're happy to report that we're finally back on our feet! And good gravy-- is it wonderful to be able to eat or what?

With the illness hitting us so hard, we're only just getting started with the bigger stuff. We've already been out today making plans for literacy, and we'll be making a trip out into the countryside next weekend to talk to some pastors from another area about their literacy needs. We'll let you know how that turns out very soon. But for now, we would like to share a few of the simpler things that struck us about living here.

-There are a ridiculous number of stray dogs here. They're everywhere, on every street. You're just as likely to see stray dogs as you are people. In fact, once when I (Brad) was walking home by myself to Amy (who was already feeling sick), one of the stray dogs charged me, barking like crazy. It wasn't a big deal though, I simply pretended to pick up rocks and throw them at it, and it quickly ran away.

-Liquids often come in bags. Milk, ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, and yogurt are all good examples. Seeing ketchup in a bag kinda reminds me (Brad) of a giant ketchup packet.

Here's some chocolate milk in a bag. Brad can't get enough of this stuff!

Here's how we pour the milk: snip a corner and use a pitcher.

-It's rude to slam your door if you get into someone's car.. but the doors feel really light here for some reason. I'm still working on this one (Brad).

-The water from the sink is not good to drink, so we fill this tub with filtered water and use that for drinking, cooking, and brushing our teeth.

-Watching the streets for a while will challenge your idea of how many people and how much stuff you can get into/onto a single vehicle. I wasn't aware that a motorcycle could transport a family of 5.

-Because of the altitude, the Sun is super strong here and it tends to burn us, so we wear good sunscreen every day. Not a bad habit to be in, really.

-The steakhouses in the United States could learn something from the steakhouses here. Why hide all your food in a secluded kitchen? Here, they cook everything on an open flame out in the open so that everyone sees the juicy steaks, and entire streets smell like steak on the grill around suppertime. Entire streets..

-Bread here is not like sandwich bread at home. We buy fresh loaves like the ones below every few days for sandwiches and snacking. It's so fresh and tasty!

The bread on the left is our sandwich bread. The small ones on the right are a local type called cuñape (koon-YAWP-ay) that are made of cheese and yucca flour...yum!

Amy enjoying a cuñape, her favorite.

-The outlets are a bit different here, but for the most part, all our stuff works. Note there is no ground (three prong) option, so we had to borrow an adapter for our computer (Thanks Wassers!).

The far left is a light switch.

-We have discovered a new favorite food. They are called humintas (oo-MEEN-tas) and are made fresh every afternoon at our corner market. They are made with cornmeal, corn, egg, cheese, and oil that is steamed in a corn husk for an hour. They taste like a moist cornbread.

A new favorite for Brad! Note the chocolate milk. :)

All gone! Yum!

I (Amy) will have to learn to cook these so I can make them when I get home.

These are just a few of the things we have learned/observed while being here. I'm sure there will be many things about home that we will see in a new light when we return to the US. It has been an adventure so far, and we're looking forward to many more.

Thank you so much for all your prayers! God is certainly working on our behalf here. We'll be back with some literacy updates when we get back from our trip (to Llallagua if you want to google it) next week.

Wow, we're actually here!

That's what I keep saying to myself as I look around and realize that Brad and I are spending our first time together in a foreign country. Bolivia has been a wonderful adventure so far. We are enjoying our time here very much, and are learning so much every day!

So far we have...

traveled a really long time on a plane before finally arriving here in Cochabamba,

our second day of flying...almost there!

Beautiful Bolivia

explored our neighborhood and gotten to know some of the local customs,

These mountains are always visible from Cochabamba.

Stands like these are on almost every corner where people sell their goods.

The traditional dress of women. We see this on about 30% of women here in the city. It's pretty much all you see further out in the countryside.

Construction workers

eaten some new foods and enjoyed buying things from the local market,

Isn't the produce beautiful here? Check out the size of those avocados (far left)! Recognize the mango?

Something new in the lower left--it's called tuna and is a fruit from a cactus. It tastes a bit like cantaloupe, but with many seeds that you just swallow down.

and enjoyed sharing many new experiences with each other!

Our first week in Bolivia has been full of exciting new experiences, and we have accomplished a lot! We have taken 16 hours of language study where we have learned many new things and gained needed confidence. We have met some missionaries and Bolivians who are helping us to find our way around and learn the local customs. (Thanks, all of you!) We learned about a Bolivian holiday called Carnaval. It is kind of a mix between the Andean celebration of the provision of the rainy season and the Catholic-based pre-lent party. It has become pretty rowdy and full of water balloon fights. We've had fun trying to stay out of the cross-fire!

We also had some progress on the literacy front! We had a very informative meeting with an established literacy mission here in Cochabamba that works in the Quechua language. They offered to use their many contacts and check on local churches that could be interested in beginning a literacy ministry in Spanish! This is a huge step forward for us, since it will allow us to follow-up only with the churches that are interested in literacy. We never could have contacted so many churches without this help! Praise God for sending such a useful contact so early on in our trip! They also spent a few hours with us, sharing the state of literacy work in Cochabamba and telling us where the need is greatest here and the best way to approach a literacy ministry. We have a good idea now of what we can expect to accomplish here and what the people need. We are excited to be able to solidify a little further what our future in Cochabamba might be if God continues to open the doors here!

Some praise items:

• We arrived here safely!
• We have had no health problems, which is amazing since our bodies are adjusting to many new things.
• Great connections with people who know a lot about Literacy work here.
• New friends that are helping us get to know Cochabamba.

Some prayer requests:

• Continued safety--it's a big city (about the size of Nashville, TN in population)
• More connections with churches interested in literacy ministries
• Guidance as we pray about where God is calling us to work.
• Patience and understanding for us as culture shock and missing home sets in.

Thank you all so much for thinking of us while we're so far away!

The Future

Lately, we've been getting questions about our directors at LEI, Tedd and Emily Lodes. They are the directors of the Latin America branch of Literacy and Evangelism International.

It can be a difficult and abstract endeavor to try to paint you a picture of our hopes for the future.. but if you take a look at Tedd and Emily's blog, you can see some of the fruits of LEI missionaries that are already active in the field of Latin America. I hope this helps to show you our hopes for our own future.

http://teddlodes.blogspot.com/

Tedd and Emily are great examples of the people at LEI that bind us so closely and firmly to LEI both as a group of people and as a cause.

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!

To answer some recent questions...

First of all, I want you all to know that we treasure your hearts, minds, and attention. I know that if we can inspire you all to see the scope of this vision, it'll add a little bounce to your step and drive to your life.

Surprisingly, people's first questions have been how to donate. We are deeply touched by how eager everyone is to put that kind of confidence in us. So, if you've asked, here's how to donate. Any donations should be made payable to Literacy & Evangelism International, and addressed as follows:

Bradley Means
c/o Literacy & Evangelism International
1800 S. Jackson Ave.
Tulsa, OK 74107

All donations will go into our own account at LEI. This process keeps the donations documented and accounted for, and therefore non-profit, non-taxable, and tax-deductible. We regularly receive updates on donations and who they're from.

We really appreciate how willing everyone has been to get on board with us financially. However, the subject of money can sometimes weigh down the inspirational mood. So we'll be following up this post by exploring more of how we can change this world together. Don't worry if it's not in the cards for you to donate! We need you. We need your thoughts, ideas, and prayers.

A spear isn't much use without its shaft, is it?

And so it begins...

We are so excited to share with you what God is doing in our lives! Since Brad graduated with a Nursing Degree from ATU in May, we have been pursuing God’s calling on our lives to become missionaries to Latin America. After much serious prayer, God opened the door for us to join with a mission called Literacy and Evangelism International (LEI) whose mission is to teach the illiterate world how to read as a means of evangelizing and church-strengthening. We had always taken the ability to read the Bible for granted until we learned that so many Christians cannot turn to the Word to seek comfort, guidance, and spiritual strength because they cannot read. We stepped out in faith and spent June and July in Tulsa, OK training with LEI. Since then, we have been accepted as LEI missionaries and are ready to take the first steps toward building our ministry.

Check out LEI at their website: http://www.literacyevangelism.org/

Our ministry vision includes teaching in the areas of:

• Literacy
• English Language
• Basic Health

To teach literacy and English, we will be using LEI's excellent materials. Each lesson of these materials has Bible content. Brad will use his training as a nurse to help meet our community's basic health needs once we are in Latin America.
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This September, we taught a Literacy Workshop in Tulsa to help us gain experience teaching with LEI's materials. A workshop includes:

• An introduction to the problems and causes of illiteracy.
• The Biblical basis for a literacy ministry.
• Training adults who can read to use LEI's materials.
• Teaching students how to tutor a non-reader.
• How to begin a church-based literacy ministry.

Amy demonstrating a portion of a lesson during the Literacy Workshop.
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Brad simulating the experiences of a non-reader for our students.
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Teaching at this workshop was a great experience, and we learned so much that will help us to establish our own literacy ministry in Latin America.

Our next step is to take a two month trip to Latin America. We plan to visit Bolivia and Nicaragua because these countries have some of the lowest literacy rates in the region. During our stay, our goals are to:

• Assess the needs of each region. How much do they need literacy, English, and health instruction?
• Learn more about their cultures.
  
• Determine what country God is calling us to work in, and for how long.
• Make connections with those working in literacy, English, and health in the area.
• Assist the area in any way possible.

We greatly appreciate your prayer and support as we follow the Lord's guidance in every step of beginning our ministry!