Here’s the news from Bolivia:
Lorien’s arrival
Thank you for your prayers, and the numerous churches who met our need in crisis, our daughter Lorien is safe and sound in Cochabamba. She’s caught her breath and is working with our kids for their schooling, and starting her studies of the proposed new Bolivian government.
Build a Bed funds completed
Thanks to you, our dear friends, the Build-a-Bed project is completed! Only one bed remains to be built, and then there will be no Johnsons sleeping on the floor! Even the dog has her own cushion to sleep on!
Freezer from WMS at Central
As we shared in a previous letter, the blockades of January made it clear that we were not prepared for a siege! Whether it be political blockades, or roads washed out by rain, Cochabamba can go days or even weeks without fresh meat or veggies being brought to the city. We needed a freezer! No sooner had we made that need known, than the Women’s Missionary Society of Central Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas and the folks at Canon Community Baptist Church in Canon City, Colorado sent us the funds to get the equipment. Thanks to Cyn’s bargaining skills, we got a large chest freezer AND a microwave oven. We’ll have photos on the website soon. Thank you, ladies!
Typhoid
They say you aren’t a veteran missionary until you’ve had an exotic disease or a parasite large enough to name. In early February, I was diagnosed with Typhoid Fever. The treatment was no big deal, two weeks of antibiotics, but I was unprepared for the recovery. The Dr. prescribed three weeks of bed rest; you know THAT wasn’t happening, so I haggled him down to 1 week of bed rest and another of reduced activity. However, the second week found me falling over from fatigue. As the Dr. predicted, it was a full three weeks before I was up to speed. This is not something we recommend for your 3rd World experience!!
Ministry
Our language studies continue. We attend classes as long as we have the funds to pay for those classes. God may be opening up an opportunity to move into the city, which will greatly increase our chances to hear/speak Spanish in everyday life! But we still need so much more training. We’ve only been able to pay for 4 hours of instruction per week, and this is just not sufficient. Please pray that more churches will follow through with their commitments to fund our language acquisition and that more will come on board for this purpose.
While we have been focusing on learning Spanish and inserting ourselves into the Bolivian/Cochabamban culture and mindset, we have had the freedom to be involved with an English speaking local church in Coch. They have activities for our teens, which is great. This ministers to the family and I have the freedom to examine the needs for ministry among the indigenous peoples in Cochabamba and in Bolivia.
Thank you for your faithful support!
Steven and Cynthia Johnson, Thomas, Nicholas, Staton and David!
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