June, 2008 Greetings from the “Land of Eternal Spring”! At least that is what they call Cochabamba in the tourist brochures. However, we are having the coldest Winter anyone remembers. The temperatures are down to the 30’s at night, which means our unheated house is in the 30’s as well! BRRR!! We are excited to launch two new Bible studies this month, in the Sacaba area, East of the city. These will be held at the HQ of a secular charity...

May, 2008 Dear Friends, May has already been an exciting month, and it has barely begun! On the 4th, the largest departmento (state) held a referendum on whether to declare autonomy from the federal government. Everyone expected severe violence to result, and that perhaps even civil war would begin. The government promised 80,000 anti-autonomy protesters would march here in Cochabamba. Confrontations were feared between the two factions. Most...

Exciting News! We have found a house in Cochabamba! It is on a major street, just two cuadras (blocks) from a major landmark of the city. Everyone in Cochabamba will know how to find us! The bottom floor has two large rooms, when combined, will seat 80+ people! The rooms can be divided for two classrooms when needed. There are two other class rooms on that level, for Sunday School and such. The living space that remains will be slightly smaller...

January 9, 2008 Dear Friends, The new year started with the sound of explosions all over the city! No, it was not civil war, it was fireworks! All over Cochabomba there were beautiful displays. Unfortunately, even on New Years, we’d like to get some sleep, but some folks insisted on partying all night. There is a popular huge firecracker named the “mother-in-law-killer” that sound like a grenade going off! These went off all night, leaving...

Is Bolivia Safe? The simple answer is yes…today. The question of safety must address three specific concerns: 1) general safety from crime, 2) civilian conflicts such as political riots and 3) civil war. Crime exists in Cocahbamba. There is one area in town where even the US Embassy and the city government warn folks not to go at night. So we don’t go there! There are warnings against females being out and about alone, so we don’t do that...