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	<title>Steven &#38; Cynthia Johnson Family</title>
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	<description>Missionaries to Bolivia</description>
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		<title>Cumpleaños at The English Center</title>
		<link>http://exhort.com/2010/03/cumpleanos-at-the-english-center/</link>
		<comments>http://exhort.com/2010/03/cumpleanos-at-the-english-center/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:26:13 +0000</pubDate>
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				<category><![CDATA[Stories]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://exhort.com/?p=280</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[wow&#8230; when God gives an idea, He wraps it all in multiple layers of blessing!
His latest SCORE was the inspiration of the Monthly Birthday Party. On the enrollment form, we have a field for birthdays. It&#8217;s nice to have an idea of the demographics of our classes, although the import of those statistics is a [...]


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>wow&#8230; when God gives an idea, He wraps it all in multiple layers of blessing!</p>
<p>His latest SCORE was the inspiration of the Monthly Birthday Party. On the enrollment form, we have a field for birthdays. It&#8217;s nice to have an idea of the demographics of our classes, although the import of those statistics is a bit skewed from the norm, since the teaching of English spans the generations.</p>
<p>However, since our schedule is packed and students can get tired, I wanted a way to keep them refreshed and invigorated throughout the year. And thus came the idea of the Monthly Birthday Party! Every month, around the middle of the month, we have a party for all the students whose birthdays are in that month, whether before or after that date.</p>
<p>Or, in the case of dear E. [name obscured deliberately], ON that date! And it is about this sweet woman that I want to tell you this story.<span id="more-280"></span></p>
<p>Yesterday we had our first monthly birthday party! We bought cookies and soft drinks, but for the &#8220;cumpleañeros&#8221; (the birthday people) we baked a &#8220;big cookie&#8221; in my Wilton Heart Cookie pan that I brought here when we moved from the States. Our daughter, Staton, baked the cookie. [She is QUITE the baker for a 15 yr old! or any age, really!!] Then we frosted it and put on one candle for each of the birthday people.</p>
<p>Yesterday was also THE birthday, exactly, for E.! She looked happy as she ate her special birthday cookie, but she also looked a bit &#8220;pensive&#8221;. I wondered what was on her mind&#8230; and then I found out!</p>
<p>E. was talking to one of the other students and I heard her say (in Spanish, of course!) &#8220;&#8230; not at ALL like other schools! This isn&#8217;t just &#8217;some institution&#8217; where they just want your money. They really CARE about us here! And she [meaning me] isn&#8217;t just &#8217;some Director&#8217;, she&#8217;s CYNTHIA&#8230; she&#8217;s a friend. This school is like a family.&#8221;</p>
<p>wow&#8230; I couldn&#8217;t have wished for anything else! You see, our English Center is just  the tip of the plow of God&#8217;s love and Witness in our ministry. This is our &#8220;seeker service&#8221; as well as the method of turning up the soil of people&#8217;s hearts so that we can plant the seed of the Gospel deeply within their hearts.</p>
<p>Bolivia is like just about any other post-modern field of witness. They&#8217;ve heard it before, they&#8217;ve been baptized as infants, they&#8217;ve seen people come and go and they&#8217;ve heard the rhetoric. In order to reach our people for Christ, we FIRST have to win the battle for their hearts and trust! Once a relationship has been established, we can share the Truths about Jesus and Salvation.  The comments made by E., and the agreement in the group to whom she was speaking, prove that God is helping us win that first battle!</p>
<p>And who knew that a simple thing like a collective birthday party would say so much about hour hearts and love for our people! Who knew? Well, GOD knew, of course! And I know that is why He encouraged and inspired the idea to celebrate our people, specifically, every month.</p>
<p>Don&#8217;t we celebrate all the students, every class time? Certainly we do! But this special emphasis, and the time (and money) invested in putting on a party, shines the light of love on all those daily acts of love.</p>
<p>Now that E. knows we love her and value her, don&#8217;t you think she will be more open to hearing about how much Jesus truly loves her and wants her love in return? We think so, and we look forward to a growing relationship that will support the things we want to share from God. Please pray with us for dear E. and for the other students God has placed in our paths and in our lives, that we may share Jesus in a real and living way!</p>


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		<title>Bullies are just&#8230; bullies</title>
		<link>http://exhort.com/2010/02/bullies-are-just-bullies/</link>
		<comments>http://exhort.com/2010/02/bullies-are-just-bullies/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:58:15 +0000</pubDate>
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				<category><![CDATA[Life In Cochabamba]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thoughts & Ponders]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://exhort.com/?p=262</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There are people who say that we have bullies and we have victims. The implication of this attitude is that a bully is someone cruel and a victim is someone to be pitied.
While this attitude is accurate to a degree, there is point where the distinction ends. Yes, when a bully aggresses against someone, they [...]


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There are people who say that we have bullies and we have victims. The implication of this attitude is that a bully is someone cruel and a victim is someone to be pitied.</p>
<p>While this attitude is accurate to a degree, there is point where the distinction ends. Yes, when a bully aggresses against someone, they are acting with malice for the intent of victimizing another person [note: sweeping generalization]. And an innocent person who has been victimized can feel wounded.</p>
<p><span id="more-262"></span></p>
<p>Certainly the coercion of another person, against their will, is NOT acceptable! And we recognize bully behavior in a wide variety of crimes against humanity (theft, assault, rape, etc&#8230;) When we are the &#8220;victims&#8221; of such abuse, we often feel frustrated by the lack of justice, redress and retribution.</p>
<p>But we are not a &#8220;VICTIM&#8221; until we succumb to the depression that threatens when the abuses done to us have not been punished, and accept their worldview as our own. When we respond to abusive behavior by giving up and accepting the standard of the abuser, we lose our innocence. And we become passive-bullies&#8230; better known as &#8220;a victim&#8221;.</p>
<p>I would like to posit a different paradigm. I maintain that the &#8220;bully&#8221; and the &#8220;victim&#8221; are two faces of the same coin&#8230; abuser. I say that an abuser is someone who forces another person to give them what they (the abuser) want, against another person&#8217;s will.</p>
<p>So far, so good, right? We think of the schoolyard bullies who took our ball away and who pushed into the dirt, taunting us to do something about it. They were generally people who got their growth early, and for whatever reason, they saw an opportunity to feel like a &#8220;big dog&#8221; by forcing other people to act against their own will and best interests.</p>
<p>It doesn&#8217;t matter what they lived with while growing up. Common sense, the world structure, and God all tell us that this kind of behavior is not what we were created to do. Moving on&#8230;</p>
<p>As we grow up, experiencing the good and the bad that life allows, we make choices. We choose to &#8220;get over it&#8221; when someone is cruel, or we choose to &#8220;get even&#8221;. [Please note that I DO understand the damage that child abuse does to a growing psyche. But even as children we understand right from wrong and we begin, very young, to make the choices that drive our further emotional development.]</p>
<p>Certainly we have heard of the term passive-aggressive, so we are beginning to recognize the negative traits that can exist in the &#8220;quiet&#8221; person. Most of us have suffered through the abuse of the person who said &#8220;yes&#8221; when they never once intended to actually DO what they had agreed to do. The passive/aggressive personality doesn&#8217;t fight&#8230; they just hold back, refusing to engage and refusing to bring clarity to those natural misunderstandings that happen in relationships. [NOTE: this is NOT to say that all quiet people are passive/aggressive!]</p>
<p>Rather than use the terms &#8220;bully&#8221; and &#8220;victim&#8221;, I want to propose these categorizations:<br />
passive-bully and aggressive-bully.</p>
<p>I maintain that a &#8220;victim&#8221; who refuses to get past the abuse is a passive-bully. They are the people who finagle and wheedle and plead and look at us with those &#8220;doe eyes&#8221; and manage to get whatever they want, against the wishes of the other person.</p>
<p>The passive-bully feels that life &#8220;owes&#8221; them something and they are going to get all that they can, whenever they can. They manage to make us feel petty and selfish when we have to say &#8220;no&#8221; to their &#8220;demands&#8221;.</p>
<p>The passive-bully is quietly angry and bitter. No matter what we give them, they are never satisfied, they are never filled. And because the paucity of their lives and souls is so often between them and the rage they have against God because He didn&#8217;t keep them from being abused, WE can never hope to &#8220;fix&#8221; it.</p>
<p>Of course the answer is forgiveness&#8230; first of God and then forgiveness of everyone else they feel has wronged them in their life. But this solution is hard-won.</p>
<p>I know this to be true because I know how hard it was for me. While I was never a passive-bully, I did live with bitterness for many years, from early childhood until my early 30s. God did do a miracle when He delivered me from that dark, airless prison of burning bitterness.</p>
<p>There is truly very little that we can do to help the passive-bully. What we can do is to set reasonable boundaries in our own lives. When the passive-bully in our family or close friend group tries to push past those boundaries, we must remain steadfast.</p>
<p>We don&#8217;t have to be strident about it. We only have to say &#8220;no&#8221; and not explain. We say &#8220;no&#8221; and mean it. We say it kindly, but firmly. We cannot be swayed by sighs or cries or expressions of impending doom and how WE are going to be the cause of their ruin.</p>
<p>Now, obviously situations are going to vary from one relationship to another and even with the same person there may be times when it would be prudent to accede from time to time. But whatever decision WE make needs to be a decision made in the light of reason and balance and hopefully because we believe it is what God would have us to do.</p>
<p>IHMO&#8230;</p>


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		<title>A Carnaval Defense</title>
		<link>http://exhort.com/2010/02/a-carnaval-defense/</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:49:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life In Cochabamba]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://exhort.com/?p=239</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This week our city and country will be celebrating Carnavale. It is a holiday that has its roots in pagan beliefs and our present-day customs reflect those roots.
One of those customs is the &#8220;dousing with water&#8221;, representing the insemination of the populace to ensure fertility in the coming year. I really don&#8217;t think that this [...]


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This week our city and country will be celebrating Carnavale. It is a holiday that has its roots in pagan beliefs and our present-day customs reflect those roots.</p>
<p>One of those customs is the &#8220;dousing with water&#8221;, representing the insemination of the populace to ensure fertility in the coming year. I really don&#8217;t think that this origin is in the uppermost of the minds of the young people throwing water balloons and reloading their automated water cannons. Yet, the water fights still reign.</p>
<p>Often you will see a few &#8220;gangs&#8221;, across busy streets, lobbing balloons heavy with water. Those balloons are remarkably accurate in their trajectory! However, if a few balloons miss their mark, striking the unsuspecting driver or passenger who were foolish enough to drive with their windows open, then so much the better (from the water attacker&#8217;s perspective).</p>
<p>Generally, when you get hit by a water balloon, especially when tossed FROM a moving vehicle, you have no recourse but to just &#8220;take it&#8221;. However&#8230;<span id="more-239"></span></p>
<p>To get the full effect of this story, you need a little bit of background about the setting.</p>
<p>Sunday afternoon we were driving through the central part of town, generally full of party-goers. We had timed our trip so that most of the &#8220;templos&#8221; were still in session, so the sidewalks were pretty empty.</p>
<p>Traffic here is almost always bad&#8230; especially downtown, where the streets are barely wide enough for a couple of donkey carts, much less a full-sized car. On the one-way streets, like the one we were driving on, folks will park their cars on one side of the street, to be watched or washed by entrepreneurs as the owners shop or dine nearby.</p>
<p>This was the situation in which we found ourselves on Sunday. The traffic on our small, one-way street was stop and go, mostly stop. I noticed a very clean cut  (nice casual dress) young man washing a couple of cars parked in front of a local eating place. He looked like our new generation of upwardly mobile professionals who just wanted to make a few bucks on the weekend, to help his family get ahead.</p>
<p>Traffic had slowed to a stop on the street. As the Tr.U.Fi. (like a bus, but is a van) in front of us inched past the entrepreneur washing the cars, someone in the front seat launched a water bomballoon at this young working guy!</p>
<p>I wish that I had a video to show you the rich range of emotions that flashed across this working guy&#8217;s face&#8230;</p>
<p>We start with<br />
* SHOCK as the balloon whacks him on the back<br />
* then disgust and angst as he feels the water soaking his shirt and back<br />
* moving to fierce anger that his nice Izod shirt is now wet and<br />
* frustration that his job has been interrupted, to&#8230;</p>
<p>DETERMINATION as it dawns on him that he holds in his hands the best means of retribution&#8230; his small bucket of soapy water!</p>
<p>Now, remember that traffic can stop without notice. So we have this water guerilla just sitting in the front seat of that  Tr.U.Fi.,  STILL with the window down, just looking for another victim.</p>
<p>So this young man rushes to the Tr.U.Fi.; dumps his bucket of soapy water into the front seat of that van, and then turns in triumph to return to his work!</p>
<p>We were THRILLED! [to see why we appreciated this reaction to frustration in the performance of a job, please read this <a href="http://exhort.com/essays/culture01/">essay</a>.]</p>
<p>We saw his plan as he was walking toward the van, so we were already rolling down our windows to show him our hands clapping to applaud his self-reliance and defense of his right to work in peace!</p>
<p>His look of righteous satisfaction and joy at being appreciated for acting in a proactive way was a blessing to us as well.</p>
<p>I don&#8217;t think this young man will ever feel like a victim again.</p>
<p>And as for the Tr.U.Fi. driver, he should have thought about what might happen BEFORE he allowed his van to become a vehicle of the water balloon wars.</p>
<p>Tr.U.Fi.s drivers are the sole masters of what happens inside their vehicles. He was in for a penny, so he was in for a pound.</p>
<p>Congrats to that young entrepreneur!</p>


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		<title>ESSAY:: Cultural Challenges</title>
		<link>http://exhort.com/2010/02/essay-cultural-challenges/</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Feb 2010 14:02:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Cyn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life In Cochabamba]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://exhort.com/?p=223</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We have been in Bolivia for almost 4 years. That is so amazing to me, and yet in many ways I feel as if I have lived here all (or at least most) of my life.
[permanent post in Essays]
We haven&#8217;t had a hard time with the culture. My parents and ancestors are  from small-town Texas [...]


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We have been in Bolivia for almost 4 years. That is so amazing to me, and yet in many ways I feel as if I have lived here all (or at least most) of my life.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://exhort.com/essays/culture01/">[permanent post in Essays]</a></p>
<p>We haven&#8217;t had a hard time with the culture. My parents and ancestors are  from small-town Texas (after they debarked from the Mayflower, they headed straight for Texas!) and I spent my early years and many summers in those same small towns. I also experienced life in the high-powered business world of the &#8217;80s oil rush in Dallas. And we have dealt with the breadth of human nature in a variety of corporate and church environments.</p>
<p>I give you this brief bio in order to show that we have experienced life in its richness&#8230; the sublime to the ridiculous, as they say.</p>
<p>We never made the mistake of isolating human nature within geographical boundaries. People are &#8220;people&#8221;, all over the world! Yes, in Bolivia I got my purse stolen from my side at a charity bake sale&#8230; but in Bible College in Missouri, my graduation ring was stolen from my bedside as I napped (and that same year, my purse and then my Bible were stolen as well).</p>
<p>We thought that our biggest challenge would be to get people to realize their need for a saving Christ to be their Lord and Savior. <span id="more-223"></span>That challenge has been pretty much the same as we encountered in the States. As we said, people are the same, all over the world. The HolySpirit convicts of sin and we respond to that conviction&#8230; either by asking for forgiveness from God or by hardening out hearts.</p>
<p>What has been much harder has been in encouraging our folks to grow in Christ. When following Christ to live the way He shows us in scripture involves changing from &#8220;custom&#8221;, our people are very timid.</p>
<p>In fact, the phrase &#8220;having the courage of your convictions&#8221; is a frightening and confusing thought for our people. We in America are raised to believe in the inalienable rights of all human beings to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.</p>
<p>But here in Bolivia, human slavery was practiced openly until the mid 1950s. That means that we still have some Bolivians alive today who were slaves when slavery was abolished. They grew up with parents and grandparents who were still slaves in their minds and hearts! They also have grown up knowing that laws can (and DO) change as easily as the change of president. How were they to know whether slavery would stay abolished or not?</p>
<p>Those of us in America take our &#8220;mindset&#8221; for granted. We rarely wonder how or why we believe the way we do. And then, as we grow older, we wonder how in the world our children, grandchildren, nieces/nephews and neighborhood kids can think so much differently than we do!</p>
<p>The answer to both the Bolivian challenge to dream or to achieve and the confusion about how the young people of America think is found in&#8230;<br />
EDUCATION.</p>
<p>Even when we raise our babies at home until they are six, when they enter public school the pedagogy of public education takes over. They learn to think the way their teachers tell them to think. I&#8217;m not even going to try to address the ideological &#8220;training&#8221; that our American children receive.</p>
<p>I want to talk about the education that takes place before public school. In America, our baby games and educational stimulation is all geared toward strengthening the character and will of our children. We start encouraging problem-solving from birth!</p>
<p>Think about the game, &#8220;Where&#8217;s Mommy&#8221;&#8230; when we cover our face, at first the young baby thinks that we have &#8220;disappeared&#8221;. They don&#8217;t have a full body awareness yet. When we move our hands and cry &#8220;HERE she is!&#8221;, the baby is reassured that mommy is still there.</p>
<p>After just a few times, the baby understands the game and starts prying apart Mommy&#8217;s hands to find her for him/herself! &#8220;HEY&#8230;  I want my Mommy and I am gonna FIND her!&#8221; seems to be the thought behind the action. The baby has solved the problem for her/himself.</p>
<p>When we shift the game to &#8220;Where is [baby]?&#8221;, we give our children the chance to control their world, to be proactive and have control of us and their situation. They get to work the &#8220;magic&#8221; of reappearing, on their own terms. And they learn self-confidence along the way.</p>
<p>How are Bolivian babies raised? For the children of the working people, being quiet and unquestioningly obedient is the most important goal. Children are taught not to hope for anything more than what they have today, to grab everything they can today because it won&#8217;t be there tomorrow&#8230; if there IS a tomorrow.</p>
<p>For the indigenous baby, the &#8220;Where&#8217;s Baby?&#8221; game is horrifying! To dissolve an average Bolivian  baby to tears in minutes flat, just cover your face with your hands and ask &#8220;Dónde está [baby's name]?&#8221;.  It seems that the amount of  innate confidence that the baby has will determine the range of reaction, from a stern skepticism to a full-blown terror.</p>
<p>I was truly confused by this reaction! It took me quite a bit of reflection and prayer to figure out what lay beneath that simple game. And I discovered it was confidence, faith, trust and HOPE.</p>
<p>Then there are the children of the wealthy and professional classes. Those children are worshipped, for one thing. Every need is cared for and they are totally pampered.</p>
<p>At this point, life for those children diverges because education is bought and paid for here. Yes, there are &#8220;public schools&#8221;, but the educational content and the preparation for life is radically different from what you find in the private schools.</p>
<p>However, all schools are governed by the national standard of pedagogy. I am seeing more and more attention to skills of reasoning, critical thinking and problem solving, but we still have generations of people who were taught NOT to think for themselves!</p>
<p>As we have seen in the United States, a change in educational pedagogy can dumb down the culture in a relatively short period of time. But raising the critical thinking and ability of a culture takes much longer.</p>
<p>Okay&#8230; so WHY are these theories important? Because how are you going to be successful at any business venture if you cannot think beyond &#8220;now&#8221; and &#8220;today&#8221;!? How can you plan for the challenges that come in life and business if you can&#8217;t figure out how to solve those challenges? How can you discern truth from fiction and have the courage of your convictions if you have been taught that &#8220;getting along&#8221; is more important than Truth?</p>
<p>It is the lack of a work ethic grounded in the hope and expectation that success is possible that cripples our service and craft industry here.</p>
<p>Yes, they have carpenters and craftsmen who can copy any picture of furniture that you show them&#8230; if you can wait a year or two for them to finish it, assuming that you haven&#8217;t paid them up front (if that&#8217;s the case, then you&#8217;ll generally never see the finished item).</p>
<p>Yes, they have upholsterers who can work miracles with fabric. And they will get that sample cushion recovered lickety-split and it will be perfect. But then, when you give them the other 6 to 12 cushions for your living room suite, they break down.</p>
<p>They don&#8217;t see those other cushions as money in the bank&#8230; they see them as oppressive work that they will probably fail to complete&#8230; which is precisely what happens.</p>
<p>You can find a worker/shop owner (seamstress, carpenter, painter, upholsterer, etc&#8230;) who does excellent work and you can want them to be your only craftsperson for your work. But if that worker even suspects that you might have a lot of work for them, rather than rejoicing the way an American small business owner would react, workers here react in fear.</p>
<p>No, Americans and even Europeans can&#8217;t understand this difference in cultural reaction. But I think it has its foundation in what the people were taught as babies and small children and throughout their lives:<br />
* don&#8217;t trust what people tell you;<br />
* we will always fail, so deadlines are just vague thoughts;<br />
* no one keeps their word,<br />
* so promise anything because it doesn&#8217;t matter if you don&#8217;t follow through.</p>
<p>I think it is always important to live your life, every day, every encounter, in the way the scripture teaches. I think that this approach to life is how we keep back the tide of ungodly behavior and how we exert a Godly influence on the physical world around us.</p>
<p>Matthew 16:19 tells us that it is our responsibility to try to make/keep our part of &#8220;the kingdom&#8221; &#8212; those things and people upon which we have some influence &#8212; as much as possible like the scripture teaches.</p>
<p>Have you ever thought about what it would be like if EACH of us did that? I know we don&#8217;t have as many Christians in the world as those who are dying and going to hell. But if we EACH did just a bit more and ALL of us tried a tiny bit harder, can you imagine what it would be like?</p>
<p>In the meantime, we follow the sage advice of Steven&#8217;s persuasive speaking teacher at BBC (Mrs. Norma Gillming)&#8230; &#8220;we persuade by inches&#8221; as we remember the wise saying &#8220;A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.&#8221;</p>
<p>These skills can be taught, regardless of the age of the learner. That is our encouragement!</p>


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		<title>Thank you, Southwood!</title>
		<link>http://exhort.com/2010/02/thank-you-southwood/</link>
		<comments>http://exhort.com/2010/02/thank-you-southwood/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 06 Feb 2010 18:02:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lorien</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Videos]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://exhort.com/?p=163</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Opening the Wii from Steven Johnson on Vimeo.


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="400" height="300" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="data" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9251152&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;fullscreen=1" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9251152&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;fullscreen=1" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="300" src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9251152&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;fullscreen=1" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" data="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9251152&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;fullscreen=1"></embed></object></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://vimeo.com/9251152">Opening the Wii</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user723879">Steven Johnson</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>


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		<title>I killed a rat in my house</title>
		<link>http://exhort.com/2010/02/i-killed-a-rat-in-my-house/</link>
		<comments>http://exhort.com/2010/02/i-killed-a-rat-in-my-house/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 06 Feb 2010 11:41:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Cyn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life In Cochabamba]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thoughts & Ponders]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://exhort.com/?p=103</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[With the rainy season flooding the crawl space beneath the house, we have  had trouble with rodents. It has been driving me batty and we finally got to the  point where we agreed that we would have to get poison &#8212; they kept eating the  bait and totally disdaining the traps available [...]


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>With the rainy season flooding the crawl space beneath the house, we have  had trouble with rodents. It has been driving me batty and we finally got to the  point where we agreed that we would have to get poison &#8212; they kept eating the  bait and totally disdaining the traps available in Cochabamba.</p>
<p>Then Tuesday night one of our cats killed a big one. We thought that was  the end of it.</p>
<p>We thought wrong.</p>
<p>Late Wednesday night my hubby, Steven, felt something around his feet. Then  something bit his toe! It didn&#8217;t break the skin on the bottom of his toe, but it  did on the top. Then he saw the rodent running. It was about 7-8&#8243; from nose to rump, with a longer tail. He chased it into my office,  which is next to the kitchen. Then we didn&#8217;t see it again and so we thought it  was gone.</p>
<p>We thought wrong.</p>
<p>Last night, Kiki (our huntress kitty) kept a perch near one of my  bookcases. hmmm&#8230;. Then later my daughter, Staton, tells me that there is a  rodent under that bookcase! We removed anything from the floor that could  potentially hide a rodent, moving all chairs to the center of the  room.</p>
<p>Kiki chased the rodent around the room and caught it a few times. I thought  she would get it.</p>
<p>I thought wrong.</p>
<p>At that point she was more interested in toying with it. I wanted it GONE.  All I had for &#8220;weapons&#8221; was a broomstick and a pair of Staton&#8217;s flip-flops. Kiki  &#8220;treed&#8221; the rodent under one of the sections of my bookcase, which consists of  two vertical boards, which made good barriers.</p>
<p>I &#8220;whocked&#8221; that rat back-and-forth and back-and-forth with the broomstick several times until I  was sure he was dead. I really thought that was all I had to do.</p>
<p>I thought wrong.</p>
<p>I &#8220;swooshed&#8221; it out with the broomstick. It still tried to run!</p>
<p>So with my gloved hand, I &#8220;whomped&#8221; that rat with the flip-flop. It still  tried to run.</p>
<p>So I WHOMPED and I WHOMPED and I WHOMPED and I WHOMPED and I breathed and then I WHOMPED and I  WHOMPED and I WHOMPED some more&#8230; and its tail was still twitching!</p>
<p>I &#8220;whomped&#8221; and &#8220;whocked&#8221; it a few more times, resting now and then to try to  come to terms with how HORRID I was feeling about killing a [formerly] living  creature, until I saw blood on the floor. I was shocked at how dark it  was.</p>
<p>It was really hard on me. &#8230; I guess that&#8217;s one reason why I am not a hunter.  All I could think about was how glad I am that someone else kills my food and  dresses it for me.</p>
<p>Do you have ANY idea how hard it is to kill something with a  flip-flop?</p>
<p>devastated,<br />
Cyn</p>
<p>p.s. trying to throw the body out of the yard was another  adventure! I thought &#8220;how hard can it be to sling a dead rat up and over the 7  &#8216; fence&#8221;, right? Yup! I thought wrong! But it finally hit the street, bounced  once with a &#8220;splunk&#8221; and landed in the median in the middle of the street. I am  sure that some street dog dined well this morning.</p>


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		<title>English Classes Update: Going GREAT!</title>
		<link>http://exhort.com/2009/06/english-classes-update-going-great/</link>
		<comments>http://exhort.com/2009/06/english-classes-update-going-great/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:52:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Cyn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life In Cochabamba]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thoughts & Ponders]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://exhort.com/2009/06/30/english-classes-update-going-great/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Since I am blogging at the moment, I thought it would be a great time to share the blessing God has visited upon us concerning the English classes we give.
In our post-modern society, often the best way to reach a person&#8217;s heart with their need of a Savior is to meet their daily physical needs. [...]


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://exhort.com/2010/03/cumpleanos-at-the-english-center/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Cumpleaños at The English Center'>Cumpleaños at The English Center</a> <small>wow&#8230; when God gives an idea, He wraps it all...</small></li>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Since I am blogging at the moment, I thought it would be a great time to share the blessing God has visited upon us concerning the English classes we give.</p>
<p>In our post-modern society, often the best way to reach a person&#8217;s heart with their need of a Savior is to meet their daily physical needs. Being able to earn enough money to support a family is one of the biggest needs of the people God has brought into our lives.</p>
<p>In spite of what the world/U.S. media might have you believe, ENGLISH is STILL the key to financial success and success in the world market! Bolivians know that English skills will gain them a better job here, and if they go to any other country to work, being comfortable or fluent in English gives them an immediate pay raise.</p>
<p>So&#8230; we are in our 2nd year of offering high-quality English classes to those who want to learn. I am still re-writing the content to base the teaching more directly from the books of John and Romans. Right now we are memorizing scripture as part of our training.</p>
<p>We did very little advertising or promotion this year, and yet each week we add new students. And the students we have this year are working HARD and attending faithfully, even though their attendance requirements are 4 times that of the course last year. [Last year the requirement was 1 hr/wk. This year, the minimum attendance is 3-4 hrs/wk., and most are attending the extra sessions as well!]</p>
<p>I have had to add a &#8220;level up&#8221; session just prior to the classes so that the later enrollees can come up to speed with the rest of the class. If we gain any more new students, I will have to convert the level-up time to a class hour of its own.</p>
<p>These are WONDERFUL &#8220;challenges&#8221; to face!</p>
<p>Because we are only offering Basic English this year, we had some students who worked hard last year, who wanted a bit more of a challenge. So we created an Intensive Basic English class!</p>
<p>Steven teaches this class totally in English. The student are responding well and those who can&#8217;t keep up are welcome to come back to my class, where we teach in a hybrid of Spanish and English.</p>
<p>Now&#8230; some of you may be wondering &#8220;fine&#8230; but what does this do for the Kingdom?&#8221; Well, I will tell you, from my perspective.</p>
<p>First, we need to realize that not only is the post-modern world skeptical of &#8220;traditional evangelism&#8221;, Bolivians tend to be more &#8220;immune&#8221; to those traditional approaches than other cultures we know, particularly because of the betrayal they, as a people, have encountered by leaders over the centuries, and they tend to apply this skepticism to religion as well.</p>
<p>So the first step is to gain the trust of your congregation (those people who are drawn to you). When they trust you, they will listen to you. And then you have a chance to reach them for the Lord.</p>
<p>We started our English ministry with a mostly &#8220;Christian&#8221; group of people&#8230; friends we had made in the various churches with whom we have worked and participated.</p>
<p>But even in THAT group, last year we had 1 salvation and several confirmations of salvations!</p>
<p>But beyond that, out of our investment of last year and this year&#8230; we have some seminary students and graduates who want Steven to teach them more about being Servants of God/Christ!</p>
<p>So&#8230; we will begin a work of pure direct ministry (that is, apart from our services on Wednesday night and Sunday morning).</p>
<p>And this new ministry is a direct result of the investment of time and love made through the &#8220;post-modern outreach&#8221; of the English classes, which are a witness in themselves.</p>
<p>But I will leave the details of the GREAT BLESSING of the new class for Steven to share with you!</p>
<p>Thank you for your prayers and for your support. We need your prayers and partnership in order to be able to reach deeper into hearts and the community for the cause of Christ.</p>


<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://exhort.com/2010/03/cumpleanos-at-the-english-center/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Cumpleaños at The English Center'>Cumpleaños at The English Center</a> <small>wow&#8230; when God gives an idea, He wraps it all...</small></li>
</ol></p>
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		<title>Bolivia&#8217;s new Multi-National currency?</title>
		<link>http://exhort.com/2009/06/bolivias-new-multi-national-currency/</link>
		<comments>http://exhort.com/2009/06/bolivias-new-multi-national-currency/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:34:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life In Cochabamba]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://exhort.com/2009/06/30/bolivias-new-multi-national-currency/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In Sunday&#8217;s paper (Los Tiempos), there was an article that said Bolivia would be getting a new currency standard starting in 2010. Apparently the &#8220;new&#8221; constitution gives the president the unchallenged right to change the national currency? I&#8217;m going to have to pull out my Spanish dictionary for this one, or better yet I will [...]


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In Sunday&#8217;s paper (Los Tiempos), there was an article that said Bolivia would be getting a new currency standard starting in 2010. Apparently the &#8220;new&#8221; constitution gives the president the unchallenged right to change the national currency? I&#8217;m going to have to pull out my Spanish dictionary for this one, or better yet I will consult our friend&#8230; who happens to be THE best authority on Bolivia&#8217;s constitutions&#8230; both old and &#8220;new&#8221;.</p>
<p>The headline read &#8220;&#8230; Estado Plurinacional&#8221;, which translates to &#8220;Multi-national State&#8221;. I must have missed the dissolution of Bolivia as an independent country [sarcasm].</p>
<p>I can&#8217;t help but believe that &#8220;they&#8221; will take this opportunity to artificially devalue the Dollar&#8217;s rate of exchange again. They are already artificially suppressing the dollar to a 7:1 exchange instead of the 8+:1 rate that it probably should be. sigh&#8230;</p>
<p>I&#8217;m surprised that I haven&#8217;t heard anything about this on the streets, but then the article was only published this past Sunday.</p>
<p>Regardless of how the country reacts to this change, we will continue to do the best we can with whatever is left after the exchange and changes. God is so good to provide!</p>


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		<title>All I wanted to do was&#8230; wash my dishes!</title>
		<link>http://exhort.com/2009/04/all-i-wanted-to-do-was-wash-my-dishes/</link>
		<comments>http://exhort.com/2009/04/all-i-wanted-to-do-was-wash-my-dishes/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:07:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Cyn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life In Cochabamba]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stories]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://exhort.com/2009/04/27/all-i-wanted-to-do-was-wash-my-dishes/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[sigh&#8230; our &#8220;new to us&#8221; house is GREAT for ministry and classes! But I had NO idea how significant the lack of hot water was going to be to us.
Right after moving in to the house we started getting sick. It quickly became clear that we were getting sick from the bacteria and amoebas that [...]


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>sigh&#8230; our &#8220;new to us&#8221; house is GREAT for ministry and classes! But I had NO idea how significant the lack of hot water was going to be to us.</p>
<p>Right after moving in to the house we started getting sick. It quickly became clear that we were getting sick from the bacteria and amoebas that flourish in the water here. Even though our water in the city is treated, the water in the city is even more &#8220;dirty&#8221; than outside the city!</p>
<p>So&#8230; what to do!?</p>
<p>Even with the local disinfectant, we just couldn&#8217;t keep the dishes clean, so we started praying for a dishwasher. The Lord blessed! And a few months later, we were able to get a dishwasher.</p>
<p>NOW we find out that the inexpensive plastic dishware here is NOT dishwasher-proof. We had already found out that it could not go in the microwave (you should SEE what the plastic looks like after heating some tea!).</p>
<p>So we set out to find something we could afford that would go through both the microwave and the dishwasher.</p>
<p>We &#8220;thought&#8221; we found the solution&#8230; of course the tienda owner told us that SURE it was microwave and dishwasher proof! But remember that there are NO guarantees in Bolivia.</p>
<p>So I bought a few pieces and brought them home to test. They survived! Or so we thought&#8230;</p>
<p>I went back and bought a complete 12 place setting so that we could have guests over for dinner. We want so much to be able to be hospitable the way the folks of Bolivia expect.</p>
<p>Within a week we got proof that the dishes would crack if used in the microwave. Within two weeks we discovered that dishes weakened in the microwave would crack in the dishwasher. Within 3 months we found out that, over time, the dishes will crack through the center of the plate.</p>
<p>O NO!!!!! So now we are back to where we were. I wanted plastic-ware because we have tile and marble everywhere. But there isn&#8217;t a plastic in this country that can stand up to the heat of the dishwasher. We can&#8217;t go back to being sick with amoebas all the time.</p>
<p>So I have been dreaming on Corelle.com! lol&#8230; In the meantime, better put a paper plate under your dinner!</p>
<p>Lovin&#8217; the life in Cochabamba,<br />
Cyn</p>


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		<title>July 2008 Report</title>
		<link>http://exhort.com/2008/07/july-2008-report/</link>
		<comments>http://exhort.com/2008/07/july-2008-report/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Jul 2008 02:21:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Prayer Letters]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://exhort.com/?p=77</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Dear Friends!
This has been an incredible month, and it isn’t over!
We kicked off our public TEAM classes, and started a new evening worship service. Over one hundred students are signed up. The Tuesday night session was so well attended we had to divide it up into 3 sections, just to keep it manageable!
Twenty-four folks came [...]


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Dear Friends!</p>
<p>This has been an incredible month, and it isn’t over!</p>
<p>We kicked off our public TEAM classes, and started a new evening worship service. Over one hundred students are signed up. The Tuesday night session was so well attended we had to divide it up into 3 sections, just to keep it manageable!</p>
<p>Twenty-four folks came to our Wednesday service. It was well received, and we expect larger crowds to come.</p>
<p>We still need equipment and materials for the classes: whiteboards, more chairs(!), and sound gear.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://exhort.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/orientation.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-76 aligncenter" title="orientation" src="http://exhort.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/orientation-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a></p>
<p>Thanks to your special offerings, our vehicle loan is nearly paid off. Just $1,000 to go! In a few months we will be able to redirect those funds into regular ministry!!</p>
<p>We received our 2nd phase visas. This has been a 9 month, tedious and expensive process. In another year, we will finally be eligible for our permanent visas. Special thanks to our facilitator, Rita. This is a tremendous victory!</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://exhort.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/visaday.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-82 aligncenter" title="visaday" src="http://exhort.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/visaday-300x224.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="224" /></a></p>
<p>David celebrated his eleventh birthday this month!</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://exhort.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/david-11-bday.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-80 aligncenter" title="david-11-bday" src="http://exhort.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/david-11-bday-300x224.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="224" /></a></p>
<p>Remember to keep us in prayer for the August 10th election. This is a recall vote on the president and 6 governors. There is great debate as to whether the election is legal or not. The Organization of American States (OAS) already have personnel in the country to oversee the election. No one can guess how the losing side will react. Many expect violence. We rest in the security of our Savior!</p>
<p>Serving Christ in Bolivia<br />
Steve, Cyn, Thomas, Nicholas, Staton and David Johnson</p>


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