It’s time to put pen to paper so to speak. Christmas is over. 2010 looms and we enter into our 14th year in this country, (tempus fugit,) Bolivia has seen great changes with the first indigenous president who starts his second term in January. Nobody knows the full ramifications of this, as this time he has a majority in the senate as well.
So too we have seen great changes. Another four little children. That is eight young ones within a few months. These are one two year old boy and three four/ five year old girls . (did you like that?) As is common in homes we receive children and give them birthdays for the day they arrive , guess their ages and make up names. Three of them are eligible for adoption and have already had medicals as the first step in a long process. So welcome to Damaris, Devorah, Rodrigo and Mari- Esperanza.
To accommodate these four we re-inserted four and one half children with family at the end of the school year. We say one half because her family reneged at the last moment. Refused to sign necessary papers with the courts ,to take the responsibility of Sulma from us as legal custodians, and so she remains in limbo. But Samuel, Moises , Nilda and Elsa(one family unit) are returned to extended family (dad lives in jungle region without facilities or recourses) and Sulma is an uncertain part of the future at this time. Pray with us on this one. After seven years with us, Nilda was only four when she came, it was not that easy saying goodbye. Jheyson who has now had one year in Canada has received the blessing of the courts and can remain in Canada indefinitely. A real answer to prayer.
2010 we pray will send us a couple to work with children whilst under the umbrella of Bolivian Children’s Mission but in a different location. We now have 11 pre-schoolers and they could benefit from being in a place separate from teenagers with their different agenda. We also have a group of adolescent boys, and if littlies aren’t your cup of tea we can also find a place to accommodate you and them. Despite being over our supposed limit we still get asked to receive children so fear not we will fill you up rapidly. Write separately if you want more information about this.: peter@bcmission.com
Another prayer item relates to a furlough for us. 1999 was the last break for me whilst Delia has taken a boy to England for medical treatment and delivered Jheyson to Canada but she definitely finds the going heavy and my desire is to manage some family time together. It would be good to see so many who have kept us here for these years and to express our thanks personally. Pray with us on this. One aspect of this desire is the returning of Olga and Edgar from England. They are a Bolivian couple who wish to commit themselves to BCM for the next five years. We feel confident in letting them run things so one of the hurdles has been overcome. They arrived early December, have this month with family and begin January to learn the ropes and to support us. It gets to be fairly tiring 24/7 after a few years.. Thirty plus wonderful children but not without its moments. Pray for Edgar and Olga.
Our license renewal (approx 600 pages) as a home was submitted in 2007. At the end of 2008 we were informed it was fine. In 2010 we still don’t have it in our hand. Not a panic (80% of institutions are unlicensed) but it would be nice to see it finalized. Pray with us on this one.
Just before last photos and a wrap up. Today we ate lunch with our pumpkin, onions, spinach, tomatoes and some of the flavourings from our garden. Wonderful way to enjoy fresh, cut costs and see children with rosy red cheeks. The new ones came in various stages of malnutrition and with sores, infections , infestations and the like which are now gone.
Keith and his wife Ann, who keep the whole BCM organization going, came towards the end of 2009 and it was great to show our progress, account for our spending and present the children to them. Then Adrian from Tassie made sure the childen got a better Christmas than we alone could do and so our thanks to both them, and him, for seeing out the old year in good shape. Going in to 2010 only one failed the school year (Claudia) and so we look to the vacation, a new school year, new helpers and anticipate a great year of consolidation. Thanks for your thoughts, emails, and may God bless you.
