Week 5

We can’t believe time is going so fast – it’s week 5 already!!? We’ve had another great week of growing as a team and getting stuck in to life here.

After a much needed rest day on Monday, we enjoyed going back to the project this week. Some men from church came to help us build this week, so things moved more quickly, and we enjoyed getting to know them more! One of the builders has started to share prayer requests with us which is really special and a great way for us to share Jesus’ love with him – please pray that God would keep using us as we work at the project and build relationships with the builders.

We’ve had some great times hanging out with people from church this week and getting to know them better. For example, we were invited to a birthday party on Friday with some people from church at the paseo (a long green space that runs alongside the road where people go to walk). We played volleyball and football, and ate lots of pizza!

We enjoyed visiting an anexo in an indigenous community near Tartagal on Wednesday. They were all lovely and very welcoming, and gave us tea and pastries after the service! It’s been so good for us to visit different churches like that one and learn from the way that people in different communities live out their faith.

We’ve spent lots of time together as a team this week. On Thursday night we put our mattresses against the wall like a sofa and had a mini movie night which was lots of fun! There was also an interesting turn of events on Friday… Jakob and James made a deal, which ended up with Jakob agreeing to shave his head! We all took part in the shaving and had some fun making patterns in his hair during siesta… until the shaver ran out of charge and he had to go back to the project with a very strange haircut!!!

After a fun morning at the children’s club on Saturday, we got to go to Yacuíba, Bolivia (right on the border, only about an hour away!) for a church conference. It was our first taste of Bolivia, where our next project will be, and we loved it! As soon as we crossed the border, we noticed the difference between the two countries and the liveliness of the busy border town. There were tall buildings, bright colours and loooads of market stalls. We explored a bit and then walked to the church where we’d be staying the night in a small room (the church have accommodation for visitors in their building). On the way to the church, we lost Nat and Rosie!! While Marco went to look for them, the rest of us prayed and God answered us – He is good!

There was a church service on Saturday night and one on Sunday morning. They were very long!!! But we really enjoyed the time to connect with God and worship Him. In the Sunday meeting, we sang Beautiful Name in English and Spanish for everyone. There were people from all over South America at the conference, and we really enjoyed meeting everyone and spending time with them.

Thank you for all of your prayers! We’re so lucky to be so supported by everyone at home. Please be praying for more chances to share Jesus with non-Christians, as we’re in a bit of a Christian bubble. Please also be praying for us to keep growing together as a team and growing closer to God, and that we’d be able to make the most of the last few weeks here: both at the project, and just by being present and making the most of every day. We’d also appreciate prayer as we plan our travels for the end of the project.

Thanks so much, Dios te bendiga!

Izzy, Nat, Jakob, Rosie, James, Catherine and Tim