Feliz dia del Madre

Mothers day was made very special this year by the presence of Isaiah within our family. This time last year I remember quite clearly being so sad at the fact that Alana didn’t have a sibling, whilst it was a joy to celebrate being a mother to such a precious daughter it was also a sad reminder of our three children never born. Little did we know at the time that within just one month Isaiah would begin his journey with us.

Friday was officially mothers day, when everybody seemed to be walking around with some kind of flower arrangement ranging from a single red rose to more elaborate floral displays. On every street corner it seemed that vendors had appeared in order to sell flowers and balloons and other knick knacks.

In recognition of the day the FH office here in La Paz set aside a special time to celebrate together the mothers who work within FH of which their were five of us this year. We each received a beautiful rose bouquet and then shared together a very scrummy white chocolate cake.

The celebrations continued on Saturday with Alana taking part in a special mothers day performance at her kinder. For the last few weeks all the children have been busy making special pieces of art work which were put on display as well as practicing a number of different songs which they performed for all of the parents. It was a delight to see Alana able to fully join in and sing all of the songs.

Sunday was our final celebration as all the Mothers at church were prayed for and presented with a little gift. On occasions like this I am reminded of how blessed I am to be a mother to two beautiful children. A blessing which I don’t take for granted.

Moulding Chronicles May 2011

Dear Friends,

It has certainly been a busy few months and its still not over yet. It began back at the beginning of April when Ed took a last minute trip to Sucre to help one of our families close down their life in Bolivia as they had to make a quick exit in order to get urgent medical care for their 18 month old son. The last we heard was that surgery went well and that he is now doing good.

Following that Ed then spent many long days making the final plans and preparations for the Latin America Regional Conference, before heading off to Cochabamba for the week to see it all through. It was an exhausting time keeping everything running smoothly and all 38 delegates happy, including last minute shopping for one guy from Kenya whose luggage apparently never left the continent of Africa! Those that attended the conference benefitted in many different ways from what was shared and gave much positive feedback.

Directly after the conference back in La Paz we were both involved in a 3 day workshop focused around our role as International Staff Coordinators. During which time we shared our home with another family of 4 who were also involved in the workshop. It was a pretty intense three days, working around the needs of 4 little people, but I think we all came away feeling that we had made some significant progress on how our role is to be worked out in the future of the organization.

Alana had a great time during that week having a little friend around the house to play with. Isaiah too I think enjoyed all of the extra attention from 3 inquisitive little people and 4 extra adults wanting cuddles.

Once our friends left we then began our search for a new home knowing that the end of our current contract was looming. In just two days we were able to find what we were looking for. If all goes to plan we should be moved and re-settled by the end of the month.

We have decided that when it comes to moving home here in Bolivia it is one of the few things that can happen within a week from seeing a place, writing and signing a contract and actually moving.

We are hoping that once we are moved life will begin to slow down a little again so that we can all catch up on ourselves a bit and get some well needed rest.

Thank God for:

• Provision of a new home
• A conference that ran smoothly
• A good workshop
• Micah’s successful operation

Ask God for:

• Safe travels, good health and a fun visit for Sarah’s parents the beginning of July
• For Alana to cope well with all the new changes
• Rest and relaxation

Much Love

Ed, Sarah, Alana & Isaiah

Wedding breakfast

Despite being thousands of miles away from the actual event and the street parties in celebration of the great occasion we were still able to feel apart of the goings on as we were invited to the house of the British ambassador (along with every other Brit in La Paz of which there were surprisingly quite a number), to watch it all take place as it was happening on the BBC. The only snag with this was the need for an early start leaving home at 5:30am, however it was worth it and made for a very memorable occasion as well as a very nice breakfast of sausage, bacon and eggs. Thank you Mr Ambassador :o)

Creativity

Some people are born with the need to hoard things just in case it may be useful at some point in the future. This can become a bit of a problem when storage space is limited or you need to move house frequently. From the beginning of our married life we have had to learn the art of being more ruthless for both of the reasons mentioned above. However since living in Bolivia where it is less of a ‘throw away society’ and most things can be fixed it has paid off to hoard random bits and pieces.

There have been many occasions when we have been told or reminded, (because we didn't quite understand the message the first time) that Alana is in need of such and such a costume or thing for the next day. This has often required much imagination and a flurry of activity hunting through cupboards and drawers to see what scraps of material we have to put together to make something, usually in the space of one afternoon in preparation for the following day.

The first of such challenges was soon after we arrived in La Paz when Alana was needing a dwarf costume, the next was something on the theme of the sea. This year has proved to be more challenging with the need of a brown dress together with ears and a tail as Alana was playing the part of ‘mamma monkey’ in a little performance put together for fathers day.

The latest project was earlier this month when we were informed of her need of a dinosaur costume for the next day as part of the celebrations of the day of the child. How on earth does one make a dinosaur costume at such short notice! It turned out to be a rushed afternoon and a little stressful but in the end we were quite chuffed with the final result, and Alana was quite proud walking to kinder with her tail swinging behind her.

Its not only dressing up costumes that have been made but also occasionally other items that are either unavailable here or very expensive to buy. One such item was a changing mat for Isaiah, which we put together from cardboard, foam left over from reupholstering our dining chairs, old curtains from Alana’s bedroom in Sucre and an old shower curtain.

Traditions

As our family grows we have spent many an occasion thinking about and discussing what we would like our family traditions to look like. Because of living in a different country and not knowing where we might be living next we have felt the need to create some kind of traditions that take place throughout the year in order to create some points if reference for our children that will be able to remain constant no matter where in the world we may live.

Easter time has become one of those reference points in the year for such traditions to form. It has just so happened that for the 3 previous Easter celebrations that we have been here in Bolivia we have taken a trip to the zoo and so this year we decided to make that one such tradition, to take a picnic and enjoy a day outside marvelling at the beautiful and diverse creatures that God has created.

The other family tradition that has formed appears to revolve around baking and food. Living in a country where convenince foods are unavailable we have really enjoyed the challenge of learning to make the foods that we really like. For this easter time we learnt how to make our own hot cross buns, which turned out far yummier than any just bought in a supermarket.

We also made our own chocolate eggs and all had fun decorating them with icing and sprinkles.

Protests

Living in such a politically unstable country we have grown accustomed to the regular blockades and protests that take place around the coutry that cause interruptions to normal life. Whilst living in Sucre we were often aware of such events as the city was brought to a standstill for some reason or other. Living where we do now in La Paz we are not always aware of such happening other than the bangs from the large fire crackers that always accompany such events. However, last week we awoke to the sounds of the usual bangs only this time they were much closer, upon looking out of our lounge window we saw people gathering and blockading the main road that goes past our apatment block, as we looked further afield we saw all the other main routes down to the south zone also being blocked off by gatherings of people.

Alana was very upset with all the goings on as it meant the cancellation of a field trip with her kinder, she was however at least still able to attend kinder for the morning which is just a block up from where we live. Ed meanwhile worked from home. It was quite strane being home and listening to a different kind of sound other than the busy traffic that normally whizzes past. The protesters had also decided to use something that created a bang far lounder than the normal fire crackers which more than once made us jump as the windows rattled in response and all the car alarms went off.

Listening to the radio we discovered that the protests on this occasion were nationwide and were caused by teachers and health workers who were demanding a 15% pay increase as opposed to the proposed 10%. (For more info see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13099827).

When such events happen we never can be quite sure for how long they will go on for, anything from hours to weeks or if they will turn violent or not. Fortunately for us the protests remained peaceful and only lasted for the morning. At midday the protesters formed themselves into tidy lines and marched off up the road chanting along the way. In other parts of the country the story was quite different where clashes between protesters and police resulted in casualties.

Strange skies

Living in our current apartment we get to enjoy some wonderful views of the mountains and in particular Ilimani which at present is covered in snow. It is a delight to look at each day at the ever changing faces of the mountains and to marvel at Gods wonderful creation. Some days we get a special view of something quite different. Last night was one of those occasions as I was drawing the curtains I noticed distinct lines streaking across the clear blue sky. As the moon rose, at a rapid pace, as it seems to do here, they steadily faded until they disappeared. Not quite sure what had caused them, but quite a sight all the same.

Isaiah's Dedication

The arrival of Isaiah John has been much awaited for and prayed for by a great many people over these last 3 years. We do not take his addition to our family as granted but acknowledge the miraculous work of God in the creation and formation of this tiny, perfectly formed person. We all feel extremely blessed to now have him as a part of our lives. As a result of this we set aside time a couple of sundays ago at the church of which we are a part of in order to have him dedicated. To publicly acknowledge Gods work, to thank God for his life that has been entrusted to us and to give him back over into Gods care.

Our friend, colleague and pastor, Bruce, offered up prayers of thanksgiving and wisdom for us as new parents and for Alana too as she now takes on the role of big sister. Being an all Bolivian church (apart from ourselves and Bruce) many people thought Isaiah was just a doll (being white skinned with fare hair) that was until he started to squirm and wriggle about. Meanwhile Alana was more interested in a sweet she had been given just moments before we went to the front of church.

It was a simple affair but important for us to acknowledge Gods goodness and provision.

Bath time!

At the age of just 4 weeks Isaiah already has his own ministry of service, in being the model baby for our friends to practice 'baby bathing' in preparation for their own arrival later in the year. Despite being handled by strangers he remained very serene and calm throughout the whole experience. Well done Isaiah :o)

Church Picnic

One of the things we have discovered during our time here in Bolivia is the difficulty in getting to know people in church. This is due to the current church culture which means that people arrive to the service anything up to an hour and a half after it has started (or later) and leave as soon as its finished, providing very little opportunity to even get to know a persons name.

One of the things we appreciated when we first arrived at the church was the beginning of a parenting group which meant we were able to begin to put some names to faces. From this group we enjoyed a couple of saturday socail events at a local park.

Since then the parenting group has finished, however, last month it was decided to reinstate the picnic at the park, only this time it was opened up to the wider congregtion. After a number of weeks of non-stop rain I think everyone was a little apprehansive as to how it would all pass off, however, God was very good and graced us with the one and only warm sunny day in weeks.

The sunshine encouraged a number of the congregation to venture out and join us. It was a great day that provided many opportunities for getting to know a cross section of people who we always see but never have opportunity to talk to. Everybody even joined in the games that had been organised and it wasn't long before everybody was laughing and having fun.

We now look forward to the next one, to build upon those relationships already begun. Some faces whom finally after two years we can now put a name and happy memories of a shared experience.