Lost in the Andes
No.27 October 2002We have shared a few things about our church in Sorocoto, and this month we wanted to explain more about the ways that we have seen the Lord working within the church and it's members, and how we have been involved. First, we would like to share a story with you of how God's hand is working in the lives of the few Christians here in Sorocoto.
Marcelina and Reina had been great friends during our first 18 months in Sorocoto. But for the last half year the two were not talking to one another and Marcelina quit coming to the church services. Something had happened to sever the relationship and the problem was affecting their entire families; a verbal war had begun. Initially the issue was over grazing rights for Reina's sheep near Marcelina's property, then the quarrel became exaggerated as the two started speaking poorly of the other to their husbands. The husbands and the women's mothers got involved and became critical of one another. The effect on the local church was magnified because the two families represent 50% of the participation in our tiny church. Effort had been made to speak to the head of the household of both families to urge them to seek forgiveness and reconciliation, but months passed and no one took action. Finally, during one Sunday night service, the two families agreed to hash out the issue in front of the church in search of reconciliation.
Each was given a chance to share his or her side of the story for everyone to hear. The truth was separated from the lies and gossip. After listening for one hour to the emotional recounting, no judgement was handed down from the church, only one question to see if each had a willing attitude to ask for forgiveness. Both agreed that it was time to move on and put this quarrel behind them. The men, overcome with sorrow, began crying as they embraced and forgave one another. The women likewise approached one another in humility seeking forgiveness. What a victory for our church! Unity and love within the church are important because the community watches intently for ways to criticize the Christians and say that their faith is powerless to change lives. Watching the reconciliation between the two families in the church was a great encouragement to us to see God's love and truth working itself out in people's lives.
It has been a challenge to work in the small church in Sorocoto. For our first year, we decided to participate and observe until we understood more of the culture and what God was doing. That proved difficult, since every time we went to church, Pete was asked to preach. After saying "no" a few times and making up sermons off the cuff other times, Pete started preparing some messages. He uses short outlines and a few verses because his message is translated into Quechua and reading a verse in Quechua can take up to 5 minutes. Even with such a short message, most of the women and children are fast asleep and some of the men are struggling to fight off the sleep. It's frustrating to teach in these circumstances, so we decided to put more effort into training the church leaders in our weekly Bible study, and teaching the children in the Sunday school program. The two weekly events see lots of participation and growth.
As you know from past updates, the Sunday school program is doing excellent with over half of the school kids in the community participating. Through the Sunday school program God is blessing the next generation with knowledge of Him and the truth from the Bible. Saturday Bible studies have been exciting to watch the Christians and non-Christians learning life lessons from the Old Testament.
Simon Condori, the pastor from Soroscopa is filled with the joy of the Spirit and eager for more spiritual growth and knowledge, so Pete has begun to meet with him 3 mornings a week to disciple him in Christian doctrine. Pete's times with Simon are encouraging since it is obvious that God is teaching Simon beyond what Pete could ever teach him. We used to fear that some false teachers could easily mislead and destroy the small churches in Sorocoto and Soroscopa, but God is raising up men who know the truth and will defend it.
Our hope is to see the local church grow and begin to minister to its own community. God is placing a strong desire in the Christians for more growth which will inevitably lead to a strong witness for Christ through their lives.
God's blessings
Pete & Lori
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Lost in the Andes
No.28 November 2002team 2002 We have recently been blessed by a group of 7 men from our supporting church, the Community Church of Columbus in Indiana. These men came to Bolivia for a week to live and work alongside us in Sorocoto. The main project was to renovate the community's meeting room by taking down the roof, enlarging the windows, knocking down a wall, and building benches for the room. Although this was the main project going on, the men were involved with a few other things as well; such as playing with the children on the basketball court; participating in the Wednesday night church service; helping us take care of all the sick and injured people who came to our door; and encouraging us by simply spending a week in our home. The Lord answered many prayers including keeping the road passable (remember we are now in the rainy season), protecting the team members from sickness and injury, using the group to encourage the community, and using the week to teach and speak to the team members. The group learned more about our lives and more about themselves and how they can minister in their own communities. We, too, were reminded of different aspects of poverty and the importance of knowing the causes and how we can reach out and love those around us. One night Pete led the group in a discussion about how poverty comes at different levels, and that it is not only an economic issue. We looked at a model where poverty is defined by our relationship to God, to others, to ourselves, and to the creation, and how these relationships are broken from the beginning of our lives.
 It is only through reconciliation through Jesus Christ that these relationships can be restored and we can be brought out of our poverty. Lori talked another night about how our lifestyle should be one that is ministering to those around us. Serving the poor should not be a separate activity that we do one night a week, but instead in the way we live, the way we open our home to people, the way we take time to build relationships, are all ways in which our lifestyle should speak the love of Jesus. We pray that the 7 men who sacrificed from their lives and came down to work left here with a different perspective on the poor and that they will be able to use the lessons learned in Sorocoto to change lives in Columbus, Indiana. Back row from left: Jim Newell, Earl Simmons, Andy Newell. Middle row from left: Rob Simpson, Scott Taylor, Cathy Todd, Chuck Coleman, Adam Coleman, Jake Snow, Steve Robertson, Pete. Front row from left: Jana Hofer, Lori.
the spider bite Another prayer that was answered concerned Lori's health. The Tuesday before the team was to arrive in Sucre, Lori woke up with pains in her abdomen. The pains were in her lower right side and worsened as the morning went on. We had a suspicion that she was experiencing appendicitis, so we quickly finished preparations for the week with the team, packed up the truck, and headed into the city. Lori knew that the Lord would protect her, but she hated to think of the possibility of missing out on the next week with the team and being in the hospital instead with appendicitis. A missionary doctor friend examined her as soon as we arrived in the city and he said it could be the beginning stages of appendicitis, but we did not know for sure yet. The next morning she woke up with less pain, and we decided not to go to the hospital. Later, Lori noticed a spider bite she had gotten the same time her abdomen had started to hurt. The spider bite was obviously infected with a red streak running down her arm. She immediately looked up spider bite in her favorite book, "Where there is no doctor," and found some interesting information. Some species of spiders cause muscular cramping, especially in the stomach and can often be confused with appendicitis. During the next three days it was confirmed that Lori's pain was all due to that little bite and the pain made it's way up to her ribcage, into her chest and affected her breathing. God was extremely good and faithful by giving Lori peace about what was going on in her body, showing mercy on her by the pain not being appendicitis, and allowing her to be back to 100% healthy by Sunday afternoon when the team stepped off the plane in Sucre. Praise God! We thank all of you who were praying for Lori during the week she was experiencing the pain, and we believe that your prayers carried her through.
Thank you for your continued support and prayers during this last month.
In Him,
Pete & Lori
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Lost in the Andes
No.29 Dec/Jan 2002-03 Andy and the Forge. We were privileged to host Pete's brother Andy for 6 weeks. He came down with the team at the beginning of November and then stayed with us until we all traveled to the States together in December. It was great to be together and share with him our life in Sorocoto. He jumped right into things and helped Pete get some projects finished and some started. Pete has had many ideas during the past two years about starting small businesses in the community that the people would be trained to run and make products that could be sold to the community. In the past few months Pete began to coordinate with the office to make these small businesses start happening. Since Andy had experience with blacksmithing, they contracted a man to make a forge and it was sent out to Sorocoto. Andy and Pete had fun making tools and locks and they also were able to begin training a man, Juan, in Sorocoto on how to use the forge. Hopefully someday Juan will be trained and able to make tools and the necessary equipment that the people need and they will no longer depend on the city for these things. Pete also started meeting with three people to teach them how to make soap from local materials. The hope is that they will be able to make enough soap to sell to the people and the community members will not need to travel to the city to buy soap. Other ideas are a bike and wheelbarrow repair shop, and a radio repair shop.  Piñata Party The Sunday school students had fun again this year making piñatas for the Christmas party. We spent 3 weeks looking at what sin is, how it separates us from God, and why Jesus came to save us from our sin. The excitement built as we approached the Sunday when we would learn about Jesus' birth and celebrate His coming. Since they had been working on their piñatas for two weeks, they knew a party was at hand. The kids were especially joyful the day of Jesus' birthday party and they sang loud and strong about God's plan for them in sending Jesus and they listened intently at the Christmas story told to them by Lori. Next, it was time to go down to the basketball court and celebrate. We all ran down and set up the colorful piñatas the kids had made and they laughed and hollered at each other as they each took a turn at knocking down their creations filled with candy. We then went to the house, sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and ate birthday cake. It was a great celebration and we pray the kids will always remember why Christmas is a time to celebrate.White Christmas For the first time in three years, we saw the beautiful Midwest covered in snow. Most of you know that we had the opportunity to travel home this year for Christmas. It was a wonderful time to be with family and friends. We started our journey in Texas and spent time with Lori's grandmother, Dottie and other close relatives. Then we traveled to Illinois to enjoy time with Lori's parents and other Sycamorons. We were greatly encouraged by the friends and family we were able to see, and we thank you for making the efforts to see us. On Christmas day we drove down to Indiana to spend time with the Newell clan and we had a great time of fun and fellowship.
 We also thank all of you who we saw in Columbus, Indiana, for your love and support. One of Pete's highlights of the trip was traveling to New Mexico with his two brothers to visit Zuni, where Andy lives and works, and then to hit the slopes with his snowboard. He has been dreaming about snowboarding for three years and he finally was able to get back to shralp the pow pow. One of Lori's highlights was being with Christine Lightner, her dear friend and sister in Christ. She was able to visit Lori in Indiana while Pete was in New Mexico. We also enjoyed the little things like Lori's mom's cookies, Pete's mom's pies, walking in our parents' homes barefoot, singing praise songs in English, drinking Dr. Pepper and root beer, eating Tex-mex food, and shopping in super Wal-Mart. Our trip to the States was an all around great visit that was blessed by the Lord as we were able to spend quality time with our families, see some friends, and simply enjoy being in our own culture.
May the Lord bless you as you begin the New Year.
Pete & Lori
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