Dear Friends and Family,
July is upon us. While you are basking in warm summer sunshine, we are experiencing Bolivia’s winter months. It’s not bad really, cold fronts called “surazos” blow in every couple of weeks from the south and bring cold wind and rain. It’s funny to watch the Bolivians put on coats, hats, gloves and scarves when it gets down into the 50s. The political situation in Bolivia has been crazy lately. You have probably even seen Bolivia on CNN. The former president was forced to resign and a new interim president appointed until elections can be held later this year. This is nothing new for Bolivia. I heard that Bolivia has had an average of more than one president per year since its independence from Spain in the 1820s. We lived through some pretty tense days several weeks ago as talk of civil war was running high, but now things have calmed down. Continue to pray for peace in Bolivia and that God’s hand will direct its future. The poor majority are tired of being taken advantage of by wealthy Bolivians and multinational corporations who are extracting the wealth of Bolivia’s natural resources for personal gain and are investing little in true long-term economic development that will benefit everyone.
Especially pray for our eco-tourism project and animal healthcare training program in Yapacani. This is a politically volatile area and some local leaders do not approve of our presence in the zone and are making life difficult for our trainers and local participants.
Another big prayer concern is for the World Concern Latin American Area Office based here in Santa Cruz. Because of a budget crisis in the home office in Seattle, our area office budget will be severely cut the coming year, making it hard to think about expanding our work into other countries. We are making a concerted effort to begin new projects in Peru and several countries in Central America this year. Danny will probably be traveling to Peru and Honduras later this year to establish new contacts. But establishing new projects is the easy part—poverty is easy to find, and we are not short on project ideas. The difficult part is finding financial partners who are willing to invest in projects.
We are anxiously looking forward to a visit from Danny’s parents, Ronnie and Carol Beams, later this month. Remember that the invitation is open for any of you to come for a visit. We have several extra bedrooms and you are welcome to stay for a week or a month. I’m sure you would be a blessing to the Bolivian people and that you would grow through such an experience. We continue to pray for each of you as you are serving in your own families and ministries at home. Your continued support of our work here is a blessing to us.
In His Grace,Danny
Mailing address:
Daniel and Vanessa Beams
World Concern
Parapeti #146 -- Casilla 3681
Santa Cruz, Bolivia
Office Telephone: 011 591 3336 3664
Home Telephone: 011 591 3352 9156
Email: beamsclan@yahoo.com, danielb@worldconcern.org.bo
Website: www.beamsclan.blogspot.com
