Dear Friends and Family,
We trust you all are doing well during the holidays. Thank you so much for praying for Isaiah. If you did not hear, he spent about six days in the hospital being treated for a bacterial infection. It was quite serious for a couple of days, but the combination of prayer, good doctors, and medicine saw him through. We are excited about the Christmas break coming up and visits from Nathaniel and several other friends. The volatile political situation has eased a bit in these past weeks and we are so thankful for that, but please continue to pray for Bolivia and for peace between highland departments and the eastern lowland departments.
Sadly, we had to say goodbye to two couples who have been volunteering with the EFCCM the past several months, Steve and Rhonda Bill, and Roberto and Emilie Morano. Pray for them as they head back to Canada and begin making decisions about careers and where God would have them serve.
Just a quick update on our projects: The Agua:Yaku water well project is growing by leaps and bounds. We have three full time staff, Carlos, Fernando, and Marcos, as well as several EFCCM missionaries now working with us or planning to come in the near future. If the weather and politics cooperate, we are planning to drill a lot of wells in the coming months. Please pray for the Yuqui people on the Chimore River and especially for Mariano and Leonarda Ichu (Bolivian missionaries working with the Yuqui). The Yuqui now have good clean water to drink, but they are still facing many obstacles in understanding the love of God and what that love can mean in their lives and for their families. Agua:Yaku and our local church, Trinity International, are helping Mariano plant five acres of cacao (chocolate) as a way to finance their ministry and to teach the Yuqui how to plant and manage cacao themselves. Sadly, violence has recently broken out in the area between Quechua colonists and government forces trying to eradicate illegal coca production (from which cocaine is derived) and it may not be safe for us to go back to this area for while. Pray that we will be able to re-enter this area soon so we can begin drilling wells for the Yuracaré Indians who live in several villages further down the Chimore River. We have a new project website at www.aguayaku.org, so check it out if you have a few minutes.
Vanessa is working hard to get the girls transition home up and running. She is teaming up with another ministry called “El Alfarero,” which will be working closely with university students, providing counselling services, a crisis pregnancy center, a transition home for unwed mothers and girls transitioning out of orphanages. The center will also include a restaurant and conference center. The El Alfarero ministry hopes to purchase a building for the transition home (or albergue in Spanish), but in the mean time we would like to begin renting a place and hire house parents who can look after the girls. We need donations for rent, set-up costs, and for salaries.
We hope you will prayerfully consider making a special year-end donation to either the girl’s transition home or to the water well drilling ministry.
Thank you so much for your on-going support of our work and ministry here in Bolivia. We could not do what we are doing without the prayers and support of fellow believers back home.
Blessings,
Danny
