Dear Friends
and Family,
Greetings
from the Beams in Bolivia. We hope that
you are finishing up 2017 with a flourish.
Oh, and happy #GivingTuesday! (I bet you know where this is going). As most of you know, we are self-supported
missionaries who have been working in Bolivia for more than 13 years. We love living here and serving through our
local church and our ministries to families in need, but as you can imagine we
cannot continue to serve without the financial support of friends and churches
back home. If you are already faithfully
supporting our work, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. If you have yet to begin supporting our work,
we hope that you will celebrate #GivingTuesday by coming along side us in our
ministry and supporting us financially.
As happens, we have recently had some supporters who, for many good
reasons, will not be continuing to support our ministry. This is a blessing in disguise! This leaves so much more room for new
supporters.
We have had
the privilege of hosting dozens of volunteer teams over the years. It has been a blessing getting to know so
many people who have come down to share with us and support our ministries
through hard work. If you were blessed
during your visit and can see God at work through us and our team of ministry
partners, please consider becoming a regular monthly supporter. Most of our partners contribute $25, $50, or
$100 a month. Some even more.
To be
completely honest, we need an additional $2000 a month in personal support to
meet our monthly salary and travel expenses budget. It would be such an honor to count you as one
of our supporters.
If we
haven’t scared you off yet, below you will find current updates on our ministry
activities.
CAFA update
and prayer requests (from Vanessa):
Beloved and
dearly missed friends and family, it is a joy to be able to share with you details
from our life and work here in Santa Cruz Bolivia. It is an even greater joy to later hear from
you! It’s humbling and reassuring to
know how many people pray for us daily and lift us, and those we work with, to
the Father. Your prayers do make a
difference, both in our personal family life and in our work.
At CAFA
(Alfarero Family Care Center) we are finishing our second year of caring for
women, children, and men who are trapped in abusive situations. Here are some stories to summarize the year:
I’ve learned
that a lot people (some whom I see almost every day) walk around carrying an enormous
amount of shame and pain.
One of our
girls confessed she ran away from home with her boyfriend, only to find out he
was very different to her in private. She became pregnant at 17 and as result
of fear, violence, and loneliness she had an abortion. Most of the time, I can stay calm and listen,
but then, she told me “I count every year”.
My tears started to fall. What I can I say? What can I do? Only God can
talk to her.
I was sitting
at the Alfarero Café one day and a lady sat with me who I barely know. She began telling me how hard her life had
been, how she was fighting to be a good mom despite all her scars—scars from abuse,
violence, and trauma. How tired she
was. I just prayed and hugged her, knowing
that whatever I had to say, it was nothing compared to the well of life Christ
has for her.
One of my
dear friends, someone I work with and admire, also talked to me at the café and
told me how his life had been the product of a rape. From the way he talks
about both of his parents, I would never have imagined.
In one of our
volunteer training sessions, participants were learning to teach clients how to
survive the next aggression. Several of
our volunteers raised their hands with personal questions like: “In my case…”
“But if I had tried this…”
When we
think of domestic violence, we usually think of an abusive husband; but, I have
seen, abusive grandmas, abusive moms, abusive dads, abusive older siblings,
abusive grandpas, and yes abusive husbands. Many of our volunteers have said they have
realized during our training that they too have been abusive. I too have been abusive with my words.
So what now?
True repentance. I come before God holding my shame and hatred, knowing I was
once a victim and now I have been a victimizer.
Accept the fact that I can’t do life alone. I was made to walk by the hand of Jesus.
One of our
last sessions is on Identity and Brokenness.
“When we yield to the Presence of
God in our most painful stories, we break away from the enemy and we stop
torturing ourselves trying to understand.”
How many
women did Jesus heal in the Bible? Giving them new identity, an identity tied
to Him. I pray our 8 newest clients and our 9 newest volunteers and myself and
my team (there are 5 of us) will continue today and tomorrow and the next day
by the hand of Christ, respecting ourselves, believing who we are in Him,
believing who He is.
On my last
trip to Peru, I had to face my abuser. I
hadn’t seen him in years, and for a long time I was terrified of this
encounter. That day, somehow, my eyes
fixed on him, I spoke clearly and didn’t run away or start screaming and
kicking like I thought I would. I
declared forgiveness in the name of Jesus Christ and at the same time protected
myself. No hatred. I am sure, forgiveness is given in different
ways according to situations and people.
In my case this time, it meant: “I belong to God.” “You no longer have
power to upset me.” “I am a strong daughter of the King.” “Your mistakes are
yours to deal with.”
I thank my
Father, who adopted me to make me again.
I thank Him that His hope was not stolen from me, neither was the joy of
life or my eyes to see His beauty.
I hope today
too, you my dear friend will be able to clearly see how God has protected you,
guarded you, gifted you and cherished you. Amen.
Agua Yaku
Update (from Danny):
It is hard
to follow Vanessa’s emotional and moving testimony, but I will try! We continue to drill wells and distribute
water filters throughout many rural communities in Bolivia. It is such a privilege and a joy to see the smiling
faces of families when they witness clean water gushing out of the ground for
the first time, or when they see how a water filter can change muddy brown
water into crystal clear clean drinking water in a matter of seconds. The
production of our own AquaSiv water filters is coming along slower than
expected, but we are still progressing and hope to launch a Kickstarter fund
raising campaign soon. Our goal is to
get the price for a filter down to a level that every family can afford.
We just
finished a five-day water filter trip to 14 Guarani villages in the department
of Chuquisaca with First Baptist Benbrook, distributing close to 100 water
filters and Bibles to schools, health posts, churches and families. At least half the villages we visited did not
have any sort of evangelical presence.
We traveled with two local Guarani pastors, Felix and Placido, who were
able to share the gospel and in the people’s own language. It was a true joy to be able to also help
distribute a brand-new translation of the New Testament in the local Guarani
dialect. Check our Agua Yaku Facebook
soon for a new team trip video.
If you feel
called to support our work, please follow the links in this email. You can set up online giving or you can mail
a check the old-fashioned way. Monthly
support or a one-time gift will be greatly appreciated and well spent.
Blessings,
Danny and
Vanessa
