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Wednesday, September 17

If you read our previous post or keep up on your South American news, you know that Bolivia has seen its share of turmoil the past couple of weeks. We have made the decision to leave for a little while. The decision was essentially made for us because our current visas run out very soon. We need to renew our visas outside of Bolivia before we can re-enter the country; but with the political situation the way it is right now, we aren't sure whether or not we will be able to get the visas we need or if the current peace will continue.

We will fly out next Tuesday to begin work on our visas, while we continue our Spanish tutoring (isn't Skype great!?), and Adam continues his studies. God has provided so much for us and we are extremely thankful to be able to keep our house here and have a wonderful sister in Christ live in it and "cuidar" for our things (take care of them for us.) It seems like a miraclulous provision for us since you normally have to pay someone to live in or watch your home for you. We are encouraged that the door to Bolivia has not closed permanently for us.

We do not know what the next few months will bring us--nor even where we will be after debriefing at our home office in Kansas City. We hope to be somewhere affordable where Adam can continue his Master's program with Tyndale Theological Seminary and possibly do an internship or assistantship related to his studies--or even head back to Bolivia with visas in hand and peace in Santa Cruz!

God is good, all the time and we are thankful for our health and safety. We realize that "we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God" and we accept that whatever God has planned for us, it is good and for His ultimate purposes. We are also excited to see the Bolivian church stand up for righteousness, knowing that these trials bring about the perfecting of our faith.

Saturday, September 13

Unrest

If you receive our emails, this will be on the way to you shortly (and hoping makes my lack of communication here self-explanatory.)
Hello from Bolivia:

For anyone not keeping up on the news, the political situation here is tense. Pro-Santa Cruz protesters have taken over some government facilities. A region north of here had one serious conflict earlier this week. While the international news sources discuss the diplomats fighting and expelling each other, life feels pretty normal in Santa Cruz; stores, banks, buses are still open and running. The perspective here is quite different from the rhetoric being thrown around the international media.

We’ve spent a lot of our time this week making sure we are up-to-date and in contact with as many other missionaries and Bolivian friends as possible. So far we are stocking up on groceries and gas for our stoves, and gathering all our papers, but no one we’ve talked to feels an evacuation is imminent. One friend who has been here much of his life explained the situation saying, “It’s September” (this is when and how Bolivians express their political opinions, but historically there has been little actual violence, especially in Santa Cruz).

In the meantime, Molly and I continue our work on Spanish, and I add in as many hours of Greek and Hebrew as each day allows. Last week we celebrated Hebron Seminary’s 55th anniversary and enjoyed the excitement of Hebron’s continued growth in both depth and scope as we train servant-leaders to proclaim and live the Word of Christ. The new Masters of Bible and Masters of Theology programs have Hebrew language requirements, which I am going to be teaching in the near future, along with Greek. So language study is a major area of prayer.

In a couple weeks we are planning a brief trip to the Brazilian border to work on our visas. Our largest concern with the current political situation is the it will trickle down to the immigration department and prevent us from obtaining visas, please pray for this also along with the costs involved in travel and fees (out of Bolivia, into Brazil and back into Bolivia long-term).

Natasha is loving kindergarten, Ana Sophia is crawling all over everything and climbing up onto her feet whenever she can. Elias enjoyed his fourth birthday last week. I am working on a backyard playground for his birthday in my free time.

Your continued encouragement and prayers for our ministry and safety are appreciated and felt.

In Christ’s Sovereign Hands;

Adam & Molly Wehrley

P.S. For those of you who do keep up on the news, please contact us if you have questions or concerns. We will be keeping you updated on our status as things unfold. We trust that God has brought us here for His purposes and we are still joyfully serving Him amidst turmoil.

Luke 10:2-3 “And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.”

Mat 10:16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”

Monday, September 8

Thankfulness

Today I am thankful that:
no one is puking (we've had seven days of illness)
the sun is out (we've had four days of cold!)
the party decorations are still up and we're eating cake this afternoon (we had to cancel Elias's big birthday party yesterday because of the puky sickness)
I can do laundry (because we have to line dry our clothing, crummy weather and puky sickness are a bad combination!)

Tuesday, September 2

Elias's prayer this evening (you have to give an affirmative noise after each item so he will continue praying):
Dear Jesus,
thank'em for our food

(He always says this)
and for Natasha
and Mommy
and Daddy
and grandma
and Uncle Mike
and grandpa
and grandma Pam
and fish
and dragons
and applesauce.
Amen!

Molly: Very nice, good night, Elias.

Elias: I want to pray again.

Molly: Okay, go ahead.

Elias: Thank'm Jesus for our food
and Mommy
and Natasha
and baby Ana
and Daddy
and fish
and stickers
and shots


I'm not sure about the "shots" either, though he'd been puking sick yesterday and he felt better this evening. Perhaps he remembered that shots help you stay healthy?