Dear Friends, what an incredible journey it has been. Before starting we want to thank you all for making this possbile, for praying for us and for journeying with us at this time.
We arrived in Los Angeles and prepared for our trip to Hume Lake, just outside Fresno in California. We decided to rent a car, as this was $1,000 cheaper than flying. We had a lovely trip up to see our son Zac, who is volunteering at Hume Lake Christian Camps. Driving there was so orderly compared to Thailand, no sirens or flashing lights. I’m sure Thailand prepares you to be able to drive just about anywhere! Our time with Zac was precious, even though the weather was cold. We had the lovely opportunity of meeting Zac’s special friend, Michelle, who also serves at Hume Lake Christian Camps. They certainly seem a good fit. Please be praying for Zac, as he seeks the Lord regarding his future. He wanted to study in Australia but is unsure now and seeking God for the right path.
Our flight down to Bolivia was quite uneventful and Penny was able to travel well. In fact, throughout our whole trip, she said she experienced very little pain. Thanks for praying for Penny in this.
I will let Penny desccribe her experiences and views of life in Bolivia. I do want to say that my time at the boarding school was a very meaningful and a healing time for me. Many of my past experiences there were validated, as we had lunch with Helen and Arden Steele, missionaries who have served in Bolivia for around 40 years. Arden was my science teacher in my last year at school. Helen was able to share many stories of what happened during my time there and it was healing and freeing to hear that what I had experienced others had also experienced and that it wasn’t just in my head or a dream. Thanks for praying for me in this. I did feel like a load was taken from my shoulders.
Penny writes…Our ten years in Thailand were a wonderful time of preparation for the culture of Bolivia, which is also a country that is people/event oriented. There were so many fascinating and exciting opportunites, such as experiencing the breathlessness of hiking at over 4,000 metres; walking alongside llamas and donkeys on the pathway to our guesthouse at Lake Titikaka; overlooking the snow-capped Andes Mountains.Visiting markets at Copacabana; sharing with new friends at YWAM La Paz, and visiting that fascinating city built into the mountains at higher altitudes than I have ever experienced before.
We were also able to fly in small planes looking down on the winding tributaries of the mighty Amazon River. Seeing where Paul grew up and where his parents started their mission work of nearly 20 years was an amazing experience. Then we finished off with a real treat: part of the big ‘dream’ for me was to go on a houseboat on the Amazon River, so that is how we spent our last 4 memorable days — floating down the mighty Mamore River, a tributary of the Amazon! I caught pirana and other fish. We read, rested and soaked in the sun as we watched the many turtles, aligators, pink river dolphins and so many other birds and animals in their natural habitat.
It has been an incredible thing for me to have had this opporunity and I was constantly in awe and full of gratitude to have had these experiences. To be able to see with my own eyes what Paul had spoken of over the years, has been a dream come true for me and has enabled me to identity with Paul and understand his past in a way that I could not have otherwise. Thank you to everyone who gave and/or prayed for us as we went. As Paul has said, I coped well physically with the trip, the first week, adjusting to the cold, high altitude and recovering from jet-lag was my only challenge, the rest was a breeze. We have loads of photos to add to our happy memories of this past month, if we get a chance sometime to catch up in person, we can show them to you.
With gratitude, love and our prayers,
Paul & Penny
