Oruro, Bolivia

Stark Contrast (read the next post too)

2010-10-19T18:48:00.000-07:00

As we walked to the statue of Jesus, we shared with them how much Jesus loved them. They were so excited to know that were loved by Jesus.
What a contrast... this is the same village where we saw the sculptor creating the demons.
posted by Kathy Oakes

Whats behind door number one?

2010-10-19T18:41:00.000-07:00

I had a first hand experience watching a sculptor create demon figures for the carnival. The picture says it all.
posted by Kathy Oakes

Sharing Jesus in a Public School

2010-10-19T18:26:00.000-07:00

I had a once in a lifetime opportunity this afternoon. After we finished lunch, we left to go back to our mission site. There is a public school located 2 blocks from where the new church will be located. Three of us were allowed into the school. Marcelo(our area leader), Edgar(my translator), and myself. We were taken directly to the Principal's office. Marcelo began to explain who we were and what we were doing. He then stated that he could not allow people to come into the school to talk about Jesus and any special speakers needed to be approved by higher officials in the school system, BUT, today he would allow us to talk to one classroom of children for 10 minutes only. We were then escorted to the 11th grade classroom. We were let into the room and the door was closed with no other adults present. Marcelo then introduced me and I told the children why I came to Oruro and then presented the gospel using the cube. I was told I could not pray with the children so I told them how they could pray, very specifically. We then invited them to our meeting tonight. Two young ladies came to the meeting! Praise God! This has been a very tough week, we have met with quite a bit of resistance. We have had to be dependent on God for the words to say to many people BUT, today He blessed us in a mighty way!Praise Him, My God, Savior and Lord of my life!
Written by Tonya Fortenberry

Salvation in prision

2010-10-18T18:27:00.000-07:00

Coming down the street, we saw a young girl sticking her head out the door, we turned out attention to her. We started to talk through the gate. We asked if we could tell her about Jesus. We shared the cube and asked if she wanted to go to heaven. She looked over her shoulder and turned back and said no. We continued to ask questions and from that answer and after a while she changed her mind. We found out that she is being held captive in a house against her will. Young girls are brought from the country and "used" as wives against their will.
We had to leave in a hurry and before she had time to make a commitment because a drunk guy, the owner of the house, came out and insisted that she come in. After a while and much prayer we went back. We saw the young girl again. This time she wanted to ask Jesus in her heart and did.
Please pray for Adela. She is only 16 years old. Today she asked Jesus to set her free but as far as we know she is still captive in this house full of drunk men.
story by Steve King

God's Word Being Told

2010-10-18T18:15:00.000-07:00

This morning more families were at home. We shared the gospel nine times today and eight people accepted Jesus. I am sending a picture of a young lady we met on the road today in the location that is called Jesus Heart. We shared the gospel using the cube and she accepted Jesus. Shewanted to know more about the Bible. We shared scripture with herand gave her a New Testament. She was so happy and wanted to share with other family members. I gave hera small paper cube to share with the other people in her family.
The people and children at Jesus Heart wanted to hear of Jesus today more than the other days. The pastor of the mother church came with us this afternoon. By the end of the day, the pastor and a deacon from his church were witnessing and sharing the cube.
Tonight we had 23 children. What joyful sounds they make. They were so excited to hear of Jesus and His love for children.
story by Kathy Oakes

POSITIVE art

2010-10-18T16:39:00.000-07:00

Through out the city of Oruro you will find statues and paintings of Satan. I went out with Jimmy Pitts and his team today. We held the cell group in a city park with the statue you see above. We are told this image is of the arch angel Michael as he is killing a demon.

Birthday wishes from Oruro

2010-10-18T16:21:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday Tom! We are doing well. It has at times been very difficult. We can really feel your prayers supporting us. God is Good and all sufficient! To day was a full day on the mountain area. It is very hot and country rough. I was able to share and pray with five today. One mom that I prayed with came back to our discipleship meeting tonight. We had 15 children join us for story time, activities and a game of soccer. I am missing you all and anxious to be back home. Love you. Happy Birthday!! Love Arlene and the kids I was sharing with today are sending you a birthday wave.

A Real Blessing

2010-10-17T18:46:00.000-07:00

The team was blessed today. We had no place to hold our cell group meeting. We were picked up around three pm today to go to "Jesus Heart", our area we were working. Sam asked the taxi driver where he lived, he lived in Jesus Heart. He said he was well known in the area and was open to the gospel. Sam had just prayed one hour earlier that God would provide us a person of peace. He and his wife opened their home to us to hold the cell group.
Me and my translator, Laticia are sharing Jesus with the children in the evening cell group. I wanted to share this picture of our first day of sharing Jesus and his love for little children. This day, Jesus was proclaimed at the top of a mountain called.... Jesus Heart.
story by Kathy Oakes

Oruro, the second year

2010-10-17T18:18:00.000-07:00

I was grateful when the trip began on Friday night with hearing that the churches that Jeff and I helped to plant in October of last year were still meeting and even growing! What a way to start off my second trip in Oruro. And what great news to email my sweet husband on the first night, knowing how difficult it was for him to see us off Thursday morning from Pelham. Now, on to this year. We are working with a church that planted 2 churches last year, one was from Jeff's team! We have two teams working with this mother church again this year to plant an additional two churches. We were met Saturday morning by Marcello, our area leader and I noticed how young he looked but also how humble and ready to serve. I knew we were going to have a great week, though we were beginning a little slow. I then began to meet our nationals, all under the age of 30! When we began ensuring that they knew how to use the evangecube and how to present their testimony, I was impressed! Here in a city full of idols to honor Satan were a group of young people with a heart for seeing others come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior. Hallelujah! We have teams of nationals going out to make disciples on the very first day! We are really here to encourage and lift up our brothers and sisters in Christ as they go and make disciples in this city of Oruro! I can only imagine what God has in store for us over the next few days!
story byTonya Fortenberry

MI MITI Moms in Oruro

2010-10-16T19:26:00.000-07:00

We are praising the Lord for the strength and courage he has blessed us with so far. We started with an exciting trip in Chicago. God pulled many strings to get us through the airport in order to make our flight. We were very excited to meet our team in Miami and traveled many hours through the night and morning to finally arrive here in Oruro about noon. Oruro is on the same time as MI. Arlene is praising the Lord for today was much better. I got very ill from the elevation, but after rest and some med and many prayers was able to carry on with the busy schedule of today. We began with a team breakfast and praise service. Nelda left with her interpreter Diego for her area in the high mountains -area norte. They prayer walked, talked to many children and presented the gospel to four and three accepted at that time. Arlene is working with Irving in another area of the mountains, I shared the gospel cube with one and she prayed to accept. After lunch Nelda and I went to a church and presented Moms in Touch to about fifteen moms. They were very excited and plan to bring many more of their friends tomorrow. We then went back to our designated mountain community and showed the Jesus film. It was out door and very cold on the mountain. Nelda's team had over 50 children and 14 who prayed. Several more saw the movie but did not stay after. Arlene's group had 15 pray the Salvation prayer after the movie. We are excited for tomorrow and the days to come. Thank you for your prayers. We miss all of you! Together we are reaching the world for Christ. Praise the Lord for all He has done, is doing and will do here in Oruro.

Anniversary Celebration

2010-10-16T16:51:00.000-07:00

Last year I worked with Ashley McClain and we helped to establish a new church in Oruro. It has been one year and tonight they had an outdoor anniversary celebration service. The picture above is me and my translator Julia with a bunch of children who attended. I am thankful to God that the work that was done last year is still alive today.

Training the nationals

2010-10-16T12:20:00.000-07:00

Pictured above is is Matt Wilkins. After doing some prayer walking he is teaching the nationals (local pastors and church leaders from Oruro) how to use the evangecube. This is a critical part of our trips. We do most of the work the first two days but start to slowly transfer ownership to the nationals.
Please pray for us this week as we evangelize the lost, disciple the saved, start new churches and train the nationals so that they can continue the work.

We have arrived safely

2010-10-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

The team arrived safely in Miami. This was the first time we all met each other. We had a few mishaps along the way, but it would not be a mission trip without them. The flight to LaPaz was long and took all night.
The temperature in Oruro is cool and crisp. We are all taking it very easy today adjusting to the altitude of 12,200 feet above sea level and to the much cooler weather. Our hotel does not have heat so we are just doing the best we can.
Tonight we met the pastors and our translators. It appears that tomorrow will be a VERY full day. We go prayer walking in the communities where we will plant new churches. Then we will train the church members and go out evangelizing. At 7 PM some students with Campus Crusade for Christ will show the Jesus film in each of our seven church plants.
Some of the pastors shared with us the ongoing results of last years effort. One church has planted five more churches. One pastor gave witness that his church had planted two more churches. One pastor announced that the church planted last year would be celebrating their first anniversary tomorrow and wants me, Sam, to come and share in this event. These testimonies thrilled my heart.
Please pray for our teams as we begin our ministry tomorrow.