Monday, July 16 (posted on Tuesday)

Hello!

This is Henry this time, just in case you didn´t want to scroll down to the end to find out!!
We are continuing to do very well here despite the odd difficulty.

Yesterday was Sunday of course and for us it was a full day. We attended the English service at 9 AM and then watched a baptism at another service going on and then went to the Spanish service. The latter had the highest attendance - perhaps 150-175. It was a great experience, perhaps a little more ´chaotic´ (perhaps not the right word) but we had a great worship time (Ivan and one of his brothers took the lead) with familiar worship songs only in Spanish of course. I was preaching and Ivan interpreted - it went very well and I found it to be quite a moving experience. All of us were very glad for the experience of worshipping with a Spanish congregation. (Cochabamba First Baptist was the name of the church).

Following church we had a wonderful meal and time of warm friendship at the home of Ivan´s parents - a gracious couple and gracious hosts. And they have a lovely home - altogether a very enjoyable time. We had to leave before we wanted to but had a plane to catch for Tarija - not a long flight(1 hr) but enough to make a difference in our routine. Tarija was cooler than what we have had so far so the sweaters & jackets came out and the it was off to evening church where I preached once more and Paul was suppose to preach (at another church) but there was a mix up and he didn´t get to preach.

Again all of us enjoyed these services- the singing was enthusiastic and lively, the people were warm in their welcome and most gracious in speaking to us and greeting us.
After a late supper, we went to bed, this time in a hostel-hotel. Not 5 Star but adequate and most of us had warm showers too. I think we all slept quite well and had a plain continental breakfast with a white bun, jam & coffee or tea.

The rest of today has been travelling to see 4 churches, these are in addition to one which we saw last night. The First Baptist church of Tarija has started one other church and then a missionary by the name of Lazarus Jorgado has started 3 other churches. We had a moving experience at the site of the last one he has started as just yesterday they officially became a congregation with a Deacons´ Board & constitution. When we came there, the new officers of the church and their families came and greeted us. We responded to them, with tears in our eyes, realizing how their committment and desire to form churches is such an inspiration to us and an example of God´s grace in their lives. We were humbled as well to think of the fact that these are the ones we have been praying for, even when we have not seen their faces before.

Tonight we will meet with\n pastors, spouses and church leaders for a supper. We will present bibles and pass along greetings, again from Westhill & Western Canadian Baptists. Then tomorrow it will be our long day of driving - 290 km which they say will take us 10 hours. This will be an adventure we are sure. We are so grateful for your prayers and at times have felt bouyed up by them and by knowing that you are praying for us. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Health wise we have been doing quite well - Karen has been fighting a cold but mostly seems to be over it. Ray has an upset stomach today but seems to be coming through that as well.

God bless you all.
Henry