Closer to departure

I think I am finally in the last few weeks of my time here in US (until Dec. '08). I am now at 80% officially after getting a couple new pledges and thanks to a very productive meeting with my missions pastor, I discussed with him my support situation and he realized the church wasn't providing in his view adequate support for my work. He explained in detail what happened (which I won't repeat), but basically the point was that the reason I wasn't given any money for 2007 is that there wasn't any left in the budget but that money was given to the other people who had asked for money before me. He said though there were some chunks of money left over from various large donations and other projects that have since finished (not included in the budget) and that the Missions Committee could give that money to me, but the new committee chair probably didn't know that since it's not obvious. My missions pastor said that in his view the church isn't being a good steward of its money if it's leaving chunks of money laying around that aren't being used for ministry and he thought the committee would concur unless he was missing some information.

My missions pastor said he would write a proposal for me explaining my situation and then, when the committee meets on April 19, they hopefully will approve giving me about $2400 for 2007 and also the same amount for 2008. He doesn't actually have the authority to give money (so as to maintain integrity and an advisory role), but he can make recommendations to the committee. If granted it would at least cut my remaining need in half to 90%. It gets better. . .I still have about 5-6 people to talk to, so I think it's quite feasible that I could be at 90% or better before then and if this church money comes through (which my pastor told me is quite likely), I will probably have full support at that time and be able to leave for Bolivia at the beginning of May. So, that would make my departure in about five weeks!!

I feel SO good about this situation and I really think there will be no more delays. It was such a good day yesterday, probably one of the best of the year. I am flying high as a kite today, and so deeply humbled by the provision of our wonderful Lord. Keep praying fiercely for me, the Enemy will do all he can over the coming weeks to keep me from going!!

Peace and March Madness

Over the last few weeks, I have really taken stock of my situation and am actually enjoying being patient. I'm enjoying the extra time with friends, the extra Bible studies, and the absolutely gorgeous days we've been having here in Denver. I've realized being anxious isn't going to get me out of here faster and its only going to leave me stressed out and exhausted.

Some good news - I heard from Lucho Velez, the director of La Palmera, he's going to make an appeal on my behalf to his project supporters, hopefully that will get me a few people. I have a few follow ups and a few people that I hadn't thought of previously, so between all those people, hopefully I'll be out of here in the next 4-5 weeks. I also heard from MaryLynn, the high school leader and she says the flooding situation has actually improved over the last week or two, but the water levels are expected to rise again soon. She did note that only 1 teacher and 3 families were affected, so praise God for his protection of 130+ families at the project!

One of the perks of still being here is that I get to see one more "March Madness" NCAA tournament before I leave, and enjoy the fun competition of filling out a bracket. I'm pretty sure I spent a good 3-4 hours today reading sports columns, watching video clips and comparing stats, but what else am I going to do with my spare time now? It seriously though will help in keeping me relaxed and not uptight and will take my mind off of constantly thinking about support, a very good thing for me.

Update on Flooding

For those of you that received my email on Sunday, I've gotten some more information. CNN finally has an article on the situation. According to the article some 72,000 families have been displaced, 22,500 head of cattle are dead and nearly 500,000 acres of cropland are destroyed. There were reports in a couple of the Bolivian newspapers this morning of food and medical supply shortages in Trinidad, but I haven't heard anything about that.

Monday of this week, President Evo Morales went to Trinidad and flew over the area affected by flooding. He was quoted as saying, "It made me want to cry" after viewing the numbers of people affected. He ordered the city to develop evacuation plans for the 90,000 residents, but city officials believe the elevated "ring" road that goes around the downtown area will be sufficient in keeping the waters at bay. Evo has also ordered a second dike built, for which construction will commence once the rainy season is over. Yesterday he declared a state of national emergency for the floods which have affected the whole country, Trinidad and Santa Cruz just happen to lie in the worst areas hit and he has allocated $50 million towards disaster relief. There is a clause in the Bolivian Constitution that allows the President to do this and allocate 1% of the country's budget to relief. Additionally Bolivia has received $25 million in aid from various foreign nations including $9.2 million from the United Nations.

Interestingly, La Palmera resides on the "ring" road, so it should be safe from any flood damage unless the waters rise significantly. The road between Trinidad and Santa Cruz is also still open. I'm now even more anxious to get down to Trinidad and help with the disaster relief, it will provide some great opportunities for witnessing to others in bringing the message of the Gospel.