My tickets are nowhere to be found, but fortunately, there is enough money left in my budget for a new ticket. This means Katie and I won’t be able to fly out of Bolivia together, but we will meet up in Miami before continuing on towards home.

Last week we were able to visit Sucre for a relaxing and enjoyable break from the big city. Katie has written a great post about our activities there and put up some photos, so I will point to that.

Now we are in the midst of the week-long SIM conference at CCS, and directly after that – on Monday – we fly out.

Be seeing you soon!

Please pray for Josiah as he is very worried about the fact that he will be awake during the procedure (though doctors assure that there will be no pain and it is a very simple procedure). He is also concerned about the possibility of having the original operation again. It was very difficult for him the first time around.

On a separate note, I’ve recently discovered that I lost my Aerosur tickets for my return flight; this appears to mean that I will need to purchase new return tickets. Please pray that God will provide wisdom and peace as I and those helping me deal with that situation.

To give me even less excuse for my silence, a lot has happened in the last few weeks. A little more than two weeks ago, Josiah Lindquist (oldest son of the family I’m staying with) began having an excruciating migraine. The pain was obviously worse than anything he had ever experienced and accompanied with very little sleep, vomiting, and apparent hallucinations. He was taken to the hospital Saturday morning, and the pain was controlled by medicine for part of the day. He returned to the hospital that evening, and after a CT scan was diagnosed as having an abscess in the right side of his brain.

After a rough few days for the Lindquists during which antibiotics had a positive but limited effect, Josiah underwent neurosurgery to relieve the pressure and remove the abscess. He came out of the surgery in great condition, has recovered rapidly, and is now back at home with his family! I am late in requesting your prayers for this situation, but he and the Lindquists still need prayer. Josiah will be going back to the hospital regularly for medicine, and will have occasional CT scans to ensure that everything is OK. The Lindquists plan, at this point, to remain in Bolivia for the rest of their originally intended stay.

During the unfolding of this story, the end of classes at CCS became somewhat anti-climatic. We have, however, officially finished our time there.

Last week (Saturday), a small team of three students arrived from Messiah College. They were in Rodeo for a short trip with a larger team, and are continuing on in Cochabamba to help out with the FH water safety project. I’ve taken some responsibility from Erik in hosting the team. This means I’ve been fairly busy this past week going out and collecting samples with them. Yesterday we climbed Tunari together – the tallest peak in the Cochabamba department I’m told (check the media page for photos). The team will be here one more week, during which I’ll continue to help out where I can.

After the team leaves, Katie and I still hope to do a bit of traveling, but our plans will have to remain fluid for now. Please continue to pray for us as we are beginning to feel tired and long for home.

This week has been a strange one. On Monday I began to feel a bit ill, and have worsened throughout the week. Katie also has come down with a cold and is feeling quite poorly. She gave the message in chapel on Wednesday – Doubt, Pride and Faith. It was quite well laid out and thought-provoking. It was a good week to be sick, because on Tuesday and Friday (today) there have been road-blocks and therefore no classes. It is rumored that they may continue on Monday – a good chance to rest, but we are dangerously close to needing to add on days of school to the end of the year.

It looks as though it will be a fairly slow weekend – though tomorrow is the CCS celebration banquet (in place of prom). A wonderful chance for high-school boys to dress up and eat dinner with a pretty girl. I will be attending myself for that very purpose.

Please pray for Katherine and my health (and for others at the school who are feeling poorly). Continue to pray also that we will finish the year taking full advantage of the opportunities we have.

This past week Katie and I had the chance to travel with the Lindquist family to Santa Cruz during our Easter break. Before leaving Katie had her doctor appointment and I helped the Lindquists build a few hundred water filters for the water study project Erik is working on. We had a number of little helpers (read more here) who really decreased the time it took to finish our job.

The Tuesday trip to Santa Cruz was pleasant enough and took a good deal less time than we had thought. There was some incredible scenery along the way as we descended from the Andes to the Eastern lowlands of Bolivia. The temperature increased by quite a bit, and by the time we reached our hotel we were all ready for a dip in the pool. That night we celebrated Amelia’s Birthday with some excellent food at Casa del Cambi and then retired to our wonderfully air-conditioned rooms.

On Wednesday we visited Parque Guembe, a really amazing eco-park of sorts with fun swimming pools modeled after a series of natural pools and waterfalls, kayaking, biking, a butterfly area, an aviary, an island full of monkeys, a tortoise area and much more! We had a very relaxing and enjoyable day at this fascinating place.

Thursday, Katie and I traveled out to the 7th ring of Santa Cruz (the city is arranged in circles) to visit the Friths. The Friths started a project in Sucre called El Alfarero. This is a Christian Cafe and counseling center centered on reaching students in Sucre and giving them an alternative hangout spot to relax and be with friends. The Friths are starting a new project in Santa Cruz which will be on a much larger scale, but similar in nature. You can read more about both projects here.

Friday was spent traveling back to Cochabamba. Lindquists drove us to Villa Tunari, where they spent the night. Katie and I had to be back in Coch that night though, so we had lunch and caught a bus the rest of the way. It was a welcome feeling to enter the cool air of the highlands and see the familiar surroundings of Cochabamba.

Classes start again on Monday, so Katherine and I have spent the day catching up on work. Tomorrow is Easter, but there will be no public church services because of local elections taking place. It will be strange, but I’m sure it will prove to be a welcome day of rest anyway.

Check the Media page for a few more pictures from the trip!