As many of you know the country of Bolivia is in South America which is the southern hemisphere or south of the equator. This means that our seasons are opposite of those in the U.S. As most of you are coming to the end of the winter season and heading into spring, we are coming to the end of our summer going into fall. Here in Bolivia, during the summer season, one of the popular things to do is have a “Dia de Campo” which is like a day in the country usually accompanied by a picnic. This is also very popular in the churches here. At the beginning of February, we planned one of these days for our church to go to the country and have a cookout. We rented a complex on the outskirts of town that had areas for sports activities like soccer, racket ball, a type of volley ball that is played in doors with four walls, and lots of grassy areas for the kids to play in. We divided up into four teams and rotated between the different sports. Afterwards, we had relay races using balloons filled with water to give some relief from the hot sun. During this whole time, several of the men of the church were working the grill cooking different types of meats. The ladies of the church brought the side dishes of rice, rice with cheese, salads, and a dish with Yucca which is a popular food here that is a root but tastes like a potato. When everything was ready we called everyone in and had a great feast in the dinning hall of the complex. As everyone was finishing, we had several songs and we gave the opportunity to four of the young guys in the church to preach for five minutes. They did a great job, and the people were really encouraged. When we planned the activity we were not sure what the results would be being that it was the day of the Carnaval parade which is one of the most popular holidays in all of South America. We ended up with 97 in attendance and as a result four new visitors on Sunday that trusted Christ as Savior.
