Andean Adventures Part 3

First things first. We're home. We couldn't be happier to be in our own beds. It seems like breathing is so much easier now that we are back at sealevel. Thanks for all of you that prayed for us. We felt those prayers.

Continuing our adventures....we left Puno after a great breakfast, one of our first good ones so far. As we were leaving the hotel, the bellboy tells us that there are strikes on the road we are traveling and it might make our journey difficult. Great. We continued on our journey to arrive five minutes later at a huge road block. We were told it would be difficult to pass before night fall. Okay, now what. Norberto went to investigate the situation and talk with the people. A student approached us and told us since we were tourists we are exempt from the workers' strikes and should be able to go through. We were ecstatic. We jumped into our car and drove past the strikers, the lines of buses and trucks and angry drivers who were picketting against high tolls. We prayed and it was like God opened up the Red Sea for us to pass through unharmed. Little did we know there would be 10 sets of these blocks. Each time Norberto would get out, be diplomatic and ask politely to pass. Each time we prayed that there would be no violence or struggles and that we would be allowed to cross the picketlines. Web_sta_cruz_to_arequipa_126It was the strangest sensation being the only vehicle on the road for over 50 miles. We saw hundreds of people walking to work and school in the hot arid sun and our hearts went out to them.

We wanted to pick up everyone, but it would have been impossible. We picked up two people and they were stunned that we would choose them. We had the chance to share with them about how God chooses us as his own.

We were stopped by so many Peruvian policemen. We made the determination that Bolivian and Peruvian police belong to the "Let's make tourist's lives difficult" club. One policeman told us that we would need to pay a $200 fine because of our tinted windows. They're all just looking for beer money, unfortuately.

We finally arrived at the "How Great is Our God" conference in the afternoon. We had a fantastic week of sharing and hearing what God is doing through Missionary Ventures in South America. We got to know all the missionaries working on the continent. We ate fantastic food (Thanks Keatons!) and we had some wonderful times of worship and prayer. It was a tremendous experience. We both had the opportunity to lead morning devotions and we had time to talk about all that God is doing here in Paraguay. We left renewed and refreshed.

On Friday we continued our journey to Cusco. The road we took was horrendous. 10 hours of driving on pot-holed dirt roads, if that's what you want to call them. We arrived at our hotel that evening and toured the city a bit.

On Monday made our trek to Machu Pichu. By this time, Norberto was getting used to the altitude, so treking was no problem for us. We had a great day, despite the rain. It is quite an ordeal to actually arrive at the ruins. We had a four hour train ride, a half hour bus ride and an hour trek down the mountain again in the afternoon. The scenery was spectacular and we are very grateful for fulfilling this dream.

We'll share our last and still-full-of-adventures part of the story shortly.

Andean Adventures Part 2

We started out for Oruro, Bolivia early in the morning, but we didn't get too far. We stopped to ask directions on how to leave Santa Cruz and a cop stopped us for doing a wrong turn. He told us that the fine was 1000 Bolivianos! ($142). He was going to take us downtown to book us and fingerprint us, which would take us half a day. We settled with him (he wanted lunch money) and we continued on. We finally got out of the city when we arrived at stopped traffic at a bridge. We found out that the bridge was in repair due to the floods that week. Of course, the bridge broke just five minutes before we got there. We were told we would need to wait 4 hours until it would be fixed. Unfortunately, there was no other way to continue our journey; we were stuck. We went to see the damage that was done, and it was pretty bad. The men were working hard stacking crates of rocks. An hour and 15 minutes later, we were able to cross.

We continued on toward Cochabamba and passed close by where Che Guevara was assassinated. We ended up at this place for lunch. We had a high protein peanut drink called Chicha. It was all I could do to swallow, it was so thick! We arrived into the valley of Cochabamba right at nightfall, but we had friends waiting for us in Oruro, so we had to make the windy, mountain road journey at night. Not fun. It took us five long hours.

Not 10 minutes after we arrived at our friends' home, Norb was very ill. In fact, the last time he got ill was in 2001 when we flew into La Paz. Not even a hot cup of coca tea helped the pressure he felt in his head. He lost his dinner and tried to sleep, unsuccessfully. We were sleeping at a mere 3,800 meters. In the morning we bought some medicine and we went to church with our friends. We were asked to share and Norb preached. Despite a terrible headache, he really preached a challenging message.

We continued on our way, because we needed to reach Puno,Peru still that night. In La Paz, we briefly met with our good friends, Victor and Estela Quispe, who are long time pastors in the capital. They too offered us coca tea and graciously lead us out of the city. We drove rather quickly to the border of Bolivia because the border closed at seven. We drove through a river, other smaller vehicles got stuck in the middle! We saw beautiful landscapes, including Lake Titicaca.

We finally arrived just in the nick of time. One good thing about arriving late at a border, especially during a soccer game, is that you can rush through the immigration offices. Norberto cleared 4 offices and 9 stamps in 45 minutes! That's a record.

We arrived Puno that night and found an incredible hotel for a reasonable price. We were thrilled! However, we had no idea of the hardships that were yet to come the next day.

Andean Adventures Part 1

It's Sunday night and we're just getting our first chance at internet access. Our apologies to family and friends. To recap: We're in the city of Puno today and should arrive in Arequipa some time tomorrow afternoon. We've had no car problems or mishaps. Thank God!

Here's part 1 of our Andean Adventures (Thursday and Friday's events). We started our journey at .m. We drove 866 km on our first day, stopping half way in Asuncion to see cousin Mateo and treat him out for his 5th birthday next week. The Chaco Paraguay is divided into three regions. The "bajo" or low Chaco, the central and the "alto" or high Chaco. Web_chaco_paraguay_2

Here's a picture of the high Chaco, right before crossing the border.

The further north you travel, the more barren and desolate. We spent the night with a friend in Philadelphia, the Mennonite-pioneered region. They settled in the 1920s amidst doubts from the Paraguayan government of their survival. Not only did they survive in the extreme conditions of the Paraguayan desert, they have an almost first-world society (with the exception of the dirt roads in the city) with their own airport and industry.


We started our day out early on Friday. We crossed the border into Bolivia about 10 a.m. The customs officials in Paraguay didn't even stamp our passports-even after we asked them to, which caused us some problems in Bolivia. They were too busy eyeing our rope. Finally, they asked if they could use a piece for their hammock. Since it was long, Norb cut off a few meters for the customs workers. They don't get too much business up there in the desert, obviously.

We had TERRIBLE road conditions driving the first into Bolivia. If it had been rainy, we would have never passed. The border police gave us problems and we ended up having to wait 2.5 hours to cross, get visas, and "pay" the pompous officials for their services. It was not a zippity-do-da-day moment.

We arrived in Santa Cruz after nightfall after stopping 17 times for tolls and police "collaboration" fees. In other words, we're helping their chicha habit. Sigh. We learned around stop number 10 that you don't give them what they ask (20 Bolivianos) you just give them 1 or 2 Bolivianos to support their efforts in the country


Timmy's been a SUPER traveler! He does puzzles, reads books, watches Veggie Tales and sleeps on the mattress in the back prepared for weary travelers. It's nice and cozy! Thanks for your emails and your continued prayers for us on the road. We're truly enjoying God's beatiful creation in South America.

Machu Pichu Here We Come!

Ever since we’ve arrived in South America, we’ve dreamed about some day visiting the great Incan Ruins of Machu Pichu. We are attending a conference for missionaries in Arequipa, Peru next week. We'll have the opportunity to share about what God is doing in Paraguay . Since, Machu Pichu, one of the recently named seven wonders of the world, is only a day’s drive away, we thought we’d take advantage of this limited opportunity and spend Easter weekend hiking the Sacred Valley.

So, we’ll be taking off on Thursday for our 4 day road trip to Arequipa and eventually, Machu Pichu. Due to our fear of contracting sedentaritis, an unfortunate disorder linked to couches and remote controls, we simply thrive on these types of expeditions. However, we know that there are risks involved and we are asking you to pray for our safety on the road, for our old, but reliable “Blue Cruiser”, for Timmy and for our health. We'll be traveling for a total of 2 weeks.

We'll try and post frequently with pics from the Paraguayan desert, Bolivia, Lake Titicaca (the highest navigable lake in the world) and Peru. Yahoo, we definitely love road trips!

Preservation in Paraguay

This week my dad came to visit and we took advantage to hike at our state's only national forest reserve. As we began sharing with the caretakes, they told us that caretaker's wife was shot at last week, by poachers. Every week the rangers risk their lives to preserve the small piece of natural rain forest left in the country. They are relatively unprotected and unprovided for by the government and rely mostly on nonprofits to keep their efforts going. Here's more on the San Rafael Reserve. This European family came to Paraguay in the early seventies and have made it their life's mission to preserve God's nature here in the heart of South America. Certainly, a worthy and challenging mission in my eyes.

I'm studying Genesis right now and I'm reminded once again how one of God's first mandates to mankind was to care for and cultivate the earth. Admittedly, we are not risking our lives to care for the earth like these courageous folks at the reserve. However, the burning question that continues to molest my spirit as I see the abuse of our earth and foreigners burning down our rain forest at the astounding annual rate of 10% is this: What can I do to care for this earth that God has entrusted to me and to you?

My baby steps this week are: 1. Carrying a bag for trash to pick up trash in my neighborhood. 2. Using water sparingly 3. Planting a tree (or 5) 4. Walking instead of driving the truck 5. Using a fan instead of the AC 6. Line dry our clothes 7. Collect rain water to use for cleaning 8. Plant a garden (we are starting with a few veggies this week)

What are the ways you can care for and cultivate the earth this week?