30th Anniversary

I am writing from Narita, Japan. I am returning to Costa Rica after morethan a week of meetings in Manila, Philippines. While I have been gone Susan and I celebrated an anniversary. No, I have not missed another wedding anniversary. I have not missed Susan's birthday again. I have been gone on both of those important days in the past and hope I do not miss them again.

No, this time I was gone for the 30th anniversary of the day Susan and I landed in La Paz, Bolivia.

On May 10, 1978, our team of three single men and three single women plus the two of us landed in the highest capitol in the world. This team of eight had been sent by Literature Crusades (the original name of International Teams) to plant a church in the North Zone of the city. For some reason that defies explanation, I had been named team leader of this band of novice missionaries.

Veteran missionary Wes Steffen picked us up at the airport and drove us down to his house. It was a breath-taking experience. Literally. Getting out of an airplane at 13,330 feet above sea-level has a way of taking the wind out of your sails. I always associate our arrival in La Paz with altitude sickness.

About five days after we arrived, Wes took me up to the airport again to get our teams' barrels out of customs. We had put all four of them in my name even though all of us had packed our personal articles in them. So, according to the Bolivian government I was the only one that could get them out. Unfortunately, this was the day I experienced the worse soroche (altitude sickness) of my entire career of twelve years in Bolivia. My head hurt. My stomach hurt. I actually believe my "everything" hurt. I had to spend most of the day with my head between my knees as Wes talked to officials and put undecipherable papers in front of me to sign.

Finally, after hours of this special missionary purgatory, we arrived at the actual inspection of the barrels. Before opening the seal the customs inspector asked me, "Are these all your personal items?" What could I say? They were in my name. I responded in the positive. "Are you going to use all of these items yourself?" Again, I responded in the affirmative. At that point, the inspector cut the safety wire that kept the barrel lid in place.

The pressure differential from where we had packed the barrels (Chicago) and where we opened them (El Alto, Bolivia) caused the contents to explode upwards. Unfortunately, the last items packed in this particular barrel had been some undergarments of one of my team members... one of my female teammates. If I remember correctly the inspector had to take a "leopard spotted" brassiere off of his shoulder. He held it in front me and asked me again, "ALL of this is for your personal use?"

Sometimes it doesn't pay to explain.

Our years in Bolivia were probably more of a blessing to us than to the Bolivians. We did see a church planted. In fact, we saw three planted by that original team that continue on to this day. It is joy to visit them when we get back to La Paz or Cochabamba.

Our daughters came to us in La Paz. Krista was born in 1979 while we lived under a military curfew. Norma came to us in 1982 when her father died. Her mother had passed away several years before. Kari arrived in 1983 as some of the worst inflation in modern history was beginning to heat up in Bolivia.

We lived more adventures than I can remember during our years in La Paz. Illness, revolutions, bullets through our window, and much more. More importantly we had the privilege of seeing God work in us and through us. I doubt if anyone can ask for more.

International Teams has changed since those far off days. Back then we had about sixty missionaries serving in eight locations. Today there are over a thousand on about a hundred and fifty teams in over fifty countries. In 1978 most of our missionaries came from the States. Today the largest group comes from Asia.

Still, our work remains remarkably similar. We build relationships with people. We engage in real-life discipleship. We invest in leaders. Since1978 the questions in Latin America have changed a great deal. The questions have changed, but the answer remains the same... Jesus.

We appreciate you standing with us. We appreciate partnering with you. We certainly covet your prayers.