Coming Attractions

Great Adventure

Pics of the team having fun, not having so much fun, and remembering how to breathe...

Stay tuned...

We arrived home safely and no one has said a word on the blog! I'm so sorry! We've all been thrust back into life, but we WILL be back with updates soon.

If you are in the area, we'd love to have you join us at Horizons Community Church tomorrow for Bolivia Celebration Sunday. We will have several media presentations, many from the team will be sharing, Doug will be singing the song he wrote, and Tony will be sharing an awesome message entitled, "It's Worth It!"

Service times are 9 and 10:30 am. Horizons is on 79th Ave, just one block north of Thunderbird. Hope to see you there!

Back to Cochabamba

Greetings!

We are all back in Cochabamba and everyone is doing MUCH better! Scott is sitting right here next to me...he looks and feels waaaay better than yesterday. Cynthia´s stomach is still rumbly but everyone else is energized and ready to go shopping! We had pizza for lunch...really hit the spot. We have all learned that we are so very blessed to have the simple things at home, like electricity, running water and drinking water. What we went through with illnesses helped us all to identify with the people of Confital, for which that is an everyday part of life. We are all leaving a part of our hearts here in Bolivia, no doubt.

Thank you for your prayers! Please don´t worry, but don´t stop praying! We look forward to sharing more with you as soon as we return.

Much love from Bolivia,

Shari, for the Team

Prayer Needed For The Team

Hey Everyone,

I just got off the phone with Cari Day who had just talked with Scott who called her from a hospital in Cochabamba. It seems that altitude sickness has been a difficult challenge for the entire team. According to Lily Taylor (the team member who is a nurse), "...everyone has had their turn with sickness or injury." Most of the team have been affected by altitude issues which generally causes nausea (and the various side effects that come with that). One team member, Judy Davis, also "turned" her ankle in a misstep which has no doubt been a painful annoyance.

In Scott's case, he was much more sick than the others and endured a lengthy bout of nausea and vomitting throughout Saturday night (possibly Sunday night - not sure) and also a rapid heart rate. On either Sunday or Monday morning (sorry, not sure again), other team members noticed that he was passing in and out of consciousness. It was determined then that he needed to be taken to a hospital. Lily and the Food for the Hungry translator took him down the mountain to a hospital in Cochabamba where they determined that altitude sickness was the cause of his condition. He is doing well now and he, Lily and the translator will stay in Cochabamba until the team returns. Cochabamba is at a much lower altitude (8,000 ft vs. 13,000 ft) which should be helpful for Scott's condition. The team may be returning to Cochabamba sooner than expected due to all of the illness and Judy's injury. This will not affect their return date or flight schedules--just the amount of time spent in Confital.

Dear friends...PRAY for our team!

This has obviously been much more challenging for all of them than was expected. Pray for their health. Pray for Scott's condition to be completely aleviated. Pray and KNOW that God has used them for His purpose and His glory despite the physical setbacks. Pray for their safe return so that all of us can "love" on them and share together in their successes, struggles and "God moments." They are our family in the Lord, whether they are related to us or not. Pray for the Lord to bring our family home safe and sound.

God is control!

Jeff Gentry

Back from the grave

Had a great night of sleep and I am hoping that as of this morning I am officially
over whatever sickness I had. Hard to figure - on our trip here in May I was the
only one who had no problem at all. This time, I´m practically an invalid.

Excited about today, getting to Confital and being with the people. Please pray
for me as I beging the pastor and church leaders training this afternoon.

About that "Number 1" designation.... because 1 is the smallest number, I felt that
that would be the most appropriate number for me to attach to myself.

Off to Confital!!!

Tony

Pray for Tony

Tony missed the famous steak dinner tonight. :-( We brought him back some steak and soup and he does seem to be feeling better, but please keep praying for him. We have a long, grueling drive tomorrow and we´ll be heading back to over 13K ft, so he needs to feel better in the morning.

Thank you for your prayers!

Shari, for the Team

Where there´s a will, there´s a way.

Take 2 stubborn computer geeks, send them south of the equator, and challenge them to find a computer with internet access in a small town in Bolivia. They WILL get it done! Next adventure for Judy and Shari....The Amazing Race.

So we made it to Cochabamba. You should all know that the political unrest has died down to almost nothing here...everything is very peaceful...another direct answer to prayer. All the flights went well, and everyone handled the altitude change well with the exception of 3 people. One of them made me promise not to say who, so I´ll give you a hint...2 staff members and an almost deacon. The deacon is recovering nicely now that we´ve decreased in elevation. We knew he was feeling better when he began pulling pranks and chucking luggage on top of the bus. The staff members are still pretty green around the gills, but after a 2 hour nap and a steak dinner tonight, we hope they´ll be feeling better. THANK YOU for your prayers!!!! You prayed us through 5 airports, 4 flights, and one bus ride. Please pray for us tomorrow as we head to Confital...a 3.5 hour bus ride up a pretty windy, narrow road. I seriously doubt that Judy and I will find internet access there, but you KNOW we will try.

Ron and Kathy are SUCH troopers! Kathy momentarily lost her carry on when we arrived in Cochabamba, but found it quickly. They are both doing GREAT! Duane´s new nickname is Duan...rhymes with Juan...as that´s how the locals pronounce his name. He is as steady as ever and has a calming effect on all...except when Angela misplaced an important document. He TOLD her it would be fine, but then looked at me with the HUGEST eyes I´ve ever seen. Doug keeps us laughing...he was one of several who napped on the airport floor. Lily is our Florence Nightengale...she makes sure people get oxygen whether they want to or not. Nancy is as outgoing as ever and keeps everyone smiling. Mike wore shorts. SHORTS. We were all sure he would freeze but it was SO hot in Cochabamba that we were all jealous. He´s doing great, too, and practices his juggling in the airport. Cynthia amazes us all with her language abilities and her positive outlook at all times. Tony makes sure we are all present and accounted for, except when he is not. Angela and I have a fun photo-documentary that we are working on...you´ll have to wait to be surprised. She has been a trooper, and has done great considering she´s the only one that can´t take the altitude meds. Scott is Scott. He is perhaps the funniest person we´ve ever met, except when he feels like poop. Then he´s kinda quiet. Judy and Shari are doing just fine, too. All of us send our LOVE to our family, friends, and Horizons family!

OH...and here´s something you won´t see on Fox News: The Cochabamba Soccer Team won the national championship. They were on our flight. We are all thankful that it was only a 30 minute flight because they cheered and chanted and banged on the airplane ceiling the. entire. flight. Srsly. They were met by a HUGE crowd. We pretended that the crowd was there for us.

On a personal note...Alyssa, I got your note. I love you, sweetie...you made my entire day. That was so very thoughtful. Know that we are safe and having a blast. Thank you for taking care of your brothers and sister...and daddy. :) Sam, James, and Emma...I love you all with ALL of my heart. Be good and love each other. Jeff...your post below almost got Judy and I kicked out of here before we could write a word. I love you, honey. Thank you for holding down the fort.

Love to all!

Shari and Judy

From Carmen and Lola -
Hello Humans who feed us,
All is well here at Lory and Cliff's Kennel/Home. We are getting along fine with the other dogs here but could do without the cats. I being Carmen have expressed my authority and the cats do know who is the boss... Lola is starting to come around, she has attached herself to Paige and has choose to sleep in her bed with me last night... Life is pretty good here we even got to go for a walk with Lory this morning which was a comical act to watch her handle 5 dogs. We even planned a few times to try to make her trip but were unsuccessful, we will try harder tomorrow. May need to send Lory to the pet store tomorrow for more Dingo's since Bella keeps stealing ours. Well that's it for now. I need to go plan my next way to chase the cats. So I will blog you later.
We miss you but don't worry we are doing fine here.
See you in 9 day's,
Love Carmen and Lola

Made it to Miami

Shari called me from the airport in Miami. Sounded like everyone was doing great...accept that Tony was late for the plane in Dallas. Even had to be paged over the intercom.

"Tony Brittin...Tony Brittin...Please pick up a white paging phone."

Nice!

Especially since he was the one making such a big deal about everyone having a "travel buddy" and assigning everyone a special number...of which he decided he should be #1!!!

"When I say "one...", then everyone should count off, "...two...three...""

Well there's a terrific idea! What do you do when you need to count off but your #1 isn't there to say..."One..."? Do you start with "Two..." and go all the way to "Thirteen..." before you realize that #1 isn't there?

Oh, my...that is a quandry isn't it?

Well, somehow the team was able to conclude that their fearless #1 was missing, and given his... shortcomings...he was also difficult to find. But then, that's what all those ceiling speakers at airports are for.

"Hey! Number one!!! We can't count off to verify that we're all here so that we can get on the next plane--which is trying to leave! And if we don't count off, then we can't all walk through that expandable hallway thingy to get on the plane! And we can't count off...if there's no number one! Get a move on shorty!!!"

Well...that's not an exact quote...but it was something like that...

My guess...

He was checking out the cat calendars in airport Hallmark store.

Jeff Gentry, Associate Pastor reporting.

waiting to leave Phoenix

Everyone is excited and anxious to board the plane. Shari & I already went shopping & purchased 2 shirts, her luggage was taken!... twice!!! (don't worry, she has it back now), security was uneventful- except for Duane, Cynthia, Doug, & Ron, and we are all still getting along just fine. Please keep praying! We love you all!

Stars in the Heavens

Here I sit starring at the stars, knowing the children of Confital look up and see the same stars - well, I'm sure they see a whole lot more! So how did I ever come to this place in my heart where I would embrace a community high atop the Andes Mountains. Certainly not by my own devices. But God has called and filled my heart with love for these mountain children.

A purpose - how awesome to know that God would want me, our team, our church to play such an important part in the lives of children on another continent. What an honor. Bringing them love, hope, encouragement, joy, caring ...well, the list could go on and on.

Truth be told, for all that we might do for them, they will undoubtedly do more for us, bringing us closer in our walk with God.

Thanks for joining us on this journey. Let's see what God has in store...

Our Team

The bags are packed, the bills are paid, the groceries have been bought, and the instructions have been left (lots and lots of instructions). As I sit here tonight on the eve of this great adventure that God has blessed us with, my thoughts are on our team...

...not the 13 of us who get to physically go to Bolivia, but the greater team...the team of family, friends, co-workers, and our dear church family who have allowed God to work through them to make this possible. This has already been an incredible experience, just watching the body of Christ love on us, pray for us, encourage us, and financially support us:

• Did you know that we sold over 500 tubes of toothpaste to take to the children of Confital? For 2 weeks in a row, we ran out of toothpaste after 1st service and our 2nd service folks didn't get to purchase any!
  
• Did you know that our initial response to our support letters brought in, not only enough for the support of each team member's individual needs, but also just about enough to fund our projects as well? And we STILL have people asking what they can do to help.
  
• Did you know that this past Sunday, after our commissioning in the 1st service, a woman whom I'd never met came up and handed me a significant cash donation to go toward our trip?
  
• Did you know that a very dear couple in our church, who have asked repeatedly what they can do to support us, went out and purchased 2 new Spanish/English translators for the team? And still, they want to know what they can do.
  
• Did you know that we had an overwhelming response to the call for drivers to the airport?
  
• Did you know that last week many of us felt an oppressive spirit...that satan was trying to thwart us through poor health, anxiety, and other stumbling blocks. On Friday I learned that 2 dear women from Quail Run had been praying for us fervently all week thinking that we were already in Bolivia!
  
• Did you know that we have received phone calls and emails and hand written notes and words of encouragement over the past few days, reminding us that we are loved and prayed for?

I am in awe of what God has already done and we haven't even left Phoenix yet! Each of us could probably tell you 20 more stories of people who have touched our hearts as we've shared our calling with them. So to you, our TEAM, please know that you are loved. Please know that WE have said many prayers for you. And please know that we covet your continued prayers over the next 10 days. You've done so much for each of us already, but we ask that you not forget your most important task...to pray us through this trip.

Below you will find posts from just about the entire team with specific prayer requests. Thank you for taking the time to lift us up. I'd like to share something that was passed on to us today, from a member of Horizons.

God has put on my heart to pray each day on the hour for 13 hours, dedicated to each of you. I wish you a safe flight and extraordinary experience.

Wow! What a neat example of how clearly God speaks to us when we listen to Him! Thank you all for your prayers as we embark on this adventure! We look forward to sharing so many good things with you when we return! We can't promise that you'll hear anything from us before the 14th, but we will try so keep checking!

Much love!

Shari

What to Pray for our Team

We thank each of you for your support and prayers as we embark on this journey. 13 members of our church will board a plane tomorrow, family members will remain here at home to continue with day to day life here. We would ask that you pray for the families, call them, invite them for coffee, dinner, or some help with the children.

Calls, emails and blogging are wonderful ways to stay in touch, unfortunately, they are not possible in Confital. If we find the opportunity to blog, we certainly will. Cari Day is our point person and will have any information as it becomes available.

Shari Gentry - Pray that God would multiply our communication with the people to whom we'll be ministering. Our words and communication will be somewhat limited by the language barrier, but we KNOW that God can overcome any barrier to getting across the message He has for the people of Confital.

Pray also for our families, particularly for the children who have a parent on the team. Pray that the time would go quickly for them, and that their teachers, friends, and other people that they interact with will give them extra love and kindness. And please pray for the dads and moms that are at home carrying an extra burden while we are away.

Nancy Thiele -

• For my family to have peace with me gone.
• For me to have an open and willing heart to hear God and be used by Him.
• For there to be no illness - for me or any of the team members.
• Specifically for me - for my asthma not to be an issue.
• For smooth sailing as we go on our journey.

Scott Day - My personal pray request involves my family that is left at home. Please pray for my wife Cari as she teaches full time and will also be looking after our two girls. Also as we leave I will be leaving my young business of only a few months in the hands of one of my employees.

My prayer request to all is that God will guide me and ease my worries will all that is left behind. I pray that God will touch these kids and there families (in Bolivia) through us and my they touch and impact our lives as well. Thank you for all of your prayers and support.

Kathy Owsley -

• Please pray for my family and friends that they have peace about this trip.
• My prayer is to come away with a closer walk and a better understanding of who God is.
• To do His will and not lean on my own understandings.
• I pray for good health for our team, pray for safe travel.
• And that we are encouragers of one another and to those we meet.

Ron Owsley - Ron is asking for pray for him to handily the altitude and be able to do any physical work that is required of him. He also is attached to our two little dogs and is worried about how they are going to respond to being in a strange places. So pray for him to have peace about this.

Judy Davis -

• Pray that we would bring hope to children hear God’s voice and not our own, that we would bring hope to the children, that they would see the love of God in us.
• Pray also for strong and sound bodies to walk where we have been called –atop the Andes Mountains.
• For the FH workers whose boots beat the ground before we arrive and long after we leave, working in the trenches with the children and their families every day.
  

Off on a Great Adventure

Steven Curtis Chapmen's song is where I feel I am. I am ready to saddle up my horse and ride on this great adventure God is allowing me to go on. I am so blessed to have such wonderful family at Horizons who support this group and myself on this trip.

My prayers are the same as those around me. I am seeking God in this trip to show me the miracle's Duane spoke of in service. I am praying for our trip unity, health and safety. I am praying for laughter and joy to abound in our group and for love to shine.

I am truly blessed and am grateful for this oppotunity.

Please continue to pray for our team, the people of Confital and for all the families and friends left behind to hold down the fort.

We are off on a great adventure with God at the helm (I know mixed metaphor)!

So Let's Ride!!!

~Nancy

Thanks from Señor Ron

I had to blog this for Ron I lost his pass word ;-\

I want to thank everyone of my church family for there prayers for the team. And a special thanks to my prayer partner Dow. I have felt your special prayers the past few weeks. I sure picked a perfect partner (thanks!) Please keep praying for the team we will need it.
I pray that all of my church family is kept safe, so I can enjoy your company and share all the great things God has shown me on this trip. Gods speed
Ron Owsley

Hands, Feet, Eyes, Ears and...

Hard to believe we'll actually have started our trip by this time tomorrow...it has felt like a long wait! I'm so excited to take off on this adventure with the Lord and 12 other "body parts" from Horizons, His church, His body. And I'm SO grateful that we are all different parts, with different functions, purposes, abilities, etc. I know God has hand-chosen this group for this trip! We have "specialists" in so many different areas, and we will have to rely on each other for help in areas we do not excel in, requiring humility, and offer help to each other when it is needed, requiring patience. I just know we're all going to GROW!

My prayer request would be that each of us would offer our gifts and abilities to the Lord, ministering to one another and the people of Confital through His Spirit--not in our own strength. And that through this, our lives would be a testimony individually AND as a group! Thank you to each one of you who is taking the time to read our blogs and requests and then to pray!

Tony's first ever blog

I have now, relunctantly, entered the world of blogging...
But I am grateful for the opportunity to share that I
need your prayers. I would especially appreciate specific
prayers for the training of the Bolivian pastors and church
leaders that I will be conducting. I am apprehensive about
this, not knowing exactly what the needs are or how best
to communicate in a different culture. So, it's going to have
to be the Lord doing it through me.

Thanks be to Our Father

Father, I thank you for finding me worthy of such a calling as this. I thank You for the journey You have brought me through to prepare me for this adventure. It truly amazes me what You have done so far and the overwhelming support You provided. I thank You for all those who have stepped forward to support this trip and the well wishes and prayers that have gone out. I pray for each of those who will lift us up during this time and ask You to Bless them and encourage them. I thank You for the song You have placed in my heart and for sharing it with those I love who surround me. I thank You for the new friendships You brought Life to through Your Providence. You have truly shown to me how much You love me, and it overwhelms me. I thank you for the group of people who have also been raised up and thank You for their faithfullness and pray for their families and friends while they are gone completing this call.

My prayer for all of us is that we would sieze every opportunity to capture those devine moments You have prepared for us. We go to bring Hope to a people who need You, and that is what we will do.

To Lily, Thank you for all the years of friendship, support and encouragement. Thank you for raising two of the most beautiful daughters in the World. I could not love them more if they were my own. To serve with you on this mission is not only an honor, but a blessing. I Love You!

To Ron and Kathy, You two are family to me and I love you with all my heart. I am looking forward to taking the truth within us and giving it to those in Confital. And be prepared to laugh... A LOT

To Sheri, Get ready to sing Girl

To Bobblehead, Don't forget your toothbrush! And thanks for loving the Kids...

Scott, bring the ketchup and Don't forget the latex gloves!!!

Nancy, What was that exchange rate again?

Duane, calm down!!! You get way to excited...

Mike, we're counting on you if the van breaks down...

Judy, thank you for answering our questions 100 times. (Even though you wrote it all down for us) We Thank you for your tireless effort to prepare us all for this trip.

Tony and Cynthia, Here you go, this is the Motley Crew God provided for you to serve with in Bolivia... Good luck with us!! And thank you both that you have a heart to serve a people who need to hear of the hope we are bringing. We love you!!!

The Excitement Grows

Here it is only one day to go before we leave for our mission trip, I can’t sleep and I can’t eat because of the excitement that grows inside of me. As I sit here and reflect on all the words of encouragement I have received this last week and the well wishes and prayers that have gone out for me and the team I can truly say my cup overflows with love and joy.

I want to thank the wonderful members of Horizons, our church family for praying for us yesterday and holding us up while we are gone. To each of you I spoke with on Sunday and you now who you are, I want you to know I love you and carry in my heart, as I travel to Bolivia. To my family what can I say that could express my love and devotion for you, I make this journey in honor of each of you with the hope that you realize that you can do all things through Christ Jesus.

It has been a long time since I felt like this, I have only known the kind of peace that rest in my bones today one other time in my life and that is when the Lord walked me through my challenge with cancer. Now He is walking me through the adventure of a lifetime side by side we go. When we return, I’m sure we will have so much to share and I look forward to that time. Thank you Lord! Please watch over and keep safe the people we leave behind for the next ten days and for the ones we are going to meet on our journey. Blessings ;-}