lost in translation

Finally I have some time to write out a blog. It's been crazy the last week and a half. I am currently in Ascension de Guarayous. I arrived here Saturday afternoon and took time to rest up. I needed a vacation from the vacation (I'm sure you can all relate to that). On Saturday night, we drove out to Nina's church in a little town called Santa Maria. It's about 40 Km. (Don't ask me to convert that.) They have a youth night each Sat. The youth work on thing like Bible memory, singing, and what we called sword drills in the U.S. (looking up Scripture quickly) We turned around and made trip twice on Sunday, once in the morning for Sunday School and then in the evening for their service.

Yesterday Miguel (Nina's assistant) and I went with the pastor back to the church to finish Nina's office. Nina is a doctor who has her own office on the back side of the church and they have just finished plastering and painting it. We went out and hung up her cabinets and moved things back in.

One the way back, Miguel wanted to explain something to me and with neither one being able to speak each others language, my dictionary was our only hope. Miguel grabbed it and looked up the word "perezoso." In English it translates to "lazy or idle". I was confused...is he tryin to say that I was lazy? If so, I don't know about Bolivian culture but in America, that's and offensive remark, espcecially if you don't know the person very well. It turns out that he wasn't calling me lazy, he was trying to tell me there was a sloth in the tree we just passed. Now it makes sense! Lazy...sloth...duh. Good thing we had that dictionary...right?

Tomorrow, I travel to my next adventure. I am heading to Trinidad with Joe and Ellen Kunkle. I there is a meeting with the executive committee of the Bolivian church. So I am not sure what that will include. (I have a hunch it means more Spanish).

-Pray for safe travels as we will be on the road again! (almost broke into song there)
-Pray for the meetings and discernment amongst those involved and that their decisions will continue to further God's work in Bolivia.

God Bless.