Iglesia Nazareth congregation in Mineros with Mateo at the conclusion of the missions and evangelism workshops on Wednesday evening

Wednesday afternoon outreach to a community about 30 minutes outside of Mineros--what joy to share God's Word and Jesus' love with these children!

Wednesday morning outreach to a local school with over 200 children in attendance; Mineros has many sugarcane farms

A local government run school invited the church to come and present a puppet show, songs and Bible lessons on Wednesday morning.  Praise God for this opportunity!  The outreach team from Iglesia Nazareth presented a fun and  Christ-centered outreach!

An outreach to neighborhood children in Mineros on Tuesday

Praise God for 3 opportunities to share His Word and encourage His people on Tuesday!  The above pictures are from one of two children's outreaches held on Tuesday at the Iglesia Nazareth in Mineros.  Pastor Esteban Paniagua and his wife Evelyn are serving at this congregation and working with Compassion International in providing teaching and mercy ministries for children four days a week.

Esteban and Evelyn Paniagua with Mateo in Santa Cruz and in front of their church building in Mineros ( about 1.5 hours north of Santa Cruz)

Sunday night's worship service

The Sunday School children and teachers--I had the joy of teaching them! They are holding up the crosses they designed during craft time.

Cowboy Mateo! Yeehaw! Look at this awesome hat given to me by one of the families at Florida Norte!

The Florida Norte Church Family after Sunday night's worship service--can you find Mateo?

The entire church family sends their love and greetings to all of the members of Our Savior Lutheran Church and to your family and friends!  We are partners together in the Gospel of Jesus!

One of the Saturday activities was focused on God's protection for His people. Paul writes about this divine protection in Ephesians 6:1-10, the armor of God. Each ministry drew the armor pieces as we talked about them. The picture below shows part of the worship and youth ministry leaders.

Team building games at Saturday's Church Retreat

Everyone participated in all of the activities and Bible studies!  The theme of the retreat was living lives of integrity in our personal lives and in our ministries.  God's presence was palpable as we studied His Word, prayed together and had a joyful day!

Snow in the Andes Mountains surrounding Florida Norte Church

God's beautiful creation--taken from the second floor of Florida Norte Evangelical Church in Cochabamba.

Prayer requests and schedule for the next 5 days

Dear friends,

Please pray for me as I have many opportunities to teach/encourage/preach over the next five days. Please ask the Holy Spirit to use me to encourage and challenge His people.  Please pray that God will give me wisdom and strength.

*Saturday, July 19th--Leading and speaking at the Florida Norte church retreat from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
                                  Speaking at the Youth Ministry Gathering Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.

*Sunday, July 20th--Preaching at the Sunday morning and evening worship services

*Monday, July 21st--Wednesday, July 23rd:  Training church leaders in missions and evangelism in Mineros, Santa Cruz during daytime and evening sessions

Thank you for your prayers!

Ministry leaders from Florida Norte enjoying an evening of ice cream and fellowship!

Church leaders spent Friday night at Dumbo's Ice Cream Parlor sharing life together.  This has become a tradition over the past four years.  In this photo are included a church elder, the small groups ministry leader, the youth ministry leader and the worship ministry leader.

The second floor of Florida Norte Evangelical Church

The second floor of the church is being used now for education classes.  There is much work to be done, but the roof and walls are completed and four Bible study classes are meeting there each Sunday morning.  Much of the funding needed for the second floor addition was given by our church family last summer.  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Pastor Jaime San Martin and family

James, Ruth, Brenda, Pastor Jaime and Ivan San Martin

Thursday night training

Thursday night's training focused on four more of Jesus' I AM statements from the Gospel of John:  I AM the Bread of Life, I AM the Gate, I AM the Resurrection and the Life and I AM the Way, Truth and Life.  Our Bible study time focused on the encouragement and life application that these marvelous statements of Christ bring to our personal lives as His followers as well as to our ministries.  Toward the end of the evening, we played a game where leaders had to encourage one another by speaking life-giving words to one another and working together to accomplish certain tasks with a beach ball. If you look closely, you can see a cross in the middle of the beach ball.  This was to remind us that Jesus must be at the center of our personal and ministry lives together.

Brothers in Christ: Mateo and James and Ivan San Martin

One of the great joys of my time in Cochabamba thus far has been spending quality time with Pastor Jaime San Martin and his family.  We have had many opportunities for prayer and life sharing, and my prayers have been that I would spur each one of them on in the following of Jesus in their personal and ministry lives.  They have been a great blessing to me!

James San Martin--the best translator in all of Cochabamba!! Dios es bueno, todo el tiempo!

Wednesday Night Training Time

Wednesday night's training time with the leaders and congregation focused on celebrating progress in the 7 Florida Norte ministries and praying through challenges currently facing their ministries.  We talked about how discouragements and challenges can make us feel like a deflated balloon, especially when we focus on the problems/challenges instead of focusing on the Lord.  We talked about prioritizing goals in each ministry and that each person has a role to play in accomplishing those goals.  The balloon activity was to demonstrate that we can't have too many balls (balloons) in the air at one time.  We need to ask our great God to help us focus and prioritize.  It was a fun illustration and as per prior years, everyone participated in the activities--young and old!  We are going through Jesus I AM statements from the Gospel of John as well--and last night we focused on Jesus as the Light of the World, the Good Shepherd and the Vine.  Application points were shared for our personal lives as well as for serving together in the ministries.  Gracias a Dios!

Visiting Armeenda; one of the oldest members and widows at Florida Norte, in her home on Wednesday afternoon.

She sends her love and greetings to everyone at Our Savior Lutheran Church.  Lita Schlueter gave a large print Bible to Armeenda in 2006 and she still uses the Bible today.

Training time with the leaders and congregation on Tuesday night

Enriqueta and Mateo. Enriqueta is a dear woman of God who celebrates God's mercy and faithfulness each day!

Compelled by Christ's Love; Joyful reunions

Hola amigos!

Thank you for your continued prayers.  Dios es bueno, todo el tiempo! (God is good, all the time!)

Staying with Pastor Jaime San Martin and his family has once again provided many opportunities for prayers and encouragement. My prayer during these days is to be a great encourager and listener...and to spur all of them on in their service to our great God!

All of the ministry supplies (the two luggage bags) arrived yesterday afternoon...gracias a Dios!  When we arrived last evening at Florida Norte Evangelical Church, I was filled with great joy to see the progress of their construction...but more importantly to see the beloved people of God.  I was given a tour of the construction progress...and then we had the famous 'greeting line,' complete with many hugs, handshakes and cheek kisses!  They waved to me and told me that was their wave of hello to all of you back home...they love you and are grateful to be partners in ministry!

The theme of last night's training was 'motivation for ministry.'  I shared from 2 Corinthians 5:14-6:2, and reminded these dear ones that it is Christ's love that compels us to live for Him and not ourselves. We are now ambassadors for Jesus and are called to share His marvelous grace each and every day.  We then made a list of ways that God was at work in their congregation in the past year and the progress they have made toward their mission and vision.  We spent time thanking God for those things and His faithfulness, and then looked at six questions that challenge us to go deeper and further in our following of Christ, both personally and in community with one another.  The training was well received and the Holy Spirit is at work in our midst, so thank you for praying!

James San Martin is translating for me...and he does a fantastic job!  He is patient and kind...especially when I say too many words and then expect him to translate all that I said.

I check the Youth Mississippi Missions Trip blog each day and am thankful to read of God's good work among them.  Make sure that you check out their blog and rejoice in God's faithfulness in their midst!

God bless you all!
mateo beish

Safely in Cochabamba; Gracias por sus oraciones!

Hi friends,

I arrived safely in Cochabamba earlier today after an adventurous journey.  When I landed in Santa Cruz, they said my bags were still in Miami...so hopefully they will arrive tomorrow.  It was strange to travel without a team.  I am very used to checking to see if everyone is together, etc...This is the first time I've come to Bolivia without a team so to all of my fellow teammates...you are missed and loved!

It was such a  joy to reunite Pastor Jaime San Martin and his family.  Ruth and James were there to greet me at the airport and we met Pastor Jaime for lunch.  We had saltenas...one of the tastiest dishes you will ever eat! Pastor Jaime and his family are all well and they send their love and greetings to all of you.

Ministry with the church leaders begins tomorrow.   I will write more then and post some photos, God willing.  It is an honor to be here and to represent Our Savior Lutheran Church and to be an ambassador for our great God!

Thank you for sending me.

God be with all of you! (Dios te bendiga!)
Mateo Beish