July's E-Newsletter from Bolivia!

One morning I went for a walk in a mountain Quechua village outside of the city of Cusco. The neighbors were letting their sheep out & heading to the fields. Others were out in the fields harvesting carrots & onions. I greeted them & continued on my path towards the stream to wash my clothes. I joined some other women as they were doing the same.

As I was finishing my clothes I noticed some of the men & women washing the carrots they had just pulled out of the ground. I’m talking TONS! I started helping them. Cleaning & sorting, along with some nibbling on the small ones! One of the ways they clean them is by walking on them as the water flows through them, so I joined in. How many times can you say you got a carrot stuck in you sandal?!?! Only in the mountains of Peru! I was there for hours working and talking with them!

As I finished up for the day, I walked back to the mud house the team & I were staying at that week. I was just thanking God as I was looking at the sunset & the amazing mountains! Who gets to do this? This is amazing! 

The next week was a total contrast. We went from freezing temperatures to jungle heat & humidity. Last week we helped another YWAM base in the construction of their orphanage. Most the time we were out in the forest, clearing the land in order to plant crops. A machete in hand was the order of the day. As we worked every day, I kept thanking God for the life He has given me. Outreach with the DTS’s are full of surprises! The students are doing an amazing job. I am so proud of each & every one of them. 

We crossed the border into Bolivia & we are working with 2 different churches in the city of Cochabamba. We still have 5 weeks in outreach to go, so please continue to pray for us as we travel. Also that God would continue to prepare the lands we are going to. I am surprisingly not too stressed out. Like I said, the students are doing great & the team of staff have been amazing too! Thank you guys! I love you! To get the weekly updates on our outreach, stay tuned to my facebook page. (www.facebook.com/sylvia.barnard)

In my last newsletter I wrote about my long distance relationship with Randhus. We have not been able to talk as much as we had been in the past few months because of all my travels, but our “skype dates” are treasured. He is going to be flying to Peru in August & staying with me & my family for a month. I am beyond excited to see him again! Being Nicaraguan, he needed to get a visa for Peru. Thank God, that all went smoothly. But, his flight has a layover in Atlanta, so he needs the USA visa. His appointment at the American Embassy is this Friday at 9:30am. PLEASE lift him up in prayer & the people at the Embassy that he will be speaking with. Pray that the Lord would give him favor. After he is here for a month, I am planning on flying back to Nicaragua with him until December. I want to spend some quality time with him & his family. I will make sure to focus on family, but I am also excited to join in with him in ministry. I will write in more detail about that in another letter. 

My “Cappuccino corner“ is still open! I am looking for a more stable support base. Instead of looking at my budget like one big giant, I decided to divide it up into more reasonable amounts that people could feel like they could be a part of each month. So, the idea is to sign up for a “club”. In my “Cappuccino corner“ you can join the “Short Club“ at $25 a month, the “Tall Club“ at $50 a month, the “Grande Club“ at $100 a month, or the “Venti Club“ at $250 a month.

My monthly support goal is $854. Breaking it down, here is what I need:

-8 people to join the “Short Club"

-4 people to join the “Tall Club"

-2 people to join the “Grande Club"

-1 person to join the “Venti Club" 

Prayer Requests:

1. Please pray for the DTS staff as they lead the two teams on their outreach.

2. Please pray for all the students as they continue to face new challenges each week.

3. Please continue to pray for my mom and my family.

4. Please pray for Randhus’ USA visa &  travel plans this upcoming month.

5. Please pray for my brother, Keith & his wife, Lu. They are traveling to Cartagena, Colombia to take another YWAM school together this month.

6. Please pray about joining my “Short“, “Tall“, “Grande“ or “Venti“ Clubs and be a part of my financial support team. Sylvia is in need of some “coffee”!